27
November
2011
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Story Ideas for Media 11/28/11

Research

Ohio State study: Focus on testing hurts students in high school health classes. High school health classes fail to help students refuse sexual advances or endorse safe sex habits when teachers focus primarily on testing knowledge, a new study reveals.
But when teachers emphasized learning the material for its own sake, and to improve health, students had much better responses. In these kinds of classrooms, students had lower intentions of having sex and felt better able to navigate sexual situations.
"A focus on tests doesn’t help students in health classes make healthier choices," said Eric M. Anderman, lead author of the study and professor of educational psychology at Ohio State University.
"In health education, knowledge is not the most important outcome. What we really want to do is change behaviors, and testing is not the way to achieve that." CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; >a href="mailto:Grabmeier.1@osu.edu">Grabmeier.1@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/healthclass.htm

Events

Ohio State to co-host annual Statewide Tribute to Rosa Parks – Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. The Ohio State University and COTA will present Ohio’s Seventh Annual Statewide Tribute to Rosa Parks, “The Power of One,” on Wednesday (11/30) and Thursday (12/1) at COSI, 333 West Broad Street. On Wednesday, (11/30) at 8 p.m., WBNS-TV and ONN will broadcast a panel discussion, moderated by 10TV news anchor Jerry Revish, with the four women Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio. The annual Children’s Assembly on Thursday (12/1) will welcome more than 800 schoolchildren. The Honorable Yvette McGee Brown, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, will serve as the keynote speaker.
During her tenure as a State Representative, Joyce Beatty, who now leads Ohio State’s Office of Outreach and Engagement, wrote the legislation that made Ohio the first state to designate Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day. Ohio’s leadership in designating Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day was placed into the national Congressional Record on Nov. 15 by Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. Her floor speech and more details can be found at http://outreach.osu.edu/rp.php. CONTACT: Ben Lewis (614) 247-7100; lewis.485@osu.edu.

Ohio Staters to ‘Light up the Lake’ – Dec. 1. Thousands of lights will add an extra holiday shimmer to Mirror Lake and Browning Amphitheatre as Ohio Staters “Light Up the Lake” for the first time this season at 7 p.m. on Thursday (12/1). The event is sponsored by Ohio Staters, Inc., a university service organization, and will include the official lighting of the lake, and musical performances. The lights will remain up until the middle of February. SEE: http://staters.osu.edu

Greening of the Classroom workshop – Dec. 3. Ohio State's Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center and Center for Applied Plant Sciences have teamed up to make plants an integral part of the K-12 curriculum. Researchers Jelena Brkljacic and Erich Grotewold are offering a day-long workshop on the topic on Saturday(12/3) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Rd. for scientists, teachers, students, and education specialists, to identify possible solutions for challenges associated with developing this education initiative. SEE: http://artsandsciences.osu.edu/news/greening-the-classroom-initiative-making-plants-integral-in-the-k-12-curriculum

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu