Our study, focused on classroom-based research at the introductory level and using the Phage Genomics course as the model, shows evidence that first-year students doing research learn the process of science as well as how scientists practice science. A preliminary but notable outcome of our work, which is based on a small sample, is the change in student interest in considering different career choices such as graduate education and science in general. This is particularly notable, as previous research has described research internships as clarifying or confirming rather than changing undergraduates’ decisions to pursue graduate education. We hypothesize that our results differ from previous studies of the impact of engaging in research because the students in our study are still in the early stages of their undergraduate careers. Our work builds upon the classroom-based research movement and should be viewed as encouraging to the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education movement advocated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Foundation, and other undergraduate education stakeholders.

The relationship between different models of family level interventions and two components of practitioner helpgiving (relational practices and participatory practices) was examined in two studies of parents of young children involved in different kinds of family oriented helpgiving programs. Relational and participatory aspects of helpgiving were found to be practiced less often in professionally centered programs compared to other kinds of family oriented programs. Participatory helpgiving practices that provided parents with (a) choices and options and (b) opportunities to be involved in both solutions to problems and acquisition of knowledge and skills that strengthen functioning were more likely to be found in programs that were family centered. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of the models used to structure social and human services program practices.

Findings from two studies investigating sources of variations in parents' assessment of helpgiving practices and personal control appraisals are reported. Participants were parents of young children with disabilities or at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. Parents were involved in early intervention and human services programs that differed along a continuum from professionally centered to family focused. Results indicated that demographic characteristics showed no relationship to either helpgiving practices or perceptions of personal control. In contrast, program characteristics were highly related to helpgiving practices, and both program characteristics and helpgiving practices were highly related to personal control.

Recent studies concerning parental attitudes toward preschool mainstreaming indicate a favorable disposition toward this arrangement by parents of typical children and those of children with disabilities in mainstreamed settings. This study seeks to replicate and extend these findings. Discussed are the first-year results of a 5-year longitudinal study of parental attitudes toward mainstreaming in school-age programs. Surveyed were 230 parents. Results indicated that the parents, regardless of their child's preschool placement in a mainstreamed or segregated program, held very favorable opinions toward mainstreaming. However, the parents of typical children and the parents of children with disabilities in the mainstream settings indicated greater satisfaction with their child's involvement in a mixed grouping of children, and stronger opinion that this involvement influenced their child's development, than did their counterparts in the segregated settings. Correlations of these results with length of time in preschool and level of child functioning are also discussed.

No abstract