Sample records for random assignment experimental

  1. True and Quasi-Experimental Designs. ERIC/AE Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gribbons, Barry; Herman, Joan

    Among the different types of experimental design are two general categories: true experimental designs and quasi- experimental designs. True experimental designs include more than one purposively created group, common measured outcomes, and random assignment. Quasi-experimental designs are commonly used when random assignment is not practical or…

  2. Evaluation of a School-Based Teen Obesity Prevention Minimal Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abood, Doris A.; Black, David R.; Coster, Daniel C.

    2008-01-01

    Objective: A school-based nutrition education minimal intervention (MI) was evaluated. Design: The design was experimental, with random assignment at the school level. Setting: Seven schools were randomly assigned as experimental, and 7 as delayed-treatment. Participants: The experimental group included 551 teens, and the delayed treatment group…

  3. The Implications of "Contamination" for Experimental Design in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhoads, Christopher H.

    2011-01-01

    Experimental designs that randomly assign entire clusters of individuals (e.g., schools and classrooms) to treatments are frequently advocated as a way of guarding against contamination of the estimated average causal effect of treatment. However, in the absence of contamination, experimental designs that randomly assign intact clusters to…

  4. Impact of referral source and study applicants' preference for randomly assigned service on research enrollment, service engagement, and evaluative outcomes.

    PubMed

    Macias, Cathaleene; Barreira, Paul; Hargreaves, William; Bickman, Leonard; Fisher, William; Aronson, Elliot

    2005-04-01

    The inability to blind research participants to their experimental conditions is the Achilles' heel of mental health services research. When one experimental condition receives more disappointed participants, or more satisfied participants, research findings can be biased in spite of random assignment. The authors explored the potential for research participants' preference for one experimental program over another to compromise the generalizability and validity of randomized controlled service evaluations as well as cross-study comparisons. Three Cox regression analyses measured the impact of applicants' service assignment preference on research project enrollment, engagement in assigned services, and a service-related outcome, competitive employment. A stated service preference, referral by an agency with a low level of continuity in outpatient care, and willingness to switch from current services were significant positive predictors of research enrollment. Match to service assignment preference was a significant positive predictor of service engagement, and mismatch to assignment preference was a significant negative predictor of both service engagement and employment outcome. Referral source type and service assignment preference should be routinely measured and statistically controlled for in all studies of mental health service effectiveness to provide a sound empirical base for evidence-based practice.

  5. Preference in Random Assignment: Implications for the Interpretation of Randomized Trials

    PubMed Central

    Gold, Paul B.; Hargreaves, William A.; Aronson, Elliot; Bickman, Leonard; Barreira, Paul J.; Jones, Danson R.; Rodican, Charles F.; Fisher, William H.

    2009-01-01

    Random assignment to a preferred experimental condition can increase service engagement and enhance outcomes, while assignment to a less-preferred condition can discourage service receipt and limit outcome attainment. We examined randomized trials for one prominent psychiatric rehabilitation intervention, supported employment, to gauge how often assignment preference might have complicated the interpretation of findings. Condition descriptions, and greater early attrition from services-as-usual comparison conditions, suggest that many study enrollees favored assignment to new rapid-job-placement supported employment, but no study took this possibility into account. Reviews of trials in other service fields are needed to determine whether this design problem is widespread. PMID:19434489

  6. Randomizing Roaches: Exploring the "Bugs" of Randomization in Experimental Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wagler, Amy; Wagler, Ron

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the roles of random selection and random assignment in experimental design is a central learning objective in most introductory statistics courses. This article describes an activity, appropriate for a high school or introductory statistics course, designed to teach the concepts, values and pitfalls of random selection and assignment…

  7. Social and Clinical Effects of a Leisure Program on Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garcia-Villamisar, Domingo; Dattilo, John

    2011-01-01

    Using a pre-test, post-test experimental design, effects of a 1-year group leisure program were examined on 31 participants (20 male and 11 female), ages 27-38 (M = 32.05 at start of program), with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis randomly assigned to the experimental condition and a group of 20 adults with ASD randomly assigned to the…

  8. Impact of Referral Source and Study Applicants’ Preference for Randomly Assigned Service on Research Enrollment, Service Engagement, and Evaluative Outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Macias, Cathaleene; Barreira, Paul; Hargreaves, William; Bickman, Leonard; Fisher, William; Aronson, Elliot

    2009-01-01

    Objective The inability to blind research participants to their experimental conditions is the Achilles’ heel of mental health services research. When one experimental condition receives more disappointed participants, or more satisfied participants, research findings can be biased in spite of random assignment. The authors explored the potential for research participants’ preference for one experimental program over another to compromise the generalizability and validity of randomized controlled service evaluations as well as cross-study comparisons. Method Three Cox regression analyses measured the impact of applicants’ service assignment preference on research project enrollment, engagement in assigned services, and a service-related outcome, competitive employment. Results A stated service preference, referral by an agency with a low level of continuity in outpatient care, and willingness to switch from current services were significant positive predictors of research enrollment. Match to service assignment preference was a significant positive predictor of service engagement, and mismatch to assignment preference was a significant negative predictor of both service engagement and employment outcome. Conclusions Referral source type and service assignment preference should be routinely measured and statistically controlled for in all studies of mental health service effectiveness to provide a sound empirical base for evidence-based practice. PMID:15800153

  9. Design approaches to experimental mediation☆

    PubMed Central

    Pirlott, Angela G.; MacKinnon, David P.

    2016-01-01

    Identifying causal mechanisms has become a cornerstone of experimental social psychology, and editors in top social psychology journals champion the use of mediation methods, particularly innovative ones when possible (e.g. Halberstadt, 2010, Smith, 2012). Commonly, studies in experimental social psychology randomly assign participants to levels of the independent variable and measure the mediating and dependent variables, and the mediator is assumed to causally affect the dependent variable. However, participants are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediating variable(s), i.e., the relationship between the mediating and dependent variables is correlational. Although researchers likely know that correlational studies pose a risk of confounding, this problem seems forgotten when thinking about experimental designs randomly assigning participants to levels of the independent variable and measuring the mediator (i.e., “measurement-of-mediation” designs). Experimentally manipulating the mediator provides an approach to solving these problems, yet these methods contain their own set of challenges (e.g., Bullock, Green, & Ha, 2010). We describe types of experimental manipulations targeting the mediator (manipulations demonstrating a causal effect of the mediator on the dependent variable and manipulations targeting the strength of the causal effect of the mediator) and types of experimental designs (double randomization, concurrent double randomization, and parallel), provide published examples of the designs, and discuss the strengths and challenges of each design. Therefore, the goals of this paper include providing a practical guide to manipulation-of-mediator designs in light of their challenges and encouraging researchers to use more rigorous approaches to mediation because manipulation-of-mediator designs strengthen the ability to infer causality of the mediating variable on the dependent variable. PMID:27570259

  10. Design approaches to experimental mediation.

    PubMed

    Pirlott, Angela G; MacKinnon, David P

    2016-09-01

    Identifying causal mechanisms has become a cornerstone of experimental social psychology, and editors in top social psychology journals champion the use of mediation methods, particularly innovative ones when possible (e.g. Halberstadt, 2010, Smith, 2012). Commonly, studies in experimental social psychology randomly assign participants to levels of the independent variable and measure the mediating and dependent variables, and the mediator is assumed to causally affect the dependent variable. However, participants are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediating variable(s), i.e., the relationship between the mediating and dependent variables is correlational. Although researchers likely know that correlational studies pose a risk of confounding, this problem seems forgotten when thinking about experimental designs randomly assigning participants to levels of the independent variable and measuring the mediator (i.e., "measurement-of-mediation" designs). Experimentally manipulating the mediator provides an approach to solving these problems, yet these methods contain their own set of challenges (e.g., Bullock, Green, & Ha, 2010). We describe types of experimental manipulations targeting the mediator (manipulations demonstrating a causal effect of the mediator on the dependent variable and manipulations targeting the strength of the causal effect of the mediator) and types of experimental designs (double randomization, concurrent double randomization, and parallel), provide published examples of the designs, and discuss the strengths and challenges of each design. Therefore, the goals of this paper include providing a practical guide to manipulation-of-mediator designs in light of their challenges and encouraging researchers to use more rigorous approaches to mediation because manipulation-of-mediator designs strengthen the ability to infer causality of the mediating variable on the dependent variable.

  11. Entre Dos Mundos/Between Two Worlds: Youth Violence Prevention for Acculturating Latino Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smokowski, Paul R.; Bacallao, Martica

    2009-01-01

    Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of Entre Dos Mundos/Between Two Worlds (EDM) prevention for Latino adolescents. Method: In an experimental trial to compare implementation formats, 41 Latino families were randomly assigned to EDM action-oriented skills training groups, and 47 families were randomly assigned to unstructured EDM support…

  12. No Randomization? No Problem: Experimental Control and Random Assignment in Single Case Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ledford, Jennifer R.

    2018-01-01

    Randomization of large number of participants to different treatment groups is often not a feasible or preferable way to answer questions of immediate interest to professional practice. Single case designs (SCDs) are a class of research designs that are experimental in nature but require only a few participants, all of whom receive the…

  13. Affectionate Writing Reduces Total Cholesterol: Two Randomized, Controlled Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Floyd, Kory; Mikkelson, Alan C.; Hesse, Colin; Pauley, Perry M.

    2007-01-01

    In two 5-week trials, healthy college students were randomly assigned either to experimental or control groups. Participants in the experimental groups wrote about their affection for significant friends, relatives, and/or romantic partners for 20 minutes on three separate occasions; on the same schedule, those in the control groups wrote about…

  14. Random Assignment: Practical Considerations from Field Experiments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunford, Franklyn W.

    1990-01-01

    Seven qualitative issues associated with randomization that have the potential to weaken or destroy otherwise sound experimental designs are reviewed and illustrated via actual field experiments. Issue areas include ethics and legality, liability risks, manipulation of randomized outcomes, hidden bias, design intrusiveness, case flow, and…

  15. Exploring the statistical and clinical impact of two interim analyses on the Phase II design with option for direct assignment.

    PubMed

    An, Ming-Wen; Mandrekar, Sumithra J; Edelman, Martin J; Sargent, Daniel J

    2014-07-01

    The primary goal of Phase II clinical trials is to understand better a treatment's safety and efficacy to inform a Phase III go/no-go decision. Many Phase II designs have been proposed, incorporating randomization, interim analyses, adaptation, and patient selection. The Phase II design with an option for direct assignment (i.e. stop randomization and assign all patients to the experimental arm based on a single interim analysis (IA) at 50% accrual) was recently proposed [An et al., 2012]. We discuss this design in the context of existing designs, and extend it from a single-IA to a two-IA design. We compared the statistical properties and clinical relevance of the direct assignment design with two IA (DAD-2) versus a balanced randomized design with two IA (BRD-2) and a direct assignment design with one IA (DAD-1), over a range of response rate ratios (2.0-3.0). The DAD-2 has minimal loss in power (<2.2%) and minimal increase in T1ER (<1.6%) compared to a BRD-2. As many as 80% more patients were treated with experimental vs. control in the DAD-2 than with the BRD-2 (experimental vs. control ratio: 1.8 vs. 1.0), and as many as 64% more in the DAD-2 than with the DAD-1 (1.8 vs. 1.1). We illustrate the DAD-2 using a case study in lung cancer. In the spectrum of Phase II designs, the direct assignment design, especially with two IA, provides a middle ground with desirable statistical properties and likely appeal to both clinicians and patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Leader Positivity and Follower Creativity: An Experimental Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Avey, James B.; Richmond, F. Lynn; Nixon, Don R.

    2012-01-01

    Using an experimental research design, 191 working adults were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions in order to test a theoretical model linking leader and follower positive psychological capital (PsyCap). Multiple methods were used to gather information from the participants. We found when leader PsyCap was manipulated experimentally,…

  17. Involving Parents in Paired Reading with Preschoolers: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lam, Shui-fong; Chow-Yeung, Kamfung; Wong, Bernard P. H.; Lau, Kwok Kiu; Tse, Shuk In

    2013-01-01

    A paired reading program was implemented for 195 Hong Kong preschoolers (mean age = 4.7 years) and their parents from families with a wide range of family income. The preschoolers were randomly assigned to experimental or waitlist control groups. The parents in the experimental group received 12 sessions of school-based training on paired reading…

  18. A minimal-contact intervention for cardiac inpatients: long-term effects on smoking cessation.

    PubMed

    Bolman, Catherine; de Vries, Hein; van Breukelen, Gerard

    2002-08-01

    This study examined the 1-year effects of a minimal-contact smoking cessation intervention for cardiac inpatients. The multicenter study included cardiac inpatients who had smoked prior to hospitalization. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Patients' experimental condition depended on the hospital they were assigned to. The design was partially randomized: 4 of the 11 hospitals selected the experimental condition themselves (2 experimental, 2 control), while the remaining 7 hospitals were randomly assigned. The experimental group consisted of patients of 5 hospitals (N = 388). Patients of 6 other hospitals served as the control group (N = 401). The intervention included stop-smoking advice by the cardiologist, brief counseling by the nurse, the provision of self-help materials, and aftercare by the cardiologist. Logistic regression analyses controlling for baseline differences and covariates did not show significant intervention effects on point prevalence and continuous abstinence. The study also showed that the outcomes were not significantly related to the way hospitals were assigned to the experimental condition. While short-term effects were found, the minimal-contact intervention did not result in significant effects after 12 months, at least if patients lost to follow-up were treated as posttest smokers. Efforts should be made to improve the intervention, especially the aftercare.

  19. Sample Selection in Randomized Experiments: A New Method Using Propensity Score Stratified Sampling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tipton, Elizabeth; Hedges, Larry; Vaden-Kiernan, Michael; Borman, Geoffrey; Sullivan, Kate; Caverly, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    Randomized experiments are often seen as the "gold standard" for causal research. Despite the fact that experiments use random assignment to treatment conditions, units are seldom selected into the experiment using probability sampling. Very little research on experimental design has focused on how to make generalizations to well-defined…

  20. Estimating the Standard Error of the Impact Estimator in Individually Randomized Trials with Clustering

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiss, Michael J.; Lockwood, J. R.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.

    2016-01-01

    In the "individually randomized group treatment" (IRGT) experimental design, individuals are first randomly assigned to a treatment arm or a control arm, but then within each arm, are grouped together (e.g., within classrooms/schools, through shared case managers, in group therapy sessions, through shared doctors, etc.) to receive…

  1. Cracking down on Youth Tobacco May Influence Drug Use

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jason, Leonard A.; Pokorny, Steven B.; Adams, Monica; Nihls, Annie; Kim, Hyo Yeon; Hunt, Yvonne

    2010-01-01

    This study evaluated the influence of tobacco possession-use-purchase (PUP) law enforcement and illicit drug use and offers. Twenty-four towns were randomly assigned into two conditions. Both conditions focused on reducing minors' access to commercial sources of tobacco. The communities assigned to the experimental condition also increased their…

  2. The Effect on One's Own Performance of Evaluating Peers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohen, Stuart J.

    Fifty-three high school males took a minicourse on library usage. All were randomly assigned a topic and given response sheets requiring the use of dictionaries, encyclopedias, periodicals, and books. In a discussion session, all received instructional handouts. Students were assigned either to evaluating two peers' pretests (experimental) or…

  3. Packet Randomized Experiments for Eliminating Classes of Confounders

    PubMed Central

    Pavela, Greg; Wiener, Howard; Fontaine, Kevin R.; Fields, David A.; Voss, Jameson D.; Allison, David B.

    2014-01-01

    Background Although randomization is considered essential for causal inference, it is often not possible to randomize in nutrition and obesity research. To address this, we develop a framework for an experimental design—packet randomized experiments (PREs), which improves causal inferences when randomization on a single treatment variable is not possible. This situation arises when subjects are randomly assigned to a condition (such as a new roommate) which varies in one characteristic of interest (such as weight), but also varies across many others. There has been no general discussion of this experimental design, including its strengths, limitations, and statistical properties. As such, researchers are left to develop and apply PREs on an ad hoc basis, limiting its potential to improve causal inferences among nutrition and obesity researchers. Methods We introduce PREs as an intermediary design between randomized controlled trials and observational studies. We review previous research that used the PRE design and describe its application in obesity-related research, including random roommate assignments, heterochronic parabiosis, and the quasi-random assignment of subjects to geographic areas. We then provide a statistical framework to control for potential packet-level confounders not accounted for by randomization. Results PREs have successfully been used to improve causal estimates of the effect of roommates, altitude, and breastfeeding on weight outcomes. When certain assumptions are met, PREs can asymptotically control for packet-level characteristics. This has the potential to statistically estimate the effect of a single treatment even when randomization to a single treatment did not occur. Conclusions Applying PREs to obesity-related research will improve decisions about clinical, public health, and policy actions insofar as it offers researchers new insight into cause and effect relationships among variables. PMID:25444088

  4. The Effects of Total Physical Response by Storytelling and the Traditional Teaching Styles of a Foreign Language in a Selected High School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kariuki, Patrick N. K.; Bush, Elizabeth Danielle

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Total Physical Response by Storytelling and the traditional teaching method on a foreign language in a selected high school. The sample consisted of 30 students who were randomly selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught using Total…

  5. Testing a Violence-Prevention Intervention for Incarcerated Women Using a Randomized Control Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kubiak, Sheryl Pimlott; Kim, Woo Jong; Fedock, Gina; Bybee, Deborah

    2015-01-01

    Objective: Beyond Violence (BV), a new prevention program for women with assaultive offenses, demonstrated feasibility in previous studies. This study's purpose is to assess the efficacy of BV using a randomized control trial. Method: Eligible women were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) and the experimental condition (BV). Measures of…

  6. 40 CFR 798.5395 - In vivo mammalian bone marrow cytogenetics tests: Micronucleus assay.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... five female and five male animals per experimental and control group shall be used. Thus, 10 animals...) Assignment to groups. Animals shall be randomized and assigned to treatment and control groups. (4) Control groups—(i) Concurrent controls. Concurrent positive and negative (vehicle) controls shall be included in...

  7. 40 CFR 798.5395 - In vivo mammalian bone marrow cytogenetics tests: Micronucleus assay.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... five female and five male animals per experimental and control group shall be used. Thus, 10 animals...) Assignment to groups. Animals shall be randomized and assigned to treatment and control groups. (4) Control groups—(i) Concurrent controls. Concurrent positive and negative (vehicle) controls shall be included in...

  8. 40 CFR 798.5395 - In vivo mammalian bone marrow cytogenetics tests: Micronucleus assay.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... five female and five male animals per experimental and control group shall be used. Thus, 10 animals...) Assignment to groups. Animals shall be randomized and assigned to treatment and control groups. (4) Control groups—(i) Concurrent controls. Concurrent positive and negative (vehicle) controls shall be included in...

  9. 40 CFR 798.5395 - In vivo mammalian bone marrow cytogenetics tests: Micronucleus assay.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... five female and five male animals per experimental and control group shall be used. Thus, 10 animals...) Assignment to groups. Animals shall be randomized and assigned to treatment and control groups. (4) Control groups—(i) Concurrent controls. Concurrent positive and negative (vehicle) controls shall be included in...

  10. 40 CFR 798.5395 - In vivo mammalian bone marrow cytogenetics tests: Micronucleus assay.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... five female and five male animals per experimental and control group shall be used. Thus, 10 animals...) Assignment to groups. Animals shall be randomized and assigned to treatment and control groups. (4) Control groups—(i) Concurrent controls. Concurrent positive and negative (vehicle) controls shall be included in...

  11. Research Methods in Healthcare Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship – Quasi-Experimental Designs

    PubMed Central

    Schweizer, Marin L.; Braun, Barbara I.; Milstone, Aaron M.

    2016-01-01

    Quasi-experimental studies evaluate the association between an intervention and an outcome using experiments in which the intervention is not randomly assigned. Quasi-experimental studies are often used to evaluate rapid responses to outbreaks or other patient safety problems requiring prompt non-randomized interventions. Quasi-experimental studies can be categorized into three major types: interrupted time series designs, designs with control groups, and designs without control groups. This methods paper highlights key considerations for quasi-experimental studies in healthcare epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship including study design and analytic approaches to avoid selection bias and other common pitfalls of quasi-experimental studies. PMID:27267457

  12. Impact of Thematic Approach on Communication Skill in Preschool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ashokan, Varun; Venugopal, Kalpana

    2016-01-01

    The study investigated the effects of thematic approach on communication skills for preschool children. The study was a quasi experimental non-equivalent pretest-post-test control group design whereby 5-6 year old preschool children (n = 49) were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. The experimental group students were exposed…

  13. An Experimental Test of the Effects of Gender Constancy on Sex Typing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arthur, Andrea E.; Bigler, Rebecca S.; Ruble, Diane N.

    2009-01-01

    This study provides an experimental test of the hypothesis that level of gender constancy understanding affects children's sex typing. Preschool-age children (N = 62, mean age = 47 months) were randomly assigned to experimental lessons that taught that biological traits (including gender) are either fixed (pro-constancy condition) or mutable…

  14. Preference option randomized design (PORD) for comparative effectiveness research: Statistical power for testing comparative effect, preference effect, selection effect, intent-to-treat effect, and overall effect.

    PubMed

    Heo, Moonseong; Meissner, Paul; Litwin, Alain H; Arnsten, Julia H; McKee, M Diane; Karasz, Alison; McKinley, Paula; Rehm, Colin D; Chambers, Earle C; Yeh, Ming-Chin; Wylie-Rosett, Judith

    2017-01-01

    Comparative effectiveness research trials in real-world settings may require participants to choose between preferred intervention options. A randomized clinical trial with parallel experimental and control arms is straightforward and regarded as a gold standard design, but by design it forces and anticipates the participants to comply with a randomly assigned intervention regardless of their preference. Therefore, the randomized clinical trial may impose impractical limitations when planning comparative effectiveness research trials. To accommodate participants' preference if they are expressed, and to maintain randomization, we propose an alternative design that allows participants' preference after randomization, which we call a "preference option randomized design (PORD)". In contrast to other preference designs, which ask whether or not participants consent to the assigned intervention after randomization, the crucial feature of preference option randomized design is its unique informed consent process before randomization. Specifically, the preference option randomized design consent process informs participants that they can opt out and switch to the other intervention only if after randomization they actively express the desire to do so. Participants who do not independently express explicit alternate preference or assent to the randomly assigned intervention are considered to not have an alternate preference. In sum, preference option randomized design intends to maximize retention, minimize possibility of forced assignment for any participants, and to maintain randomization by allowing participants with no or equal preference to represent random assignments. This design scheme enables to define five effects that are interconnected with each other through common design parameters-comparative, preference, selection, intent-to-treat, and overall/as-treated-to collectively guide decision making between interventions. Statistical power functions for testing all these effects are derived, and simulations verified the validity of the power functions under normal and binomial distributions.

  15. An Investigation of Effectiveness of Conceptual Change Text-oriented Instruction on Students' Understanding of Solution Concepts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinarbaşi; , Tacettin; Canpolat, Nurtaç; Bayrakçeken, Samih; Geban, Ömer

    2006-12-01

    This study investigated the effect of conceptual change text-oriented instruction over traditional instruction on students' understanding of solution concepts (e.g., dissolving, solubility, factors affecting solubility, concentrations of solutions, types of solutions, physical properties of solutions) and their attitudes towards chemistry. The sample of this study consisted of 87 undergraduate students from two classes enrolled in an introductory chemistry course. One of the classes was assigned randomly to the control group, and the other class were assigned randomly to the experimental group. During teaching the topic of solution concepts in the chemistry curriculum, a conceptual change text-oriented instruction was applied in the experimental group whereas traditional instruction was followed in the control group. The results showed that the students in the experimental group performed better with respect to solution concepts. In addition, it has been found that there was no significant difference between the attitudes of students in the experimental and control groups towards chemistry.

  16. A Comparison of Single Sample and Bootstrap Methods to Assess Mediation in Cluster Randomized Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pituch, Keenan A.; Stapleton, Laura M.; Kang, Joo Youn

    2006-01-01

    A Monte Carlo study examined the statistical performance of single sample and bootstrap methods that can be used to test and form confidence interval estimates of indirect effects in two cluster randomized experimental designs. The designs were similar in that they featured random assignment of clusters to one of two treatment conditions and…

  17. Efficiency of a Care Coordination Model: A Randomized Study with Stroke Patients

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Claiborne, Nancy

    2006-01-01

    Objectives: This study investigated the efficiency of a social work care coordination model for stroke patients. Care coordination addresses patient care and treatment resources across the health care system to reduce risk, improve clinical outcomes, and maximize efficiency. Method: A randomly assigned, pre-post experimental design measured…

  18. CAI: Overcoming Attitude Barriers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Netusil, Anton J.; Kockler, Lois H.

    During each of two school quarters, approximately 60 college students enrolled in a mathematics course were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The control group received instruction by the lecture method only; the experimental group received the same instruction, except that six computer-assisted instruction (CAI) units…

  19. A Wilderness Adventure Program as an Alternative for Juvenile Probationers: An Evaluation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winterdyk, John Albert

    A true experimental design with 60 male probationers, ages 13-16, was used to evaluate the viability of an Ontario-based 21-day wilderness adventure program as an alternative for adjudicated juveniles placed on probation. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group was subdivided into 3…

  20. Study of Teaching Residents How to Teach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edwards, Janine C.; And Others

    1988-01-01

    The effectiveness of a teaching skills program for residents at Louisiana State University Medical Center was evaluated among 22 residents in obstetrics and gynecology, medicine, and family medicine who were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. There was greater increase in the scores of the experimental than the control groups.…

  1. Effects of Critical Discussions on Middle School Students' Written Historical Arguments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wissinger, Daniel R.; De La Paz, Susan

    2016-01-01

    In this experimental study, 151 middle school students explored 3 historical controversies, first reading and discussing primary source documents in groups, then writing arguments on their own. Students were either randomly assigned to an experimental condition, using argumentative schemes and critical questions as guides during discussions, or to…

  2. Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of a Research-Based Preschool Mathematics Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clements, Douglas H.; Sarama, Julie

    2008-01-01

    A randomized-trials design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a preschool mathematics program based on a comprehensive model of research-based curricula development. Thirty-six preschool classrooms were assigned to experimental (Building Blocks), comparison (a different preschool mathematics curriculum), or control conditions. Children were…

  3. Essays on Policy Evaluation with Endogenous Adoption

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gentile, Elisabetta

    2011-01-01

    Over the last decade, experimental and quasi-experimental methods have been favored by researchers in empirical economics, as they provide unbiased causal estimates. However, when implementing a program, it is often not possible to randomly assign subjects to treatment, leading to a possible endogeneity bias. This dissertation consists of two…

  4. 77 FR 26764 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-07

    ... two sites, with the random assignment of AFI-eligible cases to program and control groups. The... Families (ACF) is proposing a data collection activity as part of an experimental evaluation of the Assets... outcomes? While some evaluations suggest that IDAs help low-income families save, rigorous experimental...

  5. Impacts of Dialogical Storybook Reading on Young Children's Reading Attitudes and Vocabulary Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kotaman, Huseyin

    2013-01-01

    The current study assessed the impact of parents' dialogical storybook reading on their children's receptive vocabulary and reading attitudes. Forty parents and their preschoolers participated in the study. Parents were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. The experimental group received dialogical storybook reading training.…

  6. Capturing Students' Attention: An Empirical Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosegard, Erik; Wilson, Jackson

    2013-01-01

    College students ("n" = 846) enrolled in a general education course were randomly assigned to either an arousal (experimental) or no-arousal (control) group. The experimental group was exposed to a topic-relevant, 90-second external stimulus (a technique used to elevate arousal and focus attention). The control group listened to the…

  7. Evaluation of the Better Parenting Programme in Jordan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Hassan, Suha M.; Lansford, Jennifer E.

    2011-01-01

    This study evaluates the Better Parenting Programme (BPP) which has been implemented nationally in Jordan to enhance parents' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to caring for young children. The participants (N = 337, 94% female) were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group participated in…

  8. The Effects of a Computerized Study Program on the Acquisition of Science Vocabulary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rollins, Karen F.

    2012-01-01

    The following study examined the difference in science vocabulary acquisition comparing computer-assisted learning and a traditional study review sheet. Fourth and fifth grade students from a suburban school in central Texas were randomly selected and randomly assigned to either experimental group or control group. Both groups were given a…

  9. Working Memory Training for Adolescents with Cannabis Use Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sweeney, Mary M.; Rass, Olga; DiClemente, Cara; Schacht, Rebecca L.; Vo, Hoa T.; Fishman, Marc J.; Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie S.; Mintzer, Miriam Z.; Johnson, Matthew W.

    2018-01-01

    Adolescent cannabis use is associated with working memory impairment. The present randomized controlled trial assigned adolescents ages 14 to 21 enrolled in cannabis use treatment to receive either working memory training (experimental group) or a control training (control group) as an adjunctive treatment. Cognitive function, drug use, and other…

  10. Using Non-experimental Data to Estimate Treatment Effects

    PubMed Central

    Stuart, Elizabeth A.; Marcus, Sue M.; Horvitz-Lennon, Marcela V.; Gibbons, Robert D.; Normand, Sharon-Lise T.

    2009-01-01

    While much psychiatric research is based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), where patients are randomly assigned to treatments, sometimes RCTs are not feasible. This paper describes propensity score approaches, which are increasingly used for estimating treatment effects in non-experimental settings. The primary goal of propensity score methods is to create sets of treated and comparison subjects who look as similar as possible, in essence replicating a randomized experiment, at least with respect to observed patient characteristics. A study to estimate the metabolic effects of antipsychotic medication in a sample of Florida Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia illustrates methods. PMID:20563313

  11. An Experimental Evaluation of a School-Based Emancipatory Intervention to Promote African American Well-Being and Youth Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Kelly M.; Sullivan, Cris M.; Bybee, Deborah

    2006-01-01

    This study experimentally examined the effect of a school-based emancipatory intervention on the psychological and behavioral well-being of African American adolescents. Sixty-five eighth graders in an inner-city, predominantly Black school were randomly assigned to either receive the experimental intervention or a regular Life Skills course (the…

  12. The Role of Friends' Disruptive Behavior in the Development of Children's Tobacco Experimentation: Results from a Preventive Intervention Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Lier, Pol A. C.; Huizink, Anja; Vuijk, Patricia

    2011-01-01

    Having friends who engage in disruptive behavior in childhood may be a risk factor for childhood tobacco experimentation. This study tested the role of friends' disruptive behavior as a mediator of the effects of a classroom based intervention on children's tobacco experimentation. 433 Children (52% males) were randomly assigned to the Good…

  13. Scaffolding Voluntary Summer Reading for Children in Grades 3 to 5: An Experimental Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, James S.; White, Thomas G.

    2008-01-01

    The effects of a voluntary summer reading intervention with teacher and parent scaffolding were investigated in an experimental study. A total of 24 teachers and 400 children in Grades 3, 4, and 5 were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: control, books only, books with oral reading scaffolding, and books with oral reading and…

  14. Automated sequence-specific protein NMR assignment using the memetic algorithm MATCH.

    PubMed

    Volk, Jochen; Herrmann, Torsten; Wüthrich, Kurt

    2008-07-01

    MATCH (Memetic Algorithm and Combinatorial Optimization Heuristics) is a new memetic algorithm for automated sequence-specific polypeptide backbone NMR assignment of proteins. MATCH employs local optimization for tracing partial sequence-specific assignments within a global, population-based search environment, where the simultaneous application of local and global optimization heuristics guarantees high efficiency and robustness. MATCH thus makes combined use of the two predominant concepts in use for automated NMR assignment of proteins. Dynamic transition and inherent mutation are new techniques that enable automatic adaptation to variable quality of the experimental input data. The concept of dynamic transition is incorporated in all major building blocks of the algorithm, where it enables switching between local and global optimization heuristics at any time during the assignment process. Inherent mutation restricts the intrinsically required randomness of the evolutionary algorithm to those regions of the conformation space that are compatible with the experimental input data. Using intact and artificially deteriorated APSY-NMR input data of proteins, MATCH performed sequence-specific resonance assignment with high efficiency and robustness.

  15. [Ethyl chloride aerosol spray for local anesthesia before arterial puncture: randomized placebo-controlled trial].

    PubMed

    Ballesteros-Peña, Sendoa; Fernández-Aedo, Irrintzi; Vallejo-De la Hoz, Gorka

    2017-06-01

    To compare the efficacy of an ethyl chloride aerosol spray to a placebo spray applied in the emergency department to the skin to reduce pain from arterial puncture for blood gas analysis. Single-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial in an emergency department of Hospital de Basurto in Bilbao, Spain. We included 126 patients for whom arterial blood gas analysis had been ordered. They were randomly assigned to receive application of the experimental ethyl chloride spray (n=66) or a placebo aerosol spray of a solution of alcohol in water (n=60). The assigned spray was applied just before arterial puncture. The main outcome variable was pain intensity reported on an 11-point numeric rating scale. The median (interquartile range) pain level was 2 (1-5) in the experimental arm and 2 (1-4.5) in the placebo arm (P=.72). Topical application of an ethyl chloride spray did not reduce pain caused by arterial puncture.

  16. An efficient randomized algorithm for contact-based NMR backbone resonance assignment.

    PubMed

    Kamisetty, Hetunandan; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris; Pandurangan, Gopal

    2006-01-15

    Backbone resonance assignment is a critical bottleneck in studies of protein structure, dynamics and interactions by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A minimalist approach to assignment, which we call 'contact-based', seeks to dramatically reduce experimental time and expense by replacing the standard suite of through-bond experiments with the through-space (nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy, NOESY) experiment. In the contact-based approach, spectral data are represented in a graph with vertices for putative residues (of unknown relation to the primary sequence) and edges for hypothesized NOESY interactions, such that observed spectral peaks could be explained if the residues were 'close enough'. Due to experimental ambiguity, several incorrect edges can be hypothesized for each spectral peak. An assignment is derived by identifying consistent patterns of edges (e.g. for alpha-helices and beta-sheets) within a graph and by mapping the vertices to the primary sequence. The key algorithmic challenge is to be able to uncover these patterns even when they are obscured by significant noise. This paper develops, analyzes and applies a novel algorithm for the identification of polytopes representing consistent patterns of edges in a corrupted NOESY graph. Our randomized algorithm aggregates simplices into polytopes and fixes inconsistencies with simple local modifications, called rotations, that maintain most of the structure already uncovered. In characterizing the effects of experimental noise, we employ an NMR-specific random graph model in proving that our algorithm gives optimal performance in expected polynomial time, even when the input graph is significantly corrupted. We confirm this analysis in simulation studies with graphs corrupted by up to 500% noise. Finally, we demonstrate the practical application of the algorithm on several experimental beta-sheet datasets. Our approach is able to eliminate a large majority of noise edges and to uncover large consistent sets of interactions. Our algorithm has been implemented in the platform-independent Python code. The software can be freely obtained for academic use by request from the authors.

  17. The Effects of Advance Organizers and Subtitles on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Hui-Yu

    2014-01-01

    The present research reports the findings of three experiments which explore how subtitles and advance organizers affect EFL learners' listening comprehension of authentic videos. EFL learners are randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group receives no treatment and the experimental group receives the experimental conditions of one…

  18. Effective Secondary Science Programs: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheung, Alan; Slavin, Robert E.; Kim, Elizabeth; Lake, Cynthia

    2017-01-01

    This article reports a systematic review of research on science programs in grades 6-12. Twenty-one studies met inclusion criteria including use of randomized or quasi-experimental assignment to conditions, measures that assess content emphasized equally in experimental and control groups, and a duration of at least 12 weeks. Programs fell into…

  19. Changes in Nutrition Knowledge Scores and Calcium Intake in Female Adolescents.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Julie; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Female adolescents were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=29), which received nutrition instruction, and a no-treatment control group (n=20). In the experimental group, nutrition knowledge increased significantly, calcium and vitamin D intake increased, and mean intakes for calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus were closer to the…

  20. The Modification of Intelligence through Early Experience.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramey, Craig T.; Haskins, Ron

    Infants judged to be at risk for subnormal intellectual growth were randomly assigned to an experimental (N=27) or a control (N=25) group. Infants in both groups received medical care and dietary supplements; their families received social work services on a request basis. Experimental children participated in an educational day care program…

  1. Leveraging Volunteers: An Experimental Evaluation of a Tutoring Program for Struggling Readers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacob, Robin; Armstrong, Catherine; Bowden, A. Brooks; Pan, Yilin

    2016-01-01

    This study evaluates the impacts and costs of the Reading Partners program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in under-resourced elementary schools. The evaluation uses an experimental design. Students were randomly assigned within 19 different Reading Partners sites to a program or control…

  2. Nutrition Knowledge and Food Choices of Elementary School Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kandiah, Jay; Jones, Charlotte

    2002-01-01

    Investigated the effect of a 3-week school-based nutrition education program on nutrition knowledge and healthy food choices of fifth graders randomly assigned to experimental or control group. Found that the experimental group exhibited a significant increase in nutrition knowledge from pretest to posttest and significant change in compliance in…

  3. Two-Way and Monolingual English Immersion in Preschool Education: An Experimental Comparison

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnett, W. Steven; Yarosz, Donald J.; Thomas, Jessica; Jung, Kwanghee; Blanco, Dulce

    2007-01-01

    An experimental study was conducted comparing the effects of dual language, or two-way immersion (TWI) and monolingual English immersion (EI) preschool education programs on children's learning. Three-and four-year old children were randomly assigned by lottery to either a newly established TWI Spanish/English program or a monolingual English…

  4. Teaching Learning Disabled Adolescents to Set Realistic Goals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tollefson, Nona; And Others

    Sixty-one learning disabled (LD) adolescents in four junior high schools were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups as part of an effort to teach LD students to set realistic goals so they might experience success and satisfaction in school. Ss in the experimental group made achievement contracts and predicted their performance in…

  5. Attenders versus Slackers: A Classroom Demonstration of Quasi-Experimentation and Self-Selecting Samples

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stellmack, Mark A.

    2013-01-01

    Studies of the effects of class attendance on class performance typically are quasi-experimental because students choose whether or not to attend class; that is, the samples are self-selecting. The lack of random assignment prevents one from establishing a causal relationship between attendance and performance. Relating attendance to performance…

  6. Evaluation of an Intervention to Foster Time Perspective and Career Decidedness in a Group of Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferrari, Lea; Nota, Laura; Soresi, Salvatore

    2012-01-01

    A structured 10-didactic unit intervention was devised to foster adolescents' time perspective and career decidedness. The study was conducted with 50 adolescents who were selected from a group of 624; 25 of the participants were randomly assigned to the control group and 25 were assigned to the experimental group. They were selected according to…

  7. A Cognitive Strategy Instruction to Improve Math Calculation for Children with ADHD and LD: A Randomized Controlled Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iseman, Jackie S.; Naglieri, Jack A.

    2011-01-01

    The authors examined the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction based on PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive) given by special education teachers to students with ADHD randomly assigned by classroom. Students in the experimental group were exposed to a brief cognitive strategy instruction for 10 days, which was designed to…

  8. Preparing Beginning Reading Teachers: An Experimental Comparison of Initial Early Literacy Field Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lake, Vickie E.; Greulich, Luana; Folsom, Jessica S.; Guidry, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor…

  9. Randomized Controlled Trial of Teaching Methods: Do Classroom Experiments Improve Economic Education in High Schools?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eisenkopf, Gerald; Sulser, Pascal A.

    2016-01-01

    The authors present results from a comprehensive field experiment at Swiss high schools in which they compare the effectiveness of teaching methods in economics. They randomly assigned classes into an experimental and a conventional teaching group, or a control group that received no specific instruction. Both teaching treatments improve economic…

  10. Outcomes of an HIV Prevention Peer Group Intervention for Rural Adults in Malawi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaponda, Chrissie P. N.; Norr, Kathleen F.; Crittenden, Kathleen S.; Norr, James L.; McCreary, Linda L.; Kachingwe, Sitingawawo I.; Mbeba, Mary M.; Jere, Diana L. N.; Dancy, Barbara L.

    2011-01-01

    This study used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate a six-session peer group intervention for HIV prevention among rural adults in Malawi. Two rural districts were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. Independent random samples of community adults compared the districts at baseline and at 6 and 18 months postintervention.…

  11. The Role of Exposure Condition in the Effectiveness of Explicit Correction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yilmaz, Yucel

    2016-01-01

    This article reports on a study that investigated the effects of two feedback exposure conditions on the acquisition of two Turkish morphemes. The study followed a randomized experimental design with an immediate and a delayed posttest. Forty-two Chinese-speaking learners of Turkish were randomly assigned to one of three groups: receivers,…

  12. The experimental design of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project

    Treesearch

    Steven L. Sheriff; Shuoqiong He

    1997-01-01

    The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is an experiment that examines the effects of three forest management practices on the forest community. MOFEP is designed as a randomized complete block design using nine sites divided into three blocks. Treatments of uneven-aged, even-aged, and no-harvest management were randomly assigned to sites within each block...

  13. The Effects of Quality Books for Children and the Metacognitive Strategy on Students' Self-Esteem Levels

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cer, Erkan; Sahin, Ertugrul

    2017-01-01

    Using a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups, 93 eighth grade students were randomly assigned either to the experimental or to the control group and responded to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale two weeks before and after the intervention. While the students in the experimental group were instructed in quality books…

  14. Quasi-Experimental Evidence of Peer Effects in First-Year Economics Courses at a Chinese University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Qihui; Tian, Guoqiang; Okediji, Tade O.

    2014-01-01

    The authors of this article implement a quasi-experimental strategy to estimate peer effects in economic education by exploiting the institutional setting in a large public university in China, where roommates are randomly assigned conditional on a student's major and province of origin. They found significant impacts of peer academic quality,…

  15. Using Advance Organizers to Enhance Pupils' Achievement in Learning Poetry in English Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Muiruri, Mary; Wambugu, Patriciah; Wamukuru, Kuria

    2016-01-01

    The study was a quasi-experimental that investigated the effects of Advance Organizers (AO) on achievement in poetry. Target population was class seven pupils of Nakuru North Sub-county primary schools in Kenya. 160 pupils were involved in the study. Four sampled schools were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups in Solomon Four…

  16. Estimating the Impact of the PROMISE Scholarship Using Propensity Score Weighted Frontier Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shobo, Yetty; Wong, Jen D.; Bell, Angie

    2014-01-01

    Regression discontinuity (RD), an "as good as randomized," research design is increasingly prominent in education research in recent years; the design gets eligible quasi-experimental designs as close as possible to experimental designs by using a stated threshold on a continuous baseline variable to assign individuals to a…

  17. An Experimental Study Comparing English-Only and Transitional Bilingual Education on Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers' Early Literacy Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duran, Lillian K.; Roseth, Cary J.; Hoffman, Patricia

    2010-01-01

    A longitudinal, experimental-control design was used to test the hypothesis that native language instruction enhances English language learner's (ELL's) native language and literacy development without significant cost to English development. In this study, 31 Spanish-speaking preschoolers (aged 38-48 months) were randomly assigned to two Head…

  18. The Impact of Concept Mapping on EFL Learners' Critical Thinking Ability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khodadady, Ebrahim; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigated the influence of concept mapping as a post-reading strategy on EFL learners' critical thinking ability. The study utilized a pretest-posttest control and experimental group design. To do so, thirty six EFL learners at upper intermediate and advanced levels were randomly assigned to experimental (n=18) and control…

  19. The Effect of a Sport Stacking Intervention on Handwriting with Second Grade Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yuhua; Coleman, Diane; Ransdell, Mary; Coleman, Lyndsie; Irwin, Carol

    2014-01-01

    The present study examined the impact a 14-week sport stacking (cup stacking) exercise intervention would have on children's handwriting quality and speed. Eighty-three second graders were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group (n = 42) participated in a 15-min session of sport stacking activities…

  20. An Experimental Investigation into the Efficiency of Cooperative Learning with Consideration of Multiple Grouping Criteria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hsiung, C. -M.

    2010-01-01

    The present study conducts an experimental investigation to compare the efficiency of the cooperative learning method with that of the traditional learning method. A total of 42 engineering students are randomly assigned to the two learning conditions and are formed into mixed-ability groups comprising three team members. In addition to the…

  1. Argumentation Practices in Classroom: Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptual Understanding of Chemical Equilibrium

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaya, Ebru

    2013-01-01

    This study examines the impact of argumentation practices on pre-service teachers' understanding of chemical equilibrium. The sample consisted of 100 pre-service teachers in two classes of a public university. One of these classes was assigned as experimental and the other as control group, randomly. In the experimental group, the subject of…

  2. Teaching in Cyberspace: Online versus Traditional Instruction Using a Waiting-List Experimental Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poirier, Christopher R.; Feldman, Robert S.

    2004-01-01

    To test the effectiveness of an online introductory psychology course, we randomly assigned students to a large, traditional course or to an online course from a population of students who indicated that either course type was acceptable using a "waiting list" experimental design. Students in the online course performed better on exams and equally…

  3. Effects of a Training Program on the Job Readiness of Physically Handicapped Sheltered Workshop Employees.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tesolowski, Dennis G.; Halpin, Gerald

    Twenty-two physically handicapped sheltered workshop employees were matched on the severity of their disabilities and randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Those in the experimental group participated in a one-hour-per-day, fifteen-day job readiness training program in addition to their regular sheltered workshop jobs while…

  4. Does Comparing Solution Methods Facilitate Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge? An Experimental Study on Learning to Solve Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rittle-Johnson, Bethany; Star, Jon R.

    2007-01-01

    Encouraging students to share and compare solution methods is a key component of reform efforts in mathematics, and comparison is emerging as a fundamental learning mechanism. To experimentally evaluate the effects of comparison for mathematics learning, the authors randomly assigned 70 seventh-grade students to learn about algebra equation…

  5. Practising Mental Rotation Using Interactive Desktop Mental Rotation Trainer (iDeMRT)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rafi, Ahmad; Samsudin, Khairulanuar

    2009-01-01

    An experimental study involving 30 undergraduates (mean age = 20.5 years) in mental rotation (MR) training was conducted in an interactive Desktop Mental Rotation Trainer (iDeMRT). Stratified random sampling assigned students into one experimental group and one control group. The former trained in iDeMRT and the latter trained in conventional…

  6. The Computer as a Teaching Aid for Eleventh Grade Mathematics: A Comparison Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kieren, Thomas Ervin

    To determine the effect of learning computer programming and the use of a computer on mathematical achievement of eleventh grade students, for each of two years, average and above average students were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. The experimental group wrote computer programs and used the output from the computer in…

  7. Cross-Age Peer Tutors in Asynchronous Discussion Groups: Studying the Impact of Tutors Labelling Their Interventions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Smet, M.; Van Keer, H.; Valcke, M.

    2008-01-01

    Cross-age tutors were randomly assigned to one of the three tutor training conditions distinguished for the current study: (1) the labelling experimental condition, characterized by requirements to label their tutor interventions, based on the e-moderating model of Salmon; (2) the non-labelling experimental condition, focusing on tutor's acting…

  8. Extensions of Existing Methods for Use with a New Class of Experimental Designs Useful when There Is Treatment Effect Contamination

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhoads, Christopher

    2011-01-01

    Researchers planning a randomized field trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention often face the following dilemma. They plan to recruit schools to participate in their study. The question is, "Should the researchers randomly assign individuals (either students or teachers, depending on the intervention) within schools to…

  9. Reducing Playground Bullying and Supporting Beliefs: An Experimental Trial of the Steps to Respect Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frey, Karin S.; Hirschstein, Miriam K.; Snell, Jennie L.; Edstrom, Leihua Van Schoiack; MacKenzie, Elizabeth P.; Broderick, Carole J.

    2005-01-01

    Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior…

  10. Longitudinal Evaluation of a Scale-up Model for Teaching Mathematics with Trajectories and Technologies: Persistence of Effects in the Third Year

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clements, Douglas H.; Sarama, Julie; Wolfe, Christopher B.; Spitler, Mary Elaine

    2013-01-01

    Using a cluster randomized trial design, we evaluated the persistence of effects of a research-based model for scaling up educational interventions. The model was implemented in 42 schools in two city districts serving low-resource communities, randomly assigned to three conditions. In pre-kindergarten, the two experimental interventions were…

  11. Effects of leisure education on self-rated health among older adults.

    PubMed

    Chang, Liang-Chih; Yu, Ping; Jeng, Mei-Yuan

    2015-01-01

    This study examined whether a leisure education program could promote leisure autonomy and self-rated health (SRH) among older adults. A pretest-posttest randomized experimental design was conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 30) or a control group (n = 30). Data related to leisure autonomy and SRH were collected shortly before and after the experiment. Pretest and posttest data were analyzed using an analysis of covariance. The results indicated that the average posttest scores of leisure autonomy and SRH in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Implications of the results are discussed.

  12. Triadic Gaze Intervention for Young Children with Physical Disabilities

    PubMed Central

    Olswang, Lesley B.; Dowden, Patricia; Feuerstein, Julie; Greenslade, Kathryn; Pinder, Gay Lloyd; Fleming, Kandace

    2018-01-01

    Purpose This randomized controlled study investigated whether a supplemental treatment designed to teach triadic gaze (TG) as a signal of coordinated joint attention (CJA) would yield a significantly greater increase in TG in the experimental versus control group. Method Eighteen 10- to 24-month-old children with severe motor impairments were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=9) or control group (n=9). For approximately 29 sessions over 17 weeks, experimental participants received TG treatment twice weekly with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in addition to standard practice. Controls received only standard practice from birth-to-three therapists. Coders masked to group assignment coded TG productions with an unfamiliar SLP at baseline, every three weeks during the experimental phase, and at the final measurement session. Results TG increased across groups from baseline to final measurement, with the experimental group showing slightly greater change. Performance trends were examined using experimental phase moving averages. Comparisons revealed significant differences between groups at two time points (at 12 weeks, r= .30, a medium effect and at the end of the phase r=.50, large effect). Conclusion Results suggest the promise of a short-term, focused treatment to teach TG as a behavioral manifestation of CJA to children with severe physical disabilities. PMID:24686825

  13. The effect of asthma education program on knowledge of school teachers: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Kawafha, Mariam M; Tawalbeh, Loai Issa

    2015-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an asthma education program on schoolteachers' knowledge. Pre-test-post-test experimental randomized controlled design was used. A multistage-cluster sampling technique was used to randomly select governorate, primary schools, and schoolteachers. Schoolteachers were randomly assigned either to the experimental group (n = 36) and attended three educational sessions or to the control group (n = 38) who did not receive any intervention. Knowledge about asthma was measured using the Asthma General Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults (AGKQA). The results indicated that teachers in the experimental group showed significantly (p < .001) higher knowledge of asthma in the first post-test and the second post-test compared with those in the control group. Implementing asthma education enhanced schoolteachers' knowledge of asthma. The asthma education program should target schoolteachers to improve knowledge about asthma. © The Author(s) 2014.

  14. Impact of a Plant-Based Diet and Support on Mitigating Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Latinos Living in Medically Underserved Areas.

    PubMed

    Ramal, Edelweiss; Champlin, Andrea; Bahjri, Khaled

    2018-03-01

    To determine the impact that a high-fiber, low-fat diet, derived from mostly plant-based sources, when coupled with support has upon self-management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Latinos from medically underserved areas (MUAs). Experimental randomized controlled community pilot study. Three community clinics in MUAs located within San Bernardino County, California. Thirty-two randomly assigned Latinos with A1 C greater than 6.4: 15 control and 17 experimental. Participants completed a 5-week education program. Researchers provided follow-up support for 17 randomly assigned experimental group participants through focus groups held at participating clinics-1, 3, and 6 months posteducation. Changes in fat and fiber consumption were measured using a modified Dietary Screener for Mexican Americans. Self-management was measured through the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale and Diabetes Quality of Life Measure. Baseline characteristics for both groups were analyzed using independent t tests and χ 2 tests. A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to analyze biometric data between baseline and 6 months for both groups. Mean A1 C levels decreased from baseline to 6 months for both groups: control, μ 1 = 9.57, μ 2 = 9.49; experimental, μ 1 = 8.53, μ 2 = 7.31. The experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in mean A1 C levels ( P = .002) when compared to the control group.

  15. The Effects of a Flipped Classroom Model of Instruction on Students' Performance and Attitudes towards Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olakanmi, Eunice Eyitayo

    2017-01-01

    This study establishes the effects of a flipped classroom model of instruction on academic performance and attitudes of 66 first-year secondary school students towards chemistry. A pre-test and post-test experimental design was employed to assign students randomly into either the experimental or control group. In order to assess the suitability of…

  16. Effects of Training Method and Gender on Learning 2D/3D Geometry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khairulanuar, Samsudin; Nazre, Abd Rashid; Jamilah, H.; Sairabanu, Omar Khan; Norasikin, Fabil

    2010-01-01

    This article reports the findings of an experimental study involving 36 primary school students (16 girls, 20 boys, Mean age = 9.5 years, age range: 8-10 years) in geometrical understanding of 2D and 3D objects. Students were assigned into two experimental groups and one control group based on a stratified random sampling procedure. The first…

  17. The Effects of Computerized and Traditional Ear Training Programs on Aural Skills of Elementary Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kariuki, Patrick N.; Ross, Zachary R.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of computerized and traditional ear training methods on the aural skills abilities of elementary music students. The sample consisted of 20 students who were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. The experimental group was taught for five sessions using computerized…

  18. Gender Differences in Spatial Ability of Young Children: The Effects of Training and Processing Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tzuriel, David; Egozi, Gila

    2010-01-01

    A sample of 116 children (M = 6 years 7 months) in Grade 1 was randomly assigned to experimental (n = 60) and control (n = 56) groups, with equal numbers of boys and girls in each group. The experimental group received a program aimed at improving representation and transformation of visuospatial information, whereas the control group received a…

  19. Sexual Harassment Prevention Initiatives: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-10-28

    design , and the time series with nonequivalent control group design . The experimental research approach will randomly assign participants...Leedy & Ormrod, 2005). According to Fife- Schaw (2006) there are three quasi-experimental designs : the nonequivalent control group design , the time...that have controlled and isolated variables. A specific quantitative approach available to the researcher is the use of surveys. Surveys, in

  20. Relationship of field and LiDAR estimates of forest canopy cover with snow accumulation and melt

    Treesearch

    Mariana Dobre; William J. Elliot; Joan Q. Wu; Timothy E. Link; Brandon Glaza; Theresa B. Jain; Andrew T. Hudak

    2012-01-01

    At the Priest River Experimental Forest in northern Idaho, USA, snow water equivalent (SWE) was recorded over a period of six years on random, equally-spaced plots in ~4.5 ha small watersheds (n=10). Two watersheds were selected as controls and eight as treatments, with two watersheds randomly assigned per treatment as follows: harvest (2007) followed by mastication (...

  1. Effects of Teaching a Library Usage Unit to Seventh Graders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gifford, Vernon; Gifford, Jean

    This document reports the results of a study undertaken to determine if teaching a 2-week unit on library usage to 7th graders would increase their use of the library. From three non-ability grouped 7th grade classes, two classes of 26 students each were randomly selected for the study. One class was randomly assigned as the experimental group and…

  2. Biases in Estimating Treatment Effects Due to Attrition in Randomized Controlled Trials and Cluster Randomized Controlled Trials: A Simulation Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dong, Nianbo; Lipsey, Mark W.

    2011-01-01

    Attrition occurs when study participants who were assigned to the treatment and control conditions do not provide outcome data and thus do not contribute to the estimation of the treatment effects. It is very common in experimental studies in education as illustrated, for instance, in a meta-analysis studying "the effects of attrition on baseline…

  3. Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: designing, analyzing, and reporting cluster randomized controlled trials.

    PubMed

    Brown, Andrew W; Li, Peng; Bohan Brown, Michelle M; Kaiser, Kathryn A; Keith, Scott W; Oakes, J Michael; Allison, David B

    2015-08-01

    Cluster randomized controlled trials (cRCTs; also known as group randomized trials and community-randomized trials) are multilevel experiments in which units that are randomly assigned to experimental conditions are sets of grouped individuals, whereas outcomes are recorded at the individual level. In human cRCTs, clusters that are randomly assigned are typically families, classrooms, schools, worksites, or counties. With growing interest in community-based, public health, and policy interventions to reduce obesity or improve nutrition, the use of cRCTs has increased. Errors in the design, analysis, and interpretation of cRCTs are unfortunately all too common. This situation seems to stem in part from investigator confusion about how the unit of randomization affects causal inferences and the statistical procedures required for the valid estimation and testing of effects. In this article, we provide a brief introduction and overview of the importance of cRCTs and highlight and explain important considerations for the design, analysis, and reporting of cRCTs by using published examples. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.

  4. The direct assignment option as a modular design component: an example for the setting of two predefined subgroups.

    PubMed

    An, Ming-Wen; Lu, Xin; Sargent, Daniel J; Mandrekar, Sumithra J

    2015-01-01

    A phase II design with an option for direct assignment (stop randomization and assign all patients to experimental treatment based on interim analysis, IA) for a predefined subgroup was previously proposed. Here, we illustrate the modularity of the direct assignment option by applying it to the setting of two predefined subgroups and testing for separate subgroup main effects. We power the 2-subgroup direct assignment option design with 1 IA (DAD-1) to test for separate subgroup main effects, with assessment of power to detect an interaction in a post-hoc test. Simulations assessed the statistical properties of this design compared to the 2-subgroup balanced randomized design with 1 IA, BRD-1. Different response rates for treatment/control in subgroup 1 (0.4/0.2) and in subgroup 2 (0.1/0.2, 0.4/0.2) were considered. The 2-subgroup DAD-1 preserves power and type I error rate compared to the 2-subgroup BRD-1, while exhibiting reasonable power in a post-hoc test for interaction. The direct assignment option is a flexible design component that can be incorporated into broader design frameworks, while maintaining desirable statistical properties, clinical appeal, and logistical simplicity.

  5. Pressure ulcer prevention: a randomized controlled trial of 2 risk-directed strategies for patient surface assignment.

    PubMed

    Inman, K J; Dymock, K; Fysh, N; Robbins, B; Rutledge, F S; Sibbald, W J

    1999-03-01

    To compare the clinical utility, in terms of incidence of pressure ulcer (PU) development, and economic impact of 2 programs of patient surface assignment for PU prevention. Randomized controlled clinical trial with economic evaluation. 30-bed multidisciplinary intensive care unit (ICU), serving as the regional trauma center. 144 consecutive eligible patients at risk for the development of PUs. PU risk was assessed on admission using the Skin Ulcer Risk Evaluation (SURE) Score, and patients were randomized to either the experimental (purchase) or control group (purchase/rent). Based on their SURE Score, patients were assigned a specialty surface if needed. Patients received head-to-toe skin assessments twice weekly, new PUs were documented, a new SURE Score was calculated, and specialty surfaces were upgraded or downgraded as necessary. The incidence of PUs by site and severity, and cost. Multivariate logistic regression and decision modeling. No significant differences were detected between groups with respect to baseline population characteristics, nor in the development of PUs. Predictors of PU development were ICU length of stay and SURE Score. The experimental (purchase) group was the less costly strategy. Under baseline assumptions, surface costs per at-risk patient were $76 CDN and $171 CDN in the experimental and control groups, respectively. The savings of $95 CDN per at-risk patient translates into conservative annual savings of $47,500 CDN. Using an objective, risk-based method of patient surface assignment, the authors compared the clinical and economic outcomes of 2 programs of PU prevention. In a direct comparison of alternatives, the strategy that emphasized purchased rather than rented products proved to be the more economical. Finally, this approach illustrates how by prospectively capturing data on both the costs and consequences of competing alternatives, a more objective and informed decision-making process can result.

  6. Evaluation of safe performance secondary school driver education curriculum demonstration project

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1983-06-01

    The primary objective of this Project was to determine the crash reduction potential of a quality, competency-based driver training program known as the Safe Performance Curriculum (SPC). The experimental design called for the random assignment of 18...

  7. Determining the Effects That the Order of Abstraction and Type of Reflection Have on Content Knowledge When Teaching Experientially: An Exploratory Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Marshall A.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Blackburn, J. Joey; Robinson, J. Shane

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this experimental study was to determine the effects of order of abstraction and type of reflection on student knowledge acquisition. Students were assigned randomly to one of four treatment combinations in the completely randomized 2 x 2 design which included either abstraction prior to or directly after an experience, and either…

  8. The Impact of Supplemental Handwriting and Spelling Instruction with First Grade Students Who Do Not Acquire Transcription Skills as Rapidly as Peers: A Randomized Control Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Steve; Harris, Karen R.; Adkins, Mary

    2018-01-01

    The impact of supplemental handwriting and spelling instruction on learning to write was examined in an experimental study with first grade students who were not acquiring these skills as rapidly as their classmates. Thirty students (16 boys, 14 girls) were randomly assigned to a handwriting and spelling instructional condition or a phonological…

  9. Use of Portfolio Assessment Technique in Teaching Map Sketching and Location in Secondary School Geography in Jos, Nigeria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ugodulunwa, Christiana; Wakjissa, Sayita

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the use of portfolio assessment technique in teaching map sketching and location in geography in Jos, Nigeria. It adopted a quasi-experimental design. Two schools were selected using a table of random numbers from a population of 51 schools in Jos South and assigned to each of experimental and control group. The…

  10. The Effectiveness of a Computer-Assisted Instruction Package in Supplementing Teaching of Selected Concepts in High School Chemistry: Writing Formulas and Balancing Chemical Equations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wainwright, Camille L.

    Four classes of high school chemistry students (N=108) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups to investigate the effectiveness of a computer assisted instruction (CAI) package during a unit on writing/naming of chemical formulas and balancing equations. Students in the experimental group received drill, review, and reinforcement…

  11. Educational Web-Based Intervention for High School Students to Increase Knowledge and Promote Positive Attitudes toward Organ Donation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vinokur, Amiram D.; Merion, Robert M.; Couper, Mick P.; Jones, Eleanor G.; Dong, Yihui

    2006-01-01

    A sample of 490 high school students from 81 schools in Michigan participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental Web site. The experimental Web site provided exposure to educational material about the process of organ donation and organ transplantation. The control Web site provided…

  12. Project Clarion: Three Years of Science Instruction in Title I Schools among K-Third Grade Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Kyung Hee; VanTassel-Baska, Joyce; Bracken, Bruce A.; Feng, Annie; Stambaugh, Tamra; Bland, Lori

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to measure the effects of higher level, inquiry-based science curricula on students at primary level in Title I schools. Approximately 3,300 K-3 students from six schools were assigned to experimental or control classes (N = 115 total) on a random basis according to class. Experimental students were exposed to…

  13. Is It Live or Is It Internet? Experimental Estimates of the Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning. NBER Working Paper No. 16089

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Figlio, David N.; Rush, Mark; Yin, Lu

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents the first experimental evidence on the effects of live versus internet media of instruction. Students in a large introductory microeconomics course at a major research university were randomly assigned to live lectures versus watching these same lectures in an internet setting, where all other factors (e.g., instruction,…

  14. Do Early Literacy Skills in Children's First Language Promote Development of Skills in Their Second Language? An Experimental Evaluation of Transfer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodrich, J. Marc; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Farver, JoAnn M.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cross-language transfer of the emergent literacy skills of preschoolers who were Spanish-speaking language-minority children in the context of an experimental intervention study. Ninety-four children were randomly assigned either to a control condition (HighScope Preschool Curriculum) or to receive…

  15. Effects of online games on student performance in undergraduate physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sadiq, Irfan

    The present state of physics teaching and learning is a reflection of the difficulty of the subject matter which has resulted in students' low motivation toward physics as well as lack of meaningful and deeper learning experiences. In light of an overall decline in interest in physics, an investigation of alternate teaching and learning methods and tools was appropriate. The research posed the following question: To what extent do online games about kinematics and two-dimensional motion impact student performance in undergraduate general physics as measured by a unit posttest? Two intact classes of 20 students each were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. Only the experimental group received the treatment of using online games. The duration of topics covered in the game content was identical to the lecture on kinematics and two-dimensional motion. Instructors for the experimental group incorporated online games in their regular classroom teaching, whereas those in the control group continued with their previously used curriculum without games. This study was conducted in three weekly sessions. Although students were not selected using random sampling, existing classes were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The independent samples t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine if the two groups were significantly different with regard to their general physics performance on the posttest while controlling for the pretest scores. Analysis of posttest and pretest scores revealed that game-based learning did not significantly impact student performance.

  16. Just-in-time consent: The ethical case for an alternative to traditional informed consent in randomized trials comparing an experimental intervention with usual care.

    PubMed

    Vickers, Andrew J; Young-Afat, Danny A; Ehdaie, Behfar; Kim, Scott Yh

    2018-02-01

    Informed consent for randomized trials often causes significant and persistent anxiety, distress and confusion to patients. Where an experimental treatment is compared to a standard care control, much of this burden is potentially avoidable in the control group. We propose a "just-in-time" consent in which consent discussions take place in two stages: an initial consent to research from all participants and a later specific consent to randomized treatment only from those assigned to the experimental intervention. All patients are first approached and informed about research procedures, such as questionnaires or tests. They are also informed that they might be randomly selected to receive an experimental treatment and that, if selected, they can learn more about the treatment and decide whether or not to accept it at that time. After randomization, control patients undergo standard clinical consent whereas patients randomized to the experimental procedure undergo a second consent discussion. Analysis would be by intent-to-treat, which protects the trial from selection bias, although not from poor acceptance of experimental treatment. The advantages of just-in-time consent stem from the fact that only patients randomized to the experimental treatment are subject to a discussion of that intervention. We hypothesize that this will reduce much of the patient's burden associated with the consent process, such as decisional anxiety, confusion and information overload. We recommend well-controlled studies to compare just-in-time and traditional consent, with endpoints to include characteristics of participants, distress and anxiety and participants' understanding of research procedures.

  17. A brief randomized controlled intervention targeting parents improves grades during middle school.

    PubMed

    Destin, Mesmin; Svoboda, Ryan C

    2017-04-01

    Despite a growing number of brief, psychosocial interventions that improve academic achievement, little research investigates how to leverage parents during such efforts. We designed and tested a randomized controlled intervention targeting parents to influence important discussions about the future and responses to academic difficulty experienced by their adolescent during eighth grade in the United States. We recruited experienced parents to convey the main messages of the intervention in a parent panel format. As expected, current parents who were randomly assigned to observe the parent panel subsequently planned to talk with their adolescents sooner about future opportunities and to respond more positively to experiences of academic difficulty than parents who were randomly assigned to a control group. The intervention also led to a significant increase in student grades, which was mediated by parents' responses to academic difficulty. We suggest an increase in experimental research that utilizes parents to influence student achievement. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Effects of a Physical Education-Based Programme on Health-Related Physical Fitness and Its Maintenance in High School Students: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mayorga-Vega, Daniel; Montoro-Escaño, Jorge; Merino-Marban, Rafael; Viciana, Jesús

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a physical education-based development and maintenance programme on objective and perceived health-related physical fitness in high school students. A sample of 111 students aged 12-14 years old from six classes were cluster-randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 54) or a control…

  19. Change in Pulmonary Function after Incentive Spirometer Exercise in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Study.

    PubMed

    Choi, Ja Young; Rha, Dong-wook; Park, Eun Sook

    2016-05-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of incentive spirometer exercise (ISE) on pulmonary function and maximal phonation time (MPT) in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Fifty children with CP were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Both groups underwent comprehensive rehabilitation therapy. The experimental group underwent additional ISE. The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV₁), FEV₁/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and MPT were assessed as outcome measures before and after 4 weeks of training. There were significant improvements in FVC, FEV₁, PEF, and MPT in the experimental group, but not in the control group. In addition, the improvements in FVC, FEV₁, and MPT were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group. The results of this randomized controlled study support the use of ISE for enhancing pulmonary function and breath control for speech production in children with CP.

  20. 78 FR 24423 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-25

    ... an experimental research design. Program applicants who are eligible for CSPED services will be randomly assigned to either a program group that is offered program services or a control group that is not...) conducting focus groups with program participants to elicit participation experiences; (3) administering a...

  1. 75 FR 24934 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-06

    ... student archived data (e.g., state mandated standardized test scores); follow-up surveys for students... experimental design that utilizes the random assignment. LIC is an English Language Arts (ELA)-based character education curriculum that is expected to have positive impacts on student academic performance, attendance...

  2. 75 FR 9189 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-01

    ... mandated standardized test scores); follow-up surveys for students; teacher and parent rating/observation on various student aspects (e.g., student social skills); baseline and follow-up surveys for teachers... Character (LIC) program. This study is based on an experimental design that utilizes the random assignment...

  3. The State, Not the Trait, of Nostalgia Increases Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ye, Shengquan; Ngan, Rose Ying Lam; Hui, Anna N. N.

    2013-01-01

    Nostalgic experience evokes emotions and activates the cognitive process of recalling and reconstructing information in memory. This study investigated the effects of nostalgia on creativity using experiments and questionnaires. Two-hundred-and-eighty university students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, in which…

  4. Auto- Versus Heterohypnosis: Behavioral and Subjective Differences.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Lynn S.; Weight, David G.

    This paper examines and compares tyo hypnotic modes in terms of behavioral and experimental responses. The two modes are: (1) autohypnosis and (2) heterohypnosis. The two types of hypnosis experiences were administered to each of two randomly assigned groups. Subjects were 25 male and 23 female volunteer introductory psychology students. The…

  5. Instructional Set, Deep Relaxation and Growth Enhancement: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leeb, Charles; And Others

    1976-01-01

    This study provides experimental evidence that instructional set can influence access to altered states of consciousness. Fifteen male subjects were randomly assigned to three groups, each of which received the same autogenic biofeedback training in hand temperature control, but each group received a different attitudinal set. (Editor)

  6. Artistic Tasks Outperform Nonartistic Tasks for Stress Reduction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abbott, Kayleigh A.; Shanahan, Matthew J.; Neufeld, Richard W. J.

    2013-01-01

    Art making has been documented as an effective stress reduction technique. In this between-subjects experimental study, possible mechanisms of stress reduction were examined in a sample of 52 university students randomly assigned to one of four conditions generated by factorially crossing Activity Type (artistic or nonartistic) with Coping…

  7. Interrupted Time Series Analysis: A Research Technique for Evaluating Social Programs for the Elderly

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calsyn, Robert J.; And Others

    1977-01-01

    After arguing that treatment programs for the elderly need to be evaluated with better research designs, the authors illustrate how interrupted time series analysis can be used to evaluate programs for the elderly when random assignment to experimental and control groups is not possible. (Author)

  8. Treatment Approaches for Presurgical Anxiety: A Health Care Concern.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keogh, Nancy Jones; And Others

    To test the differential effectiveness of preoperative instruction (factual information, emotional expression, and trust relationship), mastery modeling, and coping modeling, 100 children, aged 7-12, were studied. Subjects from two hospitals were randomly assigned to four experimental groups and one control group: alone (the control group, N=20);…

  9. The LSS Review. Volume 3, Number 2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Page, Stephen, Ed.; Shaw, Danielle, Ed.

    2004-01-01

    Beginners in many disciplines learn that correlation never proves causation, but sometimes, even in public health, correlation, mistaken for causation, becomes the basis for policy and great expenditures of public and private money. "True experiments" with random assignment to experimental and control groups hold a special place in the…

  10. Performance, Cognitive Load, and Behaviour of Technology-Assisted English Listening Learning: From CALL to MALL

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chang, Chi-Cheng; Warden, Clyde A.; Liang, Chaoyun; Chou, Pao-Nan

    2018-01-01

    This study examines differences in English listening comprehension, cognitive load, and learning behaviour between outdoor ubiquitous learning and indoor computer-assisted learning. An experimental design, employing a pretest-posttest control group is employed. Randomly assigned foreign language university majors joined either the experimental…

  11. The Effects of Concealing Academic Achievement Information on Adolescents' Self-Concept

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Baoshan; Wang, Mo; Li, Juan; Yu, Guoliang; Bi, Yan-Ling

    2011-01-01

    Using an experimental design, the effect of concealing academic achievement information on adolescents' self-concept was examined in the current study. Specifically, adolescents with low academic achievement and adolescents with average to high academic achievement (N = 129) were randomly assigned to different interview contexts wherein…

  12. Validation of a Supplemental Reading Intervention for First-Grade Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Case, Lisa Pericola; Speece, Deborah L.; Silverman, Rebecca; Ritchey, Kristen D.; Schatschneider, Christopher; Cooper, David H.; Montanaro, Elizabeth; Jacobs, Dawn

    2010-01-01

    This experimental study was designed to validate a short-term supplemental reading intervention for at-risk first-grade children. Although substantial research on long-term supplemental reading interventions exists, less is known about short-term interventions. Thirty first-grade children were randomly assigned to intervention or control…

  13. Maternal Attachment Behaviors with Adopted and Birth Infants.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chan, Marilyn M.

    This study investigated: (1) effects of teaching mothers the unique behavioral cues of their adopted infants and (2) potential differences between the mothering practices of adoptive and birth mothers. A pretest, posttest experimental prospective design was used with random assignment of mother-infant dyads. Mother-adopted infant dyads were…

  14. An Efficacious Theory-Based Intervention for Stepfamilies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forgatch, Marion S.; DeGarmo, David S.; Beldavs, Zintars G.

    2005-01-01

    This article evaluates the efficacy of the Oregon model of Parent Management Training (PMTO) in the stepfamily context. Sixty-seven of 110 participants in the Marriage and Parenting in Stepfamilies (MAPS) program received a PMTO-based intervention. Participants in the randomly assigned experimental group displayed a large effect in benefits to…

  15. Verbal Mediation and Satiation in Young Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cook, Harold; Smothergill, Daniel

    The study demonstrates: (1) the occurrence of verbal mediation with its facilitory effect, and (2) the interfering effect of verbal satiation on mediational processes in a three-state chaining paradigm. 40 preschool children were randomly assigned to either a control (no satiation) or an experimental (satiation) group. The subjects in the control…

  16. Experimental Treatment of Early Stuttering: A Preliminary Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Franken, Marie-Christine J.; Kielstra-Van der Schalk, Carine J.; Boelens, Harrie

    2005-01-01

    This pilot study compared two treatments for stuttering in preschool-age children. Thirty children were randomly assigned to either a Lidcombe Program (LP) treatment or a Demands and Capacities Model (DCM) treatment. Stuttering frequencies and severity ratings were obtained immediately before and after treatment (12 weeks). The stuttering…

  17. Optimal Design for Regression Discontinuity Studies with Clustering

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhoads, Christopher; Dye, Charles

    2014-01-01

    Recent years have seen an increased interest in quantitative educational research studies that use random assignment (RA) to evaluate the causal impacts of educational interventions (Angrist, 2004). The multi-level structure of the public education system in the United States often leads to experimental designs where naturally occurring clusters…

  18. Systematic Changes in Families Following Prevention Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patterson, Gerald R.; DeGarmo, David; Forgatch, Marion S.

    2004-01-01

    A selective prevention design was applied to 238 recently separated families. Of these, 153 mothers randomly assigned to the experimental (E) group participated in 14 group sessions focused on Parent Management Treatment (PMT). Prior analyses showed that, over time, the group of families in the untreated group deteriorated in both parenting…

  19. Rigorously Assessing Whether the Data Backs the Back School

    PubMed Central

    Vinh, David T.; Johnson, Craig W.; Phelps, Cynthia L.

    2003-01-01

    A rigorous between-subjects methodology employing independent random samples and having broad clinical applicability was designed and implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of back safety and patient transfer training interventions for both hospital nurses and nursing assistants. Effects upon self-efficacy, cognitive, and affective measures are assessed for each of three back safety procedures. The design solves the problem of obtaining randomly assigned independent controls where all experimental subjects must participate in the training interventions. PMID:14728544

  20. Research Methods in Healthcare Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship-Quasi-Experimental Designs.

    PubMed

    Schweizer, Marin L; Braun, Barbara I; Milstone, Aaron M

    2016-10-01

    Quasi-experimental studies evaluate the association between an intervention and an outcome using experiments in which the intervention is not randomly assigned. Quasi-experimental studies are often used to evaluate rapid responses to outbreaks or other patient safety problems requiring prompt, nonrandomized interventions. Quasi-experimental studies can be categorized into 3 major types: interrupted time-series designs, designs with control groups, and designs without control groups. This methods paper highlights key considerations for quasi-experimental studies in healthcare epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship, including study design and analytic approaches to avoid selection bias and other common pitfalls of quasi-experimental studies. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1-6.

  1. Designing Studies That Would Address the Multilayered Nature of Health Care

    PubMed Central

    Pennell, Michael; Rhoda, Dale; Hade, Erinn M.; Paskett, Electra D.

    2010-01-01

    We review design and analytic methods available for multilevel interventions in cancer research with particular attention to study design, sample size requirements, and potential to provide statistical evidence for causal inference. The most appropriate methods will depend on the stage of development of the research and whether randomization is possible. Early on, fractional factorial designs may be used to screen intervention components, particularly when randomization of individuals is possible. Quasi-experimental designs, including time-series and multiple baseline designs, can be useful once the intervention is designed because they require few sites and can provide the preliminary evidence to plan efficacy studies. In efficacy and effectiveness studies, group-randomized trials are preferred when randomization is possible and regression discontinuity designs are preferred otherwise if assignment based on a quantitative score is possible. Quasi-experimental designs may be used, especially when combined with recent developments in analytic methods to reduce bias in effect estimates. PMID:20386057

  2. A Stacked Approach to Reading Intervention: Increasing 2nd- and 3rd-Graders' Independent Reading Levels with an Intervention Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Chase; Durham, Patricia; Rosenbaum-Martinez, Crystal

    2018-01-01

    Fifty 2nd- and 3rd-grade students identified as experiencing difficulty reading were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, students received a reading intervention called Read Two Impress for a total of 360 min. Students in the control continued to receive regular instruction from their teacher. A 2 × 3…

  3. Lap Top Computers and the Learning Disabled Student. A Study of the Value of Portable Computers to the Writing Progress of Students with Fine Motor Problems. No. 193.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yau, Maria; And Others

    Fifty-six Toronto (Ontario, Canada) seventh-grade and eighth-grade learning-disabled students whose handwriting was very difficult to read were randomly assigned to either an experimental or comparison group. Experimental group students were loaned a portable computer to use freely at school and at home during the course of the experiment.…

  4. Effect of systematic menstrual health education on dysmenorrheic female adolescents' knowledge, attitudes, and self-care behavior.

    PubMed

    Chiou, Miin-Huey; Wang, Hsiu-Hung; Yang, Yi-Hsin

    2007-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of systematic health education on female adolescents' knowledge of dysmenorrhea, menstrual attitudes, and dysmenorrhea-related self-care behaviors. Through the research process, a dysmenorrheal self-care pamphlet for female adolescents was developed. The study used a quasi-experimental intervention with a nonequivalent-control group design. Three vocational nursing schools were requested to participate in this study: one was assigned to the experimental group and two were assigned to the control group. Female students who had experienced dysmenorrheic cramps two or more times during the last 6 months since the interview were recruited for the study. There were 218 subjects randomly assigned to an experimental group, and 237 subjects to a control group. Intervention consisted of a three-session health education program in which the experimental group was split up into six smaller groups. Data were collected before, 2 weeks after, and 4 months after the intervention. Results revealed a significant increase in the experimental group members' dysmenorrhea-related knowledge and self-care behavior, but not in their attitudes. The findings of this study can serve as a guide to healthcare providers who want to design an effective systematic menstrual health education program for female adolescents.

  5. The role of state anxiety in children's memories for pain.

    PubMed

    Noel, Melanie; Chambers, Christine T; McGrath, Patrick J; Klein, Raymond M; Stewart, Sherry H

    2012-06-01

    To investigate the impact of experimentally manipulated state anxiety and the influence of anxiety-related variables on children's memories for pain. A total of 110 children (60 boys) between the ages of 8 and 12 years were randomly assigned to complete a state anxiety induction task or a control task. Following experimental manipulation, children completed a laboratory pain task, pain ratings, and questionnaire measures of anxiety-related variables. 2 weeks later, children provided pain ratings based on their memories of the pain task. The experimental manipulation effectively induced state anxiety; however, pain memories did not differ between groups. Irrespective of group assignment, children with higher state anxiety had more negative pain memories. State anxiety uniquely predicted children's pain memories over and above other well established factors. Anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety were significant predictors of recalled pain-related fear. These data highlight the importance of anxiety in the development of children's memories for pain.

  6. An Investigation of Factors Influencing Learning in the Mentally Retarded, and Their Use in the Design of Instructional Materials; Effects of a Set for Delayed Response on Recall by MR's. Interim Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seitz, Sue; Morris, Dan

    In a study on short term memory, 32 educable mentally retarded subjects (mean IQ 62.68, mean mental age 103.78 months) were randomly assigned to each of the four experimental conditions. An automated machine presented the stimuli (32 three-letter words) and the interference items (a list of random numbers read aloud between stimuli presentations).…

  7. Inspection of care: Findings from an innovative demonstration

    PubMed Central

    Morris, John N.; Sherwood, Clarence C.; Dreyer, Paul

    1989-01-01

    In this article, information is presented concerning the efficacy of a sample-based approach to completing inspection of care reviews of Medicaid-supported nursing home residents. Massachusetts nursing homes were randomly assigned to full (the control group) or sample (the experimental group) review conditions. The primary research focus was to determine whether the proportion of facilities found to be deficient (based on quality of care and level of care criteria) in the experimental sample was comparable to the proportion in the control sample. The findings supported such a hypothesis: Deficient facilities appear to be equally identifiable using the random or full-sampling protocols, and the process can be completed with a considerable savings of surveyor time. PMID:10313458

  8. Training and Transfer of Complex Cognitive Skills: Effects of Worked Examples and Conventional Problem-Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Darabi, Abbas; Nelson, David W.

    2004-01-01

    Thirty six senior students in chemical engineering were randomly assigned to three treatment groups in an experimental study that examined the impact of different instructional strategies for troubleshooting malfunctions in a computer-based simulation of a chemical processing plant. In two groups, different types of worked examples,…

  9. Effects of a Brief Video Intervention on White University Students' Racial Attitudes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soble, Jason R.; Spanierman, Lisa B.; Liao, Hsin-Ya

    2011-01-01

    The authors investigated the effects of a brief video intervention on the racial attitudes of White university students. One hundred thirty-eight self-identified White students were randomly assigned to either an experimental condition in which they viewed a video documenting the pervasiveness of institutional racism and White privilege in the…

  10. The Effects of an Inference-Making Strategy Taught with and without Goal Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reed, Deborah K.; Lynn, Devon

    2016-01-01

    This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of a strategy for making text-dependent inferences--with and without embedded self-regulation skills--on the reading comprehension of 24 middle-grade students with disabilities. Classes were randomly assigned to receive the inference intervention only (IO), inference + individual goal setting…

  11. The Effects of Scenario Planning on Participant Reports of Resilience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chermack, Thomas J.; Coons, Laura M.; O'barr, Gregory; Khatami, Shiva

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of scenario planning on participant ratings of resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The research design is a quasi experimental pretest/posttest with treatment and control groups. Random selection or assignment was not achieved. Findings: Results show a significant difference in…

  12. The Effects of Pre-Reading Activities on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moghaddam, Nahid Nemati; Mahmoudi, Asgar

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of three types of pre-reading activities (movie-watching, vocabulary presentation, and pre-reading summarization) on the reading comprehension of 76 elementary-level EFL Iranian learners. The participants were randomly assigned to one control and three experimental conditions and then a pretest was given to…

  13. The Effectiveness of University Counselling for Improving Academic Outcomes and Well-Being

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biasi, Valeria; Patrizi, Nazarena; Mosca, Mauro; De Vincenzo, Conny

    2017-01-01

    The work discusses the effectiveness of the counselling treatment to enhance student academic success. The participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (66 students who had completed counselling treatment) or a wait-list comparison group (44 students). The Adult Self Report (ASR) by Achenbach and Rescorla [2003. "Manual…

  14. Effects of Infant Massage on Attachment Security: An Experimental Manipulation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jump, Vonda K.

    The formation of attachments is an important phenomenon occurring in the realm of socioemotional development. This study examined the impact of infant massage on infants' subsequent attachment security. Fifty-seven mother-infant dyads (48 dyads from Head Start, 9 from the community at large) were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group…

  15. Validity of a Checklist for the Design, Content, and Instructional Qualities of Children's Books

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Çer, Erkan; Sahin, Ertugrul

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a checklist whose validity has been tested in assessing children's books. Participants consisted of university students who had taken a course in children's literature. They were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Participants in the…

  16. Effects of a Conversation Intervention on the Expressive Vocabulary Development of Prekindergarten Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ruston, Hilary P.; Schwanenflugel, Paula J.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a conversation intervention including 500 min of linguistically and cognitively complex talk on the expressive vocabulary growth of prekindergarten children. Method: Children (N = 73) were randomly assigned to control or a 10-week experimental intervention condition. Twice…

  17. Attributions for Success and Failure in Smoking Cessation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Epstein, Jennifer A.; And Others

    This study examined the determinants of attributions for success or failure in stopping smoking in a self-help treatment program with and without a drug component. Subjects (N=137) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (1) nicotine gum and a self-help manual with an intrinsic motivational orientation; (2) self-help manual…

  18. The Effects of Lesson Screen Background Color on Declarative and Structural Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clariana, Roy B.; Prestera, Gustavo E.

    2009-01-01

    This experimental investigation replicates previous investigations of the effects of left margin screen background color hue to signal lesson sections on declarative knowledge and extends those investigations by adding a measure of structural knowledge. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 4 computer-based lesson treatments…

  19. Does the First Week of Class Matter? A Quasi-Experimental Investigation of Student Satisfaction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hermann, Anthony D.; Foster, David A.; Hardin, Erin E.

    2010-01-01

    Teaching experts suggest that establishing clear expectations and a supportive environment at the beginning of a college course has a lasting impact on student attitudes. However, minimal empirical evidence exists to support these suggestions. Consequently, we randomly assigned instructors to either begin their course with a reciprocal interview…

  20. Effective Secondary Science Programs: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheung, Alan; Slavin, Robert E.; Kim, Elizabeth; Lake, Cynthia

    2015-01-01

    This article reports a systematic review of research on science programs in grades 6-12. Twenty-one studies met inclusion criteria including use of randomized or matched assignment to conditions, measures that assess content emphasized equally in experimental and control groups, and a duration of at least 12 weeks. Programs fell into four…

  1. Support for Struggling Students in Algebra: Contributions of Incorrect Worked Examples

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barbieri, Christina; Booth, Julie L.

    2016-01-01

    Middle school algebra students (N = 125) randomly assigned within classroom to a Problem-solving control group, a Correct worked examples control group, or an Incorrect worked examples group, completed an experimental classroom study to assess the differential effects of incorrect examples versus the two control groups on students' algebra…

  2. School Nurse Online Emergency Preparedness Training: An Analysis of Knowledge, Skills, and Confidence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elgie, Robert; Sapien, Robert; Fullerton, Lynne; Moore, Brian

    2010-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-assisted emergency preparedness course for school nurses. Participants from a convenience sample (52) of school nurses from New Mexico were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups in an experimental after-only posttest design. Intervention group participants…

  3. The Evaluation of Four Mind/Body Intervention Strategies to Reduce Perceived Stress among College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winterdyk, John; Ray, Heather; Lafave, Lynne; Flessati, Sonya; Huston, Michael; Danelesko, Elaine; Murray, Christina

    2008-01-01

    We examined the effectiveness of four distinct mind/body interventions on reported perceived stress, anxiety, and health promoting behaviours in college students. Ninety students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups (i.e., nutritional, exercise, relaxation, or cognitive behavioural therapy). There were approximately 18…

  4. Teaching Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders to Self-Advocate through Persuasive Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cuenca-Sanchez, Yojanna; Mastropieri, Margo A.; Scruggs, Thomas E.; Kidd, Julie K.

