A role for workforce competencies in evidence-based health promotion education

Education programs should be based on research about the knowledge and skills required for practice, rather than on intuition or tradition, but there is limited published curriculum research on health promotion education. This paper describes a case study of how workforce competencies have been used to assist evidence-based health promotion education in the areas of curriculum design, selection of assessment tasks and continuous quality assurance processes in an undergraduate program at an Australian university. A curriculum-competency mapping process successfully identified gaps and areas of overlap in an existing program. Previously published health promotion workforce competencies were effectively used in the process of selecting assessment items, providing clear guidelines for curriculum revision and a useful method to objectively assess competency content in an evidence informed framework. These health promotion workforce competencies constituted an additional tool to assess course quality. We recommend other tertiary institutions consider curriculum-competency mapping and curriculum based assessment selection as quality and evidence based curriculum review strategies.

Creating high challenge/high support academic environments through constructive alignment: student outcomes

Higher education needs to provide challenging yet supportive learning environments catering for students with diverse academic needs. There is also an emphasis on using student-driven outcome measures to determine teaching effectiveness. How can these measures be used to reflect upon and evaluate teaching initiatives? Using an undergraduate occupational therapy programme as the site for exploration, this article reports on an application of constructive alignment principles and describes how available empirical data were used to explore student outcomes. A comparison was made between student evaluations and academic grades prior to, and after the implementation of the initiative. Results provide evidence of improvement in student satisfaction and academic grades as a result of implementing constructive alignment. Whilst it is acknowledged that changes in academic grades and student evaluations can be attributed to a number of factors, findings of this study support a view that constructive alignment facilitates students' learning and experiences.

Clinical reasoning sessions: back to the patient

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning (PBL) was developed as a facilitated small group learning process based around a clinical problem. Originally designed for pre-clinical years of medical education, its application across all years poses a number of difficulties, including the risk of reducing patient contact, providing a learning process that is skewed towards an understanding of pathophysiological processes, which may not be well understood in all areas of medicine, and failing to provide exposure to clinically relevant reasoning skills. CONTEXT: Curriculum review identified dissatisfaction with PBLs in the clinical years of the Sydney Medical School's Graduate Medical Program, from both staff and students. A new model was designed and implemented in the Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine rotation, and is currently being evaluated. INNOVATION: We describe an innovative model of small-group, student-generated, case-based learning in psychiatry - clinical reasoning sessions (CRS) - led by expert facilitators. IMPLICATIONS: The CRS format returns the student to the patient, emphasises clinical assessment skills and considers treatment in the real-world context of the patient. Students practise a more sophisticated reasoning process with real patients modelled upon that of their expert tutor. This has increased student engagement compared with the previous PBL programme.

O ensino de artes nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental: (re)pensando a prática docente

This paper aims to investigate the formative needs of Elementary School Arts teachers at municipal public schools in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, working in the initial grades. The research was developed using the qualitative approach and the investigation can be classified as an action research-inspired collaborative, distinguished by mutual collaboration among all participants, as well as a reflection upon their practice. Conducted with four Arts teachers of Municipal Education de Natal/RN, this work triggered a (re)thinking of teaching practice in Arts, discussing the teachers' formation and encouraging a group reflection about their academic and professional path. Their motivation towards teaching was also discussed, as well as the way their progress as Arts teachers and the contributions and limits of college education, also including experiential knowledge as a possibility of formation. The main formative needs suggested by the research were knowledge on child development and child learning, and the need of an Arts curriculum proposal for the initial grades of Elementary School. From those data, a reflexive context was built with the participant teachers to give a new meaning to Arts teaching practice in the first years of Elementary School. Finally, it was shown that the Arts teacher formation must be broad and involve not only specific knowledge on Arts, but also knowledge about childhood. It was also clearly shown that a curriculum review in education undergraduate courses must be considered, besides the offering of a continual formation to teachers already giving classes. Concerning the Arts curriculum proposal, it should be done based on a work joining officials of Municipal Education, research and formation institutions and teachers working in the first years of Elementary School. Finally, the work highlights the Arts are essential in all levels of Elementary School, since its first years, and it must be taught and learnt since childhood

