Nurturing Young Students' Writing Knowledge, Self-Regulation, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy: The Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementing the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of instruction (Graham & Harris, 2005; Harris & Graham, 1996) on the writing skills and writing self-regulation, attitudes, self-efficacy, and knowledge of 6 first grade students. A multiple-baseline design across participants with multiple probes (Kazdin, 2010) was used to test the effectiveness of the SRSD instructional intervention. Each participant was taught an SRSD story writing strategy as well as self-regulation strategies. All students wrote stories in response to picture prompts during the baseline, instruction, independent performance, and maintenance phases. Stories were assessed for essential story components, length, and overall quality. All participants also completed a writing attitude scale, a writing self-efficacy scale, and participated in brief interviews during the baseline and independent performance phases. Results indicated that SRSD can be beneficial for average first grade writers. Participants wrote stories that contained more essential components, were longer, and of better quality after SRSD instruction. Participants also showed some improvement in writing self-efficacy from pre- to post-instruction. All of the students maintained positive writing attitudes throughout the study.

Effect of a video on developing skills in undergraduate nursing students for the management of totally implantable central venous access ports

Background: Handling Totally Implantable Access Ports (TIAP) is a nursing procedure that requires skill and knowledge to avoid adverse events. No studies addressing this procedure with undergraduate students were identified prior to this study. Communication technologies, such as videos, have been increasingly adopted in the teaching of nursing and have contributed to the acquisition of competencies for clinical performance. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a video on the puncture and heparinization of TIAP in the development of cognitive and technical competencies of undergraduate nursing students. Method: Quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. Results: 24 individuals participated in the study. Anxiety scores were kept at levels 1 and 2 in the pretest and posttest. In relation to cognitive knowledge concerning the procedure, the proportion of correct answers in the pretest was 0.14 (SD=0.12) and 0.90 in the posttest (SD=0.05). After watching the video, the average score obtained by the participants in the mock session was 27.20. Conclusion: The use of an educational video with a simulation of puncture and heparinization of TIAP proved to be a strategy that increased both cognitive and technical knowledge. This strategy is viable in the teaching-learning process and is useful as a support tool for professors and for the development of undergraduate nursing students. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Peer and group relationships in preschoolers: the role of social and linguistic skills

Being able to positively interact and build relationships with playmates in preschool years is crucial to achieve positive adjustment. An update review and two studies on such topics were provided. Study 1 is observational; it investigates the type of social experience in groups (N = 443) of children (N = 120) at preschool age in child-led vs. teacher-led contexts. The results revealed that in child-led contexts children were more likely to be alone, in dyads, and in small peer groups; groups were mostly characterized by same-gender playmates who engaged in joint interactions, with few social interactions with teachers. In teacher-led contexts, on the other hand, children were more likely to be involved in small, medium and large groups; groups were mostly characterized by other-gender playmates, involved in parallel interactions, with teachers playing a more active role. The purpose of Study 2 was to describe the development of socio-emotional competence, temperamental traits and linguistic skill. It examined the role of children’s reciprocated nominations (=RNs) with peers, assessed via sociometric interview, in relation to socio-emotional competence, temperamental traits and linguistic skill. Finally, the similarity-homophily tendency was investigated. Socio-emotional competence and temperamental traits were assessed via teacher ratings, linguistic skill via test administration. Eighty-four preschool children (M age = 62.53) were recruited within 4 preschool settings. Those children were quite representative of preschool population. The results revealed that children with higher RNs showed higher social competence (tendency), social orientation, positive emotionality, motor activity and linguistic skill. They exhibited lower anxiety-withdrawal. The results also showed that children prefer playmates with similar features: social competence, anger-aggression (tendency), social orientation, positive emotionality, inhibition to innovation, attention, motor activity (tendency) and linguistic skill. Implications for future research were suggested.

Communication skills training in oncology: a position paper based on a consensus meeting among European experts in 2009

Background: Communication in cancer care has become a major topic of interest. Since there is evidence that ineffective communication affects both patients and oncology clinicians (physicians and nurses), so-called communication skills trainings (CSTs) have been developed over the last decade. While these trainings have been demonstrated to be effective, there is an important heterogeneity with regard to implementation and with regard to evidence of different aspects of CST. Methods: In order to review and discuss the scientific literature on CST in oncology and to formulate recommendations, the Swiss Cancer League has organised a consensus meeting with European opinion leaders and experts in the field of CST, as well as oncology clinicians, representatives of oncology societies and patient organisations. On the basis of a systematic review and a meta-analysis, recommendations have been developed and agreed upon. Results: Recommendations address (i) the setting, objectives and participants of CST, (ii) its content and pedagogic tools, (iii) organisational aspects, (iv) outcome and (v) future directions and research. Conclusion: This consensus meeting, on the basis of European expert opinions and a systematic review and meta-analysis, defines key elements for the current provision and future development and evaluation of CST in oncology.