    2012-01-01

    We examined the effectiveness of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of writing instruction with a self-determination training component for middle school-age students with emotional and behavioral disorders. We randomly assigned students to experimental or comparison treatments during which special education teachers provided the…

  5. Rate of Imagery in Mental Practice: An Experimental Investigation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andre, John C.; Means, John R.

    This study examined the effects of mental practice (MP), slow motion mental practice (SMMP), and attention placebo control (APC) on the performance of the putting throw in Frisbee disc golf. Subjects were randomly assigned to the three groups and participated in a pre-treatment performance session, a five session treatment phase, and a…

  6. Efficacy of an Electronic Editing Strategy with College Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woods-Groves, Suzanne; Hua, Youjia; Ford, Jeremy W.; Neil, Katelyn M.

    2017-01-01

    In this study we investigated an editing strategy to develop effective proofreading skills (i.e., mechanics and substantive revisions) within electronic texts through an experimental pre- and posttest group design with random assignment. Fifteen college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities participated in this investigation.…

  7. Educational Research with Real-World Data: Reducing Selection Bias with Propensity Scores

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adelson, Jill L.

    2013-01-01

    Often it is infeasible or unethical to use random assignment in educational settings to study important constructs and questions. Hence, educational research often uses observational data, such as large-scale secondary data sets and state and school district data, and quasi-experimental designs. One method of reducing selection bias in estimations…

  8. The Effect of Contextual and Conceptual Rewording on Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haghverdi, Majid; Wiest, Lynda R.

    2016-01-01

    This study shows how separate and combined contextual and conceptual problem rewording can positively influence student performance in solving mathematical word problems. Participants included 80 seventh-grade Iranian students randomly assigned in groups of 20 to three experimental groups involving three types of rewording and a control group. All…

  9. Effect of Training in Math Metacognitive Strategy on Fractional Achievement of Nigerian Schoolchildren

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Onu, V. C.; Eskay, M.; Igbo, J. N.; Obiyo, N.; Agbo, O.

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the effect of training in math metacognition on fractional mathematics among primary school pupils, with a quasi-experimental design, specifically a post-test only control group design. Two intact classes were randomly selected and assigned to treatment and control conditions. Sixty primary six pupils constituted the sample…

  10. Improving Kindergarten Students' Writing Outcomes Using Peer-Assisted Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Petscher, Yaacov; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lemons, Christopher J.

    2018-01-01

    The primary focus of this study was to determine the feasibility of teacher implementation of peer-assisted writing strategies (PAWS) in improving the writing outcomes of kindergarten children. Six classrooms were recruited, and 3 were randomly assigned to the experimental condition. Results indicated that the content, length, and formatting of…

  11. Does Input Enhancement Work for Learning Politeness Strategies?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khatib, Mohammad; Safari, Mahmood

    2013-01-01

    The present study investigated the effect of input enhancement on the acquisition of English politeness strategies by intermediate EFL learners. Two groups of freshman English majors were randomly assigned to the experimental (enhanced input) group and the control (mere exposure) group. Initially, a TOEFL test and a discourse completion test (DCT)…

  12. Can Coloring Mandalas Reduce Anxiety? A Replication Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van der Vennet, Renee; Serice, Susan

    2012-01-01

    This experimental study replicated Curry and Kasser's (2005) research that tested whether coloring a mandala would reduce anxiety. After inducing an anxious mood via a writing activity, participants were randomly assigned to three groups that colored either on a mandala design, on a plaid design, or on a blank paper. Anxiety level was measured…

  13. First in the Class? Age and the Education Production Function

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cascio, Elizabeth U.; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

    2016-01-01

    We estimate the effects of relative age in kindergarten using data from an experiment where children of the same age were randomly assigned to different kindergarten classmates. We exploit the resulting experimental variation in relative age in conjunction with variation in expected kindergarten entry age based on birth date to account for…

  14. Application of Network Planning to Teaching Wind-Surfing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zybko, Przemyslaw; Jaczynowski, Lech

    2008-01-01

    Study aim: To determine the effects of network planning on teaching untrained subjects windsurfing. Material and methods: Untrained physical education students (n = 390), aged 19-23 years, took part in the study while staying on a summer camp. They were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental (n = 216) and control (n = 174). Two methods of…

  15. A Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Developmental Dimensions in Object Permanence and Tracking Stimuli.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Townes-Rosenwein, Linda

    This paper discusses a longitudinal, exploratory study of developmental dimensions related to object permanence theory and explains how multidimensional scaling techniques can be used to identify developmental dimensions. Eighty infants, randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups and one of four counterbalanced orders of stimuli, were…

  16. Integrating Reading Instruction into Vocational Agriculture Classes. Miscellaneous Publication 586. Contribution Number 3813.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sullivan, Dorothy D.; Cardozier, V.R.

    An experiment was conducted to determine whether special reading instruction integrated with agricultural instruction would result in improved reading ability and increased achievement in subject matter. random assignment was made of vocational agriculture classes in 12 Maryland schools to experimental and control groups. Units on soil sampling…

  17. Results and Implications of a Problem-Solving Treatment Program for Obesity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mahoney, B. K.; And Others

    Data are from a large scale experimental study which was designed to evaluate a multimethod problem solving approach to obesity. Obese adult volunteers (N=90) were randomly assigned to three groups: maximal treatment, minimal treatment, and no treatment control. In the two treatment groups, subjects were exposed to bibliographic material and…

  18. Engaging Struggling Adolescent Readers to Improve Reading Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, James S.; Hemphill, Lowry; Troyer, Margaret; Thomson, Jenny M.; Jones, Stephanie M.; LaRusso, Maria D.; Donovan, Suzanne

    2017-01-01

    This study examined the efficacy of a supplemental, multicomponent adolescent reading intervention for middle school students who scored below proficient on a state literacy assessment. Using a within-school experimental design, the authors randomly assigned 483 students in grades 6-8 to a business-as-usual control condition or to the Strategic…

  19. Processes and Outcomes of Joint Activity with E-Books for Promoting Kindergarteners' Emergent Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shamir, Adina

    2009-01-01

    This research investigated the effects of an educational electronic book (e-book) on low socioeconomic status (SES) kindergarteners' emergent literacy while focusing on the relationship between process and outcomes during joint learning. The sample (96 kindergarteners, aged five to six) was randomly assigned to experimental (e-book activation) and…

  20. Quasi-Experimental Evidence of Academic Peer Effects at an Elite University in People's Republic of China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ha, Wei

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the effects of roommates on students' academic outcomes exploiting the randomized roommate assignment system at a selective Chinese university. Unlike earlier studies that could not measure students' academic quality precisely, this paper makes two important improvements in measuring their English proficiency and overall…

  1. Teacher Beliefs and Responses toward Student Misbehavior: Influence of Cognitive Skill Deficits

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hart, Susan Crandall; DiPerna, James Clyde

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to examine whether having knowledge of student cognitive skill deficits changes teacher beliefs and responses in regard to classroom misbehavior. Teachers (N = 272) were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Although teachers in both conditions read the same vignette describing a student's misbehavior, the…

  2. Sensitivity to Social Contingency and Positive Emotion in 2-Month-Olds

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soussignan, Robert; Nadel, Jacqueline; Canet, Pierre; Gerardin, Priscille

    2006-01-01

    This study was aimed at sorting out conflicting results in the literature concerning 2-month-olds' sensitivity to interpersonal contingency, and investigated the potential role of infants' positive emotion in contingency detection. Infants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG) that was presented an uninterrupted live-replay-live…

  3. Enhancing Preschool Educators' Ability to Facilitate Conversations during Shared Book Reading

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milburn, Trelani F.; Girolametto, Luigi; Weitzman, Elaine; Greenberg, Janice

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate whether professional development enhanced educators' use of conversational strategies during shared book reading with small groups of preschoolers. Twenty preschool educators and small groups of children from each of their classrooms were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The 10…

  4. Studying the Effectiveness of an Online Language Learning Platform in China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Ryan; Wang, Feng; Ma, Zhenjun; Ma, Wei; Zheng, Shiyue

    2018-01-01

    In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of an adaptive online learning platform, designed to support Chinese students in learning the English language. The adaptive platform is studied in three studies, where the experimental platform is compared to an alternate, non-adaptive platform, with random assignment to conditions (the adaptive…

  5. The Effects on Students' Conceptual Understanding of Electric Circuits of Introducing Virtual Manipulatives within a Physical Manipulatives-Oriented Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zacharia, Zacharias C.; de Jong, Ton

    2014-01-01

    This study investigates whether Virtual Manipulatives (VM) within a Physical Manipulatives (PM)-oriented curriculum affect conceptual understanding of electric circuits and related experimentation processes. A pre-post comparison study randomly assigned 194 undergraduates in an introductory physics course to one of five conditions: three…

  6. Does Multimedia Support Individual Differences?--EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension and Cognitive Load

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Hui-Yu

    2014-01-01

    The present study examines how display model, English proficiency and cognitive preference affect English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' listening comprehension of authentic videos and cognitive load degree. EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group received single coding and the experimental group received…

  7. The relationship between simulation in nursing education and medication safety.

    PubMed

    Sears, Kimberley; Goldsworthy, Sandra; Goodman, William M

    2010-01-01

    This experimental study examined whether the use of clinical simulation in nursing education could help reduce medication errors. Fifty-four student volunteers were randomly assigned to an experimental (treatment) group (24 students) or a clinical control group (30 students). The treatment replaced some early-term clinical placement hours with a simulated clinical experience. The control group had all normally scheduled clinical hours. Treatment occurred prior to opportunities for medication administration. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

  8. Change in Pulmonary Function after Incentive Spirometer Exercise in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Study

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Ja Young; Rha, Dong-wook

    2016-01-01

    Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of incentive spirometer exercise (ISE) on pulmonary function and maximal phonation time (MPT) in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Materials and Methods Fifty children with CP were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Both groups underwent comprehensive rehabilitation therapy. The experimental group underwent additional ISE. The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and MPT were assessed as outcome measures before and after 4 weeks of training. Results There were significant improvements in FVC, FEV1, PEF, and MPT in the experimental group, but not in the control group. In addition, the improvements in FVC, FEV1, and MPT were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusion The results of this randomized controlled study support the use of ISE for enhancing pulmonary function and breath control for speech production in children with CP. PMID:26996580

  9. S-1 and irinotecan plus bevacizumab versus mFOLFOX6 or CapeOX plus bevacizumab as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (TRICOLORE): a randomized, open-label, phase III, noninferiority trial.

    PubMed

    Yamada, Y; Denda, T; Gamoh, M; Iwanaga, I; Yuki, S; Shimodaira, H; Nakamura, M; Yamaguchi, T; Ohori, H; Kobayashi, K; Tsuda, M; Kobayashi, Y; Miyamoto, Y; Kotake, M; Shimada, K; Sato, A; Morita, S; Takahashi, S; Komatsu, Y; Ishioka, C

    2018-03-01

    Combination therapy with oral fluoropyrimidine and irinotecan has not yet been established as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). We carried out a randomized, open-label, phase III trial to determine whether S-1 and irinotecan plus bevacizumab is noninferior to mFOLFOX6 or CapeOX plus bevacizumab in terms of progression-free survival (PFS). Patients from 53 institutions who had previously untreated mCRC were randomly assigned (1 : 1) to receive either mFOLFOX6 or CapeOX plus bevacizumab (control group) or S-1 and irinotecan plus bevacizumab (experimental group; a 3-week regimen: intravenous infusions of irinotecan 150 mg/m2 and bevacizumab 7.5 mg/kg on day 1, oral S-1 80 mg/m2 twice daily for 2 weeks, followed by a 1-week rest; or a 4-week regimen: irinotecan 100 mg/m2 and bevacizumab 5 mg/kg on days 1 and 15, S-1 80 mg/m2 twice daily for 2 weeks, followed by a 2-week rest). The primary end point was PFS. The noninferiority margin was 1.25; noninferiority would be established if the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the hazard ratio (HR) of the control group versus the experimental group was less than this margin. Between June 2012 and September 2014, 487 patients underwent randomization. Two hundred and forty-three patients assigned to the control group and 241 assigned to the experimental group were included in the primary analysis. Median PFS was 10.8 months (95% CI 9.6-11.6) in the control group and 14.0 months (95% CI 12.4-15.5) in the experimental group (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.70-1.02; P < 0.0001 for noninferiority, P = 0.0815 for superiority). One hundred and fifty-seven patients (64.9%) in the control group and 140 (58.6%) in the experimental group had adverse events of grade 3 or higher. S-1 and irinotecan plus bevacizumab is noninferior to mFOLFOX6 or CapeOX plus bevacizumab with respect to PFS as first-line treatment of mCRC and could be a new standard treatment. UMIN000007834.

  10. The effect of laughter therapy on radiation dermatitis in patients with breast cancer: a single-blind prospective pilot study

    PubMed Central

    Kong, Moonkyoo; Shin, Sung Hee; Lee, Eunmi; Yun, Eun Kyoung

    2014-01-01

    Background There have not yet been any published studies on the effects of laughter therapy on radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy (RT). We assessed the effectiveness of laughter therapy in preventing radiation dermatitis in patients with breast cancer. Methods Thirty-seven patients were prospectively enrolled in this study. Eighteen patients were assigned to the experimental group and the other 19 patients were assigned to the control group. The patients who were assigned to the experimental group received laughter therapy during RT. Laughter therapy was started at the onset of RT and was provided twice a week until completion of RT. The patients who were assigned to the control group only received RT without laughter therapy. The grade of radiation dermatitis was scored by a radiation oncologist who was blinded to subject assignment. The patients’ evaluation of pain within the RT field was also assessed. Results In the experimental group, radiation dermatitis of grade 3, 2, and 1 developed in five (33.3%), five (33.3%), and five patients (33.3%), respectively. In comparison, in the control group, radiation dermatitis of grade 3, 2, 1, and 0 developed in seven (36.8%), nine (47.4%), two (10.5%), and one patient (5.3%), respectively. The experimental group exhibited a lower incidence of grade 2 or worse radiation dermatitis than the control group (33.3% versus 47.4%). The mean maximal pain scores in the experimental and control group were 2.53 and 3.95, respectively. The experimental group complained of less severe pain than the control group during RT. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion The results of this study show that laughter therapy can have a beneficial role in preventing radiation dermatitis in patients with breast cancer. To confirm the results of our study, well-designed randomized studies with large sample sizes are required. PMID:25395864

  11. The Impact of Conferencing Assessment on EFL Students' Grammar Learning (Impacto de la evaluación mediante conferencias en el aprendizaje de la gramática en estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baleghizadeh, Sasan; Zarghami, Zahra

    2012-01-01

    This article reports on a study that was carried out in order to examine the impact of conferencing assessment on students' learning of English grammar. Forty-two Iranian intermediate university students were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. The participants in the experimental group took part in four individual and four…

  12. Long-Term Effects of Strategic Reading Instruction in the Intermediate Elementary Grades

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Droop, Mienke; van Elsäcker, Willy; Voeten, Marinus J. M.; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a program that offered sustained strategic reading instruction on reading abilities of third and fourth graders. The study was conducted among 1,469 children from 40 schools in the Netherlands. Schools were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Multilevel…

  13. Visual Testing: An Experimental Assessment of the Encoding Specificity Hypothesis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeMelo, Hermes T.; And Others

    This study of 96 high school biology students investigates the effectiveness of visual instruction composed of simple line drawings and printed words as compared to printed-words-only instruction, visual tests, and the interaction between visual or non-visual mode of instruction and mode of testing. The subjects were randomly assigned to be given…

  14. Testing the Recognition and Perception of Errors in Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brandenburg, Laura C.

    2015-01-01

    This study tests the recognition of errors in context and whether the presence of errors affects the reader's perception of the writer's ethos. In an experimental, posttest only design, participants were randomly assigned a memo to read in an online survey: one version with errors and one version without. Of the six intentional errors in version…

  15. A Study of Reliability of Marking and Absolute Grading in Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdul Gafoor, K.; Jisha, P.

    2014-01-01

    Using a non-experimental comparative group design in a sample consisting of 100 English teachers randomly selected from 30 secondary schools of a district of Kerala and assigning fifty teachers to groups for marking and grading, this study compares inter and intra-individual reliability in marking and absolute grading. Studying (1) the in marking…

  16. Evaluation of the TSL® Program for Parents of Children with Cancer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Choi, Kwonho; Kim, Jae Yop

    2018-01-01

    Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of the "Thank you-Sorry-Love" (TSL®) program on posttraumatic growth (PTG) and cortisol level in parents of children with cancer. Methods: A total of 15 mothers of children with cancer were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 7) with the TSL intervention or a control…

  17. Long-Term Effects of Leisure Education on Leisure Needs and Stress in Older Adults

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kao, I-Chan; Chang, Liang-Chih

    2017-01-01

    We examined whether a 12-week leisure education program could promote leisure autonomy and leisure competence and reduce stress in older adults. Forty subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Before the experiment, pretest data were collected using leisure autonomy, leisure competence, and stress scales.…

  18. An Instructional Design for Accelerating Children's Concept Learning. Technical Report No. 321.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMurray, Nancy E.; And Others

    An instructional design based on task analysis procedures was used to develop two experimental lessons to accelerate attainment of a subject-matter concept by fourth grade students. A variation of the Solomon Four-Group design was employed to determine the effects of the pretest. Performance of 118 randomly assigned subjects on a measure assessing…

  19. Multiple-Choice and Short-Answer Exam Performance in a College Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Funk, Steven C.; Dickson, K. Laurie

    2011-01-01

    The authors experimentally investigated the effects of multiple-choice and short-answer format exam items on exam performance in a college classroom. They randomly assigned 50 students to take a 10-item short-answer pretest or posttest on two 50-item multiple-choice exams in an introduction to personality course. Students performed significantly…

  20. Reading Intervention Using Interactive Metronome in Children with Language and Reading Impairment: A Preliminary Investigation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Michaela; Colson, Karen A.; Park, Jungjun

    2013-01-01

    This exploratory study examined the effects of Interactive Metronome (IM) when integrated with a traditional language and reading intervention on reading achievement. Forty-nine school-age children with language and reading impairments were assigned randomly to either an experimental group who received the IM treatment or to a control group who…

  1. Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions across the World: (Under) Investing in the Very Young

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nores, Milagros; Barnett, W. Steven

    2010-01-01

    This paper reviews the international (non-U.S.) evidence on the benefits of early childhood interventions. A total of 38 contrasts of 30 interventions in 23 countries were analyzed. It focuses on studies applying a quasi-experimental or random assignment. Studies were coded according to: the type of intervention (cash transfer, nutritional,…

  2. Effects of Segmented Animated Graphics among Students of Different Spatial Ability Levels: A Cognitive Load Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fong, Soon Fook

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of segmented animated graphics utilized to facilitate learning of electrolysis of aqueous solution. A total of 171 Secondary Four chemistry students with two different spatial ability levels were randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions: (a) text with multiple static graphics (MSG), (b) text with…

  3. Welfare Policies and Very Young Children: Experimental Data on Stage-Environment Fit

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Heather D.; Morris, Pamela

    2008-01-01

    The authors examined the effects of welfare programs that increased maternal employment and family income on the development of very young children using data from 5 random-assignment experiments. The children were 6 months to 3 years old when their mothers entered the programs; cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured 2-5 years later.…

  4. Teaching Efficacy in the Classroom: Skill Based Training for Teachers' Empowerment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karimzadeh, Mansoureh; Salehi, Hadi; Embi, Mohamed Amin; Nasiri, Mehdi; Shojaee, Mohammad

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to use an experimental research design to enhance teaching efficacy by social-emotional skills training in teachers. The statistical sample comprised of 68 elementary teachers (grades 4 and 5) with at least 10 years teaching experience and a bachelor's degree who were randomly assigned into control (18 female, 16 male) and…

  5. Improving Secondary School Students' Achievement and Retention in Biology through Video-Based Multimedia Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gambari, Amosa Isiaka; Yaki, Akawo Angwal; Gana, Eli S.; Ughovwa, Queen Eguono

    2014-01-01

    The study examined the effects of video-based multimedia instruction on secondary school students' achievement and retention in biology. In Nigeria, 120 students (60 boys and 60 girls) were randomly selected from four secondary schools assigned either into one of three experimental groups: Animation + Narration; Animation + On-screen Text;…

  6. Experimental evaluation of the effect of winter feeding on channel catfish growout pond plankton

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ten, 0.25 acre ponds at the UAPB Aquaculture Station were sampled weekly from Dec. 7-Feb. 22 (n=90) for phytoplankton and zooplankton. Five of the ponds were randomly assigned to each of two treatments: no feeding and feeding based on recommended rates. Channel catfish sizes and numbers approximated...

  7. Counting Blessings in Early Adolescents: An Experimental Study of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Froh, Jeffery J.; Sefick, William J.; Emmons, Robert A.

    2008-01-01

    The development and manifestation of gratitude in youth is unclear. We examined the effects of a grateful outlook on subjective well-being and other outcomes of positive psychological functioning in 221 early adolescents. Eleven classes were randomly assigned to either a gratitude, hassles, or control condition. Results indicated that counting…

  8. The Effects of Different Pre-Writing Strategies on Iranian EFL Writing Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mahnam, Lily; Nejadansari, Dariush

    2012-01-01

    This study aimed at investigating whether applying pre-writing strategies would affect the quality of L2 learners' compositions. Twenty three adult EFL students from Jahad-e-Daneshgahi English centre in Iran participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups, including 11 and 12 participants in each. They…

  9. Training Early Childhood Educators to Promote Peer Interactions: Effects on Children's Aggressive and Prosocial Behaviors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Girard, Lisa-Christine; Girolametto, Luigi; Weitzman, Elaine; Greenberg, Janice

    2011-01-01

    Research Findings: This study examined the effects of educators' participation in an in-service training program on the aggressive and prosocial behaviors of preschool-age children. Seventeen early childhood educators were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A total of 68 preschool children, 4 from each educator's classroom, also…

  10. Interactivity of Question Prompts and Feedback on Secondary Students' Science Knowledge Acquisition and Cognitive Load

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huang, Kun; Chen, Ching-Huei; Wu, Wen-Shiuan; Chen, Wei-Yu

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated how question prompts and feedback influenced knowledge acquisition and cognitive load when learning Newtonian mechanics within a web-based multimedia module. Participants were one hundred eighteen 9th grade students who were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, forming a 2 x 2 factorial design with the…

  11. Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Using Wii Gaming Technology in Children with Down Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wuang, Yee-Pay; Chiang, Ching-Sui; Su, Chwen-Yng; Wang, Chih-Chung

    2011-01-01

    This quasi-experimental study compared the effect of standard occupational therapy (SOT) and virtual reality using Wii gaming technology (VRWii) on children with Down syndrome (DS). Children (n=105) were randomly assigned to intervention with either SOT or VRWii, while another 50 served as controls. All children were assessed with measures of…

  12. Original Language Subtitles: Their Effects on the Native and Foreign Viewer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kruger, Jan-Louis; Doherty, Stephen; Soto-Sanfiel, María-T.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates the impact of same-language subtitles on the immersion into audiovisual narratives as a function of the viewer's language (native or foreigner). Students from two universities in Australia and one in Spain were assigned randomly to one of two experimental groups, in which they saw a drama with the original English…

  13. Interaction between a tannin-containing legume and endophyte-infected tall fescue seed on lambs’ feeding behavior and physiology

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    It was hypothesized that a tannin-rich legume like sainfoin reduces the negative postingestive effects of ergot alkaloids in tall fescue. Thirty-two 3-month-old lambs were individually penned and randomly assigned to a 2X2 factorial experimental design with two legume species (1-sainfoin [SF; tannin...

  14. Laughing Our Way to a Stronger Democracy: Political Comedy's Potential to Equalize Political Interest in Community College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawrason, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    What effect does political comedy have on political interest? Through an experimental design, changes in political interest are measured through a pre and posttest, comparing groups randomly assigned to watch "The Daily Show," "NBC Nightly News," "Entertainment Tonight" and a no-exposure group. Models indicate…

  15. Effects of Psychomotor Intervention Program on Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ElGarhy, Sayed; Liu, Ting

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a psychomotor intervention program (PIP) on body awareness and psychomotor concepts for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-eight students (23 boys and 5 girls) with ASD participated in this study. Fourteen students with ASD were randomly assigned to the experimental group…

  16. The Effect of Choosing versus Receiving Feedback on College Students' Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cutumisu, Maria; Schwartz, Daniel L.

    2016-01-01

    This study examines the effect of choosing versus receiving feedback on the learning performance of n = 98 post-secondary students from California on a digital poster design task. The study employs a yoked experimental design where college students are randomly assigned to play a choice-based assessment game, Posterlet, in one of two conditions,…

  17. Mediating Role of Parental Influence in Children's Response to Television Commercials: An Exploratory Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prasad, V. Kanti; And Others

    This study investigated, in a laboratory experimental framework, the relative influences of television commercials and parental counter-commercial advocacy on children's consumption choice behavior. Sixty-four 8- to 10-year-old boys were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) no counter commercial advocacy (control group), (2)…

  18. Effect of Ethnochemistry Practices on Secondary School Students' Attitude towards Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Indra Sen; Chibuye, Bitwell

    2016-01-01

    The main purpose of the study was to find out the effect of ethnochemistry practices on secondary school students' attitude towards Chemistry. The design of the study was pre-test post-test control group quasiexperimental design. Two grade 11 intact classes were assigned into experimental and control groups randomly. The total sample size…

  19. Technology Instructional Package Mediated Instruction and Senior Secondary School Students' Academic Performance in Biology Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yaki, Akawo Angwal; Babagana, Mohammed

    2016-01-01

    The paper examined the effects of a Technological Instructional Package (TIP) on secondary school students' performance in biology. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test experimental control group design. The sample size of the study was 80 students from Minna metropolis, Niger state, Nigeria; the samples were randomly assigned into treatment…

  20. Affective Learning Outcomes in Workplace Training: A Test of Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Online Learning Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cleveland-Innes, Martha; Ally, Mohamed

    2004-01-01

    Research employing an experimental design pilot-tested two delivery platforms, WebCT™ and vClass™, for the generation of affective learning outcomes in the workplace. Using a sample of volunteer participants in the help-desk industry, participants were randomly assigned to one of the two types of delivery software. Thirty-eight subjects…

  1. The Effects of an Intensive Reading Intervention for Ninth Graders with Very Low Reading Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Solís, Michael; Vaughn, Sharon; Scammacca, Nancy

    2015-01-01

    This experimental study examined the efficacy of a multicomponent reading intervention compared to a control condition on the reading comprehension of adolescent students with low reading comprehension (more than 1½ standard deviations below normative sample). Ninth-grade students were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 25) and comparison (n =…

  2. Learning Auditory Discrimination with Computer-Assisted Instruction: A Comparison of Two Different Performance Objectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steinhaus, Kurt A.

    A 12-week study of two groups of 14 college freshmen music majors was conducted to determine which group demonstrated greater achievement in learning auditory discrimination using computer-assisted instruction (CAI). The method employed was a pre-/post-test experimental design using subjects randomly assigned to a control group or an experimental…

  3. Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Childhood Investments on Postsecondary Attainment and Degree Completion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynarski, Susan; Hyman, Joshua; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines the effect of early childhood investments on college enrollment and degree completion. We used the random assignment in Project STAR (the Tennessee Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio experiment) to estimate the effect of smaller classes in primary school on college entry, college choice, and degree completion. We improve on…

  4. Using Norm-Based Appeals to Increase Response Rates in Evaluation Research: A Field Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Misra, Shalini; Stokols, Daniel; Marino, Anne Heberger

    2012-01-01

    A field experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of norm-based persuasive messages for increasing response rates in online survey research. Participants in an interdisciplinary conference were asked to complete two successive postconference surveys and randomly assigned to one of two groups at each time point. The experimental group…

  5. Evaluating the Impact of a Brief Artistic Intervention on Cardiovascular Recovery from Acute Stress

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keogh, Katharina; Creaven, Ann-Marie

    2017-01-01

    In this study we tested whether drawing and coloring influence cardiovascular recovery and perceived stress following exposure to a stressor. In a mixed experimental design, participants (N = 62) completed an acute stress task before being randomly assigned to one of three brief activities: free-form drawing (full creative control), coloring…

  6. Can Personalized Nudges Improve Learning in Hybrid Classes? Experimental Evidence from an Introductory Undergraduate Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Connell, Stephen D.; Lang, Guido

    2018-01-01

    A field experiment was conducted to investigate whether personalized e-mail reminders can improve study consistency and learning outcomes in an introductory-level undergraduate course. By randomly assigning whether nearly 300 students would receive occasional e-mail messages encouraging out-of-class study, we find that these reminders increased…

  7. Youth and the Ethics of Identity Play in Virtual Spaces

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siyahhan, Sinem; Barab, Sasha; James, Carrie

    2011-01-01

    In this study, we explored a new experimental methodology for investigating children's (ages 10 to 14) stances with respect to the ethics of online identity play. We used a scenario about peer identity misrepresentation embedded in a 3D virtual game environment and randomly assigned 265 elementary students (162 female, 103 male) to three…

  8. The Effect of Implementation of TBLT in Reading Comprehension Classes of Iranian EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Madhkhan, Mozhgan; Mousavi, Seyed Mojtaba

    2017-01-01

    The present study investigates the impact of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension performance. Seventy participants were assigned randomly to the experimental and control groups. Having instructed the two groups with the same texts but different task types and activities (i.e., tasks in 4 types) during…

  9. The Impact of Text-Based CMC on Improving L2 Oral Fluency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Razagifard, P.

    2013-01-01

    This paper reports on a study investigating the potential effect of synchronous and asynchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) on oral fluency development of second-language (L2) learners. Sixty-three intermediate learners of English were randomly assigned to one of three groups (two experimental groups and one control group),…

  10. Play Therapy Applied by Parents for Children with Darkness Phobia: Comparison of Two Programmes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Santacruz, Isabel; Mendez, Francisco J.; Sanchez-Meca, Julio

    2006-01-01

    Two play therapies applied by parents for darkness phobia in young children are compared. Seventy-eight children between the ages of 4 and 8 were recruited from twenty-seven schools. The participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: bibliotherapy and games, emotive performances, and no treatment. The treatments were applied…

  11. The Effect of Using Computer Edutainment on Developing 2nd Primary Graders' Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mohammed Abdel Raheem, Azza Ashraf

    2011-01-01

    The present study attempted to examine the effect of using computer edutainment on developing 2nd graders' writing skills. The study comprised thirty-second year primary stage enrolled in Bani Hamad primary governmental school, Minia governorate. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to one…

  12. Can the Arts Get under the Skin? Arts and Cortisol for Economically Disadvantaged Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Eleanor D.; Garnett, Mallory L.; Anderson, Kate E.; Laurenceau, Jean-Philippe

    2017-01-01

    This within-subjects experimental study investigated the influence of the arts on cortisol for economically disadvantaged children. Participants were 310 children, ages 3-5 years, who attended a Head Start preschool and were randomly assigned to participate in different schedules of arts and homeroom classes on different days of the week. Cortisol…

  13. Exposure to Metacognitive Skills Improves Academic Performance: An Experimental Study of College Students' Academic Performance and Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Pamela

    2016-01-01

    This study examined undergraduate students in four randomly assigned groups, Generative Reading, SQ3R (Robinson, (1946, 1970), and no intervention, and general examinations as the control, to identify which strategy was most beneficial for improving exam scores and academic self-efficacy. Findings suggest students participating in reading…

  14. Successfully Promoting 21st Century Online Research Skills: Interventions in 5th-Grade Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kingsley, Tara L.; Cassady, Jerrell C.; Tancock, Susan M.

    2015-01-01

    This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Century online research skills with a planned classroom intervention curriculum. The repeated measures quasi-experimental study randomly assigned all 5th grade classes in a Midwestern, suburban school (n = 418) to a 12-week intervention or control…

  15. The Impact of Complexity on the Expertise Reversal Effect: Experimental Evidence from Testing Accounting Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blayney, Paul; Kalyuga, Slava; Sweller, John

    2016-01-01

    Element interactivity is a central concept of cognitive load theory that defines the complexity of a learning task. The reduction of task complexity through a temporary segmentation or isolation of interacting elements was investigated with 104 students randomly assigned to an interacting elements group, where participants were required to deal…

  16. Effects of Implementation Intentions on the Self-Reported Frequency of Drivers' Compliance with Speed Limits

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Mark A.; Armitage, Christopher J.

    2006-01-01

    This study tested the efficacy of implementation intentions in the context of drivers' speeding behavior. Participants (N = 300) completed self-report measures of goal intention and behavior, and they were randomly assigned to an experimental condition, which required them to specify an implementation intention, or a control condition. One month…

  17. Graphic Novels: An Alternative Approach to Teach English as a Foreign Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Öz, Hüseyin; Efecioglu, Emine

    2015-01-01

    This article reports the findings of a study that investigated the role of graphic novels in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to International Baccalaureate students (aged 15-16) in TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School. Two intact 10th grade classes were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups who studied…

  18. Learned Helplessness and Depression in a Clinical Population: A Test of Two Behavioral Hypotheses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    And Others; Price, Kenneth P.

    1978-01-01

    This study was undertaken to extend the learned helplessness phenomenon to a clinical population and to test the competing hypotheses of Seligman and Lewinsohn. 96 male hospitalized psychiatric and medical patients were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. Results replicate the learned helplessness phenomenon in a group of…

  19. Flipping the Classroom: Embedding Self-Regulated Learning Prompts in Videos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moos, Daniel C.; Bonde, Caitlin

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the effectiveness of embedding self-regulated learning (SRL) prompts in a video designed for the flipped class model. The sample included 32 undergraduate participants who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: control (video) or experimental (video + SRL prompts). Prior knowledge was measured with a pre-test, SRL was…

  20. Oak Regeneration: Four Years After Three Harvesting Treatments in a North Alabama Upland Hardwood Stand

    Treesearch

    David Shostak; Michael S. Golden; Mark R. Dubois

    2002-01-01

    Fourth year regeneration of upland oaks (Quercus spp.) was compared within three harvesting treatments in the mountains of northern Alabama. Six four-acre experimental blocks were established on north facing slopes. Each of the three harvesting treatments (deferment cutting, strip clearcutting, and block clearcutting) was randomly assigned to two...

  1. Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Attribution Retraining for Secondary Students with Learning and Other Mild Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berkeley, Sheri; Mastropieri, Margo A.; Scruggs, Thomas E.

    2011-01-01

    A pre-post experimental design with 6-week delayed posttest was implemented to investigate the effects of reading comprehension strategy (RCS) instruction with and without attribution retraining (AR) on reading outcomes for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders with learning and other mild disabilities. Students were randomly assigned to one of three…

  2. The Effects of Differentiated Instruction and Enrichment Pedagogy on Reading Achievement in Five Elementary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reis, Sally M.; McCoach, D. Betsy; Little, Catherine A.; Muller, Lisa M.; Kaniskan, R. Burcu

    2011-01-01

    This experimental study examined the effect of a differentiated, enriched reading program on students' oral reading fluency and comprehension using the schoolwide enrichment model-reading (SEM-R). Treatment and control conditions were randomly assigned to 63 teachers and 1,192 second through fifth grade students across five elementary schools.…

  3. The Promise of Multimedia Stories for Kindergarten Children at Risk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Verhallen, Maria J. A. J.; Bus, Adriana G.; de Jong, Maria T.

    2006-01-01

    This research focuses on the ability of book-based animated stories, when well designed and produced, to have positive effects on young viewers' narrative comprehension and language skills. Sixty 5-year-olds, learning Dutch as a 2nd language, were randomly assigned to 4 experimental and 2 control conditions. The children profited to some extent…

  4. Single-Case Experimental Designs in Educational Research: A Methodology for Causal Analyses in Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Plavnick, Joshua B.; Ferreri, Summer J.

    2013-01-01

    Current legislation requires educational practices be informed by science. The effort to establish educational practices supported by science has, to date, emphasized experiments with large numbers of participants who are randomly assigned to an intervention or control condition. A potential limitation of such an emphasis at the expense of other…

  5. Prediction Accuracy: The Role of Feedback in 6th Graders' Recall Predictions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Harthy, Ibrahim S.

    2016-01-01

    The current study focused on the role of feedback on students' prediction accuracy (calibration). This phenomenon has been widely studied, but questions remain about how best to improve it. In the current investigation, fifty-seven students from sixth grade were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Thirty pictures were chosen from…

  6. Interventions to Reduce Distress in Adult Victims of Rape and Sexual Violence: A Systematic Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Regehr, Cheryl; Alaggia, Ramona; Dennis, Jane; Pitts, Annabel; Saini, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: This article presents a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing distress in adult victims of rape and sexual violence. Method: Studies were eligible for the review if the assignment of study participants to experimental or control groups was by random allocation or parallel cohort design. Results:…

  7. Design of a factorial experiment with randomization restrictions to assess medical device performance on vascular tissue.

    PubMed

    Diestelkamp, Wiebke S; Krane, Carissa M; Pinnell, Margaret F

    2011-05-20

    Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo. The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the artery during transection (three types); and artery type (two types) resulting in a total of twelve possible treatment combinations. Burst pressures of porcine carotid and renal arteries sealed ex vivo were assigned as the response variable. The experimental test matrix was designed and carried out as a split-plot experiment in order to assess the contributions of several variables and their interactions while accounting for randomization restrictions present in the experimental setup. The statistical software package SAS was utilized and PROC MIXED was used to account for the randomization restrictions in the split-plot design. The combination of temperature, solution, and vessel type had a statistically significant impact on seal quality. The design and implementation of a split-plot experimental test-matrix provided a mechanism for addressing the existing technical randomization restrictions of ex vivo ultrasonic scalpel performance testing, while preserving the ability to examine the potential effects of independent factors or variables. This method for generating the experimental design and the statistical analyses of the resulting data are adaptable to a wide variety of experimental problems involving large-scale tissue-based studies of medical or experimental device efficacy and performance.

  8. Hypnosis, suggestions, and altered states of consciousness: experimental evaluation of the new cognitive-behavioral theory and the traditional trance-state theory of "hypnosis".

    PubMed

    Barber, T X; Wilson, S C

    1977-10-07

    Sixty-six subjects were tested on a new scale for evaluating "hypnotic-like" experiences (The Creative Imagination Scale), which includes ten standardized test-suggestions (e.g. suggestions for arm heaviness, finger anesthesia, time distortion, and age regression). The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups (Think-With Instructions, trance induction, and Control), with 22 subjects to each group. The new Cognitive-Behavioral Theory predicted that subjects exposed to preliminary instructions designed to demonstrate how to think and imagine along with the suggested themes (Think-With Instructions) would be more responsive to test-suggestions for anesthesia, time distortion, age regression, and so on, than subjects exposed to a trance-induction procedure. On the other hand, the traditional Trance State Theory predicted that a trance induction would be more effective than Think-With Instructions in enhancing responses to such suggestions. Subjects exposed to the Think-With Instructions obtained significantly higher scores on the test-suggestions than those exposed either to the traditional trance-induction procedure or to the control treatment. Scores of subjects who received the trance-induction procedure were not significantly different from those of the subjects who received the control treatment. The results thus supported the new Cognitive-Behavioral Theory and contradicted the traditional Trance State Theory of hypnosis. Two recent experiments, by De Stefano and by Katz, confirmed the above experimental results and offered further support for the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory. In both recent experiments, subjects randomly assigned to a "Think-With Instructions" treatment were more responsive to test-suggestions than those randomly assigned to a traditional trance-induction treatment.

  9. Primary granulocyte colony-stimulating factor prophylaxis during the first two cycles only or throughout all chemotherapy cycles in patients with breast cancer at risk for febrile neutropenia.

    PubMed

    Aarts, Maureen J; Peters, Frank P; Mandigers, Caroline M; Dercksen, M Wouter; Stouthard, Jacqueline M; Nortier, Hans J; van Laarhoven, Hanneke W; van Warmerdam, Laurence J; van de Wouw, Agnes J; Jacobs, Esther M; Mattijssen, Vera; van der Rijt, Carin C; Smilde, Tineke J; van der Velden, Annette W; Temizkan, Mehmet; Batman, Erdogan; Muller, Erik W; van Gastel, Saskia M; Borm, George F; Tjan-Heijnen, Vivianne C G

    2013-12-01

    Early breast cancer is commonly treated with anthracyclines and taxanes. However, combining these drugs increases the risk of myelotoxicity and may require granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) support. The highest incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN) and largest benefit of G-CSF during the first cycles of chemotherapy lead to questions about the effectiveness of continued use of G-CSF throughout later cycles of chemotherapy. In a multicenter study, patients with breast cancer who were considered fit enough to receive 3-weekly polychemotherapy, but also had > 20% risk for FN, were randomly assigned to primary G-CSF prophylaxis during the first two chemotherapy cycles only (experimental arm) or to primary G-CSF prophylaxis throughout all chemotherapy cycles (standard arm). The noninferiority hypothesis was that the incidence of FN would be maximally 7.5% higher in the experimental compared with the standard arm. After inclusion of 167 eligible patients, the independent data monitoring committee advised premature study closure. Of 84 patients randomly assigned to G-CSF throughout all chemotherapy cycles, eight (10%) experienced an episode of FN. In contrast, of 83 patients randomly assigned to G-CSF during the first two cycles only, 30 (36%) had an FN episode (95% CI, 0.13 to 0.54), with a peak incidence of 24% in the third cycle (ie, first cycle without G-CSF prophylaxis). In patients with early breast cancer at high risk for FN, continued use of primary G-CSF prophylaxis during all chemotherapy cycles is of clinical relevance and thus cannot be abandoned.

  10. An experimental test of the effects of gender constancy on sex typing.

    PubMed

    Arthur, Andrea E; Bigler, Rebecca S; Ruble, Diane N

    2009-12-01

    This study provides an experimental test of the hypothesis that level of gender constancy understanding affects children's sex typing. Preschool-age children (N=62, mean age=47 months) were randomly assigned to experimental lessons that taught that biological traits (including gender) are either fixed (pro-constancy condition) or mutable (anti-constancy condition). Posttests revealed that the lessons were effective; children in the pro-constancy condition showed higher gender constancy and appearance-reality distinction scores than did children in the anti-constancy condition. Sex typing did not, however, differ between treatment conditions at immediate and 3-month posttesting.

  11. The effect of role assignment in high fidelity patient simulation on nursing students: An experimental research study.

    PubMed

    Weiler, Dustin T; Gibson, Andrea L; Saleem, Jason J

    2018-04-01

    Previous studies have evaluated the effectiveness of high fidelity patient simulators (HFPS) on nursing training; however, a gap exists on the effects of role assignment on critical thinking, self-efficacy, and situation awareness skills in team-based simulation scenarios. This study aims to determine if role assignment and the involvement level related to the roles yields significant effects and differences in critical thinking, situation awareness and self-efficacy scores in team-based high-fidelity simulation scenarios. A single factorial design with five levels and random assignment was utilized. A public university-sponsored simulation center in the United States of America. A convenience sample of 69 junior-level baccalaureate nursing students was recruited for participation. Participants were randomly assigned one of five possible roles and completed pre-simulation critical thinking and self-efficacy assessments prior to the simulation beginning. Playing within their assigned roles, participants experienced post-partum hemorrhaging scenario using an HFPS. After completing the simulation, participants completed a situation awareness assessment and a post-simulation critical thinking and self-efficacy assessment. Role assignment was found to have a statistically significant effect on critical thinking skills and a statistically significant difference in various areas of self-efficacy was also noted. However, no statistical significance in situation awareness abilities was found. Results support the notion that certain roles required the participant to be more involved with the simulation scenario, which may have yielded higher critical thinking and self-efficacy scores than roles that required a lesser level of involvement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Psychoeducational preparation of children for surgery: the importance of parental involvement.

