Simple Summary: The term Green Care encompasses a number of therapeutic strategies that can include farm-animal-assisted therapy, horticultural therapy, and general, farm-based therapy. This review article provides an overview of how Green Care has been used as part of the therapeutic plan for a variety of psychological disorders and related physical disabilities in children, adolescents and adults. While many countries have embraced Green Care, and research-based evidence supports its efficacy in a variety of therapeutic models, it has not yet gained widespread popularity in the United States. We suggest that Green Care could prove to be an effective approach to providing mental health care in the U.S., particularly in rural areas that are typically underserved by more traditional mental health facilities, but have an abundance of farms, livestock, and green spaces where care might be effectively provided. Abstract:The term Green Care includes therapeutic, social or educational interventions involving farming; farm animals; gardening or general contact with nature. Although Green Care can occur in any setting in which there is interaction with plants or animals, this review focuses on therapeutic practices occurring on farms. The efficacy of care farming is discussed and the broad utilization of care farming and farm care communities in Europe is reviewed. Though evidence from care farms in the United States is included in this review, the empirical evidence which could determine its efficacy is lacking. For example, the empirical evidence supporting or refuting the efficacy of therapeutic horseback riding in adults is minimal, while there is little non-equine care farming literature with children. The health care systems in Europe are also much different than those in the United States. In order for insurance companies to cover Green Care techniques in the United States, extensive research is necessary. This paper proposes community-based ways that Green Care methods can be utilized without insurance in the United States. Though Green Care can certainly be provided in urban areas, this paper focuses on ways rural areas can utilize existing farms to benefit the mental and physical health of their communities.
Providing two or more versions of multiple-choice exams has long been a popular strategy for reducing the opportunity for students to engage in academic dishonesty. While the results of studies comparing exam scores under different question-order conditions have been inconclusive, the potential importance of contextual cues to aid student recall and recognition has been a common theme. The current study compares the effect of forward- and random-ordered exam questions on grades in two courses, introductory psychology and principles of learning, with different degrees of interrelatedness among the topics covered. Context cues would presumably be more important in courses with relatively independent chapter topics. No significant differences were noted, highlighting the need for a new framework for understanding factors that affect the reliability of different test versions.
Regular quizzing that requires retrieval (e.g., fill-in-the-blank and open-ended questions) has been found to enhance the retention of information relative to quizzing that requires recognition (i.e., multiple-choice questions). This phenomenon, called the testing effect, has been demonstrated in a variety of laboratory and classroom studies. In past semesters, students in an upper-level psychology course who took fill-in-the blank quizzes performed significantly better on multiple-choice exams than students who took multiple-choice quizzes covering the same material. More recently, students have been provided with information about the testing effect, including data from earlier semesters of the same course, and allowed to individually choose their quiz format. While many students initially chose fill-in-the-blank quizzes, the majority switched to multiple-choice quizzes when allowed to do so one quarter of the way through the semester. Students in three sections of the course have exhibited this same pattern, despite evidence from their own sections that, on average, students taking fill-in quizzes earned higher grades on the first exam. The implications of this behavior, as well as its potential as a "teachable moment," will be considered.
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