Making Research Relevant to Development - Experience from the NCCR North-South

Making research relevant to development is a complex, non-linear and often unpredictable process which requires very particular skills and strategies on the part of researchers. The National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South provides financial and technical support for researchers so that they can effectively cooperate with policy-makers and practitioners. An analysis of 10 years of experience translating research into development practise in the NCCR North-South revealed the following four strategies as particularly relevant: a) research orientation towards the needs and interests of partners; b) implementation of promising methods and approaches; c) communication and dissemination of research results; and d) careful analysis of the political context through monitoring and learning approaches. The NCCR North-South experience shows that “doing excellent research” is just one piece of the mosaic. It is equally important to join hands with non-academic partners from the very beginning of a research project, in order to develop and test new pathways for sustainable development. Capacity building – in the North and South – enables researchers to do both: To do excellent research and to make it relevant for development.

Intellectual outcome, motor skills and BMI of children with congenital hypothyroidism: a population-based study

AIM: To evaluate intellectual outcome, motor skills and anthropometric data of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH). METHODS: Children with permanent CH who were born in 1999 in Bavaria were eligible for this prospective, population-based study. Cognitive performance was evaluated by the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and motor skills were assessed by the motor test, Motoriktest für vier-bis sechsjahrige Kinder (MOT) 4-6. RESULTS: Eighteen of 21 eligible children participated (86%). Median age of the children was 5.5 years (range 4.9-5.8). Treatment with levothyroxine was started after a median of 7.2 days (range 4-15) with a median dose of 12.0 microg/kg (range 7.2-17.0). Mean intelligence quotient (IQ) of the children was 100.4 (standard deviation [SD] 10.1): no children had IQ values below the normal range. Reactivity and speed of movement were significantly reduced in children with CH. Children with an initial thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) value of >200 mU/L performed significantly worse than children with TSH value of skills could be shown, whereas the intellectual development was normal.

Depressive symptoms from kindergarten to early school age: longitudinal associations with social skills deficits and peer victimization

BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms in children are associated with social skills deficits and problems with peers. We propose a model which suggests different mechanisms for the impact of deficits in self-oriented social skills (assertiveness and social participation) and other-oriented social skills (pro-social, cooperative and non-aggressive behaviors) on children's depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that deficits in self-oriented social skills have a direct impact on children's depressive symptoms because these children have non-rewarding interactions with peers, whereas the impact of deficits in other-oriented social skills on depressive symptoms is mediated through negative reactions from peers such as peer victimization. METHOD: 378 kindergarten children (163 girls) participated at two assessments (Age at T1: M = 5.8, T2: M = 7.4). Teachers completed questionnaires on children's social skills at T1. Teacher reports on peer victimization and depressive symptoms were assessed at both assessment points. RESULTS: Our study partially confirmed the suggested conceptual model. Deficits in self-oriented social skills significantly predicted depressive symptoms, whereas deficits in other-oriented social skills were more strongly associated with peer victimization. Longitudinal associations between other-oriented social skills and depressive symptoms were mediated through peer victimization. CONCLUSION: The study emphasizes the role of deficits in self-oriented social skills and peer victimization for the development of internalizing disorders.

The Development of Social Work as a Speciality and the Profession in Estonia

For Estonia and its people social work is one of the vitally important fields that had to be built up from almost nothing since independence was regained in 1991. During Soviet times social work and social workers did not receive the necessary attention. Severe social problems were denied and kept hidden since according to official communist ideology, life in the Soviet Union was the best in the world and getting better all the time. Social workers did not receive specialised education and their functions were to be carried out by the workers of trade unions and the party, by teachers and by the workers of the personnel departments. In the 1990s big changes, having also an effect on social life, took place in the development of Estonian society. Concepts such as social work and social worker were rediscovered in Estonia. There are certain prerequisites for the success of any activity (including social work). One of the most important ones is being a professional, a worker with thorough preparation. Social work as an occupation requires specialised academic education, which is based on theoretical knowledge and practical skills that have been acquired through theoretical knowledge. Specialised knowledge is a foundation for attaining a specialised qualification. However, at the same time one has to keep in mind that social work as an occupation is constantly changing, there is no absolute knowledge - everything is relative, dynamic and changing (Tamm, 1998). The changing nature of the activity requires reflection by a social worker, who also has to be able to evaluate his/her work and its basis and learn from experiences. Academic specialised education implies also the development of a new professional identity and higher levels of competence. This underlines the necessity of specialised education.

Intelligent Virtual Patients for Training Clinical Skills

The article presents the design process of intelligent virtual human patients that are used for the enhancement of clinical skills. The description covers the development from conceptualization and character creation to technical components and the application in clinical research and training. The aim is to create believable social interactions with virtual agents that help the clinician to develop skills in symptom and ability assessment, diagnosis, interview techniques and interpersonal communication. The virtual patient fulfills the requirements of a standardized patient producing consistent, reliable and valid interactions in portraying symptoms and behaviour related to a specific clinical condition.