    PubMed

    Li, Ho Cheung William; Lopez, Violeta; Lee, Tin Loi Isabel

    2007-01-01

    To examine the effects of therapeutic play intervention on outcomes of children undergoing day surgery, and to highlight the importance of parental involvement in the psychoeducational preparation of children for surgery. A randomized controlled trial, two group pre-test and repeated post-test, between subjects design was employed. Hong Kong Chinese children (7-12 years of age; n=203) admitted for elective surgery in a day surgery unit, along with their parents during a 13-month period, were invited to participate in the study. By using a simple complete randomization method, 97 of children with their parents were assigned to the experimental group receiving therapeutic play intervention, and 106 children with their parents were assigned to the control group receiving routine information preparation. The results showed that both children and their parents in the experimental group reported lower state anxiety scores in pre- and post-operative periods. Children in the experimental group exhibited fewer instances of negative emotional behaviors and parents in the experimental group reported greater satisfaction. The results, however, find no differences in children's post-operative pain between the two groups. The study provides empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of using therapeutic play intervention and the importance of parental involvement in the psychoeducational preparation of children for surgery. The findings heighten the awareness of the importance of integrating therapeutic play and parental involvement as essential components of holistic and quality nursing care to prepare children for surgery.

  13. Comparing cluster-level dynamic treatment regimens using sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trials: Regression estimation and sample size considerations.

    PubMed

    NeCamp, Timothy; Kilbourne, Amy; Almirall, Daniel

    2017-08-01

    Cluster-level dynamic treatment regimens can be used to guide sequential treatment decision-making at the cluster level in order to improve outcomes at the individual or patient-level. In a cluster-level dynamic treatment regimen, the treatment is potentially adapted and re-adapted over time based on changes in the cluster that could be impacted by prior intervention, including aggregate measures of the individuals or patients that compose it. Cluster-randomized sequential multiple assignment randomized trials can be used to answer multiple open questions preventing scientists from developing high-quality cluster-level dynamic treatment regimens. In a cluster-randomized sequential multiple assignment randomized trial, sequential randomizations occur at the cluster level and outcomes are observed at the individual level. This manuscript makes two contributions to the design and analysis of cluster-randomized sequential multiple assignment randomized trials. First, a weighted least squares regression approach is proposed for comparing the mean of a patient-level outcome between the cluster-level dynamic treatment regimens embedded in a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial. The regression approach facilitates the use of baseline covariates which is often critical in the analysis of cluster-level trials. Second, sample size calculators are derived for two common cluster-randomized sequential multiple assignment randomized trial designs for use when the primary aim is a between-dynamic treatment regimen comparison of the mean of a continuous patient-level outcome. The methods are motivated by the Adaptive Implementation of Effective Programs Trial which is, to our knowledge, the first-ever cluster-randomized sequential multiple assignment randomized trial in psychiatry.

  14. Just a Harmless Website?: An Experimental Examination of RateMyProfessors.com's Effect on Student Evaluations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewandowski, Gary W., Jr.; Higgins, Emma; Nardone, Natalie N.

    2012-01-01

    This set of experiments assessed the influence of RateMyProfessors.com profiles, and the perceived credibility of those profiles, on students' evaluations of professors and retention of material. In Study 1, 302 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read positive or negative RateMyProfessors.com profiles with comments that focused on…

  15. What Would Batman Do? Self-Distancing Improves Executive Function in Young Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Rachel E.; Carlson, Stephanie M.

    2016-01-01

    This experimental research assessed the influence of graded levels of self-distancing--psychological distancing from one's egocentric perspective--on executive function (EF) in young children. Three- (n = 48) and 5-year-old (n = 48) children were randomly assigned to one of four manipulations of distance from the self (from proximal to distal:…

  16. Investigating the Washback Effects of Task-Based Instruction on the Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamzeh, Alireza

    2016-01-01

    The current research was an attempt to explore the washback impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on EFL Iranian learners' vocabulary development. To this end, conducting an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 30 out of 72 EFL Iranian learners studying in an English language institute, were randomly selected. Then, they were assigned to experimental (N…

  17. Learning New Grammatical Structures in Task-Based Language Learning: The Effects of Recasts and Prompts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van de Guchte, Marrit; Braaksma, Martine; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; Bimmel, Peter

    2015-01-01

    In the present study, we examine the effects of prompts and recasts on the acquisition of two new and different grammar structures in a task-based learning environment. Sixty-four 14-year-old 9th grade students (low intermediate) learning German as a foreign language were randomly assigned to three conditions: two experimental groups (one…

  18. Challenges of Employing E-Learning for Teaching Language: A Case of Teaching English in Iran

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alizadeh, Iman

    2012-01-01

    The whole thrust of this study was to delve into some of the pedagogical and practical challenges intimately related to employing e-learning for teaching language. To this aim, 30 language learners targeted as the subjects of the study were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups after administering a pretest. One the one hand, the…

  19. Identifying Baseline Covariates for Use in Propensity Scores: A Novel Approach Illustrated for a Nonrandomized Study of Recovery High Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tanner-Smith, Emily E.; Lipsey, Mark W.

    2014-01-01

    There are many situations where random assignment of participants to treatment and comparison conditions may be unethical or impractical. This article provides an overview of propensity score techniques that can be used for estimating treatment effects in nonrandomized quasi-experimental studies. After reviewing the logic of propensity score…

  20. Getting a Job Is Only Half the Battle: Maternal Job Loss and Child Classroom Behavior in Low-Income Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Heather D.; Morris, Pamela A.; Castells, Nina; Walker, Jessica Thornton

    2011-01-01

    This study uses data from an experimental employment program and instrumental variables (IV) estimation to examine the effects of maternal job loss on child classroom behavior. Random assignment to the treatment at one of three program sites is an exogenous predictor of employment patterns. Cross-site variation in treatment-control differences is…

  1. An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Worry on Responses to a Discrimination Learning Task

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salters-Pedneault, Kristalyn; Suvak, Michael; Roemer, Lizabeth

    2008-01-01

    The current study examined the impact of both the tendency to worry (trait worry) and the process of worry (state worry) on subsequent behavioral responding in a schedule discrimination learning task. High and low trait worriers were randomly assigned to a state worry or relaxation incubation condition and completed a test of executive functioning…

  2. Humor, Self-Attitude, Emotions, and Cognitions in Group Art Therapy with War Veterans

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kopytin, Alexander; Lebedev, Alexey

    2013-01-01

    This article presents findings from a study of the therapeutic effects of group art therapy in a psychotherapy unit of a Russian hospital for war veterans. The researchers randomly assigned 112 veterans being treated for stress-related disorders to an experimental group (art therapy) and a control group. The emphasis was on the use of humor in the…

  3. The Relationships of Color to the Attribution of Positive or Negative Affect.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sexton, Donna J.; And Others

    The purpose of the study was to experimentally determine if the attribution of positive or negative social values is associated with particular colors. The subjects were 76 four-and five-year old females drawn from six privately owned kindergartens and nurseries. The children were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the control group, color…

  4. Self-Regulation, Motivation and Teaching Styles in Physical Education Classes: An Intervention Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chatzipanteli, Athanasia; Digelidis, Nikolaos; Papaioannou, Athanasios G.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of student-activated teaching styles through a specific intervention program on students' self-regulation, lesson satisfaction, and motivation. Six hundred and one 7th grade students (318 boys and 283 girls), aged 13 years were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a comparison group.…

  5. Enhancing Building, Conversation, and Learning through Caregiver-Child Interactions in a Children's Museum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benjamin, Nora; Haden, Catherine A.; Wilkerson, Erin

    2010-01-01

    The authors adapted an experimental design to examine effects of instruction prior to entry into a children's museum exhibit on caregiver-child interactions and children's learning. One hundred twenty-one children (mean age = 6.6 years) and their caregivers were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 conditions that varied according to what, if any,…

  6. The Effects of Handwriting Instruction on Reading for Students in Grades 1 and 2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stroik, Linda R.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental group comparison study using a repeated measures comparison group design with random assignment of subjects to groups was to investigate the effects of handwriting instruction on reading progress for learners in grade 1 and grade 2. At three points in time, the number of words each student read…

  7. Interlocked Problem Posing and Children's Problem Posing Performance in Free Structured Situations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cankoy, Osman

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study is to explore the mathematical problem posing performance of students in free structured situations. Two classes of fifth grade students (N = 30) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The categories of the problems posed in free structured situations by the 2 groups of students were studied through…

  8. Teaching Common Errors in Applying a Procedure. IDD&E Working Paper No. 18.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garduno, Alberto O.; And Others

    The purpose of this study was to replicate the Bentti, Golden, and Reigeluth study (1983), which explored the use of nonexamples to teach common errors as an effective strategy in teaching a procedure. A total of 24 undergraduate students enrolled in the Syracuse University Symphonic Band were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a…

  9. Strategies in Reading Comprehension: VIII. Pictures, Imagery, and Retarded Children's Story Recall. Working Paper No. 214.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bender, Bruce G.; Levin, Joel R.

    Ninety-six educable mentally retarded individuals (10-16 years old) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions to listen to a 20-sentence story. Picture Ss viewed illustrations of the story, Imagery Ss were instructed to generate mental pictures of the story, Repitition Control Ss heard each sentence of the story twice, and…

  10. Cultivating Critical Thinkers: Exploring Transfer of Learning from Pre-Service Teacher Training to Classroom Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Ya-Ting Carolyn

    2012-01-01

    This study explores the transfer of critical thinking skills and dispositions from pre-service teacher training to classroom practice and student achievement in the cases of two graduates from a course on critical thinking-integrated instruction. Two 7th and two 8th grade classes were randomly assigned as experimental (CT-integrated instruction),…

  11. Effects of an Employee Wellness Program on Physiological Risk Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Monetary Savings in a South Texas University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamilton, Jacqueline

    2009-01-01

    An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of an Employee Wellness Program on physiological risk factors, job satisfaction, and monetary savings in a South Texas University. The non-probability sample consisted of 31 employees from lower income level positions. The employees were randomly assigned to the treatment group which…

  12. The Impact of Social Networking on the Oral Performance of EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Qarajeh, Masoud; Abdolmanafi-Rokni, Seyed Jalal

    2015-01-01

    The present study was set out to investigate the effect of social hubs on improving EFL learners' speaking skill. The participants of the study were 38 female and 26 male students between the age of 19 and 29. They were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control. Each group consisted of 32 participants. A language proficiency test…

  13. Assessing the Effectiveness of a 3-D Instructional Game on Improving Mathematics Achievement and Motivation of Middle School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bai, Haiyan; Pan, Wei; Hirumi, Astusi; Kebritchi, Mansureh

    2012-01-01

    This research study assessed the effectiveness of a three-dimensional mathematics game, DimensionM, through a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design. Participants consisted of 437 eighth graders. The classrooms were randomly assigned either to the treatment group that utilized DimensionM as a supplement to regular classroom…

  14. Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report. NCEE 2009-4047

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernstein, Lawrence; Rappaport, Catherine Dun; Olsho, Lauren; Hunt, Dana; Levin, Marjorie

    2009-01-01

    This report summarizes the findings from a national evaluation of mentoring programs funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. The impact evaluation used an experimental design in which students were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Thirty-two purposively selected School Mentoring Programs and…

  15. Do Students Using Electronic Books Display Different Reading Comprehension and Motivation Levels than Students Using Traditional Print Books?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wells, Casey L.

    2012-01-01

    The effect of electronic books on the reading comprehension of middle and high school students was examined using an experimental posttest-only control-group design. A convenience sample of 140 randomly assigned middle and high school English students at an independent school in eastern North Carolina participated. Half of the students used…

  16. An Experimental Study of Scheduling and Duration of "Tier 2" First-Grade Reading Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Denton, Carolyn A.; Cirino, Paul T.; Barth, Amy E.; Romain, Melissa; Vaughn, Sharon; Wexler, Jade; Francis, David J.; Fletcher, Jack M.

    2011-01-01

    This study compared the effects on reading outcomes of delivering supplemental, small-group intervention to first-grade students at risk for reading difficulties randomly assigned to one of three different treatment schedules: extended (4 sessions per week, 16 weeks; n = 66), concentrated (4 sessions per week, 8 weeks; n = 64), or distributed (2…

  17. A Comparison Study of the Effectiveness of the Lexia Reading Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ness, Mike; Couperus, Josh; Willey, Matthew

    2013-01-01

    This study evaluates the efficacy of the Lexia Reading (LR) programme with a cohort of 37 students in a Decile 1 primary school. The students were randomly assigned to experimental (who used LR) and control groups (who did not use LR). The WIAT-II was used to provide pre and post measures of literacy skills. Results indicated that students who…

  18. The Effects of the Maryland Online Individualized Education Program Goal Wizard on Writing Standards Based Annual Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Kimberly A.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Maryland Online Individualized Education Program Goal Wizard on writing standards based annual goals. Specifically, 100 novice special education teachers form a large urban school system in Maryland were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group received one…

  19. Effect of Participation in a Cup Stacking Unit on Hand-Eye Coordination of Elementary Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hart, Melanie A.; Smith, Lori A.; DeChant-Bruennig, Ann

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the influence of a cup stacking instructional unit on the hand-eye coordination of children. Participants (N = 104) consisted of three grade level groups (first/second, third and fourth). Within each grade level participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group.…

  20. Identity Entrepreneurship and the Consequences of Identity Failure: The Dynamics of Leadership in the BBC Prison Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haslam, S. Alexander; Reicher, Stephen

    2007-01-01

    The BBC Prison Study was an experimental case study in which participants were randomly assigned to groups as prisoners or guards. This paper examines the impact of interventions designed to increase prisoners' sense of shared social identity on processes of leadership. It presents psychometric, behavioral, and observational data which support the…

  1. Sexual Arousal and Self-Control: Results from a Preliminary Experimental Test of the Stability of Self-Control

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bouffard, Jeffrey; Kunzi, Tasha

    2012-01-01

    A central proposition of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) General Theory of Crime is the relative stability of low self-control, however research on "self-control strength" suggests that it may vary across contexts. The current study examines these differing conceptions by randomly assigning participants to one of two sexual arousal conditions or…

  2. Impact of Norm Perceptions and Guilt on Audience Response to Anti-Smoking Norm PSAs: The Case of Korean Male Smokers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Hyegyu; Paek, Hye-Jin

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To examine how norm appeals and guilt influence smokers' behavioural intention. Design: Quasi-experimental design. Setting: South Korea. Method: Two hundred and fifty-five male smokers were randomly assigned to descriptive, injunctive, or subjective anti-smoking norm messages. After they viewed the norm messages, their norm perceptions,…

  3. Are All Hands-On Activities Equally Effective? Effect of Using Plastic Models, Organ Dissections, and Virtual Dissections on Student Learning and Perceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lombardi, Sara A.; Hicks, Reimi E.; Thompson, Katerina V.; Marbach-Ad, Gili

    2014-01-01

    This study investigated the impact of three commonly used cardiovascular model-assisted activities on student learning and student attitudes and perspectives about science. College students enrolled in a Human Anatomy and Physiology course were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups (organ dissections, virtual dissections, or…

  4. Effects of Four Instructional Sequences on Application and Transfer. IDD&E Working Paper No. 12

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chao, Chun-I; And Others

    Using the Component Display Theory as an analyzing tool, this study compared the effects of expository and discovery methods of instruction on two learning outcomes, application and transfer. One hundred ninth grade students in each of four earth science classes were randomly assigned to five groups--four experimental groups designed to test four…

  5. The Effects of Face Expertise Training on the Behavioral Performance and Brain Activity of Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Faja, Susan; Webb, Sara Jane; Jones, Emily; Merkle, Kristen; Kamara, Dana; Bavaro, Joshua; Aylward, Elizabeth; Dawson, Geraldine

    2012-01-01

    The effect of expertise training with faces was studied in adults with ASD who showed initial impairment in face recognition. Participants were randomly assigned to a computerized training program involving either faces or houses. Pre- and post-testing included standardized and experimental measures of behavior and event-related brain potentials…

  6. Effects of Indoor Cycling Associated with Diet on Body Composition and Serum Lipids

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    do Valle, Valeria S.; de Mello, Danielli B.; Fortes, Marcos de Sa R.; Dantas, Estelio H. M.

    2009-01-01

    Study aim: To determine the effects of indoor cycling training combined with restricted diet, lasting 12 weeks, on serum lipid concentrations in obese women. Material and methods: Twenty women aged 23.8 [plus or minus] 3.6 years were randomly assigned into two groups: control (C) and experimental (E), the latter subjected to indoor cycling at…

  7. Interactive Book Reading: Promoting Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children through a Parent Training Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woods, Latasha S.

    2017-01-01

    This pilot study examined the effects of the Interactive Book Reading at Home (IBR; Wasik, 2009) parent training program on the emergent literacy skills of preschool children and parent beliefs about reading. A quasi-experimental, pretest and posttest design was utilized. Twenty parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to a control or treatment…

  8. Elaborative Talk during and after an Event: Conversational Style Influences Children's Memory Reports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hedrick, Amy M.; Haden, Catherine A.; Ornstein, Peter A.

    2009-01-01

    An experimental design was utilized to examine the effects of elaborative talk during and/or after an event on children's event memory reports. Sixty preschoolers were assigned randomly to one of four conditions that varied according to a researcher's use of high- or low- elaborative during- and/or post-event talk about a camping event. In a…

  9. Effects of Dog-Assisted Therapy on Communication and Basic Social Skills of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scorzato, Ivano; Zaninotto, Leonardo; Romano, Michela; Menardi, Chiara; Cavedon, Lino; Pegoraro, Alessandra; Socche, Laura; Zanetti, Piera; Coppiello, Deborah

    2017-01-01

    Thirty-nine adults with severe to profound intellectual disability (ID) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 21) or a control group (n = 18). Assessment was blinded and included selected items from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), the Behavioral Assessment Battery (BAB), and the…

  10. Experimental Evidence of the Relative Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning for Knowledge Acquisition and Retention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wijnen, Marit; Loyens, Sofie M. M.; Schaap, Lydia

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention in a controlled experiment in a lab setting. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students were randomly assigned to either a PBL condition, a lecture condition, or a self-study condition. All participants had the opportunity to study…

  11. Stress Prevention through a Time Management Training Intervention: An Experimental Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Häfner, Alexander; Stock, Armin; Pinneker, Lydia; Ströhle, Sabine

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term time management training programme on perceived control of time and perceived stress. The sample of 177 freshmen was randomly assigned to a time management training (n?=?89) and an active control group (CG) (n?=?88). We expected that an increase in external demands during the…

  12. Measuring Student Growth within a Merit-Pay Evaluation System: Perceived Effects on Music Teacher Motivation Career Commitment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Munroe, Angela

    2017-01-01

    In this experimental study, music teachers from a large school district were randomly assigned to one of two hypothetical conditions reflecting different methods for measuring student growth under a merit pay compensation system. In Scenario A, half of a teacher's effectiveness rating was based on student standardized test scores in reading,…

  13. Effect of Self Regulated Learning Approach on Junior Secondary School Students' Achievement in Basic Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nwafor, Chika E.; Obodo, Abigail Chikaodinaka; Okafor, Gabriel

    2015-01-01

    This study explored the effect of self-regulated learning approach on junior secondary school students' achievement in basic science. Quasi-experimental design was used for the study.Two co-educational schools were drawn for the study through simple random sampling technique. One school was assigned to the treatment group while the other was…

  14. The Effects of an Independent Laboratory Investigation on the Critical Thinking Ability and Scientific Attitude of Students in a General Microbiology Class.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norton, Sylvia; And Others

    To demonstrate that properly designed laboratory instruction does provide affective and higher order learning benefits, an experiment was carried out in two replications. The subjects were 80 students enrolled in General Microbiology at Wallace Community College, Alabama. Students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The…

  15. Does Combining the Embodiment and Personalization Principles of Multimedia Learning Affect Learning the Culture of a Foreign Language?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Yanlin; Crooks, Steven M.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how social cues associated with the personalization and embodiment principles in multimedia learning affect the learning and attitude of students studying the culture of a foreign language. University students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions that consisted of an…

  16. Effects of autonomy-supportive and controlling styles on situational self-determined motivation: some unexpected results of the commitment procedure.

    PubMed

    Amoura, Camille; Berjot, Sophie; Gillet, Nicolas; Caruana, Sylvain; Finez, Lucie

    2015-02-01

    Distinct and simultaneous effects of autonomy-supportive and controlling styles, usually considered as mutually exclusive, on situational self-determined motivation are tested. In Study 1, economics students (N = 100; 57 men, 43 women; M age = 21.5 yr.) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions (high vs. low) of autonomy supportive and/or controlling behaviors during a task. Results supported the independence of those constructs. An unexpected effect in regards to Self-determination Theory was found in the Low autonomy - High control condition in which self-determined motivation was observed. The interpretation for this specific condition, an effect due to the attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance triggered by the commitment procedure, was tested. In Study 2, sport students (N = 80, 44 men, 36 women; M age = 19.2 yr.) were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: No commitment, Commitment plus self-affirmation, and Commitment without self-affirmation. Results supported Study 1's interpretation: motivation was lower when participants were recruited without a commitment procedure or when they were invited to self-affirm than when participants recruited with a commitment procedure.

  17. The statistical pitfalls of the partially randomized preference design in non-blinded trials of psychological interventions.

    PubMed

    Gemmell, Isla; Dunn, Graham

    2011-03-01

    In a partially randomized preference trial (PRPT) patients with no treatment preference are allocated to groups at random, but those who express a preference receive the treatment of their choice. It has been suggested that the design can improve the external and internal validity of trials. We used computer simulation to illustrate the impact that an unmeasured confounder could have on the results and conclusions drawn from a PRPT. We generated 4000 observations ("patients") that reflected the distribution of the Beck Depression Index (DBI) in trials of depression. Half were randomly assigned to a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design and half were assigned to a PRPT design. In the RCT, "patients" were evenly split between treatment and control groups; whereas in the preference arm, to reflect patient choice, 87.5% of patients were allocated to the experimental treatment and 12.5% to the control. Unadjusted analyses of the PRPT data consistently overestimated the treatment effect and its standard error. This lead to Type I errors when the true treatment effect was small and Type II errors when the confounder effect was large. The PRPT design is not recommended as a method of establishing an unbiased estimate of treatment effect due to the potential influence of unmeasured confounders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. The effects of laughter therapy on mood state and self-esteem in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Kim, So Hee; Kook, Jeong Ran; Kwon, Moonjung; Son, Myeong Ha; Ahn, Seung Do; Kim, Yeon Hee

    2015-04-01

    To investigate whether laughter therapy lowers total mood disturbance scores and improves self-esteem scores in patients with cancer. Randomized controlled trial in a radio-oncology outpatient setting. Sixty-two patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=33) or the wait list control group (n=29). Three laughter therapy sessions lasting 60 minutes each. Mood state and self-esteem. The intention-to-treat analysis revealed a significant main effect of group: Experimental group participants reported a 14.12-point reduction in total mood disturbance, while the wait list control group showed a 1.21-point reduction (p=0.001). The per-protocol analysis showed a significant main effect of group: The experimental group reported a 18.86-point decrease in total mood disturbance, while controls showed a 0.19-point reduction (p<0.001). The self-esteem of experimental group was significantly greater than that of the wait list control group (p=0.044). These results indicate that laughter therapy can improve mood state and self-esteem and can be a beneficial, noninvasive intervention for patients with cancer in clinical settings.

  19. Virtual reality-based training improves community ambulation in individuals with stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yea-Ru; Tsai, Meng-Pin; Chuang, Tien-Yow; Sung, Wen-Hsu; Wang, Ray-Yau

    2008-08-01

    This is a single blind randomized controlled trial to examine the effect of virtual reality-based training on the community ambulation in individuals with stroke. Twenty subjects with stroke were assigned randomly to either the control group (n=9) or the experimental group (n=11). Subjects in the control group received the treadmill training. Subjects in the experimental group underwent the virtual reality-based treadmill training. Walking speed, community walking time, walking ability questionnaire (WAQ), and activities-specific balance confidence (ABC) scale were evaluated. Subjects in the experimental group improved significantly in walking speed, community walking time, and WAQ score at posttraining and 1-month follow-up periods. Their ABC score also significantly increased at posttraining but did not maintain at follow-up period. Regarding the between-group comparisons, the experimental group improved significantly more than control group in walking speed (P=0.03) and community walking time (P=0.04) at posttraining period and in WAQ score (P=0.03) at follow-up period. Our results support the perceived benefits of gait training programs that incorporate virtual reality to augment the community ambulation of individuals with stroke.

  20. [Efficacy of cultural-appropriate health education on information, motivation and behavioral skills of fever management for children in new immigrant Vietnamese mothers].

    PubMed

    Hsu, Hsian-Chou; Chen, Su-Jun; Huang, Mei-Chih

    2012-12-01

    Fever is the most common symptom in pediatric healthcare. Providing parents with better information on childhood fever management can improve their cognition and home-care abilities. Vietnamese female spouse comprise the largest segment of women who have emigrated from Southeast Asia to Taiwan over the past two decades. After arrival to Taiwan, they have to encounter the events of pregnancy and being a mother. In health care services, language barriers and cultural issues are key healthcare-related barriers to the adaptation of these women to Taiwan society. This study assessed the efficacy of using Vietnamese-language fever management education materials in changing the fever management behaviors of Vietnamese mothers living in Taiwan. This experimental study used a randomly assigned, pre- and post-test approach. A snowball method was used to recruit Vietnamese women living in southern Taiwan with children under 6 years of age. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 31, Vietnamese-language fever management brochure + VCD) and comparison (n = 30, Chinese-language brochure + VCD) groups. Both groups achieved significantly improvement scores in (fever) information, attitudes, self-efficacy and skills, with improvements significantly higher in the experimental group than the comparison group. This study supports that fever management education presented in the recipient's primary language effectively improves recipient fever management knowledge, attitudes, skills, and self-efficacy.

  1. Evaluation of a smartphone application for self-care performance of patients with chronic hepatitis B: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Jeon, Jae Hee

    2016-11-01

    To verify the usefulness of a smartphone application (App) for facilitating self-care in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). CHB is a global health problem, and patients with CHB need to routinely perform self-care. Health-related smartphone apps could help users self-manage their disease. Fifty-three CHB patients were assessed in this randomized controlled before-and-after experimental study. The patients were randomly and equally assigned to groups that did (n=26) or did not (n=27) use the smartphone app for 12weeks. The experimental and control groups were analyzed for differences in disease knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care before and after use of the smartphone app. After intervention, patients who used the app displayed significantly increased disease knowledge compared with the control group (p=.015). Self-efficacy and self-care also significantly increased in the experimental group (p=0.006 and 0.001, respectively). The smartphone app can be useful for increasing self-care in CHB patients. App: application, CHB: chronic hepatitis B, CVI: content validity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Estimating peer effects in networks with peer encouragement designs.

    PubMed

    Eckles, Dean; Kizilcec, René F; Bakshy, Eytan

    2016-07-05

    Peer effects, in which the behavior of an individual is affected by the behavior of their peers, are central to social science. Because peer effects are often confounded with homophily and common external causes, recent work has used randomized experiments to estimate effects of specific peer behaviors. These experiments have often relied on the experimenter being able to randomly modulate mechanisms by which peer behavior is transmitted to a focal individual. We describe experimental designs that instead randomly assign individuals' peers to encouragements to behaviors that directly affect those individuals. We illustrate this method with a large peer encouragement design on Facebook for estimating the effects of receiving feedback from peers on posts shared by focal individuals. We find evidence for substantial effects of receiving marginal feedback on multiple behaviors, including giving feedback to others and continued posting. These findings provide experimental evidence for the role of behaviors directed at specific individuals in the adoption and continued use of communication technologies. In comparison, observational estimates differ substantially, both underestimating and overestimating effects, suggesting that researchers and policy makers should be cautious in relying on them.

  3. Estimating peer effects in networks with peer encouragement designs

    PubMed Central

    Eckles, Dean; Kizilcec, René F.; Bakshy, Eytan

    2016-01-01

    Peer effects, in which the behavior of an individual is affected by the behavior of their peers, are central to social science. Because peer effects are often confounded with homophily and common external causes, recent work has used randomized experiments to estimate effects of specific peer behaviors. These experiments have often relied on the experimenter being able to randomly modulate mechanisms by which peer behavior is transmitted to a focal individual. We describe experimental designs that instead randomly assign individuals’ peers to encouragements to behaviors that directly affect those individuals. We illustrate this method with a large peer encouragement design on Facebook for estimating the effects of receiving feedback from peers on posts shared by focal individuals. We find evidence for substantial effects of receiving marginal feedback on multiple behaviors, including giving feedback to others and continued posting. These findings provide experimental evidence for the role of behaviors directed at specific individuals in the adoption and continued use of communication technologies. In comparison, observational estimates differ substantially, both underestimating and overestimating effects, suggesting that researchers and policy makers should be cautious in relying on them. PMID:27382145

  4. The effect of reflective writing interventions on the critical thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students.

    PubMed

    Naber, Jessica; Wyatt, Tami H

    2014-01-01

    The importance of critical thinking is well-documented by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the National League for Nursing. Reflective writing is often used to increase understanding and analytical ability. The lack of empirical evidence about the effect of reflective writing interventions on critical thinking supports the examination of this concept. Study objectives were: This study used an experimental, pretest-posttest design. The setting was two schools of nursing at universities in the southern United States. The convenience sample included 70 fourth-semester students in baccalaureate nursing programs. Randomly assigned control and experimental groups completed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory Test (CCTDI). The experimental group completed six reflective writing assignments. Both groups completed the two tests again. Results showed that the experimental group had a significant increase (p=0.03) on the truthseeking subscale of the CCTDI when compared to the control group. The experimental group's scores increased on four CCTST subscales and were higher than the control group's on three CCTST subscales. The results of this study make it imperative for nursing schools to consider including reflective writing-especially assignments based on Paul's (1993) model-in nursing courses. If future studies, testing over longer periods of time, show significant increases in critical thinking, those interventions could be incorporated into nursing curriculum and change the way nurse educators evaluate students. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Experimental problem solving: An instructional improvement field experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ross, John A.; Maynes, Florence J.

    An instructional program based on expert-novice differences in experimental problem-solving performance was taught to grade 6 students (N = 265). Classes of students were randomly assigned to conditions in a delayed treatment design. Performance was assessed with multiple-choice and open-ended measures of specific transfer. Between group comparisons using pretest scores as a covariate showed that treatment condition students consistently outperformed controls; similar results were revealed in the within group comparisons. The achievement of the early treatment group did not decline in tests administered one month after the posttest.

  6. Randomized controlled trials in evidence-based mental health care: getting the right answer to the right question.

    PubMed

    Essock, Susan M; Drake, Robert E; Frank, Richard G; McGuire, Thomas G

    2003-01-01

    The purpose of clinical research is to answer this question: Would a new treatment, when added to the existing range of treatment options available in practice, help patients? Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)--in particular, double-blind RCTs--have important methodological advantages over observational studies for addressing this question. These advantages, however, come at a price. RCTs compare treatments using a particular allocation rule for assigning patients to treatments (random assignment) that does not mimic real-world practice. "Favorable" results from an RCT indicating that a new treatment is superior to existing treatments are neither necessary nor sufficient for establishing a "yes" answer to the question posed above. Modeled on an experimental design, RCTs are expensive in time and money and must compare simple differences in treatments. Findings have a high internal validity but may not address the needs of the field, particularly where treatment is complex and rapidly evolving. Design of clinical research needs to take account of the way treatments are allocated in actual practice and include flexible designs to answer important questions most effectively.

  7. Opportunistic detection of atrial fibrillation in subjects aged 65 years or older in primare care: a randomised clinical trial of efficacy. DOFA-AP study protocol.

    PubMed

    Pérula-de-Torres, Luis Á; Martínez-Adell, Miguel Á; González-Blanco, Virginia; Baena-Díez, José M; Martín-Rioboó, Enrique; Parras-Rejano, Juan M; González-Lama, Jesús; Martín-Alvarez, Remedios; Ruiz-Moral, Roger; Fernández-García, José Á; Pérez-Díaz, Modesto; Ruiz-de-Castroviejo, Joaquin; Pérula-de-Torres, Carlos; Valero-Martín, Antonio; Roldán-Villalobos, Ana; Criado-Larumbe, Margarita; Burdoy-Joaquín, Emili; Coma-Solé, Montserrat; Cervera-León, Mercè; Cuixart-Costa, Lluís

    2012-10-30

    Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend using peripheral blood pulse measuring as a screening test for Atrial Fibrillation. However, there is no adequate evidence supporting the efficacy of such procedure in primary care clinical practice. This paper describes a study protocol designed to verify whether early opportunistic screening for Atrial Fibrillation by measuring blood pulse is more effective than regular practice in subjects aged 65 years attending primary care centers. An cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Primary Care Centers of the Spanish National Health Service. A total of 269 physicians and nurses will be allocated to one of the two arms of the trial by stratified randomization with a 3:2 ratio (three practitioners will be assigned to the Control Group for every two practitioners assigned to the Experimental Group). As many as 12 870 patients aged 65 years or older and meeting eligibility criteria will be recruited (8 580 will be allocated to the Experimental Group and 4 290 to the Control Group). Randomization and allocation to trial groups will be carried out by a central computer system. The Experimental Group practitioners will conduct an opportunistic case finding for patients with Atrial Fibrillation, while the Control Group practitioners will follow the regular guidelines. The first step will be finding new Atrial Fibrillation cases. A descriptive inferential analysis will be performed (bivariate and multivariate by multilevel logistic regression analysis). If our hypothesis is confirmed, we expect Primary Care professionals to take a more proactive approach and adopt a new protocol when a patient meeting the established screening criteria is identified. Finally, we expect this measure to be incorporated into Clinical Practice Guidelines. The study is registered as NCT01291953 (ClinicalTrials.gob).

  8. Evaluating a Multidimensional Reading Comprehension Program and Reconsidering the Lowly Reputation of Tests of Near Transfer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Douglas; Hendricks, Emma; Walsh, Meagan E.; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Zhang Tracy, Wen; Patton, Samuel, III.; Davis, Nicole; Kim, Wooliya; Elleman, Amy M.; Peng, Peng

    2018-01-01

    We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 120 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the 2 tutoring conditions and a…

  9. Evaluating a Multidimensional Reading Comprehension Program and Reconsidering the Lowly Reputation of Tests of Near-Transfer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Douglas; Hendricks, Emma; Walsh, Meagan E.; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Zhang Tracy, Wen; Patton, Samuel, III; Davis-Perkins, Nicole; Kim, Wooliya; Elleman, Amy M.; Peng, Peng

    2018-01-01

    We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 116 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the two tutoring conditions and a…

  10. Instructional Approaches on Science Performance, Attitude and Inquiry Ability in a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Ching-Huei; Chen, Chia-Ying

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the effects of an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach compared to that of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach on learner performance, attitude toward science and inquiry ability. Ninety-six students from three 7th-grade classes at a public school were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. All…

  11. Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huffstetter, Mary; King, James R.; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.; Schneider, Jenifer J.; Powell-Smith, Kelly A.

    2010-01-01

    This study examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program (Headsprout Early Reading) on the oral language and early reading skills of at-risk preschool children. In a pretest-posttest control group design, 62 children were randomly assigned to receive supplemental instruction with Headsprout Early Reading (experimental group) or…

  12. Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Childhood Investments on Postsecondary Attainment and Degree Completion. NBER Working Paper No. 17533

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynarski, Susan; Hyman, Joshua M.; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the effect of early childhood investments on college enrollment and degree completion. We use the random assignment in the Project STAR experiment to estimate the effect of smaller classes in primary school on college entry, college choice, and degree completion. We improve on existing work in this area with unusually detailed…

  13. The Effect of Case-Based Instruction on 10th Grade Students' Understanding of Gas Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yalçinkaya, Eylem; Boz, Yezdan

    2015-01-01

    The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of case-based instruction on remedying 10th grade students' alternative conceptions related to gas concepts. 128 tenth grade students from two high schools participated in this study. In each school, one of the classes was randomly assigned as the experimental group and the other…

  14. Impacts of Abstinence Education on Teen Sexual Activity, Risk of Pregnancy, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trenholm, Christopher; Devaney, Barbara; Fortson, Kenneth; Clark, Melissa; Bridgespan, Lisa Quay; Wheeler, Justin

    2008-01-01

    This paper examines the impacts of four abstinence-only education programs on adolescent sexual activity and risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Based on an experimental design, the impact analysis uses survey data collected in 2005 and early 2006 from more than 2,000 teens who had been randomly assigned to either a…

  15. Effects of Combining Case-Based Instruction and Mindfulness Activities on the Acquisition, Application, and Transfer of Complex Knowledge: An Experimental Comparison of Two Multiple-Case Treatments on Videodisc.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cunningham, Thomas H.; Thorkildsen, Ron J.

    Two multiple-case instructional treatments were compared to determine their relative effectiveness for helping program participants acquire, apply, and transfer complex knowledge about Assistive Technology (AT) available to help people with impaired vision. Thirty-eight college students were randomly assigned to two conditions. Both treatments…

  16. The Influence of Family Structure on Sexual Activity in a Randomized Effectiveness Trial for Minority Youth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherr, Michael E.; Crow, Janet; Stamey, James; Jones, Johnny; Dyer, Preston

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the influence of family structure on the outcomes of a sex education program in Miami, Florida. Using an experimental design, data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up with a sample of teenagers from high schools with a large majority of minority youth, assigned into treatment (n = 549) and control (n…

  17. The Effects of Follow-up and Peer Interaction on Quality of Performance and Completion of Online Professional Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Marybeth; Cifuentes, Lauren

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the effects of the inclusion of online follow-up and online peer interaction with a face-to face workshop on quality of support plan and completion of a support plan by Texas school librarians. The study used a posttest-only control group experimental design with randomly assigned self-selected participants. Three online…

  18. Season of prescribed burn in ponderosa pine forests in eastern Oregon: impact on pine mortality.

    Treesearch

    Walter G. Thies; Douglas J. Westlind; Mark Loewen

    2005-01-01

    A study of the effects of season of prescribed burn on tree mortality was established in mixed-age ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) at the south end of the Blue Mountains near Burns, Oregon. Each of six previously thinned stands was subdivided into three experimental units and one of three treatments was randomly assigned to each:...

  19. The Effect of Speed Reading Strategies on Developing Reading Comprehension among the 2nd Secondary Students in English Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdelrahman, Mahmoud Sulaiman Hamad Bani; Bsharah, Muwafaq Saleem

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to find the effect of speed reading strategies on developing reading comprehension among second secondary literary stream students in English language. The sample of the study consists of (42) students assigned into two groups who were chosen randomly from schools, a controlled group (21) students, and an experimental (21)…

  20. Training Mispronunciation Correction and Word Meanings Improves Children's Ability to Learn to Read Words

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dyson, Hannah; Best, Wendy; Solity, Jonathan; Hulme, Charles

    2017-01-01

    Previous research has suggested that learning to read irregular words depends upon knowledge of a word's meaning and the ability to correct imperfect decoding attempts by reference to the known pronunciations of a word. In an experimental training study, 84 children ages 5-7 years were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group.…

  1. Effects of Brain Gym on Overhand Throwing in First Grade Students: A Preliminary Investigation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maskell, Bronwen; Shapiro, Deborah R.; Ridley, Christopher

    2004-01-01

    The purpose was to examine the effect of Brain Gym on learning the overhand throw among 42 first grade students. Participants from two intact classes were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Students were tested before and after a 5-week intervention using the object control subtest from the Test of Gross Motor Development-2…

  2. Cross-Age Tutoring: A Strategy for Increasing Reading Achievement and Improving Self-Concept for Elementary School Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wood, Edwin Leon

    This study attempted to determine the effects of a twice-weekly, four-month-long, cross-age tutoring program on children's reading achievement levels and self-concepts. A total of 240 students, stratified by grade and sex, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. Within each group, students were matched by grade: grade four with grade…

  3. Effective Early Literacy Skill Development for Young Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: An Experimental Study of Two Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farver, Jo Ann M.; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Eppe, Stefanie

    2009-01-01

    Ninety-four Spanish-speaking preschoolers (M age = 54.51 months, SD = 4.72; 43 girls) were randomly assigned to receive the High/Scope Curriculum (control n = 32) or the Literacy Express Preschool Curriculum in English-only (n = 31) or initially in Spanish transitioning to English (n = 31). Children's emergent literacy skills were assessed before…

  4. The Effects of Class Size in Online College Courses: Experimental Evidence. CEPA Working Paper No. 15-14

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bettinger, Eric; Doss, Christopher; Loeb, Susanna; Taylor, Eric

    2015-01-01

    Class size is a first-order consideration in the study of education production and education costs. How larger or smaller classes affect student outcomes is especially relevant to the growth and design of online classes. We study a field experiment in which college students were quasi-randomly assigned to either a large or a small class. All…

  5. Peer-Mentored Preparedness (PM-Prep): A New Disaster Preparedness Program for Adults Living Independently in the Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eisenman, David Paul; Bazzano, Alicia; Koniak-Griffin, Deborah; Tseng, Chi-hong; Lewis, Mary-Ann; Lamb, Kerry; Lehrer, Danise

    2014-01-01

    The authors studied a health promotion program called PM-Prep (Peer-Mentored Prep), which was designed to improve disaster preparedness among adults living independently in the community. PM-Prep consists of four 2-hour classes co-taught by a health educator and peer-mentors. Adults were randomly assigned to an experimental arm or a wait-list…

  6. Experimental modification of interpretation bias about animal fear in young children: effects on cognition, avoidance behavior, anxiety vulnerability, and physiological responding.

    PubMed

    Lester, Kathryn J; Field, Andy P; Muris, Peter

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of experimentally modifying interpretation biases for children's cognitions, avoidance behavior, anxiety vulnerability, and physiological responding. Sixty-seven children (6-11 years) were randomly assigned to receive a positive or negative interpretation bias modification procedure to induce interpretation biases toward or away from threat about ambiguous situations involving Australian marsupials. Children rapidly learned to select outcomes of ambiguous situations, which were congruent with their assigned condition. Furthermore, following positive modification, children's threat biases about novel ambiguous situations significantly decreased, whereas threat biases significantly increased after negative modification. In response to a stress-evoking behavioral avoidance test, positive modification attenuated behavioral avoidance compared to negative modification. However, no significant effects of bias modification on anxiety vulnerability or physiological responses to this stress-evoking Behavioral Avoidance Task were observed.

  7. Plasmapheresis in thrombotic microangiopathy-associated syndromes: review of outcome data derived from clinical trials and open studies.

