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In this article, we report the findings from a study exploring the effects of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching and learning on learning outcomes for master's of social work (MSW) students. Students who participated in a PBL pilot project were compared with students who did not participate in 5 outcome areas: social work knowledge, values, and skills; confidence in practice skills; confidence in learning skills; motivation to engage in deep learning and use deep-learning strategies; and satisfaction with their MSW education. PBL and non-PBL approaches were equally effective in helping students learn social work skills, knowledge, and values and in developing learning skills; the non-PBL group reported a significant shift to a more situational approach to their learning.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children who participated in a booster program 3 years after completing an emotion regulation program show a greater increase between pretest and post-test in the development of emotion regulation skills than children in a comparison group. A booster program was implemented as a pilot project with seven children ages 12-14. The contrast group consisted of eight children ages 10-14. Results of the study showed that the booster group had significant increases on 4 of 10 outcome measures: emotional awareness, emotional expressiveness, number of identified body cues, and number of identified calming activities. The contrast group showed no significant pretest post-test changes on the outcomes measured. Editors' strategic implications: Replication will be required with a larger sample size, but the emotion regulation results presented are encouraging. Program developers and evaluators will benefit from the authors' discussion of the importance and role of booster programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a school-based emotion regulation group program or a community-based emotion regulation group program for children in grades one through six identified as at risk for emotional and behavioral problems is most effective in improving student functioning. Outcome measures included emotional awareness, emotional coping, expression management, self-efficacy with regard to managing emotions, self-esteem, academic performance, and behavioral infractions within the school system. Longitudinal data were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA and showed that the programs were equally effective in teaching children emotion regulation skills. For the most part, this learning was sustained at one-year and two-year follow-ups. (Contains 5 tables.)

The Bay d'Espoir area straddles the boundary between rocks traditionally assigned to the Dunnage (Exploits Subzone) and Gander zones in Newfoundland (equivalent to the Tetagouche-Exploits Backarc Basin (BAB) and the [...]

Interviewed 155 adolescents and young adults adopted internationally in Canada regarding racial/ethnic identity. Analyzed findings in relation to adoptees' rights through U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, and Canadian Multiculturalism Act. Found that self-described ethnic identity made no difference to adoptees' comfort with identity. (KB)

Focuses on the content of adoption disclosure counseling and the perceptions of adult adoptees and relatives about the helpfulness of counseling. Data were gathered from 225 adult adoptees and 143 biological relatives who participated in mandatory counseling services in Ontario, Canada. The majority of subjects indicated counseling was very helpful. (BB)

Reports results of an analysis of differences in functioning in families able to sustain special needs adoption placements and families in which placements were disrupted. The father was found to play the pivotal role in maintaining placements. Active involvement in parenting and nurturance and support of mother helped sustain placements. (Author/BB)

Parents who experience the sudden death of a child will interact with many professionals in the period immediately following the death notification through to the funeral. The way these professionals respond to the parents during this critical period may be perceived as helpful, and thus support them in beginning the process of managing the trauma and starting a healthy grieving process. It may also be perceived as unhelpful, though, and contribute to more prolonged and complicated grieving. This article identifies the interventions that a sample of 20 parents who had experienced the sudden death of a child found helpful with different aspects of grieving. Specific advice is given to police, nurses, doctors, coroners, social workers, crisis counselors, funeral directors, and chaplains or clergy.

Evaluation research, if appropriately matched to a human service program's stage of development, can help inform the decision making at each step. The developmental stages of a program, questions to be answered at each stage, and kinds of research activities pertinent to such questions are discussed. (TJH)

Byline: Lawrence. Martis, Anne. Westhues The high incidence of fatal diseases, inequitable access to health care, and socioeconomic disparities in India generate plentiful clinical bad news including diagnosis of a [...]

Zircon grains from the Kiruna iron oxide−apatite (IOA) ore bodies in northern Sweden are distinct in their hafnium and oxygen isotopic ratios compared to zircon grains from adjacent metavolcanic host rocks and related intrusions. Here, we combine these two isotopic systems on previously dated zircon grains to improve our understanding of these ore deposits with a long-debated origin. Contrasting theories for the formation of the Kiruna iron ores suggest either (1) emplacement through immiscible silicate−iron oxide melts or (2) transportation and deposition of iron by hydrothermal fluids. Zircon from the metavolcanic host rocks and intrusions have oxygen isotopic ratios (δ18O ~3‰) that lie below typical magmatic compositions, which is evidence that roof rocks altered by meteoric water were digested into the magma. In contrast, the ores show an influence of a fluid that is higher in δ18O (~7‰). Based on these findings, we propose the involvement of episodic magmatic-hydrothermal fluids in the ore genesis of the Kiruna iron ore deposits: (1) the first episode related to a deep-seated magmatism and to regional-scale metasomatic alteration, and (2) a later fluid event related to shallow intrusions and responsible for the ore formation. Distinct differences in the Hf isotopic ratios for host rocks and intrusions (∈Hfi = −6 to −10, Archean crust) and ore (∈Hfi = −5 to +3, depleted mantle) further allow us to screen possible fluid sources for their involvement in the ore process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]