Towards an SMS-based Social Network for Health Workers in Rural Areas in Myanmar

Seventy percent of the population in Myanmar lives in rural areas. Although health workers are adequately trained, they are overburdened due to understaffing and insufficient supplies. Literature confirms that information and communication technologies can extend the reach of healthcare. In this paper, we present an SMS-based social network that aims to help health workers to interact with other medical professionals through topic-based message delivery. Topics describe interests of users and the content of message. A message is delivered by matching message content with user interests. Users describe topics as ICD- 10 codes, a comprehensive medical taxonomy. In this ICD-10 coded SMS, a set of prearranged codes provides a common language for users to send structured information that fits inside an SMS.

Utilizing Building Usage Assessment: Determining Deployment of Student Workers in an Academic Library

Generating, collecting, and analyzing building usage statistics can greatly increase the ability of an access services unit to meet the changing dynamic of patron needs in an academic library. By analyzing three different data points, the Access Services Unit in Malpass Library at Western Illinois University was able to determine the most effective and efficient way to deploy the student workforce to meet the demonstrated needs of the patron population throughout the day. This article will examine those data points and how they were analyzed in order to improve the services provided by the Access Services Unit.

Invisible work, unseen hazards: the health of women immigrant household service workers in Spain

BACKGROUND: Household service work has been largely absent from occupational health studies. We examine the occupational hazards and health effects identified by immigrant women household service workers. METHODS: Exploratory, descriptive study of 46 documented and undocumented immigrant women in household services in Spain, using a phenomenological approach. Data were collected between September 2006 and May 2007 through focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews. Data were separated for analysis by documentation status and sorted using a mixed-generation process. In a second phase of analysis, data on psychosocial hazards were organized using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire as a guide. RESULTS: Informants reported a number of environmental, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards and corresponding health effects. Psychosocial hazards were especially strongly present in data. Data on reported hazards were similar by documentation status and varied by several emerging categories: whether participants were primarily cleaners or carers and whether they lived in or outside of the homes of their employers. Documentation status was relevant in terms of empowerment and bargaining, but did not appear to influence work tasks or exposure to hazards directly. CONCLUSIONS: Female immigrant household service workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards that could be acted upon by improved legislation, enforcement, and preventive workplace measures, which are discussed.

Differences in exposure to occupational health risks in Spanish and foreign-born workers in Spain (Itsal Project)

Migrant workers usually show higher rates of work-related health problems than natives. However, little information is available about their exposure to occupational risks. We describe self-reported working exposure in Spanish and foreign-born workers. A cross-sectional survey was conducted as part of the ITSAL Project. Data on sociodemographic and self-reported occupational exposure in 1,841 foreign-born and 509 Spanish workers were collected through face-to-face interviews. Prevalence and adjusted odds ratios-aOR- (by age, education, type of contract) were calculated. Foreign-born men in non-services sectors and those in manual occupations perceived exposure to occupational risks with lower prevalence than Spanish workers. Foreign-born women reported higher prevalence of exposure than Spanish female workers. By occupation, foreign-born female workers were more likely than Spanish workers to report working many hours/day (aOR2.68; 95 % CI 1.06–6.78) and exposure to extreme temperatures (aOR2.19; 95 % CI 1.10–4.38). Some groups of migrant workers may need increased protection regarding some occupational exposures.

How to start a volunteer literacy program in your community /

"October 2000"--P. [14].

How to start an adult volunteer literacy program : getting started in your community.

"January 2008"--Colophon.

Starting out: Quality of working life of young workers in the retail and hospitality industries in Australia

In the 1990s workers in Australia were increasingly subjected to negative work pressures. Irregular work patterns, work intensification, and the transformation of the notion of career, often in the name of ‘flexibility’, were increasingly common. This period was also characterised by scant regard for the quality of working life of young people in entry-level employment, which is often portrayed as a transition stage prior to their admission into the full-time core workforce. This paper explores the experiences of twenty-two young people at the beginning of their careers, in the hospitality and retail industries, with reference to three quality of working life (QWL) elements: hours flexibility, work-life balance and career potential. Qualitative evidence reveals a variety of experiences but, on balance, suggests a negative quality of working life and limited commitment to their current industry. In conclusion, the paper suggests that these industries must pay more attention to QWL issues in order to attract and retain quality staff.