Design of learning spaces for engineering education

BACKGROUND OR CONTEXT: With the re-imagining of engineering education at Deakin University an opportunity was presented with the ability to design purpose built spaces. With this development a review of leading practice educational spaces was undertaken specifically in a product development unit as well as a materials unit. Whilst both areas have different needs there were some common elements with the location of teaching aids, apparatus and experimental set-up and collaborative teaching spaces.
PURPOSE OR GOAL: This study examined what would a best practice learning environment look like in two different disciplines and what is the connection and similarities in a problem based learning environment. A benchmarking study and literature review on best practice was undertaken; this learning space was intrinsically linked to the educational model. Aspects of the educational model have started to be implemented in this long term project
APPROACH: Student perceptions were measured primarily through standard unit feedback for both units as well as student comments on the units. Engagement of students was the primary focus of the redesign of purpose built spaces as well as curriculum review. By placing students into specifically designed spaces to enhance learning outcomes it is anticipated that the knowledge and skills attainment will be higher for all students.
DISCUSSION: The redevelopment of learning spaces has forced staff to think hard about their units and how space impacts on student educations. With both the materials and product development units, student had the ability to move through spaces depending on what they were doing. This ability to move is a combination of the educational model, the facilities and staff/student interaction.
RECOMMENDATIONS/IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSION: While part of a long term redevelopment of facilities and curriculum, it has been found that when the facilities match the educational model student engagement is higher. This has been support in both the literature and observation through student and staff evaluations of the unit. It is expected that as students adapt to the new educational model further they will make greater use of the purpose built facilities.

Child sexual abuse prevention education : A review of school policy and curriculum provision in Australia

The past four decades have seen increasing public and professional awareness of child sexual abuse. Congruent with public health approaches to prevention, efforts to eliminate child sexual abuse have inspired the emergence of prevention initiatives which can be provided to all children as part of their standard school curriculum. However, relatively little is known about the scope and nature of child sexual abuse prevention efforts in government school systems internationally. This paper assesses and compares the policies and curriculum initiatives for child sexual abuse prevention education in primary (elementary) schools across state and territory Departments of Education in Australia. Using publicly available electronic data, a deductive qualitative content analysis of policy and curriculum documents was undertaken to examine the characteristics of child sexual abuse prevention education in these school systems. It was found that the system-level provision of child sexual abuse prevention education occurs unevenly across state and territory jurisdictions. This results in the potential for substantial inequity in Australian children’s access to learning opportunities in child abuse prevention education as a part of their standard school curriculum. In this research, we have developed a strategy for generating a set of theoretically-sound empirical criteria that may be more extensively applied in comparative research about prevention initiatives internationally.

What does the review of the Australian Curriculum mean for Senior Modern History?

In this paper we briefly explore some of recommendations of the Review of the Australian Curriculum Final Report (Australian Government, 2014a), henceforth referred to as the Review, with reference to Modern History in the senior secondary Australian Curriculum. We also refer to the invited papers provided by history subject matter specialists, Professor Gregory Melleuish and Mr Clive Logan, published as the Review’s Supplementary Material (Australian Government, 2014b). In doing so, we note that both documents devote most of their attention to critiquing the Australian Curriculum: History in the compulsory years from Foundation (F) to Year 10.

Introduction to Point and Counterpoint: What does the Review of the Australian Curriculum mean for History?

The April 2015 edition of Curriculum Perspectives has a special focus and casts light on the continuing development of the Australian Curriculum. This paper provides an introduction to a series of papers in the Point and Counterpoint section of this edition on the Review of the Australian Curriculum with reference to History. It makes clear that History is one of the most contested areas of the curriculum and that whilst politicians and policy makers are concerned with the importance of history in relation to national identity and nation building, history serves other purposes. The paper reiterates the need to pay attention to the particularities of discipline–based knowledge for the study of history in schools and the central role of inquiry for student learning in history. In doing so, it establishes the context for the five papers which follow.

