Language Education DepartmentFew studies look critically at the processes in a teacher education course in which students are asked to practice the very teaching approach they study. Using a constructivist framework, this article examines written statements from students working collaboratively in a graduate-level class on cooperative learning. The study asks to what extent constructivist theory, particularly the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), explains interactions that occurred spontaneously during group work on the final project. Content analysis was used to examine three types of writings: (a) dialogue journals, (b) self-reports on the group process, and (c) self-reports on each student's role in the group. Key findings address division of labor, role taking and switching, desire for challenge, power relationships, the languages used to express these concerns, and the need for social interaction to actualize constructivist claims.MOST APPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL CONstructivist theory address the way children learn through social interaction as delineated by the Lone of proximal development (ZPD) and the way language mediates these processes. In the areas of second language and general education research, extrapolations of these theoretical tenets are made to adolescent and adult learners but tend to be speculative. Little is written about how adults from different cultures achieve the benefits proposed in constructivist approaches to social and cognitive development.' In the current study, we investigate to what extent the ZPD was developed in each of three collaborative groups of international students in a graduate teacher education class where the term paper was written collaboratively.'For this purpose, we looked at instances of selfregulation in three kinds of written statements: (a) dialogue journals, (b) self-reports about the group process, and (c) self-reports about each The M o d m Language Journal, 81, iv, (1997) OO26-7902/97/506-5 17 $1.50/0 01997 Thp Modern Langztage Journalstudent's role in the group. Evidence of variables cited in constructivist theory such as self-regulation, the ZPD, use of language as a mediational tool, problem solving, scaffolding, and application of critical thinking skills were identified through content analysis of these documents. Statements about how participants molded their dominant, cooperative, and subordinate interactions with respect to perceived social roles in each group were noted. The language of self-regulation of social roles is presented in the students' own words. CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND Contrasts between Cognitive and Social ConstructivismThe theories of cognitive and social constructivism are based on a somewhat similar epistemology but differ in the degree to which social interaction is seen as influencing individual cognitive development.3 Piaget, representing the cognitive constructivist view, highlighted individual construction of knowledge in response to interaction in the physical world, but stressed the

In Japan, which is thought to be a rapidly growing super-aging society, a national campaign named “the Dementia Supporter Caravan” has been deployed. The aim of this study was to assess the educational benefits of the dementia supporter training program for nurses and nursing students. We conducted dementia supporter training, and measured knowledge and attitudes regarding people with dementia as educational benefits pre- and post-training. Data sets of 134 nursing students and 63 nurses were analyzed. The results indicated that the two groups gained knowledge, understanding, and the confidence to care for people with dementia after attending the dementia supporter training program. Moreover, the two groups derived different benefits from the program. Nursing students gained substantial knowledge and learnt the importance of early detection and treatment, to levels similar to those of nurses prior to training. The training program reduced the difficulties of nurses to interact with and care for people with dementia. We can conclude that the dementia supporter training program has considerable educational benefits for nurses and nursing students.

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This research aims to clarify the significance of incorporating visual stimulation, in the form of foliage plants, into office desktop spaces. The experiments were conducted in a thermal environment with a temperature range that was slightly uncomfortable. The indoor thermal environment evaluation index ETF was used to measure the effects that brain stimulation of foliage plants have on comprehensive thermal senses. We focus on visual stimulation with foliage plants, and quantitatively measure shifts in thermal senses that affect the body. Thermal environment conditions were established with air temperature in three stages (25˚C, 28˚C and 31˚C) and the atmosphere was kept homogeneous with wall surface temperature equal to air temperature. The visual stimulations consisted of seven types of office desk image: benjamin, pothos, oxycardium, baby tears, moss ball, cacti, and no plant. At around 27˚C to 29˚C ETF, improvements in thermal sensation, as measured by thermal sensation statements, were shown to have resulted from visual stimulation benefits. Also, at around 26˚C to 29˚C ETF, improvements in comfort were shown, due to visual stimulation benefits as well, in subjects' comfortable-sensation statements. This benefit was significant when a foliage plant's green coverage ratio came between 0.75% and 4.67%, the range which does not create an overwhelming feeling from the foliage plant.

It is not ethical to conduct experiments on infants regarding the thermal environment. Therefore, to examine the thermal environment of infants, experiments and simulations using a human body thermal model may be feasible by clarifying the human body coefficient values of infants. When focusing on the heat transfer area of the infant's body coefficient values, the body surface area and solar radiation area factor have only been clarified as the standard. The essential basic data for examining the thermal environment of infants have not been sufficiently obtained. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the clothing area factor for infants' clothing in a typical season. The clothing area factor of infants clothed in summer, mid-season, and winter clothing was measured using a photographic method. The clothing area factor was 1.22, 1.42, and 1.90 for summer, mid-season, and winter clothing, respectively, indicating a significant seasonal difference. It was also found that the clothing area factor was significantly greater for infants than for adults.