    PubMed

    von Baeyer, Hans

    2002-08-01

    Current reimbursement policy of health insurance for therapeutic plasmapheresis requires proof of efficacy using the concept of evidence-based medicine. The aim of this paper is to review the outcome of plasmapheresis used to treat thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA)-associated syndromes in the last decade to provide scientific evidence to back up reimbursement applications. The strength of evidence of each reviewed study was assessed using the five levels of evidence criteria as defined by the American Society of Hematology in 1996 for assessment of the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia. The level Experimental indication was added for situations where only case reports or small series supported by pathophysiological reasoning are available. The definitions of evidence used in this paper are as follows: Level I, randomized clinical trial with low rates of error (p < 0.01); Level II, randomized clinical trial with high rates of error (p < 0.05); Level III, nonrandomized studies with concurrent control group; Level IV, nonrandomized studies with historical control group; Level V, case series without a control group or expert opinion; and Experimental, case reports and pathophysiological reasoning. The results of this analysis based on the published data is summarized as follows: The indication of plasmapheresis is assigned to Level IV evidence for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura/hemolytic uremic syndrome (TTP/HUS); cancer/chemotherapy-associated TTP/HUS is assigned to Level V evidence; and TTP/HUS refractory to standard plasma exchange and post-bone marrow transplantation TTP/HUS are assigned to Experimental indication. For both subsets, protein A immunoadsorption is reportedly successful. The other TMA-associated syndromes, hemolysis elevated liver enzymes low platelets and HUS in early childhood, are no indication of plasmapheresis. Two randomized clinical trials were performed in order to demonstrate the superiority of plasma exchange/fresh frozen plasma (PEX/FFP) over plasma transfusion in the management of TTP/HUS. The results prove the greater clinical success of the latter type of plasma administration. Standard PEX/FFP has reduced the mortality of TTP/HUS from 94.5% to 13%.

  8. Can Nonexperimental Estimates Replicate Estimates Based on Random Assignment in Evaluations of School Choice? A Within-Study Comparison

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bifulco, Robert

    2012-01-01

    The ability of nonexperimental estimators to match impact estimates derived from random assignment is examined using data from the evaluation of two interdistrict magnet schools. As in previous within-study comparisons, nonexperimental estimates differ from estimates based on random assignment when nonexperimental estimators are implemented…

  9. 76 FR 43729 - Notice of Random Assignment Study To Evaluate Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration Notice of Random Assignment Study To... interest to use a random assignment impact methodology for the study. In the local workforce investment... study during a 12-18 month period. The Department is soliciting comments concerning the Department's...

  10. Comparative efficacy of two daily use mouthrinses: randomized clinical trial using an experimental gingivitis model.

    PubMed

    Charles, Christine Ann; McGuire, James Anthony; Sharma, Naresh Chandra; Qaqish, James

    2011-01-01

    Two antimicrobial agents, a fixed combination of essential oils (EOs) and 0.07% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) are found in commercially available mouthrinses, Listerine® Antiseptic and Crest® Pro HealthTM, respectively. Both mouthrinses have been shown to control dental plaque and gingivitis in short and longer term studies. The aim of this study was to determine the comparative effectiveness of these two mouthrinses using a 2-week experimental gingivitis model. Qualified subjects were randomly assigned to one of three mouthrinse groups: a fixed combination of EOs, 0.07% CPC, or negative control (C) rinse. Following baseline clinical assessments and a dental prophylaxis, subjects began a two-week period in which they rinsed twice daily with their assigned rinse and abstained from any mechanical oral hygiene procedures or other oral care products. Subjects were reassessed at the end of the two-week period. One hundred and forty-seven subjects were randomized and 142 completed this study. After two weeks use, the EOs rinse was superior (p < 0.011) to the CPC rinse in inhibiting the development of gingivitis, plaque, and bleeding, with 9.4% and 6.6% reductions compared to CPC for gingivitis and plaque, respectively. Both rinses were superior to the negative control rinse (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that the essential oil-containing mouthrinse has superior antiplaque/antigingivitis effectiveness compared to the 0.07% CPC-containing mouthrinse without mechanical oral hygiene influence.

  11. Design of a factorial experiment with randomization restrictions to assess medical device performance on vascular tissue

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo. Methods The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the artery during transection (three types); and artery type (two types) resulting in a total of twelve possible treatment combinations. Burst pressures of porcine carotid and renal arteries sealed ex vivo were assigned as the response variable. Results The experimental test matrix was designed and carried out as a split-plot experiment in order to assess the contributions of several variables and their interactions while accounting for randomization restrictions present in the experimental setup. The statistical software package SAS was utilized and PROC MIXED was used to account for the randomization restrictions in the split-plot design. The combination of temperature, solution, and vessel type had a statistically significant impact on seal quality. Conclusions The design and implementation of a split-plot experimental test-matrix provided a mechanism for addressing the existing technical randomization restrictions of ex vivo ultrasonic scalpel performance testing, while preserving the ability to examine the potential effects of independent factors or variables. This method for generating the experimental design and the statistical analyses of the resulting data are adaptable to a wide variety of experimental problems involving large-scale tissue-based studies of medical or experimental device efficacy and performance. PMID:21599963

  12. Impulsive lifestyle counseling to prevent dropout from treatment for substance use disorders in people with antisocial personality disorder: A randomized study.

    PubMed

    Thylstrup, Birgitte; Hesse, Morten

    2016-06-01

    Patients with antisocial personality disorder in outpatient treatment for substance use disorders are at high risk of drop-out. Using a randomized design, this study tested the impact of adding a brief psycho-educational program, the Impulsive Lifestyle Counseling program, to outpatient substance abuse treatment in order to prevent treatment dropout. Patients (N=175) were recruited from 13 municipal treatment centers in Denmark, and assigned to treatment as usual or to the experimental condition. In all, 172 patients could be included in the analyses. In the intent-to-treat analysis, the risk of treatment dropout was reduced among patients randomized to the experimental program (hazard ratio=0.63, p=.031), after controlling for age, gender, and substitution treatment status. The study supported the efficacy of the Impulsive Lifestyle Counseling program as a method for preventing treatment dropout for patients with comorbid antisocial personality disorder in substance abuse treatment. Trial registration #ISRCTN67266318. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Effects of far-infrared irradiation on myofascial neck pain: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study.

    PubMed

    Lai, Chien-Hung; Leung, Ting-Kai; Peng, Chih-Wei; Chang, Kwang-Hwa; Lai, Ming-Jun; Lai, Wen-Fu; Chen, Shih-Ching

    2014-02-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the relative efficacy of irradiation using a device containing a far-infrared emitting ceramic powder (cFIR) for the management of chronic myofascial neck pain compared with a control treatment. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. The study comprised 48 patients with chronic, myofascial neck pain. Patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group or the control (sham-treatment) group. The patients in the experimental group wore a cFIR neck device for 1 week, and the control group wore an inert neck device for 1 week. Quantitative measurements based on a visual analogue scale (VAS) scoring of pain, a sleep quality assessment, pressure-pain threshold (PPT) testing, muscle tone and compliance analysis, and skin temperature analysis were obtained. Both the experimental and control groups demonstrated significant improvement in pain scores. However, no statistically significant difference in the pain scores was observed between the experimental and control groups. Significant decreases in muscle stiffness in the upper regions of the trapezius muscles were reported in the experimental group after 1 week of treatment. Short-term treatment using the cFIR neck device partly reduced muscle stiffness. Although the differences in the VAS and PPT scores for the experimental and control groups were not statistically significant, the improvement in muscle stiffness in the experimental group warrants further investigation of the long-term effects of cFIR treatment for pain management.

  14. Effectiveness of interactive discussion group in suicide risk assessment among general nurses in Taiwan: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Wu, Chia-Yi; Lin, Yi-Yin; Yeh, Mei Chang; Huang, Lian-Hua; Chen, Shaw-Ji; Liao, Shih-Cheng; Lee, Ming-Been

    2014-11-01

    The evidence of suicide prevention training for nurses is scarce. Strategies to enhance general nurses' ability in suicide risk assessment are critical to develop effective training programs in general medical settings. This study was aimed to examine the effectiveness of an interactive discussion group in a suicide prevention training program for general nurses. In this randomized study with two groups of pre-post study design, the sample was recruited from the Medical, Surgical, and Emergency/Intensive Care Sectors of a 2000-bed general hospital via stratified randomization. Among the 111 nurses, 57 participants randomly assigned to the control group received a two-hour baseline suicide gatekeeper lecture, and 54 participants assigning to the experimental group received an additional five-hour group discussion about suicide risk assessment skills. Using a case vignette, the nurses discussed and assessed suicide risk factors specified in a 10-item Chinese SAD PERSONS Scale during a group discussion intervention. The findings revealed that the nurses achieved significant and consistent improvements of risk identification and assessment after the intervention without influencing their mental health status for assessing suicide risks. The result suggested an effective approach of interactive group discussion for facilitating critical thinking and learning suicide risk assessment skills among general nurses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Comparison of Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance and conventional occupational therapy on occupational performance in individuals with stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Ahn, Si-Nae; Yoo, Eun-Young; Jung, Min-Ye; Park, Hae-Yean; Lee, Ji-Yeon; Choi, Yoo-Im

    2017-01-01

    Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach based on cognitive strategy in occupational therapy. To investigate the effects of CO-OP approach on occupational performance in individuals with hemiparetic stroke. This study was designed as a 5-week, randomized, single-blind. Forty-three participants who had a diagnosis of first stroke were enrolled in this study. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 20) or the control group (n = 23). The experimental group conducted CO-OP approach while the control group conducted conventional occupational therapy based on occupational performance components. This study measured Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and Performance Quality Rating Scale (PQRS). Outcome measurements were performed at baseline and post-intervention. After training, the scores of COPM and PQRS in trained task were significantly higher for the score in the experimental group than the control group. In addition, the non-trained task was significantly higher for the score in the experimental group than the control group in COPM and the PQRS. This study suggests that the CO-OP approach is beneficial effects on the occupational performance to improvement in individuals with hemiparetic stroke, and have positive effects on generalization and transfer of acquired skills.

  16. Effect of cryotherapy on arteriovenous fistula puncture-related pain in hemodialysis patients.

    PubMed

    P B, Sabitha; Khakha, D C; Mahajan, S; Gupta, S; Agarwal, M; Yadav, S L

    2008-10-01

    Pain during areteriovenous fistula (AVF) cannulation remains a common problem in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study was undertaken to assess the effect of cryotherapy on pain due to arteriovenous fistula puncture in hemodialysis patients. A convenience sample of 60 patients (30 each in experimental and control groups) who were undergoing hemodialysis by using AVF, was assessed in a randomized control trial. Hemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups using a randomization table. Objective and subjective pain scoring was done on two consecutive days of HD treatment (with cryotherapy for the experimental and without cryotherapy for the control group). The tools used were a questionnaire examining demographic and clinical characteristics, an observation checklist for assessing objective pain behavior, and a numerical rating scale for subjective pain assessment. Descriptive statistics were used as deemed appropriate. Chi square, two-sample and paired t-tests, the Mann Whitney test, Wilcoxon's signed rank test, the Kruskal Wallis test, and Spearman's and Pearson's correlations were used for inferential statistics. We found that the objective and subjective pain scores were found to be significantly (P = 0.001) reduced within the experimental group with the application of cryotherapy. This study highlights the need for adopting alternative therapies such as cryotherapy for effective pain management in hospital settings.

  17. Estimating Impacts of Treatment Random Assignment on Classroom Quality in the Head Start Impact Study: The Problem of Missing Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friedman-Krauss, Allison H.; Connors, Maia C.; Morris, Pamela A.

    2013-01-01

    As a result of the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start, the Department of Health and Human Services conducted a national evaluation of the Head Start program. The goal of Head Start is to improve the school readiness skills of low-income children in the United States. There is a substantial body of experimental and correlational research that has…

  18. The Effects of Cardio-Syntactic Analysis Instruction on Writing Scores in a 11th Grade High School Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kariuki, Patrick N.; Blair, Paul W.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of Cardio-Syntactic Analysis instruction on writing scores in an 11th grade English class. The sample consisted of 35 students enrolled in an Honor's English 11 class at Volunteer high School, in Church Hill, TN. The class was randomly assigned into an experimental group of 17 students and…

  19. The Effect of Blackboard Collaborate-Based Instruction on Pre-Service Teachers' Achievement in the EFL Teaching Methods Course at Faculties of Education for Girls

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hussein, Hussein El-ghamry Mohammad

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of Blackboard-based instruction on pre-service teachers' achievement in the teaching methods course at The Faculty of Education for Girls, in Bisha, KSA. Forty seventh-level English Department students were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (N = 20) or the control group (N = 20). While studying…

  20. Does Humor Have an Effect on the Performance of College Freshmen in Improving Scores on the Nelson Denny Reading Post Test?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schiller, Maryann F.

    A study was conducted to investigate the effects of humor on the performance of college freshmen on the Nelson Denny Reading Post Test. The subjects, 36 college freshmen from two developmental reading improvement classes, were randomly assigned to experimental A or B or control sample groups. Students had previously taken forms F and C of the test…

  1. A Study Investigating the Effect of Treatment Developed by Integrating the 5E and Simulation on Pre-Service Science Teachers' Achievement in Photoelectric Effect

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taslidere, Erdal

    2015-01-01

    The Current study investigated the effect of the 5E learning cycle in which the simulations were integrated on pre-service science teachers' achievement in photoelectric subject. Four sophomore level classes with their 140 students participated in the research and a quasi-experimental design was used. The classes were randomly assigned into one of…

  2. Efficacy of a Preventive Counseling Program for Improving Psychological Hardiness and the Positive Use of Social Network Sites among Students at Risk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Almahaireh, Abdallah Salem Farhan; Aldalaeen, Anas Saleh Rabi; Takhaineh, Suhib Khaled Ahmad

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a preventive counseling program for improving psychological hardiness (PsyH) and the positive use of social network sites (SNSs). The sample consisted of 30 students from Mu'tah University in Jordan who were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (15) or a control group…

  3. The Effect of Different Goals and Self-Recording on Self-Regulation of Learning a Motor Skill in a Physical Education Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kolovelonis, Athanasios; Goudas, Marios; Dermitzaki, Irini

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the effect of different goals (process, performance outcome, and multiple goals) and self-recording on self-regulation of learning a dart-throwing skill. Participants were 105 fifth and sixth graders who were randomly assigned to six (3 Goal type x 2 self-recording) experimental and one control group. Results showed a positive…

  4. The Effects of Computer Technology in Assisting the Development of Literacy in Young Struggling Readers and Spellers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fasting, Rolf B.; Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas

    2005-01-01

    The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of MultiFunk, a computer program designed to assist reading, on the reading and spelling proficiency of struggling readers. Fifty-two below-average readers and spellers, in grades 5, 6 and 7, were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups (N = 26 + 26). In addition, 114 classmates,…

  5. A comparative study of restricted randomization procedures for multiarm trials with equal or unequal treatment allocation ratios.

    PubMed

    Ryeznik, Yevgen; Sverdlov, Oleksandr

    2018-06-04

    Randomization designs for multiarm clinical trials are increasingly used in practice, especially in phase II dose-ranging studies. Many new methods have been proposed in the literature; however, there is lack of systematic, head-to-head comparison of the competing designs. In this paper, we systematically investigate statistical properties of various restricted randomization procedures for multiarm trials with fixed and possibly unequal allocation ratios. The design operating characteristics include measures of allocation balance, randomness of treatment assignments, variations in the allocation ratio, and statistical characteristics such as type I error rate and power. The results from the current paper should help clinical investigators select an appropriate randomization procedure for their clinical trial. We also provide a web-based R shiny application that can be used to reproduce all results in this paper and run simulations under additional user-defined experimental scenarios. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Using Hypnosis to Enhance Learning Second Language Vocabulary.

    PubMed

    Çetin, Yakup; Çimen, O Arda; Yetkiner, Zeynep Ebrar

    2016-04-01

    In this article, we measure the effects of hypnosis and suggestions for learning second language vocabulary. Participants (N = 70) were randomly assigned to a hypnosis or a control group. They were pre-tested, and then presented 21 Spanish words, post-tested immediately and 1 week later. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with group (experimental versus control) as the between-subjects factor, and time as the within-subjects factor. The experimental group performed significantly better in both tests. Our results indicate that hypnosis is beneficial for second language vocabulary learning and retrieval.

  7. Housing First improves subjective quality of life among homeless adults with mental illness: 12-month findings from a randomized controlled trial in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    PubMed

    Patterson, Michelle; Moniruzzaman, Akm; Palepu, Anita; Zabkiewicz, Denise; Frankish, Charles J; Krausz, Michael; Somers, Julian M

    2013-08-01

    This study used an experimental design to examine longitudinal changes in subjective quality of life (QoL) among homeless adults with mental illness after assignment to different types of supported housing or to treatment as usual (TAU, no housing or supports through the study). We hypothesized that subjective QoL would improve over time among participants assigned to supported housing as compared to TAU, regardless of the type of supported housing received or participants' level of need. Participants (n = 497) were stratified by level of need ("high" or "moderate") and randomly assigned to Housing First (HF) in scattered-site apartments, HF in a congregate setting (high needs only), or TAU. Linear mixed-effects regression was used to model the association between study arm and self-reported QoL at baseline and at 6 and 12 months post-baseline by need level. Based on the adjusted overall score on the QoL measure, participants randomized to HF reported significantly greater overall QoL as compared to TAU, regardless of need level or type of supported housing at both 6 and 12 months post-baseline. Scores on the safety and living situation subscales were significantly greater for both high and moderate need participants assigned to supported housing regardless of type at both 6 and 12 months post-baseline as compared to TAU. Despite multiple health and social challenges faced by homeless individuals with mental illness, HF in both scattered-site and congregate models results in significantly greater perceived QoL as compared to individuals who do not receive HF even after a relatively short period of time.

  8. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation by chest compression alone or with mouth-to-mouth ventilation.

    PubMed

    Hallstrom, A; Cobb, L; Johnson, E; Copass, M

    2000-05-25

    Despite extensive training of citizens of Seattle in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), bystanders do not perform CPR in almost half of witnessed cardiac arrests. Instructions in chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation given by dispatchers over the telephone can require 2.4 minutes. In experimental studies, chest compression alone is associated with survival rates similar to those with chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation. We conducted a randomized study to compare CPR by chest compression alone with CPR by chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation. The setting of the trial was an urban, fire-department-based, emergency-medical-care system with central dispatching. In a randomized manner, telephone dispatchers gave bystanders at the scene of apparent cardiac arrest instructions in either chest compression alone or chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation. The primary end point was survival to hospital discharge. Data were analyzed for 241 patients randomly assigned to receive chest compression alone and 279 assigned to chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation. Complete instructions were delivered in 62 percent of episodes for the group receiving chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation and 81 percent of episodes for the group receiving chest compression alone (P=0.005). Instructions for compression required 1.4 minutes less to complete than instructions for compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation. Survival to hospital discharge was better among patients assigned to chest compression alone than among those assigned to chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth ventilation (14.6 percent vs. 10.4 percent), but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.18). The outcome after CPR with chest compression alone is similar to that after chest compression with mouth-to-mouth ventilation, and chest compression alone may be the preferred approach for bystanders inexperienced in CPR.

  9. Effects of the Anger Coping Programme based on cognitive behavioural techniques on adolescents' anger, aggression and psychological symptoms.

    PubMed

    Avci, Dilek; Kelleci, Meral

    2016-04-01

    This study aimed to determine the effects of an Anger Coping Programme based on cognitive behavioural techniques on adolescents' anger, aggression and psychological symptoms. In this randomized controlled experimental study, 385 ninth-year high school students in Turkey were administered the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, the Aggression Scale and the Brief Symptom Inventory in 2011-2012. Of the 385 students, 62 who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups by gender and the scores they obtained from the scales. The students in the experimental group met 1 day a week for 1.5 h, and the study lasted 10 weeks. The scales were administered three times: before the programme was started, immediately after the programme was completed and 6 weeks later. The Anger Coping Programme was effective at reducing students' anger and aggression levels, and a range of psychological symptoms except for somatization. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  10. Clinical evaluation of seven anticalculus dentifrice formulations.

    PubMed

    Scruggs, R R; Stewart, P W; Samuels, M S; Stamm, J W

    1991-01-01

    One hundred ninety-two subjects completed a clinical trial to determine the effects of seven dentifrice formulations on calculus inhibition. The double-blind study involved a ten-day control phase and a ten-day experimental phase. For the control phase, subjects were evaluated for calculus present, received a prophylaxis and had pre-weighed mylar strips attached to the lingual surfaces of the mandibular incisors to harvest mineral deposits. Subjects were then assigned the placebo dentifrice for unsupervised twice-daily use and were required to report once a day for a supervised mouthrinse using a 1:3 dilution of the dentrifice. The experimental phase was identical except that subjects were allocated the experimental dentifices using a stratified random assignment based on age, gender and the initial presence of calculus. Simple linear regression analyses of the dry and ash log weights obtained from the strips were performed. The results showed no statistically significant differences among the test products; however, two formulations containing zinc citrate showed some calculus inhibition-potential suggesting that further research and development of such products may be warranted.

  11. Leisure education reduces stress among older adults.

    PubMed

    Chang, Liang-Chih

    2014-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to examine whether a leisure education program could facilitate leisure competence among older adults and whether it could also reduce their stress. A pre-test-post-test randomized experimental design was conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 30) or a control group (n = 30). A leisure education program was used to serve as the intervention. A day before this experiment was carried out, pre-test data were collected using leisure competence and stress scales. Thirty minutes after this experiment ended, post-test data were collected using the same scales. These data were analyzed using an analysis of covariance. The results indicated that the average post-test scores of leisure competence in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group and that the average post-test scores of stress in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Healthcare practitioners should adopt the provision of leisure education as a priority to facilitate leisure competence and reduce stress among older adults.

  12. Using non-contact therapeutic touch to manage post-surgical pain in the elderly.

    PubMed

    McCormack, Guy L

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of non-contact therapeutic touch on post-surgical pain in an elderly population receiving occupational therapy in an acute care hospital unit in the United States. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to three groups (experimental, control and placebo) using a three-group experimental pre-test-post-test design and a randomized clinical trial. The experimental group received the non-contact touch intervention, the control group received routine care and the placebo group received the sound of a metronome set at a steady slow pace. Objective measures included the Memorial Pain Scale, the Tellegen Absorption Scale, the Health Attribution Scale and measures of pulse rate and pupil size, which were performed as repeated measures. In the experimental group, 22 out of 30 (73%) demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in pain intensity scores from pre-test to post-test (t [7] = 7.24, p < 0.01) and were better able to participate in occupations. Further research is recommended to replicate this study. 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

  13. Assessing effects of a semi-customized experimental cervical pillow on symptomatic adults with chronic neck pain with and without headache

    PubMed Central

    Erfanian, Parham; Tenzif, Siamak; Guerriero, Rocco C

    2004-01-01

    Objective To determine the effects of a semi-customized experimental cervical pillow on symptomatic adults with chronic neck pain (with and without headache) during a four week study. Design A randomized controlled trial. Sample size Thirty-six adults were recruited for the trial, and randomly assigned to experimental or non-experimental groups of 17 and 19 participants respectively. Subjects Adults with chronic biomechanical neck pain who were recruited from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) Walk-in Clinic. Outcome measures Subjective findings were assessed using a mail-in self-report daily pain diary, and the CMCC Neck Disability Index (NDI). Statistical analysis Using repeated measure analysis of variance weekly NDI scores, average weekly AM and PM pain scores between the experimental and non-experimental groups were compared throughout the study. Results The experimental group had statistically significant lower NDI scores (p < 0.05) than the non-experimental group. The average weekly AM scores were lower and statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the experimental group. The PM scores in the experimental group were lower but not statistically significant than the other group. Conclusions The study results show that compared to conventional pillows, this experimental semi-customized cervical pillow was effective in reducing low-level neck pain intensity, especially in the morning following its use in a 4 week long study. PMID:17549216

  14. Power Calculations for Moderators in Multi-Site Cluster Randomized Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spybrook, Jessaca; Kelcey, Ben; Dong, Nianbo

    2016-01-01

    Cluster randomized trials (CRTs), or studies in which intact groups of individuals are randomly assigned to a condition, are becoming more common in evaluation studies of educational programs. A specific type of CRT in which clusters are randomly assigned to treatment within blocks or sites, known as multisite cluster randomized trials (MSCRTs),…

  15. A Controlled Evaluation of Family Behavior Therapy in Concurrent Child Neglect and Drug Abuse

    PubMed Central

    Donohue, Brad; Azrin, Nathan H.; Bradshaw, Kelsey; Van Hasselt, Vincent B.; Cross, Chad L.; Urgelles, Jessica; Romero, Valerie; Hill, Heather H.; Allen, Daniel N.

    2015-01-01

    Objective Approximately 50% of Child Protective Service (CPS) referrals abuse drugs; yet, existing treatment studies in this population have been limited to case examinations. Therefore, a family-based behavioral therapy was evaluated in mothers referred from CPS for child neglect and drug abuse utilizing a controlled experimental design. Method 72 mothers evidencing drug abuse or dependence and child neglect were randomly assigned to Family Behavior Therapy (FBT) or Treatment as Usual (TAU). Participants were assessed at baseline, 6- month-, and 10-month post-randomization. Results As hypothesized, intent-to-treat repeated measures analyses revealed mothers referred for child neglect not due to their children being exposed to illicit drugs demonstrated better outcomes in child maltreatment potential from baseline to 6- and 10-month post-randomization assessments when assigned to FBT, as compared with TAU mothers and FBT mothers who were referred due to child drug exposure. Similar results occurred for hard drug use from baseline to 6- and 10-month post-randomization. However, TAU mothers referred due to child drug exposure were also found to decrease their hard drug use more than TAU mothers of non-drug exposed children and FBT mothers of drug exposed children at 6- and 10-month post-randomization. Although effect sizes for mothers assigned to FBT were slightly larger for marijuana use than TAU (medium vs. large), these differences were not statistically significant. Specific to secondary outcomes, mothers in FBT, relative to TAU, increased time employed from baseline to 6- and 10-month post-randomization. Mothers in FBT, compared to TAU, also decreased HIV risk from baseline to 6-month post-randomization. There were no differences in outcome between FBT and TAU for number of days children were in CPS custody and alcohol intoxication, although FBT mothers demonstrated marginal decreases (p = .058) in incarceration from baseline to 6-month post-randomization relative to TAU mothers. Conclusion Family-based behavioral treatment programs offer promise in mothers who have been reported to CPS for concurrent substance abuse and child neglect of their children. However, continued intervention development in this population is very much needed. PMID:24841866

  16. Effects of media violence on health-related outcomes among young men.

    PubMed

    Brady, Sonya S; Matthews, Karen A

    2006-04-01

    To test the effects of media violence exposure on blood pressure, negative affect, hostile social information processing, uncooperative behavior, and attitudes toward health risk behaviors among young men varying in lifetime violence exposure within the home and community. Experimental laboratory study. University campus situated within an urban environment. One hundred male undergraduates aged 18 to 21 years. Men who had previously reported differing amounts of lifetime home and community violence were randomly assigned to play The Simpsons: Hit and Run (low-violence condition) or Grand Theft Auto III (high-violence condition). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure; negative affect; hostile social information processing; uncooperative behavior; and permissive attitudes toward violence, alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual activity without condom use. Men randomly assigned to play Grand Theft Auto III exhibited greater increases in diastolic blood pressure from a baseline rest period to game play, greater negative affect, more permissive attitudes toward using alcohol and marijuana, and more uncooperative behavior in comparison with men randomly assigned to play The Simpsons. Only among participants with greater exposure to home and community violence, play of Grand Theft Auto III led to elevated systolic blood pressure in comparison with play of The Simpsons (mean, 13 vs 5 mm Hg). Media violence exposure may play a role in the development of negative attitudes and behaviors related to health. Although youth growing up in violent homes and communities may become more physiologically aroused by media violence exposure, all youth appear to be at risk for potentially negative outcomes.

  17. The Anxiolytic Effect of Aromatherapy on Patients Awaiting Ambulatory Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    Ni, Cheng-Hua; Hou, Wen-Hsuan; Kao, Ching-Chiu; Chang, Ming-Li; Yu, Lee-Fen; Wu, Chia-Che; Chen, Chiehfeng

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine if aromatherapy could reduce preoperative anxiety in ambulatory surgery patients. A total of 109 preoperative patients were randomly assigned to experimental (bergamot essential oil) and control (water vapor) conditions and their responses to the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and vital signs were monitored. Patients were stratified by previous surgical experience, but that did not influence the results. All those exposed to bergamot essential oil aromatherapy showed a greater reduction in preoperative anxiety than those in the control groups. Aromatherapy may be a useful part of a holistic approach to reducing preoperative anxiety before ambulatory surgery. PMID:24454517

  18. Effects of approach and services under differential response on long term child safety and welfare.

    PubMed

    Loman, L Anthony; Siegel, Gary L

    2015-01-01

    An outcome analysis was conducted based on an extended follow-up of the implementation of differential response program reforms in Child Protective Services offices in 10 counties in a Midwestern U.S. State. Random assignment was conducted of families that were first determined to be appropriate for family assessments. Experimental families (n=2,382) were each assigned to a non-forensic family assessment, and control families (n=2,247) each received a forensic investigation. Families were assigned continuously over a 15-month period and then tracked from 45 to 60 months from the date of assignment. Detailed information on services provided and family responses was obtained via two subsamples of experimental and control families. Measures of family engagement and service reception and utilization were utilized to determine instrumental outcomes introduced through family assessments. Improved family engagement and increased and broadened services were found to have occurred, and it was theorized that these changes mediated extended outcomes. Extended outcomes included reductions of rates of subsequent screened-in reports of child maltreatment, proportions of families that experienced child removals, and instances of new safety threats and problems in parenting. Differences in outcomes were found among the participating counties with 4 counties accounting for most outcome differences. The relationships between instrumental and extended outcomes were discussed with suggestions for further research. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. The Effectiveness of Computer Supported versus Real Laboratory Inquiry Learning Environments on the Understanding of Direct Current Electricity among Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baser, Mustafa; Durmus, Soner

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the changes in conceptual understanding of Direct Current Electricity (DCE) in virtual (VLE) and real laboratory environment (RLE) among pre-service elementary school teachers. A pre- and post-test experimental design was used with two different groups. One of the groups was randomly assigned to VLE (n =…

  20. Effect of a Physical Education-Based Stretching Programme on Sit-and-Reach Score and Its Posterior Reduction in Elementary Schoolchildren

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Merino-Marban, Rafael; Mayorga-Vega, Daniel; Fernandez-Rodriguez, Emilio; Estrada, Francisco Vera; Viciana, Jesús

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 1-minute stretching programme and 5 weeks of detraining on sit-and-reach score among schoolchildren aged 5-6 years in a physical education setting. Forty-five schoolchildren 5-6 years old from two classes were clustered randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 23) or a control group…

  1. The Impact of Different Types of Journaling Techniques on EFL Learners' Self-Efficacy (El impacto de diferentes tipos de diario en la autosuficiencia de estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baleghizadeh, Sasan; Mortazavi, Mahboobeh

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on an investigation of the impact of different methods of journaling on self-efficacy of learners of English as a foreign language. Sixty upper-intermediate Iranian English language learners were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions, namely no-feedback, teacher-feedback, and peer-feedback, and one control…

  2. An Experimental Study of a Televised Science Series, Grades 1-4, Comparing the Quality and Sequence of Television and Classroom Questions with a Proposed Strategy of Science Instruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beisenherz, Paul Chalmers

    The effectiveness of a televised science series used in the Seattle metropolitan area was investigated, using factorial design to provide a treatment variable representing four degrees of utilization of TV science and non-TV science. Teachers and their intact classes were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: TV science only, plus…

  3. Pygmalion effects among outreach supervisors and tutors: extending sex generalizability.

    PubMed

    Natanovich, Gloria; Eden, Dov

    2008-11-01

    Students who supervised other students who tutored grade-school pupils in a university-based outreach program were randomly assigned to Pygmalion and control conditions. Experimental supervisors were told that their tutors were ideally qualified for their tutoring role; control supervisors were told nothing about their tutors' qualifications. A manipulation check revealed that the experimental supervisors expected more of their tutors. Analysis of variance of tutorial success measures confirmed the Pygmalion effect among supervisors of both sexes. No main effect or interaction involving either supervisor sex or tutor sex was significant. As predicted, the experimental supervisors also provided better leadership and the experimental tutors increased their self-efficacy. This was the first demonstration of the Pygmalion effect among women leading men. Pygmalion effects may be produced without regard for sex.

  4. Applications of random forest feature selection for fine-scale genetic population assignment.

    PubMed

    Sylvester, Emma V A; Bentzen, Paul; Bradbury, Ian R; Clément, Marie; Pearce, Jon; Horne, John; Beiko, Robert G

    2018-02-01

    Genetic population assignment used to inform wildlife management and conservation efforts requires panels of highly informative genetic markers and sensitive assignment tests. We explored the utility of machine-learning algorithms (random forest, regularized random forest and guided regularized random forest) compared with F ST ranking for selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for fine-scale population assignment. We applied these methods to an unpublished SNP data set for Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) and a published SNP data set for Alaskan Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ). In each species, we identified the minimum panel size required to obtain a self-assignment accuracy of at least 90% using each method to create panels of 50-700 markers Panels of SNPs identified using random forest-based methods performed up to 7.8 and 11.2 percentage points better than F ST -selected panels of similar size for the Atlantic salmon and Chinook salmon data, respectively. Self-assignment accuracy ≥90% was obtained with panels of 670 and 384 SNPs for each data set, respectively, a level of accuracy never reached for these species using F ST -selected panels. Our results demonstrate a role for machine-learning approaches in marker selection across large genomic data sets to improve assignment for management and conservation of exploited populations.

  5. Study and treatment of post Lyme disease (STOP-LD): a randomized double masked clinical trial.

    PubMed

    Krupp, L B; Hyman, L G; Grimson, R; Coyle, P K; Melville, P; Ahnn, S; Dattwyler, R; Chandler, B

    2003-06-24

    To determine whether post Lyme syndrome (PLS) is antibiotic responsive. The authors conducted a single-center randomized double-masked placebo-controlled trial on 55 patients with Lyme disease with persistent severe fatigue at least 6 or more months after antibiotic therapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 28 days of IV ceftriaxone or placebo. The primary clinical outcomes were improvement in fatigue, defined by a change of 0.7 points or more on an 11-item fatigue questionnaire, and improvement in cognitive function (mental speed), defined by a change of 25% or more on a test of reaction time. The primary laboratory outcome was an experimental measure of CSF infection, outer surface protein A (OspA). Outcome data were collected at the 6-month visit. Patients assigned to ceftriaxone showed improvement in disabling fatigue compared to the placebo group (rate ratio, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.50 to 8.03; p = 0.001). No beneficial treatment effect was observed for cognitive function or the laboratory measure of persistent infection. Four patients, three of whom were on placebo, had adverse events associated with treatment, which required hospitalization. Ceftriaxone therapy in patients with PLS with severe fatigue was associated with an improvement in fatigue but not with cognitive function or an experimental laboratory measure of infection in this study. Because fatigue (a nonspecific symptom) was the only outcome that improved and because treatment was associated with adverse events, this study does not support the use of additional antibiotic therapy with parenteral ceftriaxone in post-treatment, persistently fatigued patients with PLS.

  6. Animal-Assisted Therapies for Youth with or at risk for Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Hoagwood, Kimberly Eaton; Acri, Mary; Morrissey, Meghan; Peth-Pierce, Robin

    2017-01-01

    To systematically review experimental evidence about animal-assisted therapies (AAT) for children or adolescents with or at risk for mental health conditions, we reviewed all experimental AAT studies published between 2000-2015, and compared studies by animal type, intervention, and outcomes. Studies were included if used therapeutically for children and adolescents (≤21 years) with or at risk for a mental health problem; used random assignment or a waitlist comparison/control group; and included child-specific outcome data. Of 1,535 studies, 24 met inclusion criteria. Of 24 studies identified, almost half were randomized controlled trials, with 9 of 11 published in the past two years. The largest group addresses equine therapies for autism. Findings are generally promising for positive effects associated with equine therapies for autism and canine therapies for childhood trauma. The AAT research base is slim; a more focused research agenda is outlined.

  7. Semantic segmentation of 3D textured meshes for urban scene analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rouhani, Mohammad; Lafarge, Florent; Alliez, Pierre

    2017-01-01

    Classifying 3D measurement data has become a core problem in photogrammetry and 3D computer vision, since the rise of modern multiview geometry techniques, combined with affordable range sensors. We introduce a Markov Random Field-based approach for segmenting textured meshes generated via multi-view stereo into urban classes of interest. The input mesh is first partitioned into small clusters, referred to as superfacets, from which geometric and photometric features are computed. A random forest is then trained to predict the class of each superfacet as well as its similarity with the neighboring superfacets. Similarity is used to assign the weights of the Markov Random Field pairwise-potential and to account for contextual information between the classes. The experimental results illustrate the efficacy and accuracy of the proposed framework.

  8. Behavioural and biochemical stress responses of Palinurus elephas after exposure to boat noise pollution in tank.

    PubMed

    Filiciotto, Francesco; Vazzana, Mirella; Celi, Monica; Maccarrone, Vincenzo; Ceraulo, Maria; Buffa, Gaspare; Di Stefano, Vincenzo; Mazzola, Salvatore; Buscaino, Giuseppa

    2014-07-15

    This study examined the effects of boat noise on the behavioural and biochemical parameters of the Mediterranean spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas). The experiment was conducted in a tank equipped with a video and audio recording system. 18 experimental trials, assigned to boat noise and control conditions, were performed using lobsters in single and group of 4 specimens. After a 1h habituation period, we audio- and video-recorded the lobsters for 1h. During the experimental phase, the animals assigned to the boat groups were exposed to boat noise pollution (a random sequence of boat noises). Exposure to the noise produced significant variations in locomotor behaviours and haemolymphatic parameters. Our results indicate that the lobsters exposed to boat noises increased significantly their locomotor activities and haemolymphatic bioindicator of stressful conditions such as glucose, total proteins, Hsp70 expression and THC when tested both singly and in groups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. The (Surprising) Impact of Televised Antidepressant Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on the Stigmatization of Mental Illness.

    PubMed

    Rainone, Nicolette; Oodal, Reshma; Niederdeppe, Jeff

    2018-04-01

    This study tests the effect of pharmaceutical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (DTCA) for antidepressants on perceived stigma surrounding mental disorders. We randomly assigned participants into one of three experimental conditions: antidepressant DTCA with portrayals of discrimination, cognitive separation, and stereotyping (DCSS), antidepressant DTCA without these representations, or a no-exposure control. Contrary to study hypotheses, participants who viewed ads containing portrayals of DCSS were significantly less likely to want to socially distance themselves from those with mental illnesses than those assigned to the no-exposure control condition, even when controlling for demographics and personal experience with mental illness. We discuss plausible explanations for the unexpected pattern of effects and resulting implications for future research on the topic.

  10. Hydrolysable chestnut tannins for reduction of postweaning diarrhea: Efficacy on an experimental ETEC F4 model.

    PubMed

    Girard, Marion; Thanner, Sophie; Pradervand, Nicolas; Hu, Dou; Ollagnier, Catherine; Bee, Giuseppe

    2018-01-01

    An experimental model for postweaning diarrhea with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F4 (ETEC F4) was set up in piglets, and the efficacy of 1% chestnut-tannin extract in preventing diarrhea was subsequently assessed. In a first trial (infection model), 32 Swiss Large White piglets (age: 24 days; average BW: 7.8 ± 0.8 kg) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (infected [INF], noninfected [NINF]). In a subsequent trial, 72 Swiss Large White piglets (age: 26 days; average BW: 7.4 ± 1.5 kg) were blocked by BW and assigned within block to four experimental groups: NINF-CO: not infected and fed a standard control starter diet (CO); INF-CO: infected and fed the CO diet; NINF-TA: not infected and fed the CO diet supplemented with 1% chestnut extract containing 54% of hydrolysable tannins (TA); and INF-TA: infected and fed the TA diet. Both diets (TA and CO) were formulated to be isocaloric and isoproteic and to meet or surpass the nutritional requirements. In both trials, four days after weaning, piglets assigned to the INF group received an oral suspension of ETEC F4. Fecal score, ETEC shedding in feces (only in trial 2), and growth performance traits were measured for the following 14 days post infection. In both trials, more than 50% of the INF piglets developed diarrhea within six days post infection. Tannins reduced (P < 0.05) the average fecal score, the percentage of piglets in diarrhea, and the duration of diarrhea, whereas feed intake and the average daily gain were unaffected.

  11. The role of vitamin A in enhancing humoral immunity produced by antirabies vaccine.

    PubMed

    Siddiqui, F Q; Ahmad, M M; Kakar, F; Akhtar, S; Dil, A S

    2001-01-01

    We tested the effects of vitamin A supplementation on the antibody titre of 40 healthy volunteers (age range: 10-35 years), who had received a complete course of antirabies vaccine (5 injections over 30 days). After determining the baseline serum vitamin A status of 80 volunteers, 20 pairs were matched for serum vitamin A level, body mass index, age, sex and socioeconomic status. One person from each pair was randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental group received vitamin A and antirabies vaccine. Controls received only the vaccine. The experimental group had significantly greater (2.1 times) serum antirabies titre than controls. This finding is an important step towards improving the economy of dosage of antirabies vaccines.

  12. Group Matching: Is This a Research Technique to Be Avoided?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ross, Donald C.; Klein, Donald F.

    1988-01-01

    The variance of the sample difference and the power of the "F" test for mean differences were studied under group matching on covariates and also under random assignment. Results shed light on systematic assignment procedures advocated to provide more precise estimates of treatment effects than simple random assignment. (TJH)

  13. Secondary prevention of work-related disability in nonspecific low back pain: does problem-solving therapy help? A randomized clinical trial.

    PubMed

    van den Hout, Johanna H C; Vlaeyen, Johan W S; Heuts, Peter H T G; Zijlema, Johan H L; Wijnen, Joseph A G

    2003-01-01

    Given the individual and economic burden of chronic work disability in low back pain patients, there is a need for effective preventive interventions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether problem-solving therapy had a supplemental value when added to behavioral graded activity, regarding days of sick leave and work status. Randomized controlled trial. Employees who were recently on sick leave as a result of nonspecific low back pain were referred to the rehabilitation center by general practitioner, occupational physician, or rehabilitation physician. Forty-five employees had been randomly assigned to the experimental treatment condition that included behavioral graded activity and problem-solving therapy (GAPS), and 39 employees had been randomly assigned to behavioral graded activity and group education (GAGE). Days of sick leave and work status. Data were retrieved from occupational health services. Data analyses showed that employees in the GAPS group had significantly fewer days of sick leave in the second half-year after the intervention. Moreover, work status was more favorable for employees in this condition, in that more employees had a 100% return-to-work and fewer patients ended up receiving disability pensions one year after the intervention. Sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. The addition of problem-solving therapy to behavioral graded activity had supplemental value in employees with nonspecific low back pain.

  14. Effects of manual lymph drainage on cardiac autonomic tone in healthy subjects.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sung-Joong; Kwon, Oh-Yun; Yi, Chung-Hwi

    2009-01-01

    This study was designed to investigate the effects of manual lymph drainage on the cardiac autonomic tone. Thirty-two healthy male subjects were randomly assigned to manual lymph drainage (MLD) (experimental) and rest (control) groups. Electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters were recorded with bipolar electrocardiography using standard limb lead positions. The pressure-pain threshold (PPT) was quantitatively measured using an algometer. Heart rate variability differed significantly between the experimental and control groups (p < 0.05), but the PPT in the upper trapezius muscle did not (p > 0.05). These findings indicate that the application of MLD was effective in reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

  15. A Culturally-Specific Dance Intervention to Increase Functional Capacity in African American Women

    PubMed Central

    Murrock, Carolyn J.; Gary, Faye A.

    2013-01-01

    This study examined a culturally-specific dance intervention on functional capacity in African American women at three time points. The intervention was two times per week for 8 weeks using two African American churches randomly assigned to either the experimental or comparison group, had 126 participants, ages 36–82 years. Analysis of covariance revealed that both groups improved over time and the only significant difference between groups was at 18 weeks. The increase at 18 weeks in the experimental group remained when controlling for baseline covariates. This study supported culturally-specific dance as an intervention to improve functional capacity in African American women. PMID:19202718

  16. A culturally-specific dance intervention to increase functional capacity in African American women.

    PubMed

    Murrock, Carolyn J; Gary, Faye A

    2008-01-01

    This study examined a culturally-specific dance intervention on functional capacity in African American women at three time points. The intervention was two times per week for 8 weeks using two African American churches randomly assigned to either the experimental or comparison group, had 126 participants, ages 36-82 years. Analysis of covariance revealed that both groups improved over time and the only significant difference between groups was at 18 weeks. The increase at 18 weeks in the experimental group remained when controlling for baseline covariates. This study supported culturally-specific dance as an intervention to improve functional capacity in African American women.