Flexible learning design in curriculum delivery promotes student engagement and develops metacognitive learners: An integrated review

Historically, university students have been the passive recipients of face-to-face instructor designed and led classes (Hudson, 2014; Myers et al., 2011). Technological advancement, however, has provided an opportunity for greater flexibility around educational structure; students are starting to expectmore fromtertiary education providers, specifically around the delivery and provision of education (Myers et al., 2011). For universities to meet the ever-changing needs of the student they need to consider the integration of flexible learning designs into their curricula. The consequent willingness of the faculty to rethink the design and delivery of curricula has seen a recent shift in the design and delivery of education. As universities strive to promote student engagement, active learning, and communities of enquiry, they are moving progressively towards flexible learning models, virtual interaction and student centric curricula (Heise and Himes, 2010; Hsu and Hsieh, 2011). The challenge this shift creates is how to best engage students throughout their studies in order to produce graduates with the skills necessary for societal and professional sustainability (Castle and McGuire, 2010). Despite a wealth of literature addressing this topic, there is a paucity of substantive, conclusive outcomes as to the efficacy of its full implementation and potential for producing capable learners. This integrative review therefore aims to inform curriculum delivery that is flexible, student centric and scaffolds learning. It also aims to identify whether this approach assists in the development of metacognitive learners.

The literacy curriculum: A critical review

This is a critical review of the scope of the literacy curriculum in the twenty-first century, uncovering the strengths, controversies, and silences that have divided literacy researchers and educators. It conceptualizes the literacy curriculum as a particular set of socially organized symbolic practices that are always selective, and which are inextricably connected to the function and organization of schooling. We trace the political, historical, and ideological antecedents of literacy curriculum and schooling as a form of cultural apparatus of the nation-state, before tracing some of the major interpretive paradigms that have influenced the shape of the literacy curriculum in many parts of the world. These include debates about skills-based approaches, whole language, systemic functional grammar, and critical literacy. It then draws attention to noteworthy advances and shifts in the field over recent decades: debates about the role of orality in the literacy curriculum, home-school community literacy practices, teacher and student knowledge of language and grammar, and the role of curriculum area literacies. It anticipates the future of the literacy curriculum in online textual environments and the changing sensorial and material nature of literacy practices, while acknowledging that curriculum innovation is always limited in complex ways by historically established pedagogic discourses of schooling.

Therapeutic Recreation Education in Canada: A Review of the Current Curriculum

Abstract This descriptive study sought to identify the similarities and differences between the various educational institutions offering therapeutic recreation curriculum across Canada. The study utilized mixed methods, including open and closed-ended questions on a survey and document analysis. The research participants were from 14 educational institutions located across the nation. Results from this study identify similarities and differences in the curriculum used to prepare students pursuing a career in the TR field. Core competencies and standards of practice for the field of therapeutic recreation were defined and discussed. Accreditation and the accrediting bodies in the field of TR are reviewed because of their significant impact on curriculum. Implications regarding certification and regulation pertaining to the education for therapeutic recreation practitioners were discussed along with suggestions for future research.

The implementation of a tobacco dependence education curriculum in a Swiss Dental Hygiene School - an 8-year review

OBJECTIVE The aim of our investigation was to review the implementation of a comprehensive tobacco dependence education (TDE) curriculum at the Medi School of Dental Hygiene (MSDH), Bern, Switzerland, 2001-2008. METHODS In 2001, new forms to record patients' tobacco use history and willingness to quit were created for all the MSDH patients. In 2002, a new theoretically based tobacco dependence treatment protocol was implemented into the MSDH curriculum. Students received instruction on how to provide brief tobacco use dependence interventions as well as maintain detailed records of patient tobacco use and cessation interventions for every smoker at all dental hygiene visits. RESULTS In 2002, 17 lecture hours were added to the following subjects: pathology, periodontology, preventive dentistry, pharmacology and psychology. During the same time period, 2213 patients (56.9% women) have visited the MSDH. Smoking status was recorded in 85.7% of all the patients (30.2% smokers). Brief tobacco use interventions were recorded in 36.8% of all smokers while 7.6% of these have reported to quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the new TDE curriculum was successfully implemented and accepted by the MSDH faculty. Applications in the clinical practice, however, may still be improved to better identify smokers and increase initial and follow-up interventions potentially leading to higher quit rates.

Review: Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical Guide for Developing and Adapting Curriculum-Based Programs

A review of Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical Guide for Developing and Adapting Curriculum-Based Programs by Douglas Kirby.