The complexity of the optimization algorithm for staff utilization in any medium to large organization can cause major problems in meeting schedules while still keeping all of the work force in full employment, working at a level appropriate to their experience, and also giving staff an opportunity to develop new skills and experiences that will…

While conflict resolution programs in the elementary schools have been in existence for the last decade, few studies have provided quantitative data concerning the effectiveness of such programs. A study was conducted which used interviews and surveys to focus on the development, implementation, and results of a Conflict Manager program at one…

This guide offers a practical approach to construction of and interaction training of communication aids for use by individuals with disabilities. The guide covers: communication board design and construction; use of the computer as a communication tool; orthographically based communication systems; guidelines for selecting vocabulary for the…

Translation is a real-life communication skill that should be incorporated into second language instruction. Communicative language teaching theory recognizes the importance of learning to handle foreign language internal transfer. Classroom activities to promote such language transfer skills include the following: (1) pairing students to…

Students arriving in the language department at Heriot-Watt University (Scotland) who study two languages arrive deficient in both languages and often in English as well. Generally, students have little knowledge of current and international affairs or the history and culture of the countries whose languages they are learning. However, they…

An art activity introduces intermediate grade and middle school students to optical illusions. Students practice drawing geometric shapes such as cubes, cylinders, cones, and pyramids, then combine these shapes to create the illusion of their choice. Graphic outlines for each shape are provided. This document is one of a collection of materials…

Although the effectiveness of role play and its vicarious learning experiences for counselor training is well documented, little research has focused on the impact of the order of playing the roles on skill development. To investigate the effect of ordinal position, 36 beginning counseling students, 24 female and 12 male, with a median age of 30,…

Three authors comment on the value of personal recommendations for college admission, how these recommendations should be used and read, what constitutes good reading skill, and what types of articles admissions officers read. Papers presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, Atlanta, Georgia,…

Two methods of teaching interaction and communication skills were compared. One method was lecturing while a second involved lecturing plus modeling and practice. Results showed that although both groups of 24 subjects made progress, only the second group's learning of communication skills was statistically significant compared to the pretest…

The author presents a short history of the Marriage Encounter movement. He discusses the underlying theory of the movement which involves a faith in God and developing dialogue between the husband and wife. Weekend encounter sessions are also described. (EJT)

Use of monitoring techniques at Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center has revealed that young physicians have multiple defects in their interviewing and physical diagnosis skills: errors of technique, omission, detection, interpretation, and recording. Methods developed and utilized over the past three years to teach, monitor, correct and…

Noting the limitations of clinical legal education when it focuses only on the learning of practical skills outside the classroom, the authors describe an experimental course in civil procedure designed to adapt clinical methods to the classroom by placing each student in the role of the lawyer in a specific case with class presentations and…

Research on the reliability of various measures of interviewing skills used an experimental design involving patient interviews of medical students in their sophomore and senior years. Results suggest caution against overinterpretation of data from faculty raters and illustrate that nonprofessionals can be trained to use interaction analysis…

A model for developing teacher interpersonal skill was employed to improve teacher-student relationships. Teachers (N=18) received 20 hours of training that consisted of studying human relationship skills, listening to taped examples of good relationships, and practice through role playing. Teachers did significantly increase their ability to…