  17. The effects of mirror therapy on the gait of subacute stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Ji, Sang Gu; Kim, Myoung Kwon

    2015-04-01

    To investigate the effect of mirror therapy on the gait of patients with subacute stroke. Randomized controlled experimental study. Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. Thirty-four patients with stroke were randomly assigned to two groups: a mirror therapy group (experimental) and a control group. The stroke patients in the experimental group underwent comprehensive rehabilitation therapy and mirror therapy for the lower limbs. The stroke patients in the control group underwent sham therapy and comprehensive rehabilitation therapy. Participants in both groups received therapy five days per week for four weeks. Temporospatial gait characteristics, such as single stance, stance phase, step length, stride, swing phase, velocity, and cadence, were assessed before and after the four weeks therapy period. A significant difference was observed in post-training gains for the single stance (10.32 SD 4.14 vs. 6.54 SD 3.23), step length (8.47 SD 4.12 vs. 4.83 SD 2.14), and stride length (17.03 SD 6.57 vs 10.54 SD 4.34) between the experimental group and the control group (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between two groups on stance phase, swing phase, velocity, cadence, and step width (P > 0.05). We conclude that mirror therapy may be beneficial in improving the effects of stroke on gait ability. © The Author(s) 2014.

  18. The effect of peer-led education on the life quality of mastectomy patients referred to breast cancer-clinics in Shiraz, Iran 2009.

    PubMed

    Sharif, Farkhondeh; Abshorshori, Narjes; Tahmasebi, Sedigheh; Hazrati, Maryam; Zare, Najaf; Masoumi, Sarah

    2010-07-23

    Breast cancer among women is a relatively common with a more favorable expected survival rates than other forms of cancers. This study aimed to determine the improved quality of life for post-mastectomy women through peer education. Using pre and post test follow up and control design approach, 99 women with stage I and II of breast cancer diagnosis were followed one year after modified radical mastectomy. To measure the quality of life an instrument designed by the European organization for research and treatment of cancer, known as the Quality of Life Question (QLQ-30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) at three points in time (before, immediately and two months after intervention) for both groups were used. The participant selection was a convenient sampling method and women were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group was randomly assigned to five groups and peer educators conducted weekly educational programs for one month. Tabulated data were analyzed using chi square, t test, and repeated measurement multivariate to compare the quality of life differences over time. For the experimental group, the results showed statistically significant improvement in all performance aspects of life quality and symptom reduction (P < 0.001), while the control group had no significant differences in all aspects of life quality. The findings of this study suggest that peer led education is a useful intervention for post-mastectomy women to improve their quality of life.

  19. Safety and Efficacy of Rice Bran Supercritical CO2 Extract for Hair Growth in Androgenic Alopecia: A 16-Week Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

    PubMed

    Choi, Jae-Suk; Park, Jae Beom; Moon, Woi-Sook; Moon, Jin-Nam; Son, Sang Wook; Kim, Mi-Ryung

    2015-01-01

    We conducted a 16-week double-blind randomized controlled single-center trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of dermal rice bran supercritical CO2 extract (RB-SCE) in the treatment of androgenic alopecia. Fifty alopecia patients were randomly assigned to the experimental and placebo groups. The experimental group received a dermal application of 0.5% RB-SCE (8 mL/d) to the head skin for 16 weeks while the control group received a dermal application of placebo. Changes in hair count, diameter, and density were evaluated with a Folliscope(®). Patient satisfaction was evaluated via questionnaire and clinical photographs were rated by dermatologists. The results showed that RB-SCE significantly increased hair density and hair diameter in male subjects. Patient satisfaction and the evaluation of photographs by dermatologists also confirmed the effectiveness of RB-SCE in the treatment of alopecia. No adverse reactions related to RB-SCE were reported. Therefore, RB-SCE shows promise for use in functional cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

  20. Mirror therapy for distal radial fractures: A pilot randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Bayon-Calatayud, Manuel; Benavente-Valdepeñas, Ana Maria; Del Prado Vazquez-Muñoz, Maria

    2016-10-12

    To investigate the efficacy of mirror therapy in reducing pain and disability in patients with distal radial fractures. Pilot randomized controlled study. Twenty-two patients with closed distal radial fracture. Patients were randomly assigned to experimental (= 11) or control (= 11) groups. Researchers were blinded to group allocation. Both groups received conventional physiotherapy. In addition, the experimental group had 15 sessions of mirror therapy (a daily session, 30 min). The control group received the same amount of conventional occupational therapy. Assessment was made from baseline to post-treatment. Pain was measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Active wrist extension and Quick-DASH (Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand) were used to assess functional recovery. Pain, disability, and range of motion improved for both groups after intervention. No significant post-treatment differences were found between groups in Quick-DASH (= 0.409), active wrist extension (= 0.191) and VAS scores (= 0.807). There was no significant difference in active wrist extension between groups. Mirror therapy was not superior to conventional occupational therapy in reducing pain and disability.

  1. The Influence of Education and Experience Upon Contextual and Task Performance in Warehouse Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    leadership. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups to conduct a mixed- design experiment; the design included a 2 x 2 factorial component...The experimental design should have resulted in baseline groups that were representative of the target population; therefore, one would expect...1983; Sheridan, 2015). “SRK provides a language in which to talk about types of behavior as a basis for system design . It provides a basis on which

  2. Theory-driven intervention improves calcium intake, osteoporosis knowledge, and self-efficacy in community-dwelling older Black adults.

    PubMed

    Babatunde, Oyinlola T; Himburg, Susan P; Newman, Frederick L; Campa, Adriana; Dixon, Zisca

    2011-01-01

    To assess the effectiveness of an osteoporosis education program to improve calcium intake, knowledge, and self-efficacy in community-dwelling older Black adults. Randomized repeated measures experimental design. Churches and community-based organizations. Men and women (n = 110) 50 years old and older from 3 south Florida counties. Participants randomly assigned to either of 2 groups: Group 1 (experimental group) or Group 2 (wait-list control group). Group 1 participated in 6 weekly education program sessions immediately following baseline assessment, and Group 2 started the program following Group 1's program completion. A tested curriculum was adapted to meet the needs of the target population. Dietary calcium intake, osteoporosis knowledge, health beliefs, and self-efficacy. Descriptive and summary statistics, repeated measures analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Of the total participants, 84.6% completed the study (mean age = 70.2 years). Overall, an educational program developed with a theoretical background was associated with improvement in calcium intake, knowledge, and self-efficacy, with no effect on most health belief subscales. Assigned group was the major predictor of change in calcium intake. A theory-driven approach is valuable in improving behavior to promote bone health in this population. Health professionals should consider using more theory-driven approaches in intervention studies. Copyright © 2011 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Why we should use simpler models if the data allow this: relevance for ANOVA designs in experimental biology.

    PubMed

    Lazic, Stanley E

    2008-07-21

    Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a common statistical technique in physiological research, and often one or more of the independent/predictor variables such as dose, time, or age, can be treated as a continuous, rather than a categorical variable during analysis - even if subjects were randomly assigned to treatment groups. While this is not common, there are a number of advantages of such an approach, including greater statistical power due to increased precision, a simpler and more informative interpretation of the results, greater parsimony, and transformation of the predictor variable is possible. An example is given from an experiment where rats were randomly assigned to receive either 0, 60, 180, or 240 mg/L of fluoxetine in their drinking water, with performance on the forced swim test as the outcome measure. Dose was treated as either a categorical or continuous variable during analysis, with the latter analysis leading to a more powerful test (p = 0.021 vs. p = 0.159). This will be true in general, and the reasons for this are discussed. There are many advantages to treating variables as continuous numeric variables if the data allow this, and this should be employed more often in experimental biology. Failure to use the optimal analysis runs the risk of missing significant effects or relationships.

  4. Effects of individualized assignments on biology achievement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kremer, Philip L.

    A pretest-posttest, randomized, two groups, experimental, factorial design compared effects of detailed and nondetailed assignments on biology achievement over seven and a half months. Detailed assignments (favoring field independence and induction) employed block diagrams and stepwise directions. Nondetailed assignments (favoring field dependence and deduction) virtually lacked these. The accessible population was 101 tenth grade preparatory school male students. The 95 students enrolled in first year biology constituted the sample. Two by three ANOVA was done on residualized posttest score means of the students. Totally, the detailed students achieved significantly higher than the nondetailed students. This significantly higher achievement was only true of detailed students in the middle thirds of the deviation intelligence quotient (DIQ) range and of the grade point average (G.P.A.) range after the breakdown into upper, middle, and lower thirds of intellectual capability (ability and achievement). The upper third detailed DIQ grouping indirectly achieved higher than its peers, whereas the lower detailed DIQ third achieved lower than its peers. Thus, high capability students apparently benefit from flow and block diagrams, inductions, field independence, and high structure, whereas low capability students may be hindered by these.

  5. Opportunistic detection of atrial fibrillation in subjects aged 65 years or older in primare care: a randomised clinical trial of efficacy. DOFA-AP study protocol

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend using peripheral blood pulse measuring as a screening test for Atrial Fibrillation. However, there is no adequate evidence supporting the efficacy of such procedure in primary care clinical practice. This paper describes a study protocol designed to verify whether early opportunistic screening for Atrial Fibrillation by measuring blood pulse is more effective than regular practice in subjects aged 65 years attending primary care centers. Methods/design An cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Primary Care Centers of the Spanish National Health Service. A total of 269 physicians and nurses will be allocated to one of the two arms of the trial by stratified randomization with a 3:2 ratio (three practitioners will be assigned to the Control Group for every two practitioners assigned to the Experimental Group). As many as 12 870 patients aged 65 years or older and meeting eligibility criteria will be recruited (8 580 will be allocated to the Experimental Group and 4 290 to the Control Group). Randomization and allocation to trial groups will be carried out by a central computer system. The Experimental Group practitioners will conduct an opportunistic case finding for patients with Atrial Fibrillation, while the Control Group practitioners will follow the regular guidelines. The first step will be finding new Atrial Fibrillation cases. A descriptive inferential analysis will be performed (bivariate and multivariate by multilevel logistic regression analysis). Discussion If our hypothesis is confirmed, we expect Primary Care professionals to take a more proactive approach and adopt a new protocol when a patient meeting the established screening criteria is identified. Finally, we expect this measure to be incorporated into Clinical Practice Guidelines. Trial registration The study is registered as NCT01291953 (ClinicalTrials.gob) PMID:23130754

  6. Contact replacement for NMR resonance assignment.

    PubMed

    Xiong, Fei; Pandurangan, Gopal; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris

    2008-07-01

    Complementing its traditional role in structural studies of proteins, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is playing an increasingly important role in functional studies. NMR dynamics experiments characterize motions involved in target recognition, ligand binding, etc., while NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments identify and localize protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. The key bottleneck in these studies is to determine the backbone resonance assignment, which allows spectral peaks to be mapped to specific atoms. This article develops a novel approach to address that bottleneck, exploiting an available X-ray structure or homology model to assign the entire backbone from a set of relatively fast and cheap NMR experiments. We formulate contact replacement for resonance assignment as the problem of computing correspondences between a contact graph representing the structure and an NMR graph representing the data; the NMR graph is a significantly corrupted, ambiguous version of the contact graph. We first show that by combining connectivity and amino acid type information, and exploiting the random structure of the noise, one can provably determine unique correspondences in polynomial time with high probability, even in the presence of significant noise (a constant number of noisy edges per vertex). We then detail an efficient randomized algorithm and show that, over a variety of experimental and synthetic datasets, it is robust to typical levels of structural variation (1-2 AA), noise (250-600%) and missings (10-40%). Our algorithm achieves very good overall assignment accuracy, above 80% in alpha-helices, 70% in beta-sheets and 60% in loop regions. Our contact replacement algorithm is implemented in platform-independent Python code. The software can be freely obtained for academic use by request from the authors.

  7. The Impact of Positive Income Shocks on Risky Sexual Behavior: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania.

    PubMed

    Wagner, Zachary; Gong, Erick; de Walque, Damien; Dow, William H

    2017-03-01

    In this paper, we exploit a lottery in Tanzania, which randomly assigned eligible participants to receive $100 cash grants. The randomized nature of the lottery allows us to estimate the causal impact of positive income shocks on risky sexual behavior. We found that winning the lottery led men to have 0.28 (95 % CI 0.14, 0.55) more sexual partners and to a 0.21 (95 % CI 0.01-0.4) increase in the probability of unprotected sex with a non-primary partner relative to a control group of eligible non-winners. We found no significant effect of winning the lottery on the sexual behavior of women.

  8. Intervention Outcomes for Girls Referred from Juvenile Justice: Effects on Delinquency

    PubMed Central

    Leve, Leslie D.; Chamberlain, Patricia; Reid, John B.

    2007-01-01

    An increasing number of girls are entering the juvenile justice system. However, intervention programs for delinquent girls have not been examined empirically. We examined the 12-month outcomes of a randomized intervention trial for girls with chronic delinquency (N = 81). Girls were randomly assigned into an experimental condition (Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care [MTFC]) or a control condition (group care [GC]). ANCOVAs indicated that MTFC youth had a significantly greater reduction in the number of days spent in locked settings and in caregiver-reported delinquency, and had 42% fewer criminal referrals than GC youth (a trend) at the 12-month follow-up. Implications for reducing girls' chronic delinquency are discussed. PMID:16392991

  9. Hydrotherapy for the treatment of pain in people with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Castro-Sánchez, Adelaida María; Matarán-Peñarrocha, Guillermo A; Lara-Palomo, Inmaculada; Saavedra-Hernández, Manuel; Arroyo-Morales, Manuel; Moreno-Lorenzo, Carmen

    2012-01-01

    Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating neurological disease. Several studies have reported that complementary and alternative therapies can have positive effects against pain in these patients. Objective. The objective was to investigate the effectiveness of an Ai-Chi aquatic exercise program against pain and other symptoms in MS patients. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, 73 MS patients were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group for a 20-week treatment program. The experimental group underwent 40 sessions of Ai-Chi exercise in swimming pool and the control group 40 sessions of abdominal breathing and contraction-relaxation exercises in therapy room. Outcome variables were pain, disability, spasm, depression, fatigue, and autonomy, which were assessed before the intervention and immediately and at 4 and 10 weeks after the last treatment session. Results. The experimental group showed a significant (P < 0.028) and clinically relevant decrease in pain intensity versus baseline, with an immediate posttreatment reduction in median visual analogue scale scores of 50% that was maintained for up to 10 weeks. Significant improvements were also observed in spasm, fatigue, disability, and autonomy. Conclusion. According to these findings, an Ai-Chi aquatic exercise program improves pain, spasms, disability, fatigue, depression, and autonomy in MS patients.

  10. Hydrotherapy for the Treatment of Pain in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    Castro-Sánchez, Adelaida María; Matarán-Peñarrocha, Guillermo A.; Lara-Palomo, Inmaculada; Saavedra-Hernández, Manuel; Arroyo-Morales, Manuel; Moreno-Lorenzo, Carmen

    2012-01-01

    Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating neurological disease. Several studies have reported that complementary and alternative therapies can have positive effects against pain in these patients. Objective. The objective was to investigate the effectiveness of an Ai-Chi aquatic exercise program against pain and other symptoms in MS patients. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, 73 MS patients were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group for a 20-week treatment program. The experimental group underwent 40 sessions of Ai-Chi exercise in swimming pool and the control group 40 sessions of abdominal breathing and contraction-relaxation exercises in therapy room. Outcome variables were pain, disability, spasm, depression, fatigue, and autonomy, which were assessed before the intervention and immediately and at 4 and 10 weeks after the last treatment session. Results. The experimental group showed a significant (P < 0.028) and clinically relevant decrease in pain intensity versus baseline, with an immediate posttreatment reduction in median visual analogue scale scores of 50% that was maintained for up to 10 weeks. Significant improvements were also observed in spasm, fatigue, disability, and autonomy. Conclusion. According to these findings, an Ai-Chi aquatic exercise program improves pain, spasms, disability, fatigue, depression, and autonomy in MS patients. PMID:21785645

  11. Effect of therapeutic exercises on pregnancy-related low back pain and pelvic girdle pain: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Sklempe Kokic, Iva; Ivanisevic, Marina; Uremovic, Melita; Kokic, Tomislav; Pisot, Rado; Simunic, Bostjan

    2017-03-06

    To investigate the effect of a supervised, structured exercise programme on the occurrence and severity of pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain. Randomized controlled trial. A total of 45 pregnant women were randomly assigned to 2 groups: an experimental group (n = 20; mean age 32.8 (standard deviation (SD) 3.6) years) and a control group (n = 22; mean age 32.2 years (SD 4.9)). Exercise intervention for the experimental group consisted of aerobic and resistance exercises performed bi-weekly from the date of inclusion into the study until the end of pregnancy, together with at least 30 min of brisk daily walks. A numeric rating scale, Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), and Pelvic Girdle Questionnaire (PGQ) were used to measure outcomes. The control group received only standard antenatal care. There were significant differences between the 2 groups on the numeric rating scale, PGQ and RMDQ scores in the 36th week of pregnancy (p = 0.017; p = 0.005; p < 0.001, respectively) in favour of the experimental group. The exercise programme had a beneficial effect on the severity of lumbopelvic pain in pregnancy, reducing the intensity of pain and the level of disability experienced as a result.

  12. Efficacy of writing for recovery on traumatic grief symptoms of Afghani refugee bereaved adolescents: a randomized control trial.

    PubMed

    Kalantari, Mehrdad; Yule, William; Dyregrov, Atle; Neshatdoost, Hamidtaher; Ahmadi, S J

    2012-01-01

    Effective evidence-based intervention for traumatic bereavement is one of the current major research issues in the field of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents. The "Writing for Recovery" group intervention is a new treatment approach developed by the Children and War Foundation for traumatized and bereaved children and adolescents after disasters. The purpose of this project was an empirical examination of this intervention with 12- to 18-year-old war bereaved Afghani refugees. Eighty-eight war bereaved Afghani refugees were screened using the Traumatic Grief Inventory for Children (TGIC). From those with the highest total score, 61 were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n = 29) or control group (n = 32). The experimental group received six sessions of group training on 3 consecutive days in their school. The difference of TGIC scores between the experimental group in pretest and posttest was significant (p = 0.001). Results of analysis of covariance also showed a significant effect of Writing for Recovery on the experimental group (p < 0.001). It is concluded that "Writing for Recovery" is an effective group intervention for bereaved children and adolescents after disasters.

  13. Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yan; Wang, Guosen; Zhang, Dingyuan; Wang, Lei; Cui, Xianghua; Zhu, Jinglei; Fang, Yuan

    2017-01-01

    Evaluative conditioning (EC) procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli (50%) and negative stimuli (50%). Explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images were collected. During an ostensible taste test, chocolate evaluation and consumption were assessed. Results revealed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in the experimental condition showed more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images and evaluated chocolate more negatively during the taste test. However, chocolate consumption did not differ between experimental and control conditions. These findings suggest that pairing chocolate with negative stimuli can influence attitudes toward chocolate, though behavioral effects are absent. Intervention applications of EC provide avenues for future research and practices.

  14. Gender and the Effects of an Economic Empowerment Program on Attitudes Toward Sexual Risk-Taking Among AIDS-Orphaned Adolescent Youth in Uganda

    PubMed Central

    Ssewamala, Fred; Ismayilova, Leyla; McKay, Mary; Sperber, Elizabeth; Bannon, William; Alicea, Stacey

    2009-01-01

    Purpose This paper examines gender differences in attitudes towards sexual risk-taking behaviors of AIDS-orphaned youth participating in a randomized control trial testing an economic empowerment intervention in rural Uganda. Methods Adolescents (average age 13.7 years) who had lost one or both parents to AIDS from fifteen comparable schools were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n=135) or control condition (n=142). Adolescents in the experimental condition, in addition to usual care, also received support and incentives to save money toward secondary education. Results Findings indicate that although adolescent boys and girls within the experimental condition saved comparable amounts, the intervention appears to have benefited girls, in regards to the attitudes towards sexual risk-taking behavior, in a different way and to a lesser extent than boys. Conclusions Future research should investigate the possibility that adolescent girls might be able to develop equally large improvements in protective attitudes towards sexual risk-taking through additional components that address gendered social norms. PMID:20307827

  15. Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yan; Wang, Guosen; Zhang, Dingyuan; Wang, Lei; Cui, Xianghua; Zhu, Jinglei; Fang, Yuan

    2017-01-01

    Evaluative conditioning (EC) procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli (50%) and negative stimuli (50%). Explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images were collected. During an ostensible taste test, chocolate evaluation and consumption were assessed. Results revealed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in the experimental condition showed more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images and evaluated chocolate more negatively during the taste test. However, chocolate consumption did not differ between experimental and control conditions. These findings suggest that pairing chocolate with negative stimuli can influence attitudes toward chocolate, though behavioral effects are absent. Intervention applications of EC provide avenues for future research and practices. PMID:28900409

  16. Summer School Effects in a Randomized Field Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zvoch, Keith; Stevens, Joseph J.

    2013-01-01

    This field-based randomized trial examined the effect of assignment to and participation in summer school for two moderately at-risk samples of struggling readers. Application of multiple regression models to difference scores capturing the change in summer reading fluency revealed that kindergarten students randomly assigned to summer school…

  17. Effect on injuries of assigning shoes based on foot shape in air force basic training.

    PubMed

    Knapik, Joseph J; Brosch, Lorie C; Venuto, Margaret; Swedler, David I; Bullock, Steven H; Gaines, Lorraine S; Murphy, Ryan J; Tchandja, Juste; Jones, Bruce H

    2010-01-01

    This study examined whether assigning running shoes based on the shape of the bottom of the foot (plantar surface) influenced injury risk in Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT) and examined risk factors for injury in BMT. Data were collected from BMT recruits during 2007; analysis took place during 2008. After foot examinations, recruits were randomly consigned to either an experimental group (E, n=1042 men, 375 women) or a control group (C, n=913 men, 346 women). Experimental group recruits were assigned motion control, stability, or cushioned shoes for plantar shapes indicative of low, medium, or high arches, respectively. Control group recruits received a stability shoe regardless of plantar shape. Injuries during BMT were determined from outpatient visits provided from the Defense Medical Surveillance System. Other injury risk factors (fitness, smoking, physical activity, prior injury, menstrual history, and demographics) were obtained from a questionnaire, existing databases, or BMT units. Multivariate Cox regression controlling for other risk factors showed little difference in injury risk between the groups among men (hazard ratio [E/C]=1.11, 95% CI=0.89-1.38) or women (hazard ratio [E/C]=1.20, 95% CI= 0.90-1.60). Independent injury risk factors among both men and women included low aerobic fitness and cigarette smoking. This prospective study demonstrated that assigning running shoes based on the shape of the plantar surface had little influence on injury risk in BMT even after controlling for other injury risk factors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  18. Introductory Statistics Students' Conceptual Understanding of Study Design and Conclusions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fry, Elizabeth Brondos

    Recommended learning goals for students in introductory statistics courses include the ability to recognize and explain the key role of randomness in designing studies and in drawing conclusions from those studies involving generalizations to a population or causal claims (GAISE College Report ASA Revision Committee, 2016). The purpose of this study was to explore introductory statistics students' understanding of the distinct roles that random sampling and random assignment play in study design and the conclusions that can be made from each. A study design unit lasting two and a half weeks was designed and implemented in four sections of an undergraduate introductory statistics course based on modeling and simulation. The research question that this study attempted to answer is: How does introductory statistics students' conceptual understanding of study design and conclusions (in particular, unbiased estimation and establishing causation) change after participating in a learning intervention designed to promote conceptual change in these areas? In order to answer this research question, a forced-choice assessment called the Inferences from Design Assessment (IDEA) was developed as a pretest and posttest, along with two open-ended assignments, a group quiz and a lab assignment. Quantitative analysis of IDEA results and qualitative analysis of the group quiz and lab assignment revealed that overall, students' mastery of study design concepts significantly increased after the unit, and the great majority of students successfully made the appropriate connections between random sampling and generalization, and between random assignment and causal claims. However, a small, but noticeable portion of students continued to demonstrate misunderstandings, such as confusion between random sampling and random assignment.

  19. Midstream clean-catch urine collection in newborns: a randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Altuntas, Nilgun; Tayfur, Asli Celebi; Kocak, Mesut; Razi, Hasan Cem; Akkurt, Serpil

    2015-05-01

    We aimed to evaluate a recently defined technique based on bladder stimulation and paravertebral lumbar massage maneuvers in collecting a midstream clean-catch urine sample in newborns. A total of 127 term newborns were randomly assigned either to the experimental group or the control group. Twenty-five minutes after feeding, the genital and perineal areas of the babies were cleaned. The babies were held under the armpits with legs dangling. Bladder stimulation and lumbar paravertebral massage maneuvers were only applied to the babies in the experimental group. Success was defined as collection of a urine sample within 5 min of starting the stimulation maneuvers in the experimental group and of holding under the armpits in the control group. The success rate of urine collection was significantly higher in the experimental group (78%) than in the control group (33%; p < 0.001). The median time (interquartile range) for sample collection was 60 s (64.5 s) in the experimental group and 300 s (95 s) in the control group (p < 0.0001). Contamination rates were similar in both groups (p = 0.770). We suggest that bladder stimulation and lumbar paravertebral massage is a safe, quick, and effective way of collecting midstream clean-catch urine in newborns.

  20. Experimental Infection with Sporulated Oocysts of Eimeria maxima (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) in Broiler

    PubMed Central

    Brito, Luciana da S.; Pereira, Elder N.; da Silva, Augusta A.; Bentivóglio Costa Silva, Vinícius; Freitas, Fagner L. da C.

    2014-01-01

    Through this study we assessed the metabolic and pathological changes in broilers experimentally infected with oocysts of Eimeria maxima. To perform the experiment, we used 150 broiler strain cooB males, with ten days of age, were randomized according to weight and randomly assigned to two experimental groups: the control group was inoculated with 0.5 mL of distilled water; the infected group inoculated with 0.5 mL of solution containing 5 × 104 sporulated oocysts of Eimeria maxima. The live performance was evaluated on day 0 (day of inoculation), 5°, 10°, 15°, 25°, and 35° dpi, being slaughtered by cervical dislocation, fifteen birds/group. Although the sum in meat production was higher in the control group, the weight of the heart and gizzard of the experimental animals showed no significant difference, while the liver had difference on day 5°, 15°, and 35° dpi. The pathologic evaluation showed congested mucosa and presence of large amounts of mucus at 6 dpi. Therefore, it is concluded that the dose of 5 × 104  E. maxima inoculated in the experimental group was enough to cause harm to the animal organism. PMID:26464925

  1. Effect of family presence on pain and anxiety during invasive nursing procedures in an emergency department: A randomized controlled experimental study.

    PubMed

    İşlekdemir, Burcu; Kaya, Nurten

    2016-01-01

    Patients generally prefer to have their family present during medical or nursing interventions. Family presence is assumed to reduce anxiety, especially during painful interventions. This study employed a randomized controlled experimental design to determine the effects of family presence on pain and anxiety during invasive nursing procedures. The study population consisted of patients hospitalized in the observation unit of the internal medicine section in the emergency department of a university hospital. The sample comprised 138 patients assigned into the experimental and control groups by drawing lots. The invasive nursing procedure was carried out in the presence of family members, for members of the experimental group, and without family members, for members of the control group. Thus, the effects of family presence on pain and anxiety during the administration of an invasive nursing procedure to patients were analyzed. The results showed that members of the experimental and control groups did not differ with respect to the pain and state anxiety scores during the intervention. Family presence does not influence the participants' pain and anxiety during an invasive nursing procedure. Thus, the decision regarding family presence during such procedures should be based on patient preference. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. The Role of Access to Head Start and Quality Ratings for Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners’ (DLLs) Participation in Early Childhood Education

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Data from the Head Start Impact Study (N = 4,442) were used to test for differences between Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLLs) and monolingual English-speaking children in: (1) Head Start attendance rates when randomly assigned admission; and (2) quality ratings of other early childhood education (ECE) programs attended when not randomly assigned admission to Head Start. Logistic regressions showed that Spanish-speaking DLL children randomly assigned a spot in Head Start were more likely than monolingual-English learners to attend. Further, Spanish-speaking DLLs not randomly assigned a spot in Head Start were more likely to attend higher-quality ECE centers than non-DLL children. Policy implications are discussed, suggesting that, if given access, Spanish-speaking DLL families will take advantage of quality ECE programs. PMID:25018585

  3. Probabilistic reasoning in data analysis.

    PubMed

    Sirovich, Lawrence

    2011-09-20

    This Teaching Resource provides lecture notes, slides, and a student assignment for a lecture on probabilistic reasoning in the analysis of biological data. General probabilistic frameworks are introduced, and a number of standard probability distributions are described using simple intuitive ideas. Particular attention is focused on random arrivals that are independent of prior history (Markovian events), with an emphasis on waiting times, Poisson processes, and Poisson probability distributions. The use of these various probability distributions is applied to biomedical problems, including several classic experimental studies.

  4. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Intranasal Oxytocin as an Adjunct to Behavioral Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-10-01

    o Aude Henin, Ph.D. (MGH PI) o Dina Hirshfeld- Becker , Ph.D. (independent evaluator at MGH) o Angela Utschig, Ph.D. (study therapist at MGH) o...intranasal oxytocin or placebo. Participants and evaluators will be blind to treatment condition. In year 1 of the study, we set up the study framework...experimental treatment, and OT before 12 sessions of CBT treatment. Volunteers (patients) and evaluators will be blind to condition assignment

  5. Positive effects of subliminal stimulation on memory.

    PubMed

    Chakalis, E; Lowe, G

    1992-06-01

    To assess the effect of subliminally embedded auditory material on short-term recall, 60 volunteer subjects undertook a face-name-occupation memory test before and after a 15-min. intervention. They were randomly assigned into three groups (a control group and two experimental groups) and allocated to one of the following conditions: (1) no sound, (2) supraliminal presentation of relaxing music, and (3) subliminal presentation of memory-improvement affirmations embedded in relaxing music. After intervention, only the subliminal group significantly improved their performance on recall of names.

  6. Transforming Dissatisfaction with Services into Self-Determination: A Social Psychological Perspective on Community Program Effectiveness.

    PubMed

    Macias, Cathaleene; Aronson, Elliot; Hargreaves, William; Weary, Gifford; Barreira, Paul J; Harvey, John; Rodican, Charles F; Bickman, Leonard; Fisher, William

    2009-08-01

    A field study of supported employment for adults with mental illness (N=174) provided an experimental test of cognitive dissonance theory. We predicted that most work-interested individuals randomly assigned to a non-preferred program would reject services and lower their work aspirations. However, individuals who chose to pursue employment through a non-preferred program were expected to resolve this dissonance through favorable service evaluations and strong efforts to succeed at work. Significant work interest-by-service preference interactions supported these predictions. Over two years, participants interested in employment who obtained work through a non-preferred program stayed employed a median of 362 days versus 108 days for those assigned to a preferred program, and participants who obtained work through a non-preferred program had higher service satisfaction.

  7. Calibration of Predictor Models Using Multiple Validation Experiments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Crespo, Luis G.; Kenny, Sean P.; Giesy, Daniel P.

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a framework for calibrating computational models using data from several and possibly dissimilar validation experiments. The offset between model predictions and observations, which might be caused by measurement noise, model-form uncertainty, and numerical error, drives the process by which uncertainty in the models parameters is characterized. The resulting description of uncertainty along with the computational model constitute a predictor model. Two types of predictor models are studied: Interval Predictor Models (IPMs) and Random Predictor Models (RPMs). IPMs use sets to characterize uncertainty, whereas RPMs use random vectors. The propagation of a set through a model makes the response an interval valued function of the state, whereas the propagation of a random vector yields a random process. Optimization-based strategies for calculating both types of predictor models are proposed. Whereas the formulations used to calculate IPMs target solutions leading to the interval value function of minimal spread containing all observations, those for RPMs seek to maximize the models' ability to reproduce the distribution of observations. Regarding RPMs, we choose a structure for the random vector (i.e., the assignment of probability to points in the parameter space) solely dependent on the prediction error. As such, the probabilistic description of uncertainty is not a subjective assignment of belief, nor is it expected to asymptotically converge to a fixed value, but instead it casts the model's ability to reproduce the experimental data. This framework enables evaluating the spread and distribution of the predicted response of target applications depending on the same parameters beyond the validation domain.

  8. Effect of guava and vitamin C supplementation on experimental gingivitis A randomized clinical trial.

    PubMed

    Amaliya, Amaliya; Risdiana, Ajeng S; der Velden, Ubele Van

    2018-05-14

    To study the effect of guava and synthetic vitamin C on the development of gingival inflammation during experimental gingivitis. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups supplemented daily with either 200g guava, 200mg synthetic vitamin C or water. The study included a 14 days pre-experimental period with oral hygiene instructions, scaling, prophylaxis and supplementation. Thereafter, experiment gingivitis was initiated, while continuing supplementation. At baseline, day 7 and day 14 of experimental gingivitis, Plaque Index (PlI) and Gingival Index (GI) were assessed. During the entire study, dietary fruit/vegetables intake was minimal. PlI increased in guava-, vitamin C- and control group (ΔPlI: 1.30, 1.61 and 1.79 respectively). However, the guava group developed significantly less plaque compared to the control group. The GI increase of both guava- and vitamin C group was significantly less than the increase of the control group (ΔGI: 0.10, 0.24 and 0.87 respectively). in a population of young non-smoking adults, consumption of either 200g guava/day or 200mg synthetic vitamin C/day, prior to and during the oral hygiene abstention period, has a preventive effect on the development of experimental gingivitis as compared to the control group that developed the usual amount of experimental gingivitis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  9. Use of a goal setting intervention to increase adherence to low back pain rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Coppack, Russell J; Kristensen, Jakob; Karageorghis, Costas I

    2012-11-01

    To examine the effects of a goal setting intervention on self-efficacy, treatment efficacy, adherence and treatment outcome in patients undergoing low back pain rehabilitation. A mixed-model 2 (time) × 3 (group) randomized controlled trial. A residential rehabilitation centre for military personnel. UK military personnel volunteers (N = 48); mean age was 32.9 (SD 7.9) with a diagnosis of non-specific low back pain. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a goal setting experimental group (Exp, n = 16), therapist-led exercise therapy group (C1, n = 16) or non-therapist-led exercise therapy group (C2, n = 16). Treatment duration for all groups was three weeks. Self-efficacy, treatment efficacy and treatment outcome were recorded before and after the treatment period. Adherence was rated during regularly scheduled treatment sessions using the Sports Injury Rehabilitation Adherence Scale (SIRAS). The Biering-Sørensen test was used as the primary measure of treatment outcome. ANCOVA results showed that adherence scores were significantly higher in the experimental group (13.70 ± 1.58) compared with C2 (11.74 ± 1.35), (P < 0.025). There was no significant difference for adherence between the experimental group and C1 (P = 0.13). Self-efficacy was significantly higher in the experimental group compared to both C1 and C2 (P < 0.05), whereas no significant difference was found for treatment efficacy. Treatment outcome did not differ significantly between the experimental and two control groups. The findings provide partial support for the use of goal setting to enhance adherence in clinical rehabilitation.

  10. Effects of fin clipping on survival and position-holding behavior of brown darters, Etheostoma edwini

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Champagne, C.E.; Austin, J.D.; Jelks, H.L.; Jordan, F.

    2008-01-01

    Advent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has allowed conservation biologists to use small portions of tissue to obtain genetic material for population genetic and taxonomic study. Fin clips are used extensively in large-sized fishes, but it is unclear how clipping enough fin tissue for genetic analysis will affect survival of smaller fishes such as minnows and darters, which are among the most threatened organisms in North America. We tested for effects of fin clipping on survival and swimming performance of non-threatened Brown Darters (Etheostoma edwini) in order to justify similar tissue collection in co-occurring endangered Okaloosa Darters (E. okaloosae). We collected 48 E. edwini from a small stream in northwest Florida, transported them to the laboratory, and randomly assigned them to one of three experimental groups: control, entire right pectoral fin removed, or rear half of caudal fin removed. Successful amplification of DNA indicated that our fin clips were large enough for genetic analysis using PCR. No mortality occurred during a two-month observation period. Fin regeneration was almost complete and we could not visually distinguish clipped fins from control fins after two months. We then randomly assigned fish into the same three experimental groups, clipped fins, and evaluated their ability to hold position at 20 cm/sec in an experimental flow chamber. Neither fish size nor treatment type affected position-holding behavior. Fin clipping does not adversely affect survival and swimming performance of E. edwini maintained in the laboratory. Additional research on the effects of fin clipping on small-sized fishes should be conducted in the field to evaluate survival under natural conditions. ?? 2008 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

  11. Snoezelen Room and Childbirth Outcome: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

    PubMed

    Jamshidi Manesh, Mansoureh; Kalati, Mahnaz; Hosseini, Fatemeh

    2015-05-01

    One of the strategies for a good outcome and pain free childbearing is to design the delivery room. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of snoezelen room on childbearing outcome such as pain intensity, duration of labor, and perinea status in nulliparous women. This study was a randomized controlled clinical trial consists of 100 childbearing women. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. The experimental group went to snoezelen room when their cervix dilation was 4 cm, while the control group went to physiologic delivery room with the same cervix dilation. The mean ± SD of VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) pain intensity of the experimental and control groups before the intervention were 5.1 ± 1.95 and 5.58 ± 1.62, respectively (P = 0.13). The mean ± SD of VAS pain intensity scores of the experimental and control groups after 3 hours spending in their assigned rooms were 5.26 ± 0.86 and 9.56 ± 1.48, respectively (P = 0.01). The mean ± SD of the first stage scores of the experimental and control groups were 6.95 ± 0.97 and 8.41 ± 0.67, respectively (P = 0.042). About 92% of participants' intervention vs. 66% of control participants had perinea laceration (P = 0.041). According to the findings of the present study, distracting senses in snoezelen room decreases mother's pain intensity, the length of labor, and incidence of episiotomy.

  12. Snoezelen Room and Childbirth Outcome: A Randomized Clinical Trial

    PubMed Central

    Jamshidi Manesh, Mansoureh; Kalati, Mahnaz; Hosseini, Fatemeh

    2015-01-01

    Background: One of the strategies for a good outcome and pain free childbearing is to design the delivery room. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of snoezelen room on childbearing outcome such as pain intensity, duration of labor, and perinea status in nulliparous women. Patients and Methods: This study was a randomized controlled clinical trial consists of 100 childbearing women. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. The experimental group went to snoezelen room when their cervix dilation was 4 cm, while the control group went to physiologic delivery room with the same cervix dilation. Results: The mean ± SD of VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) pain intensity of the experimental and control groups before the intervention were 5.1 ± 1.95 and 5.58 ± 1.62, respectively (P = 0.13). The mean ± SD of VAS pain intensity scores of the experimental and control groups after 3 hours spending in their assigned rooms were 5.26 ± 0.86 and 9.56 ± 1.48, respectively (P = 0.01). The mean ± SD of the first stage scores of the experimental and control groups were 6.95 ± 0.97 and 8.41 ± 0.67, respectively (P = 0.042). About 92% of participants’ intervention vs. 66% of control participants had perinea laceration (P = 0.041). Conclusions: According to the findings of the present study, distracting senses in snoezelen room decreases mother’s pain intensity, the length of labor, and incidence of episiotomy. PMID:26082849

  13. Efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing on the phantom limb pain of patients with amputations within a 24-month follow-up.

    PubMed

    Rostaminejad, Akbar; Behnammoghadam, Mohammad; Rostaminejad, Marzieh; Behnammoghadam, Zargham; Bashti, Somaye

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) on the phantom limb pain (PLP) of patients with amputations within a 24-month follow-up. This study was a randomized-controlled trial. A total of 60 patients with amputations were selected by a purposive sampling and patients were divided randomly into two experimental and control groups. Samples were assigned through randomized allocation. EMDR therapy was administered individually to the experimental group participants in 12 one-hour sessions over a 1-month period In each session, the patient completed the Subjective Units of Distress Scale and a pain-rating scale before and after the intervention. Follow-up measures were obtained 24 months later for the experimental group. The participants in the control group were measured on the two scales at an initial session and again after 1- and 24-month follow-up. The mean PLP decreased in the experimental group between the first and last sessions and remained so at a 24-month follow-up. No decrease occurred for the control group over the 1- and 24-month period. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.001) according to a repeated-measures analysis of variance. EMDR therapy proved to be a successful treatment for PLP. Because of its efficacy and the fact that the positive effects were maintained at the 24-month follow-up, this therapy is recommended for the treatment of PLP.

  14. Effect of perioperative parecoxib sodium on postoperative pain control for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective randomized trial.

    PubMed

    Lv, Ning; Kong, Yanan; Mu, Luwen; Pan, Tao; Xie, Qiankun; Zhao, Ming

    2016-10-01

    Pain is one of the most common side effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. This study aimed to assess the analgesic effect of parecoxib sodium for postoperative pain control in patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing TACE. This randomized placebo-controlled prospective clinical study was conducted at a single cancer centre. Patients were randomly assigned to receive parecoxib sodium (experimental group; n = 60) or 0.9 % sodium chloride (control group; n = 60) 1 h before TACE and once every 12 h for 2 days after TACE. Pain level, morphine consumption, adverse events, and quality of life were evaluated and compared between the two groups. Pain scores, percentage distribution of pain categories, and morphine consumption were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Fever score comparisons revealed significantly better body temperature balance in the experimental group than in the control group (P = 0.024). Quality-of-life scores in the experimental group were significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Our results demonstrate that the perioperative administration of parecoxib significantly improved its effectiveness in the control of postoperative pain after TACE. • Perioperative administration of parecoxib is effective for control of pain after TACE. • COX-2 inhibitors provide effective and safe pain control. • Parecoxib helps improve quality-of-life after TACE for patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma.

  15. A randomized controlled trial of an intervention program to Brazilian mothers who use corporal punishment.

    PubMed

    Santini, Paolla Magioni; Williams, Lucia C A

    2017-09-01

    This study evaluated a positive parenting program to Brazilian mothers who used corporal punishment with their children. The intervention was conducted in four agencies serving vulnerable children, and at a home replica laboratory at the University. Mothers who admitted using corporal punishment were randomly assigned between experimental (n=20) and control group (n=20). The program consisted of 12 individual sessions using one unit from Projeto Parceria (Partnership Project), with specific guidelines and materials on positive parenting, followed by observational sessions of mother-child interaction with live coaching and a video feedback session in the lab. The study used an equivalent group experimental design with pre/post-test and follow-up, in randomized controlled trials. Measures involved: Initial Interview; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) - parent and child versions; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); observational sessions with a protocol; and a Program Evaluation by participants. Analysis of mixed models for repeated measures revealed significant positive effects on the BDI and SDQ total scores, as well as less Conduct problems and Hyperactivity in SDQ measures from the experimental group mothers, comparing pre with post-test. Observational data also indicated significant improvement in positive interaction from the experimental group mothers at post-test, in comparison with controls. No significant results were found, however, in children's observational measures. Limitations of the study involved using a restricted sample, among others. Implications for future research are suggested. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Evaluating adolescent pregnancy programs: rethinking our priorities.

    PubMed

    Stahler, G J; DuCette, J P

    1991-01-01

    Noting that impact evaluations of adolescent pregnancy programs are characterized by poor quality, the authors recommend using a different standard in assessing the value of programs. While the number of adolescent pregnancy programs has multiplied during the last 3 decades, little is known about their impact in ameliorating the negative consequences of too-early childbearing. An ideal evaluation of these programs would randomly select and randomly assign subjects to experimental and control groups. But evaluations conducted by individual program generally face obstacles that limit the randomness of the study. most individual programs lack the financial resources and do not employ the full-time professional evaluators needed to carry out a valid evaluation. These factors result in too short an evaluation period, incomplete and inaccurate data, and lack of randomness in the assignment of control groups. To more accurately assess the impact of the programs, the authors recommend that individual programs focus on process evaluation and collection of complete and reliable data on their clients. From the onset, a program should have a clear description of its content, logic of intervention, and method of implementation. It should maintain thorough records on client characteristics, service utilization, and should conduct long-term follow-ups. For rigorous impact evaluations, programs should rely on 3rd party entities. These independent organizations -- universities or research institutes -- do not have a stake in the outcome of the evaluation, making the study all the more objective. Furthermore, they provide experienced researchers.

  17. An Evaluation of a Behaviorally Based Social Skills Group for Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leaf, Justin B.; Leaf, Jeremy A.; Milne, Christine; Taubman, Mitchell; Oppenheim-Leaf, Misty; Torres, Norma; Townley-Cochran, Donna; Leaf, Ronald; McEachin, John; Yoder, Paul

    2017-01-01

    In this study we evaluated a social skills group which employed a progressive applied behavior analysis model for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A randomized control trial was utilized; eight participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group and seven participants were randomly assigned to a waitlist control group. The…

  18. Random Assignment within Schools: Lessons Learned from the Teach for America Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glazerman, Steven

    2012-01-01

    Randomized trials are a common way to provide rigorous evidence on the impacts of education programs. This article discusses the trade-offs associated with study designs that involve random assignment of students within schools and describes the experience from one such study of Teach for America (TFA). The TFA experiment faced challenges with…

  19. Evaluating the Collaborative Strategic Reading Intervention: An Overview of Randomized Controlled Trial Options

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hitchcock, John H.; Kurki, Anja; Wilkins, Chuck; Dimino, Joseph; Gersten, Russell

    2009-01-01

    When attempting to determine if an intervention has a causal impact, the "gold standard" of program evaluation is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). In education studies random assignment is rarely feasible at the student level, making RCTs harder to conduct. School-level assignment is more common but this often requires considerable resources…

  20. Quasi-experimental study designs series-paper 4: uses and value.

    PubMed

    Bärnighausen, Till; Tugwell, Peter; Røttingen, John-Arne; Shemilt, Ian; Rockers, Peter; Geldsetzer, Pascal; Lavis, John; Grimshaw, Jeremy; Daniels, Karen; Brown, Annette; Bor, Jacob; Tanner, Jeffery; Rashidian, Arash; Barreto, Mauricio; Vollmer, Sebastian; Atun, Rifat

    2017-09-01

    Quasi-experimental studies are increasingly used to establish causal relationships in epidemiology and health systems research. Quasi-experimental studies offer important opportunities to increase and improve evidence on causal effects: (1) they can generate causal evidence when randomized controlled trials are impossible; (2) they typically generate causal evidence with a high degree of external validity; (3) they avoid the threats to internal validity that arise when participants in nonblinded experiments change their behavior in response to the experimental assignment to either intervention or control arm (such as compensatory rivalry or resentful demoralization); (4) they are often well suited to generate causal evidence on long-term health outcomes of an intervention, as well as nonhealth outcomes such as economic and social consequences; and (5) they can often generate evidence faster and at lower cost than experiments and other intervention studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The immediate effects of taping therapy on knee pain and depression in patients with degenerative arthritis.

    PubMed

    Han, Ji-Won; Lee, Dong-Kyu; Park, Chi-Bok

    2018-05-01

    [Purpose] This study aims to identify the immediate effects of taping therapy on knee pain and depression among patients with degenerative arthritis. [Subjects and Methods] In total, 32 patients with degenerative arthritis were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the experimental group that underwent taping therapy and the control group that underwent regular treatment (16 patients per group). In the experimental group, therapeutic tape was wrapped all around the knee joint. Pain and depression were measured using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively. [Results] The intra-group comparison showed significant differences in VAS and BDI for the experimental group. The intergroup comparison showed that the differences in VAS and BDI within the experimental group appeared significant relative to the control group. [Conclusion] It was observed that taping therapy showed an immediate effect in decreasing knee pain and depression among patients with degenerative arthritis.

  2. Effects of a Web-based course on nursing skills and knowledge learning.

    PubMed

    Lu, Der-Fa; Lin, Zu-Chun; Li, Yun-Ju

    2009-02-01

    The purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of supplementing traditional classroom teaching with Web-based learning design when teaching intramuscular injection nursing skills. Four clusters of nursing students at a junior college in eastern Taiwan were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A total of 147 students (80 in the experimental group, 67 in the control group) completed the study. All participants received the same classroom lectures and skill demonstration. The experimental group interacted using a Web-based course and were able to view the content on demand. The students and instructor interacted via a chatroom, the bulletin board, and e-mail. Participants in the experimental group had significantly higher scores on both intramuscular injection knowledge and skill learning. A Web-based design can be an effective supplementing learning tool for teaching nursing knowledge and skills.

  3. Pathway Towards Fluency: Using 'disaggregate instruction' to promote science literacy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Bryan A.; Ryoo, Kihyun; Rodriguez, Jamie

    2010-07-01

    This study examines the impact of Disaggregate Instruction on students' science learning. Disaggregate Instruction is the idea that science teaching and learning can be separated into conceptual and discursive components. Using randomly assigned experimental and control groups, 49 fifth-grade students received web-based science lessons on photosynthesis using our experimental approach. We supplemented quantitative statistical comparisons of students' performance on pre- and post-test questions (multiple choice and short answer) with a qualitative analysis of students' post-test interviews. The results revealed that students in the experimental group outscored their control group counterparts across all measures. In addition, students taught using the experimental method demonstrated an improved ability to write using scientific language as well as an improved ability to provide oral explanations using scientific language. This study has important implications for how science educators can prepare teachers to teach diverse student populations.

  4. A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of a computer-tailored intervention to promote safer injection practices among drug users.

    PubMed

    Gagnon, Hélène; Godin, Gaston; Alary, Michel; Bruneau, Julie; Otis, Joanne

    2010-06-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a theory-based intervention to increase the use of a new syringe for each injection among injection drug users (IDUs). Users of two needle exchange programs (NEPs) were involved. At both sites, participants were assigned at random to either the experimental or the control group. Once a week for four weeks, users reported to the NEPs where they logged onto a computer and received an audiovisual message. A total of 260 IDUs were recruited. At baseline, 52.3% of participants reported that they had not always used new syringes in the previous week. The results indicate that it is possible for IDUs to adopt safer injection practices. One month after the intervention began, participants in the experimental group were using fewer dirty syringes compared to the control group (RR: 0.47 CI(95%) 0.28-0.79; P = .004). This short-term effect was no longer present 3 months later.

  5. The effect of talocrural joint manipulation on range of motion at the ankle.

    PubMed

    Fryer, Gary A; Mudge, Jacob M; McLaughlin, Patrick A

    2002-01-01

    To determine whether a single high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust manipulation to the talocrural joint altered ankle range of motion. A randomized, controlled and blinded study. Asymptomatic male and female volunteers (N = 41). Subjects were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (n = 20) or a control group (n = 21). Both ankles of subjects in the experimental group were manipulated by using a single high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust to the talocrural joint. Pretest and posttest measurements of passive dorsiflexion range of motion were taken. No significant changes in dorsiflexion range of motion were detected between manipulated ankles and those of control subjects. A significantly greater pretest dorsiflexion range of motion existed in those ankles in which manipulation produced an audible cavitation. Manipulation of the ankle does not increase dorsiflexion range of motion in asymptomatic subjects. Ankles that displayed a greater pretest range of dorsiflexion were more likely to cavitate, raising the possibility that ligament laxity may be associated with the tendency for ankles to cavitate.

  6. Effectiveness of core stability exercises and recovery myofascial release massage on fatigue in breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

    PubMed

    Cantarero-Villanueva, Irene; Fernández-Lao, Carolina; Del Moral-Avila, Rosario; Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César; Feriche-Fernández-Castanys, María Belén; Arroyo-Morales, Manuel

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the present paper was to evaluate the effects of an 8-week multimodal program focused on core stability exercises and recovery massage with DVD support for a 6-month period in physical and psychological outcomes in breast cancer survivors. A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed. Seventy-eight (n = 78) breast cancer survivors were assigned to experimental (core stability exercises plus massage-myofascial release) and control (usual health care) groups. The intervention period was 8 weeks. Mood state, fatigue, trunk curl endurance, and leg strength were determined at baseline, after the last treatment session, and at 6 months of followup. Immediately after treatment and at 6 months, fatigue, mood state, trunk curl endurance, and leg strength exhibited greater improvement within the experimental group compared to placebo group. This paper showed that a multimodal program focused on core stability exercises and massage reduced fatigue, tension, depression, and improved vigor and muscle strength after intervention and 6 months after discharge.

  7. The effects of topical oxygen therapy on equine distal limb dermal wound healing.

    PubMed

    Tracey, Alexandra K; Alcott, Cody J; Schleining, Jennifer A; Safayi, Sina; Zaback, Peter C; Hostetter, Jesse M; Reinertson, Eric L

    2014-12-01

    Topical oxygen therapy (TOT) has been used in human medicine to promote healing in chronic wounds. To test the efficacy and safety of TOT in horses, an experimental wound model was created by making 1 standardized dermal wound on each limb of 4 healthy horses (n = 16). Each wound was fitted with an oxygen delivery cannula and covered with a bandage. One limb of each front and hind pair was randomly assigned to the treatment group (fitted with an oxygen concentrator device), with the contralateral limb assigned to the control group (no device). Wound area, epithelial area, and contraction were measured every 3 to 4 d. Biopsy samples and culture swabs were taken on days 16 and 32 to evaluate angiogenesis, fibroplasia, epithelial hyperplasia, inflammation and bacterial growth. Mean healing time in treated wounds (45 d, range: 38 to 52 d) was not significantly different from that in the paired control wounds (50 d, range: 38 to 62 d). Topical oxygen therapy had little effect on dermal wound healing in this experimental wound model in healthy horses.

  8. [Efficacy of motivational interviewing for reducing medication errors in chronic patients over 65 years with polypharmacy: Results of a cluster randomized trial].

    PubMed

    Pérula de Torres, Luis Angel; Pulido Ortega, Laura; Pérula de Torres, Carlos; González Lama, Jesús; Olaya Caro, Inmaculada; Ruiz Moral, Roger

    2014-10-21

    To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention based on motivational interviewing to reduce medication errors in chronic patients over 65 with polypharmacy. Cluster randomized trial that included doctors and nurses of 16 Primary Care centers and chronic patients with polypharmacy over 65 years. The professionals were assigned to the experimental or the control group using stratified randomization. Interventions consisted of training of professionals and revision of patient treatments, application of motivational interviewing in the experimental group and also the usual approach in the control group. The primary endpoint (medication error) was analyzed at individual level, and was estimated with the absolute risk reduction (ARR), relative risk reduction (RRR), number of subjects to treat (NNT) and by multiple logistic regression analysis. Thirty-two professionals were randomized (19 doctors and 13 nurses), 27 of them recruited 154 patients consecutively (13 professionals in the experimental group recruited 70 patients and 14 professionals recruited 84 patients in the control group) and completed 6 months of follow-up. The mean age of patients was 76 years (68.8% women). A decrease in the average of medication errors was observed along the period. The reduction was greater in the experimental than in the control group (F=5.109, P=.035). RRA 29% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 15.0-43.0%), RRR 0.59 (95% CI:0.31-0.76), and NNT 3.5 (95% CI 2.3-6.8). Motivational interviewing is more efficient than the usual approach to reduce medication errors in patients over 65 with polypharmacy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  9. Efficacy of tilmicosin in the control of experimentally induced Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection in swine

    PubMed Central

    2004-01-01

    Abstract The efficacy of tilmicosin administered in the feed to control Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infections in pigs was evaluated through a multisite, multitrial study. For each of 6 trials, 48 pigs (stratified by weight and sex) were randomly assigned to 6 to 8 pens. Medicated feed containing tilmicosin (200 g/t) and unmedicated feed were randomly assigned at the pen level and were provided ad libitum from day −7 to trial termination (day 14). Seeder pigs (inoculated intranasally with A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 and showing signs of clinical disease) were introduced to each pen on day 0. Rates of death, gross lesions, and culture of A. pleuropneumoniae at necropsy, clinical scores, average daily gain in weight, and average body temperature were compared between the medicated and unmedicated pigs. Compared with the unmedicated pigs, significantly fewer (P < 0.05) pigs given tilmicosin had lesions typical of A. pleuropneumoniae or had A. pleuropneumoniae isolated from their tissues at necropsy. Together with a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the average percentage of pneumonic lung involvement (both visually and by weight), there were reductions in the numbers of pigs with moderate and severe pneumonic lung lesions and with A. pleuropneumoniae associated mortality. With tilmicosin treatment, the average daily weight gain, daily temperature, abdominal appearance, attitude, and respiration were also significantly better (P < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate the in vivo effectiveness of tilmicosin (200 g/t) in controlling pleuropneumonia among swine experimentally infected with A. pleuropneumoniae. PMID:14979429

  10. Efficacy of tilmicosin in the control of experimentally induced Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection in swine.

    PubMed

    Paradis, Marie-Anne; Vessie, Gordon H; Merrill, John K; Dick, C Paul; Moore, Camille; Charbonneau, George; Gottschalk, M; MacInnes, Janet I; Higgins, Robert; Mittal, K R; Girard, C; Aramini, Jeffery J; Wilson, Jeffrey B

    2004-01-01

    The efficacy of tilmicosin administered in the feed to control Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infections in pigs was evaluated through a multisite, multitrial study. For each of 6 trials, 48 pigs (stratified by weight and sex) were randomly assigned to 6 to 8 pens. Medicated feed containing tilmicosin (200 g/t) and unmedicated feed were randomly assigned at the pen level and were provided ad libitum from day -7 to trial termination (day 14). Seeder pigs (inoculated intranasally with A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 and showing signs of clinical disease) were introduced to each pen on day 0. Rates of death, gross lesions, and culture of A. pleuropneumoniae at necropsy, clinical scores, average daily gain in weight, and average body temperature were compared between the medicated and unmedicated pigs. Compared with the unmedicated pigs, significantly fewer (P < 0.05) pigs given tilmicosin had lesions typical of A. pleuropneumoniae or had A. pleuropneumoniae isolated from their tissues at necropsy. Together with a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the average percentage of pneumonic lung involvement (both visually and by weight), there were reductions in the numbers of pigs with moderate and severe pneumonic lung lesions and with A. pleuropneumoniae associated mortality. With tilmicosin treatment, the average daily weight gain, daily temperature, abdominal appearance, attitude, and respiration were also significantly better (P < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate the in vivo effectiveness of tilmicosin (200 g/t) in controlling pleuropneumonia among swine experimentally infected with A. pleuropneumoniae.

  11. The preliminary effect of a parenting program for Korean American mothers: a randomized controlled experimental study.

    PubMed

    Kim, Eunjung; Cain, Kevin C; Webster-Stratton, Carolyn

    2008-09-01

    Traditional Korean American discipline is characterized by a lack of expression of affection and use of harsh discipline. The purpose of this study was to pilot test the effect of the Incredible Years Parenting Program among Korean American mothers. A randomized controlled experimental study design was used; 29 first-generation Korean American mothers of young children (3-8 years old) were randomly assigned to intervention (n=20) and control (n=9) groups. Intervention group mothers received a 12-week parenting program. Control group mothers did not receive the intervention. Mothers reported on discipline styles (positive, appropriate, and harsh), level of acculturation, and their child's outcomes (behavioral problems and social competence) at pre-, post-, and 1-year follow-up intervals. After completing the program, intervention group mothers significantly increased use of positive discipline as compared to control group mothers. Among intervention group mothers, high-acculturated mothers significantly increased appropriate discipline whereas low-acculturated mothers significantly decreased harsh discipline. In the 1-year follow-up, intervention group mothers maintained the significant effect for positive discipline. Providing this program appears to be a promising way of promoting positive discipline among Korean American mothers.

  12. 77 FR 3284 - Comment Request for Information Collection for the H-1B Technical Skills Training (H-1B) and the...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-23

    ... participants at the time they are randomly assigned to a treatment or control group, ensure that random... assignment of participants into treatment and control groups. A Web- based PTS will execute the random... grantee sites and the services available to control group members. This qualitative information will...

  13. Immediate effect of subliminal priming with positive reward stimuli on standing balance in healthy individuals: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Aoyama, Yasuhiro; Uchida, Hiroyuki; Sugi, Yasuyuki; Kawakami, Akinobu; Fujii, Miki; Kiso, Kanae; Kono, Ryota; Takebayashi, Takashi; Hirao, Kazuki

    2017-07-01

    Information received subconsciously can influence exercise performance; however, it remains unclear whether subliminal or supraliminal reward is more effective in improving standing balance ability when priming stimuli are subconsciously delivered. The present study aimed to compare the effects of subliminal priming-plus-subliminal reward stimuli (experimental) with subliminal priming-plus-supraliminal reward stimuli (control) on standing balance ability. This was a single-blind (outcome assessor), parallel-group, randomized controlled trial involving healthy young adults recruited from a university in Japan. Assessments were conducted at baseline and immediately after intervention. The primary outcome was the functional reach test (FRT) measurement. The secondary outcome was one-leg standing time (OLST) with eyes closed. Of the 52 participants screened, 25 were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups each. Both interventions were effective for improving the FRT between the baseline and intervention; however, smaller improvements were observed in the experimental group. We found a large between-groups effect size immediately after the intervention for the FRT (d = -0.92). In contrast, there were no differences in improvements in OLST between the 2 groups (d = -0.06); furthermore, neither intervention was found to be effective for this parameter. We concluded that subliminal priming with conscious reward stimuli results in improvements in immediate-term forward reach ability, which is superior to that achieved by subliminal priming with subconscious reward stimuli.

  14. Effect of early amniotomy on dystocia risk and cesarean delivery in nulliparous women: a randomized clinical trial.

    PubMed

    Ghafarzadeh, Masoomeh; Moeininasab, Samira; Namdari, Mehrdad

    2015-08-01

    Artificial rupture of amniotic membranes (amniotomy) which induces or accelerates labor is the most common obstetrical procedure. There is controversy about the effect of early amniotomy on dystocia and cesarean delivery. The study aim was to determine the effect of early amniotomy on the risk of dystocia and cesarean delivery in nulliparous women. This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 300 nulliparous women. They were randomly assigned into the experimental (early amniotomy; artificial amniotomy at cervical dilation ≤ 4 cm) and control (routine management) groups (each 150 women). Length of labor, dystocia, cesarean delivery, placental abruption, and umbilical cord prolapse were compared between the groups. Early amniotomy shortened labor duration significantly in experimental group (7.5 ± 0.7 h) compared to control group (9.9 ± 1.0 h) (P < 0.001). Dystocia (6.7 vs. 25.3 %, P < 0.0001), cesarean delivery (11.3 vs. 39.3 %, P < 0.001), and placental abruption (4.7 vs. 13.3 %, P = 0.009) were significantly lower in experimental group compared to the control group. Multiple logistic regression showed that early amniotomy decreased the odds of dystocia 80.6 % (95 % CI 58.6-90.1 %) and the odds of cesarean section 81.7 % (95 % CI 66.2-90.1 %). Early amniotomy was associated with lower rate of dystocia and cesarean delivery as well as shorter duration of labor.

  15. Effect of aerobic exercise on peripheral nerve functions of population with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes: a single blind, parallel group randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Dixit, Snehil; Maiya, Arun G; Shastry, B A

    2014-01-01

    To evaluate the effect of moderate intensity aerobic exercise (40%-60% of Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)) on diabetic peripheral neuropathy. A parallel-group, randomized controlled trial was carried out in a tertiary health care setting, India. The study comprised of experimental (moderate intensity aerobic exercise and standard care) and control groups (standard care). Population with type 2 diabetes with clinical neuropathy, defined as a minimum score of seven on the Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Score (MDNS), was randomly assigned to experimental and control groups by computer generated random number tables. RANOVA was used for data analysis (p<0.05 was significant). A total of 87 patients with DPN were evaluated in the study. After randomization there were 47 patients in the control group and 40 patients in the experimental group. A comparison of two groups using RANOVA for anthropometric measures showed an insignificant change at eight weeks. For distal peroneal nerve's conduction velocity there was a significant difference in two groups at eight weeks (p<0.05), Degrees of freedom (Df)=1, 62, F=5.14, and p=0.03. Sural sensory nerve at eight weeks showed a significant difference in two groups for conduction velocity, Df =1, 60, F=10.16, and p=0.00. Significant differences in mean scores of MDNS were also observed in the two groups at eight weeks (p value significant<0.05). Moderate intensity aerobic exercises can play a valuable role to disrupt the normal progression of DPN in type 2 diabetes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Preventive Neuromuscular Training for Young Female Athletes: Comparison of Coach and Athlete Compliance Rates

    PubMed Central

    Sugimoto, Dai; Mattacola, Carl G.; Bush, Heather M.; Thomas, Staci M.; Foss, Kim D. Barber; Myer, Gregory D.; Hewett, Timothy E.

    2017-01-01

    Context: Fewer athletic injuries and lower anterior cruciate ligament injury incidence rates were noted in studies of neuromuscular-training (NMT) interventions that had high compliance rates. However, several groups have demonstrated that preventive NMT interventions were limited by low compliance rates. Objective: To descriptively analyze coach and athlete compliance with preventive NMT and compare the compliance between study arms as well as among school levels and sports. Design: Randomized, controlled clinical trial. Setting: Middle and high school athletic programs. Participants or Other Participants: A total of 52 teams, comprising 547 female athletes, were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group and followed for 1 athletic season. Intervention(s): The experimental group (n = 30 teams [301 athletes]: 12 basketball teams [125 athletes], 6 soccer teams [74 athletes], and 12 volleyball teams [102 athletes]) participated in an NMT program aimed at reducing traumatic knee injuries through a trunk-stabilization and hip-strengthening program. The control group (n = 22 teams [246 athletes]: 11 basketball teams [116 athletes], 5 soccer teams [68 athletes], and 6 volleyball teams [62 athletes]) performed a resistive rubber-band running program. Main Outcome Measure(s): Compliance with the assigned intervention protocols (3 times per week during the preseason [mean = 3.4 weeks] and 2 times per week in-season [mean = 11.9 weeks] of coaches [coach compliance] and athletes [athlete compliance]) was measured descriptively. Using an independent t test, we compared coach and athlete compliance between the study arms. A 2-way analysis of variance was calculated to compare differences between coach and athlete compliance by school level (middle and high schools) and sport (basketball, soccer, and volleyball). Results: The protocols were completed at a mean rate of 1.3 ± 1.1 times per week during the preseason and 1.2 ± 0.5 times per week in-season. A total of 88.4% of athletes completed 2/3 of the intervention sessions. Coach compliance was greater in the experimental group than in the control group (P = .014). Coach compliance did not differ by sport but was greater at the high school than the middle school (P = .001) level. Athlete compliance did not differ by study arm, sport, or school level. Conclusions: Athletes received instruction in about 50% of each protocol. Nearly 90% of athletes performed more than 2/3 of the assigned NMT interventions. The assigned intervention was performed more often in the experimental arm compared with the control arm. Coaches at the high school level complied with the given protocol more than middle school coaches did. Athletes complied well with the protocol, but coaches did not, especially at the middle school level. PMID:27977300

  17. Preventive Neuromuscular Training for Young Female Athletes: Comparison of Coach and Athlete Compliance Rates.

    PubMed

    Sugimoto, Dai; Mattacola, Carl G; Bush, Heather M; Thomas, Staci M; Foss, Kim D Barber; Myer, Gregory D; Hewett, Timothy E

    2017-01-01

     Fewer athletic injuries and lower anterior cruciate ligament injury incidence rates were noted in studies of neuromuscular-training (NMT) interventions that had high compliance rates. However, several groups have demonstrated that preventive NMT interventions were limited by low compliance rates.  To descriptively analyze coach and athlete compliance with preventive NMT and compare the compliance between study arms as well as among school levels and sports.  Randomized, controlled clinical trial.  Middle and high school athletic programs. Participants or Other Participants: A total of 52 teams, comprising 547 female athletes, were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group and followed for 1 athletic season.  The experimental group (n = 30 teams [301 athletes]: 12 basketball teams [125 athletes], 6 soccer teams [74 athletes], and 12 volleyball teams [102 athletes]) participated in an NMT program aimed at reducing traumatic knee injuries through a trunk-stabilization and hip-strengthening program. The control group (n = 22 teams [246 athletes]: 11 basketball teams [116 athletes], 5 soccer teams [68 athletes], and 6 volleyball teams [62 athletes]) performed a resistive rubber-band running program.  Compliance with the assigned intervention protocols (3 times per week during the preseason [mean = 3.4 weeks] and 2 times per week in-season [mean = 11.9 weeks] of coaches [coach compliance] and athletes [athlete compliance]) was measured descriptively. Using an independent t test, we compared coach and athlete compliance between the study arms. A 2-way analysis of variance was calculated to compare differences between coach and athlete compliance by school level (middle and high schools) and sport (basketball, soccer, and volleyball).  The protocols were completed at a mean rate of 1.3 ± 1.1 times per week during the preseason and 1.2 ± 0.5 times per week in-season. A total of 88.4% of athletes completed 2/3 of the intervention sessions. Coach compliance was greater in the experimental group than in the control group (P = .014). Coach compliance did not differ by sport but was greater at the high school than the middle school (P = .001) level. Athlete compliance did not differ by study arm, sport, or school level.  Athletes received instruction in about 50% of each protocol. Nearly 90% of athletes performed more than 2/3 of the assigned NMT interventions. The assigned intervention was performed more often in the experimental arm compared with the control arm. Coaches at the high school level complied with the given protocol more than middle school coaches did. Athletes complied well with the protocol, but coaches did not, especially at the middle school level.

  18. The effectiveness of advance organiser model on students' academic achievement in learning work and energy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gidena, Asay; Gebeyehu, Desta

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the advance organiser model (AOM) on students' academic achievement in learning work and energy. The design of the study was quasi-experimental pretest-posttest nonequivalent control groups. The total population of the study was 139 students of three sections in Endabaguna preparatory school in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Two sections with equivalent means on the pretest were taken to participate in the study purposely and one section assigned as the experimental group and the other section assigned as the control group randomly. The experimental group was taught using the lesson plan based on the AOM, and the control group was taught using the lesson plan based on the conventional teaching method. Pretest and posttest were administered before and after the treatment, respectively. Independent sample t-test was used to analyse the data at the probability level of 0.05. The findings of the study showed that the AOM was more effective than the conventional teaching method with effect size of 0.49. This model was also effective to teach male and female students and objectives namely understanding and application. However, both methods were equally important to teach work and energy under the objective knowledge level.

  19. A supportive-educative telephone program: impact on knowledge and anxiety after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

    PubMed

    Beckie, T

    1989-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a supportive-educative telephone program on the levels of knowledge and anxiety of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery during the first 6 weeks after hospital discharge. With a posttest-only control group design, the first 74 patients scheduled, between September 1986 and February 1987, for coronary artery bypass graft surgery in a large, western Canadian teaching hospital were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The effect of the intervention, which was implemented by a cardiac rehabilitation nurse specialist, was assessed by a knowledge test and a state anxiety inventory. Data were collected without knowledge of the participants' group assignment. As hypothesized, data analysis with independent t tests revealed a statistically significant (p less than 0.05) difference between the knowledge level of the experimental and the control group in the areas of coronary artery disease, diet, medications, physical activity restrictions, exercise, and rest. A statistically significant difference between the state anxiety level of the experimental and the control group was also evident, as was a statistically significant inverse relationship between participants' knowledge and anxiety levels. From these findings, several implications and recommendations for nursing practice and research have been generated.

  20. Remedial self-fulfilling prophecy: two field experiments to prevent Golem effects among disadvantaged women.

    PubMed

    Davidson, O B; Eden, D

    2000-06-01

    The Pygmalion effect is a self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP) in which raising leader expectations boosts subordinate performance. Although attempts to produce Pygmalion effects have been successful repeatedly among men, attempts to produce Pygmalion effects with female leaders have yielded null results. Also, only 1 experiment has demonstrated the Golem effect (i.e., negative SFP in which low leader expectations impair subordinate performance). In 2 field experiments testing the SFP hypothesis among women leading disadvantaged women, experimental leaders were led to believe that their trainees had higher than usual potential. In reality, the trainees had been assigned randomly. Manipulation checks confirmed that the treatment raised leader expectations toward experimental trainees. Analysis of variance of performance detected the predicted SFP effects in both experiments. These were the first-ever experimental confirmations of SFP among women as leaders.

  1. Empirical Analysis of EEG and ERPs for Psychophysiological Adaptive Task Allocation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Pope, Alan T.; Freeman, Frederick G.; Scerbo, Mark W.; Mikulka, Peter J.

    2001-01-01

    The present study was designed to test the efficacy of using Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) for making task allocation decisions. Thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to an experimental, yoked, or control group condition. Under the experimental condition, a tracking task was switched between task modes based upon the participant's EEG. The results showed that the use of adaptive aiding improved performance and lowered subjective workload under negative feedback as predicted. Additionally, participants in the adaptive group had significantly lower RMSE and NASA-TLX ratings than participants in either the yoked or control group conditions. Furthermore, the amplitudes of the N1 and P3 ERP components were significantly larger under the experimental group condition than under either the yoked or control group conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the implications for adaptive automation design.

  2. A stimulus control intervention in the gynecological exam with sexual abuse survivors.

    PubMed

    Smith, M S; Smith, M T

    1999-01-01

    The effectiveness of a new examination gown, as a stimulus control intervention designed to reduce distress during the pelvic exam, was investigated in a sample of sexual abuse survivors and women without abuse histories. Sixty-nine participants from a women's health ambulatory center and a private practice in gynecology were randomly assigned to the experimental gown condition or the paper drape control group. One-third of the sample reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. Survivors reported higher anxiety during exams than did women without abuse histories. Women who wore the experimental gown reported more positive emotional and physical experiences of the exam. Further research is required to examine the trend showing that survivors who wore the experimental gown reported less anxiety during the examination than survivors who wore the control drape.

  3. Transforming Dissatisfaction with Services into Self-Determination: A Social Psychological Perspective on Community Program Effectiveness

    PubMed Central

    Macias, Cathaleene; Aronson, Elliot; Hargreaves, William; Weary, Gifford; Barreira, Paul J.; Harvey, John; Rodican, Charles F.; Bickman, Leonard; Fisher, William

    2009-01-01

    A field study of supported employment for adults with mental illness (N=174) provided an experimental test of cognitive dissonance theory. We predicted that most work-interested individuals randomly assigned to a non-preferred program would reject services and lower their work aspirations. However, individuals who chose to pursue employment through a non-preferred program were expected to resolve this dissonance through favorable service evaluations and strong efforts to succeed at work. Significant work interest-by-service preference interactions supported these predictions. Over two years, participants interested in employment who obtained work through a non-preferred program stayed employed a median of 362 days versus 108 days for those assigned to a preferred program, and participants who obtained work through a non-preferred program had higher service satisfaction. PMID:20037662

  4. Evaluation of life and death studies course on attitudes toward life and death among nursing students.

    PubMed

    Hwang, Huei-Lih; Lin, Huey-Shyan; Chen, Wen-Tin

    2005-12-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes toward life and death among nursing students after attending the life and death studies (LDS) program. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. The pretest-posttest control group design randomly assigned students to an experimental (n = 47) or control group (n = 49). The 13-week course included lectures, video appraisal, games, simulations, films, books, assignments and group sharing. Statistical and content analysis were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. The findings showed a significant improvement in perception of the meaningfulness of life in four categories of improvement: expanded viewpoint, sadness about death, treating life sincerely, and instilling hope in life. The qualitative data indicated that a positive change in meaning of life was associated with interaction with others and self-reflection.

  5. Alternatives to the Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    West, Stephen G.; Duan, Naihua; Pequegnat, Willo; Gaist, Paul; Des Jarlais, Don C.; Holtgrave, David; Szapocznik, José; Fishbein, Martin; Rapkin, Bruce; Clatts, Michael; Mullen, Patricia Dolan

    2008-01-01

    Public health researchers are addressing new research questions (e.g., effects of environmental tobacco smoke, Hurricane Katrina) for which the randomized controlled trial (RCT) may not be a feasible option. Drawing on the potential outcomes framework (Rubin Causal Model) and Campbellian perspectives, we consider alternative research designs that permit relatively strong causal inferences. In randomized encouragement designs, participants are randomly invited to participate in one of the treatment conditions, but are allowed to decide whether to receive treatment. In quantitative assignment designs, treatment is assigned on the basis of a quantitative measure (e.g., need, merit, risk). In observational studies, treatment assignment is unknown and presumed to be nonrandom. Major threats to the validity of each design and statistical strategies for mitigating those threats are presented. PMID:18556609

  6. The effectiveness of breakfast recommendations on weight loss: a randomized controlled trial123

    PubMed Central

    Dhurandhar, Emily J; Dawson, John; Alcorn, Amy; Larsen, Lesli H; Thomas, Elizabeth A; Cardel, Michelle; Bourland, Ashley C; Astrup, Arne; St-Onge, Marie-Pierre; Hill, James O; Apovian, Caroline M; Shikany, James M; Allison, David B

    2014-01-01

    Background: Breakfast is associated with lower body weight in observational studies. Public health authorities commonly recommend breakfast consumption to reduce obesity, but the effectiveness of adopting these recommendations for reducing body weight is unknown. Objective: We tested the relative effectiveness of a recommendation to eat or skip breakfast on weight loss in adults trying to lose weight in a free-living setting. Design: We conducted a multisite, 16-wk, 3-parallel-arm randomized controlled trial in otherwise healthy overweight and obese adults [body mass index (in kg/m2) between 25 and 40] aged 20–65 y. Our primary outcome was weight change. We compared weight change in a control group with weight loss in experimental groups told to eat breakfast or to skip breakfast [no breakfast (NB)]. Randomization was stratified by prerandomization breakfast eating habits. A total of 309 participants were randomly assigned. Results: A total of 283 of the 309 participants who were randomly assigned completed the intervention. Treatment assignment did not have a significant effect on weight loss, and there was no interaction between initial breakfast eating status and treatment. Among skippers, mean (±SD) baseline weight-, age-, sex-, site-, and race-adjusted weight changes were −0.71 ± 1.16, −0.76 ± 1.26, and −0.61 ± 1.18 kg for the control, breakfast, and NB groups, respectively. Among breakfast consumers, mean (±SD) baseline weight-, age-, sex-, site-, and race-adjusted weight changes were −0.53 ± 1.16, −0.59 ± 1.06, and −0.71 ± 1.17 kg for the control, breakfast, and NB groups, respectively. Self-reported compliance with the recommendation was 93.6% for the breakfast group and 92.4% for the NB group. Conclusions: A recommendation to eat or skip breakfast for weight loss was effective at changing self-reported breakfast eating habits, but contrary to widely espoused views this had no discernable effect on weight loss in free-living adults who were attempting to lose weight. This trial was registered at clinicaltrails.gov as NCT01781780. PMID:24898236

  7. The effects of reminiscence in promoting mental health of Taiwanese elderly.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jing-Jy; Hsu, Ya-Chuan; Cheng, Su-Fen

    2005-01-01

    This study examined the effects of reminiscence on four selected mental health indicators, including depressive symptoms, mood status, self-esteem, and self-health perception of elderly people residing in community care facilities and at home. A longitudinal quasi-experimental design was conducted, using two equivalent groups for pre-post test and purposive sampling with random assignment. Each subject was administered pre- and post- tests at a 4 month interval but subjects in the experimental group underwent weekly intervention. Ninety-four subjects completed the study, with 48 in the control group and 46 in the experimental group. In the experimental group, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.041) was found between the pre-post tests on the dependent variable, depressive symptoms. However, no statistical significance was found in subjects' level of mood status, self-esteem, and self-health perception after the intervention in the experimental group, but slightly improvement was found. Reminiscence not only supports depression of the elderly but also empower nurses to become proactive in their daily nursing care activities.

  8. Improved gait after repetitive locomotor training in children with cerebral palsy.

    PubMed

    Smania, Nicola; Bonetti, Paola; Gandolfi, Marialuisa; Cosentino, Alessandro; Waldner, Andreas; Hesse, Stefan; Werner, Cordula; Bisoffi, Giulia; Geroin, Christian; Munari, Daniele

    2011-02-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer in children with cerebral palsy. In this randomized controlled trial, 18 ambulatory children with diplegic or tetraplegic cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received 30 mins of repetitive locomotor training with an applied technology (Gait Trainer GT I) plus 10 mins of passive joint mobilization and stretching exercises. The control group received 40 mins of conventional physiotherapy. Each subject underwent a total of 10 treatment sessions over a 2-wk period. Performance on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, WeeFIM scale, and gait analysis was evaluated by a blinded rater before and after treatment and at 1-mo follow-up. The experimental group showed significant posttreatment improvement on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, hip kinematics, gait speed, and step length, all of which were maintained at the 1-mo follow-up assessment. No significant changes in performance parameters were observed in the control group. Repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer may improve gait velocity, endurance, spatiotemporal, and kinematic gait parameters in patients with cerebral palsy.

  9. Neurofeedback Training as a New Method in Treatment of Crystal Methamphetamine Dependent Patients: A Preliminary Study.

    PubMed

    Rostami, R; Dehghani-Arani, F

    2015-09-01

    This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of neurofeedback (NFB) plus pharmacotherapy with pharmacotherapy alone, on addiction severity, mental health, and quality of life in crystal methamphetamine-dependent (CMD) patients. The study included 100 CMD patients undergoing a medical treatment who volunteered for this randomized controlled trial. After being evaluated by a battery of questionnaires that included addiction severity index questionnaire, Symptoms Check List 90 version, and World Health Organization Quality of Life, the participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental group received thirty 50-min sessions of NFB in addition to their usual medication over a 2-month period; meanwhile, the control group received only their usual medication. In accordance with this study's pre-test-post-test design, both study groups were evaluated again after completing their respective treatment regimens. Multivariate analysis of covariance showed the experimental group to have lower severity of addiction, better psychological health, and better quality of life in than the control group. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant. These finding suggest that NFB can be used to improve the effectiveness of treatment results in CMD patients.

  10. Reference Values of Within-District Intraclass Correlations of Academic Achievement by District Characteristics: Results from a Meta-Analysis of District-Specific Values

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hedberg, E. C.; Hedges, Larry V.

    2014-01-01

    Randomized experiments are often considered the strongest designs to study the impact of educational interventions. Perhaps the most prevalent class of designs used in large scale education experiments is the cluster randomized design in which entire schools are assigned to treatments. In cluster randomized trials (CRTs) that assign schools to…

  11. Stability of parental understanding of random assignment in childhood leukemia trials: an empirical examination of informed consent.

    PubMed

    Greenley, Rachel Neff; Drotar, Dennis; Zyzanski, Stephen J; Kodish, Eric

    2006-02-20

    To examine stability versus change in parental understanding of random assignment in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for pediatric leukemia and to identify factors associated with changes in understanding. Eighty-four parents of children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia who were enrolled onto a pediatric leukemia RCT at one of six US children's hospitals participated. Parents were interviewed twice, once within 48 hours after the Informed Consent Conference (ICC; time 1 [T1]) and again 6 months later (time 2 [T2]). Interviews focused on parental understanding of key components of the RCT, including random assignment. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and later analyzed. Changes in understanding of random assignment occurred in 19% of parents, with 17% of parents deteriorating in understanding from T1 to T2. Forty-nine percent of parents failed to understand random assignment at both times. Factors associated with understanding at both times included majority ethnicity, high socioeconomic status, parental reading of consent document, and presence of a nurse during the ICC. Physician discussion of specific components of the RCT was also associated with understanding at both times. Female caregivers and parents of low socioeconomic status were overrepresented among those who showed decay in understanding from T1 to T2. Parents showed little gain in understanding over time. Factors that predicted understanding at diagnosis as well as sustained understanding over time may be important intervention targets. Attention to both modifiable and nonmodifiable barriers is important for clinical practice.

  12. The Immediate Effects of Upper Thoracic Translatoric Spinal Manipulation on Cervical Pain and Range of Motion: A Randomized Clinical Trial

    PubMed Central

    Krauss, John; Creighton, Doug; Ely, Jonathan D.; Podlewska-Ely, Joanna

    2008-01-01

    This study examined the effect of translatoric spinal manipulation (TSM) on cervical pain and cervical active motion restriction when applied to upper thoracic (T1-T4) segments. Active cervical rotation range of motion was measured re- and post-intervention with a cervical inclinometer (CROM), and cervical pain status was monitored before and after manipulation with a Faces Pain Scale. Study participants included a sample of convenience that included 32 patients referred to physical therapy with complaints of pain in the mid-cervical region and restricted active cervical rotation. Twenty-two patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group and ten were assigned to the control group. Pre- and post-intervention cervical range of motion and pain scale measurements were taken by a physical therapist assistant who was blinded to group assignment. The experimental group received TSM to hypomobile upper thoracic segments. The control group received no intervention. Paired t-tests were used to analyze within-group changes in cervical rotation and pain, and a 2-way repeated-measure ANOVA was used to analyze between-group differences in cervical rotation and pain. Significance was accepted at p = 0.05. Significant changes that exceeded the MDC95 were detected for cervical rotation both within group and between groups with the TSM group demonstrating increased mean (SD) in right rotation of 8.23° (7.41°) and left rotation of 7.09° (5.83°). Pain levels perceived during post-intervention cervical rotation showed significant improvement during right rotation for patients experiencing pain during bilateral rotation only (p=.05). This study supports the hypothesis that spinal manipulation applied to the upper thoracic spine (T1-T4 motion segments) significantly increases cervical rotation ROM and may reduce cervical pain at end range rotation for patients experiencing pain during bilateral cervical rotation. PMID:19119394

  13. Relapse prevention interventions for smoking cessation.

    PubMed

    Hajek, Peter; Stead, Lindsay F; West, Robert; Jarvis, Martin; Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie; Lancaster, Tim

    2013-08-20

    A number of treatments can help smokers make a successful quit attempt, but many initially successful quitters relapse over time. Several interventions have been proposed to help prevent relapse. To assess whether specific interventions for relapse prevention reduce the proportion of recent quitters who return to smoking. We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group trials register in May 2013 for studies mentioning relapse prevention or maintenance in title, abstracts or keywords. Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials of relapse prevention interventions with a minimum follow-up of six months. We included smokers who quit on their own, were undergoing enforced abstinence, or were participating in treatment programmes. We included trials that compared relapse prevention interventions with a no intervention control, or that compared a cessation programme with additional relapse prevention components with a cessation programme alone. Studies were screened and data extracted by one review author, and checked by a second. Disagreements were resolved by discussion or by referral to a third review author. Sixty-three studies met inclusion criteria but were heterogeneous in terms of populations and interventions. We considered 41 studies that randomly assigned abstainers separately from studies that randomly assigned participants before their quit date.Upon looking at studies of behavioural interventions that randomly assigned abstainers, we detected no benefit of brief and 'skills-based' relapse prevention methods for women who had quit smoking because of pregnancy, or for smokers undergoing a period of enforced abstinence during hospitalisation or military training. We also failed to detect significant effects of behavioural interventions in trials in unselected groups of smokers who had quit on their own or through a formal programme. Amongst trials randomly assigning smokers before their quit date and evaluating the effects of additional relapse prevention components, we found no evidence of benefit of behavioural interventions or combined behavioural and pharmacotherapeutic interventions in any subgroup. Overall, providing training in skills thought to be needed for relapse avoidance did not reduce relapse, but most studies did not use experimental designs best suited to the task and had limited power to detect expected small differences between interventions. For pharmacological interventions, extended treatment with varenicline significantly reduced relapse in one trial (risk ratio (RR) 1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03 to 1.36). Pooling of six studies of extended treatment with bupropion failed to detect a significant effect (RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.35). Two small trials of oral nicotine replacement treatment (NRT) failed to detect an effect, but treatment compliance was low, and in two other trials of oral NRT in which short-term abstainers were randomly assigned, a significant effect of intervention was noted. At the moment, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of any specific behavioural intervention to help smokers who have successfully quit for a short time to avoid relapse. The verdict is strongest for interventions focused on identifying and resolving tempting situations, as most studies were concerned with these. Little research is available regarding other behavioural approaches.Extended treatment with varenicline may prevent relapse. Extended treatment with bupropion is unlikely to have a clinically important effect. Studies of extended treatment with nicotine replacement are needed.

