Changing how and what children learn in school with computer-based technologies.

Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that computer technology can help support learning, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, analysis, and scientific inquiry. But the mere presence of computers in the classroom does not ensure their effective use. Some computer applications have been shown to be more successful than others, and many factors influence how well even the most promising applications are implemented. This article explores the various ways computer technology can be used to improve how and what children learn in the classroom. Several examples of computer-based applications are highlighted to illustrate ways technology can enhance how children learn by supporting four fundamental characteristics of learning: (1) active engagement, (2) participation in groups, (3) frequent interaction and feedback, and (4) connections to real-world contexts. Additional examples illustrate ways technology can expand what children learn by helping them to understand core concepts in subjects like math, science, and literacy. Research indicates, however, that the use of technology as an effective learning tool is more likely to take place when embedded in a broader education reform movement that includes improvements in teacher training, curriculum, student assessment, and a school's capacity for change. To help inform decisions about the future role of computers in the classroom, the authors conclude that further research is needed to identify the uses that most effectively support learning and the conditions required for successful implementation.

Saliva cotinine and recent smoking--evidence for a nonlinear relationship.

Cotinine concentration in various body fluids is considered to be among the most useful markers of nicotine exposure currently available. Despite the prevailing consensus concerning cotinine's usefulness, cotinine's large intrasubject variability has led some to question the value of a single-point measurement. Several individual differences (for example, age, race, sex, and so forth) may affect cotinine excretion, and a peculiar nonlinearity between the number of cigarettes smoked and cotinine concentration has been reported previously in the literature. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the nature of the association between cotinine and reported number of cigarettes smoked after adjustment for the relationship between cotinine and age, a key individual difference known to affect drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and tissue sensitivity. The authors examined the relationship between saliva cotinine and daily cigarette consumption in 116 smokers (mean age = 37.4 years; average number of cigarettes smoked daily = 20.1) who logged each cigarette into a hand-held computer as part of a study on the accuracy of recall. The Pearson correlation between saliva cotinine and the logged number of cigarettes smoked in the previous 17 hours (the time window corresponding to the half-life of cotinine) accounted for significantly more of the variance in cotinine than did the average logged number of cigarettes smoked daily during 5 days. Age was also significantly associated with cotinine levels. Further examination of the relationship between cotinine and amount smoked in the previous 17 hours revealed evidence for a significant nonlinear component. Inclusion of both age and a cubic nonlinear component of daily cigarette consumption resulted in further significant improvement in the amount of variance accounted for in cotinine levels. These results suggest that adjustments forage and the inclusion of a nonlinear component for cigarette consumption will result in more precise use of cotinine as a validation tool for existing differences in smoking levels.

Direct-current bactericidal effect on intact skin.

Positive carbon-containing electrodes conveying 5 or more microA of constant direct current per cm2 showed bactericidal activity on intact back skin of 13 human subjects. This effect increased with the duration of stimulation up to a total surface bacterial kill at 20 h. When total current and current density were varied independently on 16 sites on the backs of eight subjects, the effect was dependent on current density, not on total current. Electrodes driven by similar voltages but which removed the electrochemical reaction from inoculated sites on the backs of three subjects failed to reduce the numbers of colony-forming units as compared with those sampled from control sites. This showed the bactericidal effect to be electrochemical in origin, probably mediated by local acidity generated at the surface of the positive carbon-containing electrodes. With an adhesive tape stripping technique on three sites on each of six subjects, it was determined that the effect extended into the epidermis of the human back. No effect was observed beneath negative or control electrodes under the same conditions.

Medication errors in a multidose and a computer-based unit dose drug distribution system.

The medication error rates of a hospital's multidose and computer-based unit dose drug distribution systems were compared; in addition, the medication error rate of the unit dose system was compared to that reported for noncomputerized unit dose systems in other hospitals. Two similar adult, medical, patient care units, each serviced by a different drug distribution system, were studied for 60 days. Information about the medications administered was obtained by the disguised observation technique during intermittent periods. The observer's notations on the medications administered were compared to the physicians' orders to determine if errors had been committed. Only medication "errors of commission" were recorded. There were significantly fewer medication errors and significantly fewer medications administered at the wrong time in the unit dose system. The medication error rate associated with the unit dose system compared favorably with that of most other unit dose systems. No particular benefit, in terms of the medication error rate, was attributed to the computer element of the unit dose system.