The Impact of Education and Socioeconomic and Occupational Conditions on Self-Perceived and Mental Health Inequalities Among Immigrants and Native Workers in Spain

There is limited evidence on the influence of social determinants on the self-perceived and mental health of immigrants settled at least 8 years in Spain. The aim of this study was to examine differences between workers related to migrant-status, self-perceived and mental health, and to assess their relationship to occupational conditions, educational level and occupational social class, stratified by sex. Using data from the Spanish National Health Survey of 2011/12, we computed prevalence, odds ratios and explicative fractions. Mental (OR 2.02; CI 1.39–2.93) and self-perceived health (OR 2.64; CI 1.77–3.93) were poorer for immigrant women compared to natives. Occupational social class variable contributes 25 % to self-perceived health OR in immigrant women. Settled immigrant women workers are a vulnerable group in Spain.

The link between policy and practice in science education : the role of research

Policy has been a much neglected area for research in science education. In their neglect of policy studies, researchers have maintained an ongoing naivete about the politics of science education. In doing so, they often overestimate the implications of their research findings about practice and ignore the interplay between the stakeholders beyond and in-school who determine the nature of the curriculum for science education and its enacted character. Policies for education (and science education in particular) always involve authority and values, both of which raise sets of fascinating questions for research. The location of authority for science education differs across educational systems in ways that affect the role teachers are expected to play. Policies very often value some groups in society over others, as the long history of attempts to provide science for all students testifies. As research on teaching/learning science identifies pedagogies that have widespread effectiveness, the policy issue of mandating these becomes important. Illustrations of successful policy to practice suggest that establishing conditions that will facilitate the intended implementation is critically important. The responsibility of researchers for critiquing and establishing policy for improving the practice of science education is discussed, together with the role research associations could play if they are to claim their place as key stakeholders in science education.

Using concept mapping to scaffold learning for students who experience learning difficulties in science classes

In order to develop scientific literacy students need the cognitive tools that enable them to read and evaluate science texts. One cognitive tool that has been widely used in science education to aid the development of conceptual understanding is concept mapping. However, it has been found some students experience difficulty with concept map construction. This study reports on the development and evaluation of an instructional sequence that was used to scaffold the concept-mapping process when middle school students who were experiencing difficulty with science learning used concept mapping to summarise a chapter of a science text. In this study individual differences in working memory functioning are suggested as one reason that students experience difficulty with concept map construction. The study was conducted using a design-based research methodology in the school’s learning support centre. The analysis of student work samples collected during the two-year study identified some of the difficulties and benefits associated with the use of scaffolded concept mapping with these students. The observations made during this study highlight the difficulty that some students experience with the use of concept mapping as a means of developing an understanding of science concepts and the amount of instructional support that is required for such understanding to develop. Specifically, the findings of the study support the use of multi-component, multi-modal instructional techniques to facilitate the development of conceptual understanding with students who experience difficulty with science learning. In addition, the important roles of interactive dialogue and metacognition in the development of conceptual understanding are identified.

Academic rigour in science assessment tasks

The critical problem of student disengagement and underachievement in the middle years of schooling (Years 4 . 9) has focussed attention on the quality of educational programs in schools, in Australia and elsewhere. The loss of enthusiasm for science in the middle years is particularly problematic given the growing demand for science professionals. Reshaping middle years programs has included an emphasis on integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and improving assessment practices to engage students in higher cognitive processes and enhance academic rigour. Understanding the nature of academic rigour and how to embed it in students. science assessment tasks that incorporate the use of ICTs could enable teachers to optimise the quality of the learning environment. However, academic rigour is not clearly described or defined in the literature and there is little empirical evidence upon which researchers and teachers could draw to enhance understandings. This study used a collective case study design to explore teachers' understandings of academic rigour within science assessment tasks. The research design is based on a conceptual framework that is underpinned by socio-cultural theory. Three methods were used to collect data from six middle years teachers and their students. These methods were a survey, focus group discussion with teachers and a group of students and individual semi-structured interviews with teachers. Findings of the case study revealed six criteria of academic rigour, namely, higher order thinking, alignment, building on prior knowledge, scaffolding, knowledge construction and creativity. Results showed that the middle years teachers held rich understandings of academic rigour that led to effective utilisation of ICTs in science assessment tasks. Findings also indicated that teachers could further enhance their understandings of academic rigour in some aspects of each of the criteria. In particular, this study found that academic rigour could have been further optimised by: promoting more thoughtful discourse and interaction to foster higher order thinking; increasing alignment between curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, and students. prior knowledge; placing greater emphasis on identifying, activating and building on prior knowledge; better differentiating the level of scaffolding provided and applying it more judiciously; fostering creativity throughout tasks; enhancing teachers‟ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, and providing more in-depth coverage of fewer topics to support knowledge construction. Key contributions of this study are a definition and a model which clarify the nature of academic rigour.