  14. Effect of an audience on learning a novel motor skill.

    PubMed

    Sawyer, D T; Noel, F J

    2000-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess effects of an audience on learning a novel motor skill. Subjects (N=64) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions and administered 15 30-sec. trials with 30 sec. intertrial periods on a pursuit rotor task on two different days. Comparison of Time-on Target performance between conditions indicated that the No Audience condition had significantly higher performance than the Audience condition in Session 1. Comparison of Absolute Retention and Final Retention scores among the four experimental conditions in Session 2 after 48 hr. yielded no significant differences attributable to the presence of an audience, thus supporting the hypothesis that an audience would have no effect on learning.

  15. Beyond self-selection in video game play: an experimental examination of the consequences of massively multiplayer online role-playing game play.

    PubMed

    Smyth, Joshua M

    2007-10-01

    There is burgeoning interest in the study of video games. Existing work is limited by the use of correlational designs and is thus unable to make causal inferences or remove self-selection biases from observed results. The recent development of online, socially integrated video games (massively multiplayer online role-playing games [MMORPGs]) has created a new experience for gamers. This randomized, longitudinal study examined the effects of being assigned to play different video game types on game usage, health, well-being, sleep, socializing, and academics. One hundred 18- to 20-year-old participants (73% male; 68% Caucasian) were randomly assigned to play arcade, console, solo computer, or MMORPG games for 1 month. The MMORPG group differed significantly from other groups after 1 month, reporting more hours spent playing, worse health, worse sleep quality, and greater interference in "real-life" socializing and academic work. In contrast, this group also reported greater enjoyment in playing, greater interest in continuing to play, and greater acquisition of new friendships. MMORPGs represent a different gaming experience with different consequences than other types of video games and appear to pose both unique risks and benefits from their use.

  16. Who responds to financial incentives for weight loss? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Paloyo, Alfredo R; Reichert, Arndt R; Reuss-Borst, Monika; Tauchmann, Harald

    2015-11-01

    There is a paucity of evidence on the heterogeneous impacts of financial incentives on weight loss. Between March 2010 and January 2012, in a randomized controlled trial, we assigned 700 obese persons to three experimental arms. We test whether particular subgroups react differently to financial incentives for weight loss. Two treatment groups obtained a cash reward (€150 and €300 with 237 and 229 participants, respectively) for achieving an individually-assigned target weight within four months; the control group (234 participants) was not incentivized. Participants and administrators were not blinded to the intervention. We find that monetary rewards effectively induced obese individuals to reduce weight across all subgroups. However, there is no evidence for treatment-effect heterogeneity for those groups that were incentivized. Among those who were in the €300 group, statistically significant and large weight losses were observed for women, singles, and those who are not working (all above 4 kg in four months). In addition, the magnitude of the reward matters only for women and migrants. The effectiveness of financial incentives to reduce weight nevertheless raises sensitive ethical issues that should be taken into consideration by policymakers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Video lottery: winning expectancies and arousal.

    PubMed

    Ladouceur, Robert; Sévigny, Serge; Blaszczynski, Alexander; O'Connor, Kieron; Lavoie, Marc E

    2003-06-01

    This study investigates the effects of video lottery players' expectancies of winning on physiological and subjective arousal. Participants were assigned randomly to one of two experimental conditions: high and low winning expectancies. Participants played 100 video lottery games in a laboratory setting while physiological measures were recorded. Level of risk-taking was controlled. Participants were 34 occasional or regular video lottery players. They were assigned randomly into two groups of 17, with nine men and eight women in each group. The low-expectancy group played for fun, therefore expecting to win worthless credits, while the high-expectancy group played for real money. Players' experience, demographic variables and subjective arousal were assessed. Severity of problem gambling was measured with the South Oaks Gambling Screen. In order to measure arousal, the average heart rate was recorded across eight periods. Participants exposed to high as compared to low expectations experienced faster heart rate prior to and during the gambling session. According to self-reports, it is the expectancy of winning money that is exciting, not playing the game. Regardless of the level of risk-taking, expectancy of winning is a cognitive factor influencing levels of arousal. When playing for fun, gambling becomes significantly less stimulating than when playing for money.

  18. Effects of Internet-Based Self-Efficacy Intervention on Secondary Traumatic Stress and Secondary Posttraumatic Growth among Health and Human Services Professionals Exposed to Indirect Trauma

    PubMed Central

    Cieslak, Roman; Benight, Charles C.; Rogala, Anna; Smoktunowicz, Ewelina; Kowalska, Martyna; Zukowska, Katarzyna; Yeager, Carolyn; Luszczynska, Aleksandra

    2016-01-01

    Background: Although the evidence for the associations among self-efficacy, secondary traumatic stress (STS) and secondary posttraumatic growth (SPTG) is mounting, there is a lack of the experimental evidence for the influence of self-efficacy on positive and negative mental health outcomes among professionals indirectly exposed to trauma. Purpose: This study investigated the effects of an internet-based self-efficacy intervention (the experimental condition), compared to an education (the active control condition) on STS and SPTG among workers exposed to traumatic events indirectly, through their clients. We hypothesized that the group assignment (experimental vs. control) would affect STS and SPTG indirectly, with a mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs. Methods: Participants were 168 health and human services professionals (78% women), exposed indirectly to a traumatic event at work. They were randomly assigned to either a 4-session internet-based self-efficacy intervention (n = 87) or an education control group (n = 81) which received information about coping resources and consequences of stressors at work or at home. STS, SPTG, and self-efficacy were measured at the baseline (Time 1), 1-month follow-up (Time 2) and 2-month follow-up (Time 3). Results: Analysis of covariance showed that the group assignment had a significant effect on STS (Time 2) and self-efficacy (Time 2), with lower STS and higher self-efficacy reported by the self-efficacy intervention participants. Compared to the experimental group, the active control (education) group participants reported higher SPTG at Time 2. Mediation analyses indicated that the group assignment had indirect effects on STS and SPTG at Time 3. Workers who experienced increases in self-efficacy (Time 2) through the intervention were more likely to report lower STS and higher SPTG at Time 3. Conclusion: Elucidating the mediating processes that explain why an intervention for secondary trauma works is essential in order to develop more effective support systems that promote improved mental health outcomes among health and human services professionals. Prevention programs for workers exposed indirectly to traumatic events may target self-efficacy enhancement and education. PMID:27458407

  19. High capacity low delay packet broadcasting multiaccess schemes for satellite repeater systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bose, S. K.

    1980-12-01

    Demand assigned packet radio schemes using satellite repeaters can achieve high capacities but often exhibit relatively large delays under low traffic conditions when compared to random access. Several schemes which improve delay performance at low traffic but which have high capacity are presented and analyzed. These schemes allow random acess attempts by users, who are waiting for channel assignments. The performance of these are considered in the context of a multiple point communication system carrying fixed length messages between geographically distributed (ground) user terminals which are linked via a satellite repeater. Channel assignments are done following a BCC queueing discipline by a (ground) central controller on the basis of requests correctly received over a collision type access channel. In TBACR Scheme A, some of the forward message channels are set aside for random access transmissions; the rest are used in a demand assigned mode. Schemes B and C operate all their forward message channels in a demand assignment mode but, by means of appropriate algorithms for trailer channel selection, allow random access attempts on unassigned channels. The latter scheme also introduces framing and slotting of the time axis to implement a more efficient algorithm for trailer channel selection than the former.

  20. Free radicals and antioxidant enzymes in older adults after regular senior elastic band exercising: an experimental randomized controlled pilot study.

    PubMed

    Liao, Lin Yu; Chung, Wei Sheng; Chen, Kuei Min

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to pilot test the effects of regular senior elastic band exercises on the generation of free radicals and antioxidant enzyme activities in older adults. Long-term regular exercises have positive health promotion outcomes. On the contrary, high-intensity, high-speed and short-term exercises in older adults may increase free radicals and cause chronic disease and ageing effect. A prospective randomized controlled pilot study. Data were collected during 2012. Twenty-five older adults were recruited from a community care centre, southern Taiwan and were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Twenty-two participants completed the study: experimental group (n = 10) and control group (n = 12). The experimental group performed 6-month senior elastic band exercises while the control group kept regular daily routines. Both groups received blood tests (thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances and glutathione peroxidase) 30 minutes before the study began and 1 hour after the final intervention treatment. At the end of the 6-month senior elastic band exercises, no statistically significant differences in thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances and glutathione peroxidase values between the experimental and control groups. No significant differences existed in both thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances and glutathione peroxidase values before and after the 6-month senior elastic band exercises either. Regular senior elastic band exercises did not increase the generation of free radicals and antioxidant enzyme activities. Senior elastic band exercises have the potential to be promoted among older adults in the community as an exercise option without adverse effects on free radicals and have potential for mitigating ageing and increasing disease control. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. 40 CFR 799.9120 - TSCA acute dermal toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... identification number. A system to randomly assign animals to test groups and control groups is required. (E... source of test animals. (2) Method of randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  2. 40 CFR 799.9120 - TSCA acute dermal toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... identification number. A system to randomly assign animals to test groups and control groups is required. (E... source of test animals. (2) Method of randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  3. 40 CFR 799.9110 - TSCA acute oral toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... number. A system to assign animals to test groups and control groups randomly is required. (E) Housing... randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3) Rationale for selection of species, if other... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  4. 40 CFR 799.9110 - TSCA acute oral toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... number. A system to assign animals to test groups and control groups randomly is required. (E) Housing... randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3) Rationale for selection of species, if other... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  5. 40 CFR 799.9120 - TSCA acute dermal toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... identification number. A system to randomly assign animals to test groups and control groups is required. (E... source of test animals. (2) Method of randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  6. 40 CFR 799.9110 - TSCA acute oral toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... number. A system to assign animals to test groups and control groups randomly is required. (E) Housing... randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3) Rationale for selection of species, if other... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  7. 40 CFR 799.9110 - TSCA acute oral toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... number. A system to assign animals to test groups and control groups randomly is required. (E) Housing... randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3) Rationale for selection of species, if other... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  8. 40 CFR 799.9120 - TSCA acute dermal toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... identification number. A system to randomly assign animals to test groups and control groups is required. (E... source of test animals. (2) Method of randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  9. 40 CFR 799.9110 - TSCA acute oral toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... number. A system to assign animals to test groups and control groups randomly is required. (E) Housing... randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3) Rationale for selection of species, if other... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  10. 40 CFR 799.9120 - TSCA acute dermal toxicity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... identification number. A system to randomly assign animals to test groups and control groups is required. (E... source of test animals. (2) Method of randomization in assigning animals to test and control groups. (3... CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE AND MIXTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS...

  11. The effects of preoperative aromatherapy massage on anxiety and sleep quality of colorectal surgery patients: A randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Ayik, Cahide; Özden, Dilek

    2018-02-01

    To examine the effects of aromatherapy massage on anxiety and sleep quality in patients undergoing colorectal surgery in the preoperative period. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of studies conducted on aromatherapy massage. It is stated that studies conducted on aromatherapy massage for anxiety and sleep quality reveal contradictory results and that more research is required on the issue. A randomized controlled trial. Eighty patients undergoing colorectal surgery were randomly assigned to experimental and control group. To the experimental group (n = 40), aromatherapy massage was applied in accordance with the "Back Massage Guide" using 5% lavender oil (Lavandula Hybrida) for ten minutes before surgery and the morning of surgery. The control group received standard nursing care in compliance with the hospital procedure. Data were obtained by the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) and Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ). Results were analyzed using the t-test, Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. There was no baseline difference between the groups. A statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and control group in terms of the SAI and RCSQ mean scores recorded on the morning of surgery. It was determined that the SAI and RCSQ mean score of the experimental group after aromatherapy massage on the morning of surgery decreased when compared to that of the evening before surgery. It was found that aromatherapy massage with lavender oil increased the sleep quality and reduced the level of anxiety in patients with colorectal surgery in the preoperative period. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Effects of pleasant olfactory mental imagery on the arterial oxygenation in patients with open heart surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Rezaei-Nodehi, Masoud; Bagheri-Nesami, Masoumeh; Shorofi, Seyed Afshin; Yazdani-Charati, Jamshid; Ghafari, Rahman

    2017-11-01

    Arterial hypoxemia is one of the most common respiratory complications following cardiac surgery. This study was intended to examine the effects of pleasant olfactory mental imagery on postoperative hypoxemia in patients undergoing open heart surgery. This is a randomized controlled clinical trial. The sample consisted of 80 patients who were randomly assigned to either practice olfactory mental imagery (experimental group) or receive routine care (control group). A card with the image of roses was given to patients and they were asked to look at the image, visualize the scent of roses in the mind, and then sniff as much as possible, hold their breath for 2 s and eventually exhale slowly through the nose. This procedure was consecutively repeated five times. After a fifteen-minute break, patients proceeded to practice olfactory mental imagery with other fruit images. The experimental group executed the olfactory mental imagery for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon on postoperative days 1 and 2. No statistically significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups regarding sociodemographic characteristics, medical and surgical information. This study also demonstrated that the mean Spao2 was significantly higher in the experimental group (97.400 ± 1.70) than the control group (96.465 ± 1.70) (p = 0.015). The results of this study suggest that olfactory mental imagery can improve arterial oxygenation in patients with cardiac surgery. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Effects of interactive visual feedback training on post-stroke pusher syndrome: a pilot randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yea-Ru; Chen, Yi-Hua; Chang, Heng-Chih; Chan, Rai-Chi; Wei, Shun-Hwa; Wang, Ray-Yau

    2015-10-01

    We investigated the effects of a computer-generated interactive visual feedback training program on the recovery from pusher syndrome in stroke patients. Assessor-blinded, pilot randomized controlled study. A total of 12 stroke patients with pusher syndrome were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (N = 7, computer-generated interactive visual feedback training) or control group (N = 5, mirror visual feedback training). The scale for contraversive pushing for severity of pusher syndrome, the Berg Balance Scale for balance performance, and the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale for motor control were the outcome measures. Patients were assessed pre- and posttraining. A comparison of pre- and posttraining assessment results revealed that both training programs led to the following significant changes: decreased severity of pusher syndrome scores (decreases of 4.0 ± 1.1 and 1.4 ± 1.0 in the experimental and control groups, respectively); improved balance scores (increases of 14.7 ± 4.3 and 7.2 ± 1.6 in the experimental and control groups, respectively); and higher scores for lower extremity motor control (increases of 8.4 ± 2.2 and 5.6 ± 3.3 in the experimental and control groups, respectively). Furthermore, the computer-generated interactive visual feedback training program produced significantly better outcomes in the improvement of pusher syndrome (p < 0.01) and balance (p < 0.05) compared with the mirror visual feedback training program. Although both training programs were beneficial, the computer-generated interactive visual feedback training program more effectively aided recovery from pusher syndrome compared with mirror visual feedback training. © The Author(s) 2014.

  14. A randomized, controlled, single-blind, 6-month pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of MS-Line!: a cognitive rehabilitation programme for patients with multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Gich, Jordi; Freixanet, Jordi; García, Rafael; Vilanova, Joan Carles; Genís, David; Silva, Yolanda; Montalban, Xavier; Ramió-Torrentà, Lluís

    2015-09-01

    MS-Line! was created to provide an effective treatment for cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. To assess the efficacy of MS-Line!. A randomized, controlled, single-blind, 6-month pilot study. Patients were randomly assigned to an experimental group (cognitive rehabilitation with the programme) or to a control group (no cognitive rehabilitation). Randomization was stratified by cognitive impairment level. Cognitive assessment included: selective reminding test, 10/36 spatial recall test (10/36 SPART), symbol digit modalities test, paced auditory serial addition test, word list generation (WLG), FAS test, subtests of WAIS-III, Boston naming test (BNT), and trail making test (TMT). Forty-three patients (22 in the experimental group, 21 in the control group) were analyzed. Covariance analysis showed significant differences in 10/36 SPART (P=0.0002), 10/36 SPART delayed recall (P=0.0021), WLG (P=0.0123), LNS (P=0.0413), BNT (P=0.0007) and TMT-A (P=0.010) scores between groups. The study showed a significant improvement related to learning and visual memory, executive functions, attention and information processing speed, and naming ability in those patients who received cognitive rehabilitation. The results suggest that MS-Line! is effective in improving cognitive impairment in MS patients. © The Author(s), 2015.

  15. Consequences of "Minimal" Group Affiliations in Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunham, Yarrow; Baron, Andrew Scott; Carey, Susan

    2011-01-01

    Three experiments (total N = 140) tested the hypothesis that 5-year-old children's membership in randomly assigned "minimal" groups would be sufficient to induce intergroup bias. Children were randomly assigned to groups and engaged in tasks involving judgments of unfamiliar in-group or out-group children. Despite an absence of information…

  16. Intraclass Correlation Values for Planning Group-Randomized Trials in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hedges, Larry V.; Hedberg, E. C.

    2007-01-01

    Experiments that assign intact groups to treatment conditions are increasingly common in social research. In educational research, the groups assigned are often schools. The design of group-randomized experiments requires knowledge of the intraclass correlation structure to compute statistical power and sample sizes required to achieve adequate…

  17. The Effect of Aggressive Cartoons: Children's Interpersonal Play.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hapkiewicz, Walter G.; Roden, Aubrey H.

    Sixty second grade children were randomly assigned to same sex pairs and each pair was randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: aggressive cartoon, nonaggressive cartoon, and no cartoon. Results indicated that there was no difference among the groups on measures of interpersonal aggression although boys exhibited significantly more…

  18. Compliance-Effect Correlation Bias in Instrumental Variables Estimators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reardon, Sean F.

    2010-01-01

    Instrumental variable estimators hold the promise of enabling researchers to estimate the effects of educational treatments that are not (or cannot be) randomly assigned but that may be affected by randomly assigned interventions. Examples of the use of instrumental variables in such cases are increasingly common in educational and social science…

  19. How to Improve the Peer Review Method: Free-Selection vs Assigned-Pair Protocol Evaluated in a Computer Networking Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Lagkas, Thomas D.; Demetriadis, Stavros N.

    2012-01-01

    This study provides field research evidence on the efficiency of a "free-selection" peer review assignment protocol as compared to the typically implemented "assigned-pair" protocol. The study employed 54 sophomore students who were randomly assigned into three groups: Assigned-Pair (AP) (the teacher assigns student works for review to student…

  20. Effects of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on severe latch-on problems in older infants: a randomized trial.

    PubMed

    Svensson, Kristin E; Velandia, Marianne I; Matthiesen, Ann-Sofi T; Welles-Nyström, Barbara L; Widström, Ann-Marie E

    2013-03-11

    Infants with latch-on problems cause stress for parents and staff, often resulting in early termination of breastfeeding. Healthy newborns experiencing skin-to-skin contact at birth are pre-programmed to find the mother's breast. This study investigates if skin-to-skin contact between mothers with older infants having severe latching on problems would resolve the problem. Mother-infant pairs with severe latch-on problems, that were not resolved during screening procedures at two maternity hospitals in Stockholm 1998-2004, were randomly assigned to skin-to-skin contact (experimental group) or not (control group) during breastfeeding. Breastfeeding counseling was given to both groups according to a standard model. Participants were unaware of their treatment group. Objectives were to compare treatment groups concerning the proportion of infants regularly latching on, the time from intervention to regular latching on and maternal emotions and pain before and during breastfeeding. On hundred and three mother-infant pairs with severe latch-on problems 1-16 weeks postpartum were randomly assigned and analyzed. There was no significant difference between the groups in the proportion of infants starting regular latching-on (75% experimental group, vs. 86% control group). Experimental group infants, who latched on, had a significantly shorter median time from start of intervention to regular latching on than control infants, 2.0 weeks (Q1 = 1.0, Q3 = 3.7) vs. 4.7 weeks (Q1 = 2.0, Q3 = 8.0), (p-value = 0.020). However, more infants in the experimental group (94%), with a history of "strong reaction" during "hands-on latch intervention", latched-on within 3 weeks compared to 33% in the control infants (Fisher Exact test p-value = 0.0001). Mothers in the experimental group (n = 53) had a more positive breastfeeding experience according to the Breastfeeding Emotional Scale during the intervention than mothers in the control group (n = 50) (p-value = 0.022). Skin-to-skin contact during breastfeeding seems to immediately enhance maternal positive feelings and shorten the time it takes to resolve severe latch-on problems in the infants who started to latch. An underlying mechanism may be that skin-to-skin contact with the mother during breastfeeding may calm infants with earlier strong reaction to "hands on latch intervention" and relieve the stress which may have blocked the infant's inborn biological program to find the breast and latch on. Karolinska Clinical Trial Registration number CT20100055.

  1. Effects of lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises on lung capacity in healthy adults.

    PubMed

    Kim, Myoung-Kwon; Cha, Hyun-Gyu; Shin, Young-Jun

    2016-08-01

    [Purpose] To examine the effects of lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises on the lung capacities of healthy subjects. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-nine healthy subjects with no orthopedic history of the back were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a experimental group and control group. Subjects were allocated to one of two groups; an experimental group that underwent lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises and a control group that underwent treadmill and abdominal drawing-in exercises. Lung capacities were evaluated 4 weeks after exercises. [Results] The experimental group showed significant increments in EV, ERV, IRV, VT vs. pre-intervention results, and the control group showed significant increments in the EVC and IRV. Significant intergroup differences were observed in terms of post-training gains in EVC, IRV, and VT. [Conclusion] Combined application of lumbopelvic sling and abdominal drawing-in exercises were found to have a positive effect on lung capacity.

  2. The effect of touch on nutritional intake of chronic organic brain syndrome patients.

    PubMed

    Eaton, M; Mitchell-Bonair, I L; Friedmann, E

    1986-09-01

    Inadequate nutrition, a major cause of illness and complications among elderly adults, is of particular import for those who cannot provide for themselves. We evaluated the effect of gentle touch during eating on nutritional intake (NI) of 42 institutionalized chronic organic brain syndrome (COBS) patients. Patients were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. NI was evaluated for 3 consecutive weeks. During Weeks 1 and 3 all patients were encouraged verbally to eat. In the treatment week experimental group members were touched gently during this verbal encouragement. Repeated measures analyses of variance were used to evaluate the effect of touch on NI. In the first week NI for the groups did not differ. NI was significantly greater in the experimental than in the control group (p less than .01) during the other 2 weeks. Tactile stimulation, a simple intervention, may be an important adjunct to verbal encouragement to improve NI in COBS patients.

  3. Effect of Simulation on Undergraduate Nursing Students' Knowledge of Nursing Ethics Principles.

    PubMed

    Donnelly, Mary Broderick; Horsley, Trisha Leann; Adams, William H; Gallagher, Peggy; Zibricky, C Dawn

    2017-12-01

    Background Undergraduate nursing education standards include acquisition of knowledge of ethics principles and the prevalence of health-care ethical dilemmas mandates that nursing students study ethics. However, little research has been published to support best practices for teaching/learning ethics principles. Purpose This study sought to determine if participation in an ethics consultation simulation increased nursing students' knowledge of nursing ethics principles compared to students who were taught ethics principles in the traditional didactic format. Methods This quasi-experimental study utilized a pre-test/post-test design with randomized assignment of students at three universities into both control and experimental groups. Results Nursing students' knowledge of nursing ethics principles significantly improved from pre-test to post-test ( p = .002); however, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups knowledge scores ( p = .13). Conclusion Further research into use of simulation to teach ethics principles is indicated.

  4. The effects of mirror therapy with tasks on upper extremity function and self-care in stroke patients.

    PubMed

    Park, Youngju; Chang, Moonyoung; Kim, Kyeong-Mi; An, Duk-Hyun

    2015-05-01

    [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of mirror therapy with tasks on upper extremity unction and self-care in stroke patients. [Subjects] Thirty participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=15) or a control group (n=15). [Methods] Subjects in the experimental group received mirror therapy with tasks, and those in the control group received a sham therapy; both therapies were administered, five times per week for six weeks. The main outcome measures were the Manual Function Test for the paralyzed upper limb and the Functional Independence Measure for self-care performance. [Results] The experimental group had more significant gains in change scores compared with the control group after the intervention. [Conclusion] We consider mirror therapy with tasks to be an effective form of intervention for upper extremity function and self-care in stroke patients.

  5. Effects of Expressive Writing Effects on Disgust and Anxiety in a Subsequent Dissection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Randler, Christoph; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter; im Kampe, Viola Otte; Meyer-Ahrens, Inga H.; Tempel, Benjamin J.; Vollmer, Christian

    2015-10-01

    Emotions influence motivation and achievement, but negative emotions have rarely been assessed in science education. In this study, we assessed the influence of two different expressive writing assignments on disgust and anxiety in university students prior to the dissection of a trout. We randomly assigned students to one of two expressive writing tasks and measured specific state disgust and state anxiety after writing and after the dissection. Specific state disgust was measured a third time after 3 weeks. One writing task was concerned with the dissection, and the other was related to behavioral experiments with mice. We used two general linear models with repeated measures. In the first model, specific state disgust (pre, post, and follow-up) was used as the dependent repeated measure and experimental group as the independent variable. In the second model, state anxiety was used as the dependent repeated measure (pre, post) with experimental group as the independent variable. The repeated testing showed a highly significant effect of experimental group on the repeated measures of disgust. Writing about worries and emotions concerning the dissection leads to higher disgust scores compared to writing about mice. These higher scores persisted even 3 weeks later in the follow-up test. Concerning anxiety, there was a clear influence of the repeated measure of state anxiety, but anxiety was not influenced by the experimental group. We suggest that positive writing should be used in educational contexts to reduce disgust.

  6. High Power Distance Enhances Employees' Preference for Likable Managers: A Resource Dependency Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Wei, Cong; Sun, Xiaomin; Liu, Jia; Zhou, Chunfang; Xue, Gang

    2017-01-01

    Is a manager's likability important from an employee's perspective? Research results in this field are scant and inconsistent. The current study explored employees' response to managers' likability and the moderating effect of power distance at both the cultural and individual levels. In study 1, following the countercultural priming experimental paradigm proposed by Van den Bos et al. (2013), 121 college students from China (a high power distance culture) and 99 college students from Denmark (a low power distance culture) were randomly assigned to either a countercultural (experimental) condition or a control condition. All participants were required to complete a manager selection task using the zero-acquaintance paradigm to measure their preference for likable managers. The results confirmed the moderating role of power distance at the cultural level. Study 2 further explored the moderating effect of power distance orientation at the individual level, as well as the boundary condition of the degree of resource dependence from the employee's perspective. One hundred and three Chinese participants with work experience were randomly assigned to either the subordinate perspective (high resource dependence) or the HR department perspective (low resource dependence) condition and completed the same task as in study 1. The results suggested that high power distance-oriented participants demonstrate stronger preference for likable manager candidates than do low power distance-oriented participants. In addition, these findings hold only when employees expect a high resource dependence relation with the manager. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings and future research directions were discussed. PMID:28119654

  7. Balance Training With a Dynamometric Platform Following Total Knee Replacement: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    PubMed

    Roig-Casasús, Sergio; María Blasco, José; López-Bueno, Laura; Blasco-Igual, María Clara

    2017-03-01

    Sensorimotor training has proven to be an efficient approach for recovering balance control following total knee replacement (TKR). The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the influence of specific balance-targeted training using a dynamometric platform on the overall state of balance in older adults undergoing TKR. This was a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted at a university hospital rehabilitation unit. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a control group or an experimental group. Both groups participated in the same 4-week postoperative rehabilitation training protocol. Participants in the experimental group performed additional balance training with a dynamometric platform consisting of tests related to stability challenges, weight-shifting, and moving to the limits of stability. The primary outcome measure was the overall state of balance rated according to the Berg Balance Scale. Secondary outcomes in terms of balance were the Timed Up and Go Test, Functional Reach Test, and Romberg open and closed-eyes tests. Data processing included between-group analysis of covariance, minimal detectable change assessment for the primary outcome measure, and effect size estimation. Confidence intervals (CIs) were set at 95%. Forty-three participants meeting the inclusion criteria and having signed the informed consent were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Thirty-seven completed the training (86.1%). Significant between-group differences in balance performance were found as measured with the Berg Balance Scale (P = .03) and Functional Reach Test (P = .04) with a CI = 95%. Significant differences were not recorded for the Timed Up and Go Test or Romberg open and closed-eyes tests (P > .05). Furthermore, Cohen's effect size resulted in a value of d = 0.97, suggesting a high practical significance of the trial. According to the Berg Balance Scale and Functional Reach Test, participants with TKR who have followed a 4-week training program using a dynamometric platform improved balance performance to a higher extent than a control group training without such a device. The inclusion of this instrument in the functional training protocol may be beneficial for recovering balance following TKR.

  8. Effects of a cross-training exercise program in persons with osteoarthritis of the knee a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Péloquin, L; Bravo, G; Gauthier, P; Lacombe, G; Billiard, J S

    1999-06-01

    This study was designed to evaluate, by means of a randomized controlled trial, the effects of a physical activity program incorporating aerobic, strength, and stretching exercises in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee. We randomly assigned 137 volunteers ages >/=50 to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group participated in three 1-hour sessions of supervised exercises per week over a 3-month period. The control participants were instructed to continue their usual daily activities, and they attended 1-hour education sessions twice a month. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using repeated measurements of parameters related to self-reported health status, physical capacity, and joint tenderness.After 3 months, significantly greater improvements were observed in the experimental group than the control group in terms of: arthritis pain (p = 0.02), ability to walk and bend (p = 0.03), aerobic capacity (p < 0.0001), hamstring and low back flexibility (p = 0.003), quadriceps and hamstring strength (p <0.01), and the perception of changes relating to osteoarthritis of the knee and general condition (p < 0.0001). However, no significant differences were observed between the groups in isokinetic strength of the quadriceps (all p's >== 0.05), joint tenderness (p = 0.18), and health perception (p = 0.7). The overall results suggest that this program is effective for older persons with osteoarthritis of the knee and that it could contribute to maintaining their independence and improving their quality of life.

  9. Effects of an Interactive School-Based Program for Preventing Adolescent Sexual Harassment: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Evaluation Study.

    PubMed

    de Lijster, Gaby P A; Felten, Hanneke; Kok, Gerjo; Kocken, Paul L

    2016-05-01

    Many adolescents experience sexual harassment and victims of sexual harassment have higher risks regarding well-being and health behaviors such as higher risks of suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideation and feeling unsafe at school. A peer-performed play and school lessons on preventing sexual harassment behavior were presented to secondary school students. We evaluated its effectiveness, using a cluster-randomized controlled design to assign schools to an experimental condition [n = 14 schools; 431 students (51 % female)] and a control condition [n = 11 schools; 384 students (51 % female)]. To measure the effects of the intervention at first post-test and 6-month follow-up, our multilevel analyses used a two-level random intercept model. Outcome measures were sexual harassment behaviors, behavioral determinants and distal factors influencing these behaviors. At post-test, students in the experimental group reported a reduced intention to commit sexual harassment behavior and higher self-efficacy in rejecting it. At post-test and follow-up there was a significant positive effect on social norms for rejecting sexual harassment behavior. At follow-up, sexual self-esteem was higher in students in the experimental group than in the control group. Effects on these determinants will benefit adolescents' future sexual behaviors. In combination, the play and lessons, possibly together with continued sexual health education and skills programs on social-emotional learning in subsequent school years, have potential for preventing sexual harassment behavior.

  10. Mirror Therapy with Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for improving motor function of stroke survivors: A pilot randomized clinical study.

    PubMed

    Lee, DongGeon; Lee, GyuChang; Jeong, JiSim

    2016-07-27

    This study was to investigate the effects of Mirror Therapy (MT) combined with Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) on muscle strength and tone, motor function, balance, and gait ability in stroke survivors with hemiplegia. This study was a randomized controlled trial. Twenty-seven hemiplegic stroke survivors from a rehabilitation center participated in the study. The participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group (n = 14) underwent MT combined with NMES and conventional physical therapy, and the control group (n = 13) underwent conventional physical therapy alone. Muscle strength and tone, balance, and gait ability were examined at baseline and after 4 weeks of intervention. A hand-held dynamometer was used to assess muscle strength, the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) was used to assess muscle tone, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go test (TUG) were used to ascertain balance, and the 6-m Walk Test (6mWT) was used to examine gait ability. After the intervention, compared to baseline values, there were significant improvements in muscle strength and MAS, BBS, TUG, and 6mWT values in the experimental group (P< 0.05). In addition, at post-intervention, there were significant differences between the two groups in muscle strength and BBS (P< 0.05). MT combined with NMES may effectively improve muscle strength and balance in hemiplegic stroke survivors. However, further studies are necessary to demonstrate brain reorganization after MT combined with NMES.

  11. Combined effects of sensory cueing and limb activation on unilateral neglect in subacute left hemiplegic stroke patients: a randomized controlled pilot study.

    PubMed

    Fong, Kenneth N K; Yang, Nicole Y H; Chan, Marko K L; Chan, Dora Y L; Lau, Andy F C; Chan, Dick Y W; Cheung, Joyce T Y; Cheung, Hobby K Y; Chung, Raymond C K; Chan, Chetwyn C H

    2013-07-01

    To compare the effects of contralesional sensory cueing and limb activation with that of sham control in the treatment of unilateral neglect after stroke. A randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled pilot study. Two rehabilitation hospitals. Forty subacute left hemiplegic stroke inpatients with unilateral neglect. Participants were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 groups. The experimental group wore a wristwatch cueing device over the hemiplegic arm for three hours a day, five days per week, for three weeks, and also underwent conventional rehabilitation. Patients were encouraged to move their hemiplegic arm five consecutive times after each prompt. The sham group underwent the same rehabilitation process, except they wore a sham device. Neglect, arm motor performance, and overall functioning were assessed pre- and posttraining, and at follow-up. There were no significant differences between groups in outcome measures except the neglect drawing tasks (p = 0.034) (the mean gain score from baseline to follow-up assessment was 5.2 (3.7) in the experimental group and 1.9 (3.5) in the sham group), across three time intervals. The experimental group showed greater improvement in arm motor performance than did the sham group. The results did not confirm that sensory cueing and limb activation treatment is effective when compared with those receiving placebo to reduce unilateral neglect, but it might be useful for promoting hemiplegic arm performance in stroke patients.

  12. The addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Moustafa, Ibrahim M; Diab, Aliaa A

    2015-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of a one-year multimodal program, with the addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy, on fibromyalgia management outcomes in addition to three-dimensional (3D) postural measures. This randomized clinical trial with one-year follow-up was completed at the research laboratory of our university. A total of 120 (52 female) patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and definite C1-2 joint dysfunction were randomly assigned to the control or an experimental group. Both groups received a multimodal program; additionally, the experimental group received upper cervical manipulative therapy. Primary outcomes were the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), whereas secondary outcomes included Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), algometric score, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and 3D postural measures. Measures were assessed at three time intervals: baseline, 12 weeks, and 1 year after the 12-week follow-up. The general linear model with repeated measures indicated a significant group × time effect in favor of the experimental group on the measures of 3D postural parameters (P < .0005), FIQ (P < .0005), PCS (P < .0005), algometric score (F = P < .0005), PSQI (P < .0005), BAI (P < .0005), and BDI (P < .0005). The addition of the upper cervical manipulative therapy to a multimodal program is beneficial in treating patients with FMS.

  13. Study of the effects of informational and persuasive messages on the attitudes of high school students toward the use of nuclear energy for electrical production

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Showers, D.E.

    1986-01-01

    This investigation assessed the relationship between knowledge about and attitudes toward nuclear energy. The study's purpose was accomplished by attempting to manipulate knowledge about and attitude toward nuclear energy independently. Over two thousand high school students participated in the study. A Non-Equivalent Control Group quasi-experimental design was used involving random assignment by intact groups to treatments. A knowledge treatment was designed to increase student knowledge without affecting attitudes. An attitude treatment was designed to change attitudes without changing knowledge, and a control treatment was employed for comparison to the experimental treatments. Each treatment consisted of a videotape with a viewingmore » guide and a homework assignment. The Nuclear Energy Assessment Battery was used as a pretest, post-test, and retention test. Males scored significantly higher in knowledge and positive attitudes, but no interaction between gender and treatment was found. The study concluded that (1) there is a correlation between nuclear knowledge and attitudes, (2) knowledge about nuclear energy can be changed without affecting attitude and attitude can be changed without affecting knowledge, and (3) students show differences and attitude based on gender.« less

  14. Effects of a selected exercise programon executive function of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    PubMed

    Memarmoghaddam, M; Torbati, H T; Sohrabi, M; Mashhadi, A; Kashi, A

    2016-01-01

    Introduction. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a Selected exercise program on the executive function of children with ADHD. Method. The participants were 40 male students, aged 7-11 years. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group participated in an exercise program for 24 sessions, 90 minutes per session. The control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the exercise period, all the participants were assessed with Stroop and Go-No-Go tests, and the resulting data were analyzed by using MANCOVA. Result. The results showed that the cognitive inhibition of the children in the experimental group was significantly different compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the behavioral inhibition (p < 0.05). Conclusion. An organized physical activity helps to improve the executive function in children with ADHD.

  15. Finding Meaning in Written Emotional Expression by Family Caregivers of Persons With Dementia.

    PubMed

    Butcher, Howard K; Gordon, Jean K; Ko, Ji Woon; Perkhounkova, Yelena; Cho, Jun Young; Rinner, Andrew; Lutgendorf, Susan

    2016-12-01

    This study tested the effect of written emotional expression on the ability to find meaning in caregiving and the effects of finding meaning on emotional state and psychological burden in 91 dementia family caregivers. In a pretest-posttest design, participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a comparison group. Experimental caregivers (n = 57) wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings about caring for a family member with dementia, whereas those in the comparison group (n = 34) wrote about nonemotional topics. Results showed enhanced meaning-making abilities in experimental participants relative to comparison participants, particularly for those who used more positive emotion words. Improved meaning-making ability was in turn associated with psychological benefits at posttest, but experimental participants did not show significantly more benefit than comparison participants. We explore the mediating roles of the meaning-making process as well as some of the background characteristics of the individual caregivers and their caregiving environments. © The Author(s) 2016.

  16. Experimental evaluation of sensorimotor patterning used with mentally retarded children.

    PubMed

    Neman, R; Roos, P; McCann, R M; Menolascino, F J; Heal, L W

    1975-01-01

    In the present study, a sensorimotor "patterning" program used with 66 institutionalized, mentally retarded children and adolescents was evaluated. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) Experimental 1 group, which received a program of mobility exercises including patterning, creeping, and crawling; visual-motor training; and sensory stimulation exercises; (b) Experimental 2 group, which received a program of physical activity, personal attention, and the same sensory stimulation program given to the first group; or (c) Passive Control group, which provided baseline measures but which received no additional programming as part of the study. Experimental 1 group subjects improved more than subjects in the other groups in visual perception, program-related measures of mobility, and language ability. Intellectual functioning did not appear to be enhanced by the procedures, at least during the active phase of the project. The results were discussed with reference to other researchers who have failed to support the patterning approach, and some reasons were suggested for the differences between the present and past investigations.

  17. Effectiveness of Adherence Therapy for People With Schizophrenia in Turkey: A Controlled Study.

    PubMed

    Dikec, Gul; Kutlu, Yasemin

    2016-04-01

    This study used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group and follow-up to determine the efficacy of adherence therapy in patients with schizophrenia in Turkey. The sample of this study consisted of patients with schizophrenia (n=30). The Questionnaire Form, Medication Adherence Rating Scale, Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale were used. The patients were assigned to experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups using the randomization method. The experimental group received adherence therapy in eight sessions. When the scores of the patients in the experimental and control groups were compared at the pretest, posttest, and 3- and 6-months follow ups, a significant difference was only found in the Medication Adherence Rating Scale posttest scores. Adherence therapy is effective in improving adherence to treatment but is not effective with regard to insight and internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Emotional state talk and emotion understanding: a training study with preschool children.

    PubMed

    Gavazzi, Ilaria Grazzani; Ornaghi, Veronica

    2011-11-01

    ABSTRACTThe present study investigates whether training preschool children in the active use of emotional state talk plays a significant role in bringing about greater understanding of emotion terms and improved emotion comprehension. Participants were 100 preschool children (M=52 months; SD=9·9; range: 35-70 months), randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. They were pre- and post-tested to assess their language comprehension, metacognitive language comprehension and emotion understanding. Analyses of pre-test data did not show any significant differences between experimental and control groups. During the intervention phase, the children were read stories enriched with emotional lexicon. After listening to the stories, children in the experimental group took part in conversational language games designed to stimulate use of the selected emotional terms. In contrast, the control group children did not take part in any special linguistic activities after the story readings. Analyses revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the understanding of inner state language and in the comprehension of emotion.

  19. Using Experimental Paradigms to Examine Alcohol’s Role in Men’s Sexual Aggression: Opportunities and Challenges in Proxy Development

    PubMed Central

    Abbey, Antonia; Wegner, Rhiana

    2015-01-01

    The goals of this article are to review the major findings from alcohol administration studies that use sexual aggression proxies and to encourage additional experimental research that evaluates hypotheses about the role of alcohol in the etiology of men’s sexual aggression. Experiments allow participants to be randomly assigned to drink conditions, therefore ensuring that any differences between drinkers and nondrinkers can be attributed to their alcohol consumption. One of the biggest challenges faced by experimental researchers is the identification of valid operationalizations of key constructs. The tension between internal and external validity is particularly problematic for violence researchers because they cannot allow participants to engage in the target behavior in the laboratory. The strengths and limitations associated with written vignettes, audiotapes, videotapes, and confederate proxies for sexual aggression are described. Suggestions are made for future research to broaden the generalizability of the findings from experimental research. PMID:26048214

  20. Induced sadness increases persistence in a simulated slot machine task among recreational gamblers.

    PubMed

    Devos, Gaëtan; Clark, Luke; Maurage, Pierre; Billieux, Joël

    2018-05-01

    Gambling may constitute a strategy for coping with depressive mood, but a direct influence of depressive mood on gambling behaviors has never been tested via realistic experimental designs in gamblers. The current study tested whether experimentally induced sadness increases persistence on a simulated slot machine task using real monetary reinforcement in recreational gamblers. Sixty participants were randomly assigned to an experimental (sadness induction) or control (no emotional induction) condition, and then performed a slot machine task consisting of a mandatory phase followed by a persistence phase. Potential confounding variables (problem gambling symptoms, impulsivity traits, gambling cognitions) were measured to ensure that the experimental and control groups were comparable. The study showed that participants in the sadness condition displayed greater gambling persistence than control participants (p = .011). These data support the causal role of negative affect in decisions to gamble and persistence, which bears important theoretical and clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

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