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This study reports the results of a meta-analysis synthesizing the available literature on the effectiveness of various forms of small-group learning methods on the academic achievement of college students in undergraduate engineering and technology classrooms. The meta-analytic results showed that cooperative learning, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, and peer-led team learning pedagogies were studied in college technology and engineering classrooms. The results also revealed that most of the primary studies supported the effectiveness of the small-group learning methods in improving students' academic achievement with an overall positive weighted average effect size of 0.45 in standard deviation units favoring small-group learning methods. The findings might help engineering and technology instructors and educators by providing guidance in identifying the conditions under which various forms of innovative small-group pedagogies are more effective than the traditional lecture-based teaching and individualized instruction.

The Delphi survey technique is an iterative mail or electronic (e-mail or web-based) survey method used to obtain agreement or consensus among a group of experts in a specific field on a particular issue through a well-designed and systematic multiple sequential rounds of survey administrations. Each of the multiple rounds of the Delphi survey administration is augmented with continuous summary feedback of aggregated responses from the same group of experts. Statistical methods to analyze data from the Delphi surveys to make decisions for terminating subsequent Delphi data collection are needed to ensure that (a) stability of the responses of the panel of experts is reached; and (b) termination of the rounds of the Delphi survey administration is based on sound statistical results. The present study presents an overview of the parametric and nonparametric statistical methods that can be used to analyze the structured Delphi survey data to make decisions about terminating the sequential Delphi survey data collection. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study reports the results of a meta-analysis of the available literature on the effectiveness of various forms of innovative small-group learning methods on student achievement in undergraduate college health science classrooms. The results of the analysis revealed that most of the primary studies supported the effectiveness of the small-group learning methods in improving students' academic achievement with an overall weighted average effect-size of 0.59 in standard deviation units favoring small-group learning methods. The subgroup analysis showed that the various forms of innovative and reform-based small-group learning interventions appeared to be significantly more effective for students in higher levels of college classes (sophomore, junior, and senior levels), students in other countries (non-U.S.) worldwide, students in groups of four or less, and students who choose their own group. The random-effects meta-regression results revealed that the effect sizes were influenced significantly by the instructional duration of the primary studies. This means that studies with longer hours of instruction yielded higher effect sizes and on average every 1 h increase in instruction, the predicted increase in effect size was 0.009 standard deviation units, which is considered as a small effect. These results may help health science and nursing educators by providing guidance in identifying the conditions under which various forms of innovative small-group learning pedagogies are collectively more effective than the traditional lecture-based teaching instruction.

This meta-analytic study focused on the quantitative integration and synthesis of the accumulated pedagogical research in undergraduate statistics education literature. These accumulated research studies compared the academic achievement of students who had been instructed using one of the various forms of small-group learning methods to those who had been instructed using lecture-based instruction. The meta-analytic results showed that cooperative, collaborative, and inquiry-based learning methods were used in college-level statistics courses. The results also showed that cooperative and collaborative learning methods supported the effectiveness of the small-group learning methods in improving students' academic achievement with an overall average effect-size of 0.60. In contrast, the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning was close to zero. This significant positive average effect-size indicated that using small-group learning methods in statistics classrooms could increase the achievement of college students, increasing the scores on a statistics exam from the 50th to the 73rd percentile. In addition, the multilevel analysis revealed that the effect sizes were influenced significantly by the publication-year of the studies, with the most recently published studies having lower effect sizes. The major implication of this study is that evidence-based research supports the effectiveness of active small-group learning methods in promoting students' achievement in statistics.

Compares three categories of staff at substance-abuse treatment facilities: recovering, nonrecovering, and having recovering or addicted family members. More staff with addicted or recovering family members were female, were similar to nonrecovering staff in their treatment approach, and fell between the other two groups on measures of roles within programs and backgrounds. Recovering staff reported a wider range of treatment goals and techniques. (MKA)

Findings of an analysis of National Adult Literacy Survey data do not entirely support differences in cognitive skills as explanations for minorities' lower earnings and employment, nor occupational preferences as explanations for women's lower earnings and employment. Labor market discrimination and residential segregation also play a substantial role. (SK)

The test-retest reliability of lifetime substance abuse and dependence diagnoses obtained by telephone interviewers was investigated. Trained personnel administered two identical interviews based on a modified Diagnostic Interview Schedule-Substance Abuse Module (DIS-SAM) approximately a week apart for 100 respondents, of whom 55 were receiving alcohol or other drug treatment and 45 were randomly selected from residential households in one Michigan county. The uncorrected agreement for all lifetime dependence diagnoses exceeded 93% for all six categories assessed and the more conservative chance corrected agreement (Cohen's Kappa coefficient [Kappa]) was .92 (alcohol), .76 (marijuana), .87 (cocaine), and .71 (other opiates). Kappa coefficients for hallucinogens and heroin dependence could not be calculated due to low (i.e., 5% or less) base rates. Likewise, [Kappa] was calculated only for a single abuse diagnosis, alcohol, with [Kappa] = .42 and 95% agreement. In the interpretation of [Kappa], the standard applied was: [Kappa] ranging from .41 to .60 represented moderate agreement, [Kappa] ranging from .61 to .80 represented substantial agreement, and [Kappa] ranging from .81 to 1.00 represented excellent agreement. Thus, test-retest reliability was excellent for lifetime alcohol and cocaine dependence and was substantial for lifetime marijuana and other opiates dependence. These results indicate that lifetime psychoactive substance abuse diagnoses cam be obtained fairly reliably over the telephone using trained lay interviewers., INTRODUCTION Under a competitive procurement process, the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) funded all states to assess substance abuse treatment need and demand for individuals with alcohol and [...]

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is a structured interview widely used by substance abuse clinicians and researchers for client screening, determining treatment needs, and assessing treatment outcomes. Previous researchers have evaluated inter-rater agreement, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. The present report describes the stability of ASI scores in longitudinal work. In the context of an ongoing treatment outcome evaluation study involving seven assessors, inter-rater agreement, inter-rater reliability, as well as intra- and inter-rater accuracy were assessed repeatedly during a 2-year period. The results show the scores derived from the ASI to be stable across assessors and over time. The relationship between stable scores and resources required for training are discussed.