Development of Values after Compulsory School: Work comes first, then family

During school-to-work transition, adolescents develop values and prioritize what is im-portant in their life. Values are concepts or beliefs about desirable states or behaviors that guide the selection or evaluation of behavior and events, and are ordered by their relative importance (Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987). Stressing the important role of values, career re-search has intensively studied the effect of values on educational decisions and early career development (e.g. Eccles, 2005; Hirschi, 2010; Rimann, Udris, & Weiss, 2000). Few re-searchers, however, have investigated so far how values develop in the early career phase and how value trajectories are influenced by individual characteristics. Values can be oriented towards specific life domains, such as work or family. Work values include intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of work (e.g., self-development, cooperation with others, income) (George & Jones, 1997). Family values include the importance of partner-ship, the creation of an own family and having children (Mayer, Kuramschew, & Trommsdroff, 2009). Research indicates that work values change considerably during early career development (Johnson, 2001; Lindsay & Knox, 1984). Individual differences in work values and value trajectories are found e.g., in relation to gender (Duffy & Sedlacek, 2007), parental background (Loughlin & Barling, 2001), personality (Lowry et al., 2012), educa-tion (Battle, 2003), and the anticipated timing of school-to-work transition (Porfeli, 2007). In contrast to work values, research on family value trajectories is rare and knowledge about the development during the school-to-work transition and early career development is lack-ing. This paper aims at filling this research gap. Focusing on family values and intrinsic work values and we expect a) family and work val-ues to change between ages 16 and 25, and b) that initial levels of family and work values as well as value change to be predicted by gender, reading literacy, ambition, and expected du-ration of education. Method. Using data from 2620 young adults (59.5% females), who participated in the Swiss longitudinal study TREE, latent growth modeling was employed to estimate the initial level and growth rate per year for work and family values. Analyses are based on TREE-waves 1 (year 2001, first year after compulsory school) to 8 (year 2010). Variables in the models included family values and intrinsic work values, gender, reading literacy, ambition and ex-pected duration of education. Language region was included as control variable. Results. Family values did not change significantly over the first four years after leaving compulsory school (mean slope = -.03, p =.36). They increased, however, significantly five years after compulsory school (mean slope = .13, p >.001). Intercept (.23, p < .001), first slope (.02, p < .001), and second slope (.01, p < .001) showed significant variance. Initial levels were higher for men and those with higher ambitions. Increases were found to be steeper for males as well as for participants with lower educational duration expectations and reading skills. Intrinsic work values increased over the first four years (mean slope =.03, p <.05) and showed a tendency to decrease in the years five to ten (mean slope = -.01, p < .10). Intercept (.21, p < .001), first slope (.01, p < .001), and second slope (.01, p < .001) showed signifi-cant variance, meaning that there are individual differences in initial levels and growth rates. Initial levels were higher for females, and those with higher ambitions, expecting longer educational pathways, and having lower reading skills. Growth rates were lower for the first phase and steeper for the second phase for males compared to females. Discussion. In general, results showed different patterns of work and family value trajecto-ries, and different individual factors related to initial levels and development after compul-sory school. Developments seem to fit to major life and career roles: in the first years after compulsory school young adults may be engaged to become established in one's job; later on, raising a family becomes more important. That we found significant gender differences in work and family trajectories may reflect attempts to overcome traditional roles, as over-all, women increase in work values and men increase in family values, resulting in an over-all trend to converge.

Strategies to the success of Online Course Development

Introduction Online courses provide flexible access to education from a distance. However, learners may encounter frustration and disappointment in the learning process for various reasons. Faculties might not be familiar with adult learning principles. The online course developer may have no knowledge, experience, or the skills necessary for developing online courseware. Online course development can take longer time and more resources. It can also take longer time to deliver the course. It is, therefore, important that online course development be made efficient and effective for best student learning. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Maturation of oral feeding skills in preterm infants.

AIM: Safe and successful oral feeding requires proper maturation of sucking, swallowing and respiration. We hypothesized that oral feeding difficulties result from different temporal development of the musculatures implicated in these functions. METHODS: Sixteen medically stable preterm infants (26 to 29 weeks gestation, GA) were recruited. Specific feeding skills were monitored as indirect markers for the maturational process of oral feeding musculatures: rate of milk intake (mL/min); percent milk leakage (lip seal); sucking stage, rate (#/s) and suction/expression ratio; suction amplitude (mmHg), rate and slope (mmHg/s); sucking/swallowing ratio; percent occurrence of swallows at specific phases of respiration. Coefficients of variation (COV) were used as indices of functional stability. Infants, born at 26/27- and 28/29-week GA, were at similar postmenstrual ages (PMA) when taking 1-2 and 6-8 oral feedings per day. RESULTS: Over time, feeding efficiency and several skills improved, some decreased and others remained unchanged. Differences in COVs between the two GA groups demonstrated that, despite similar oral feeding outcomes, maturation levels of certain skills differed. CONCLUSIONS: Components of sucking, swallowing, respiration and their coordinated activity matured at different times and rates. Differences in functional stability of particular outcomes confirm that maturation levels depend on infants' gestational rather than PMA.

Children's deliberate memory development: The contribution of strategies and metacognitive processes

This chapter focus is laid on the development of memory skills when children are confronted with a task or a situation in which learning or remembering certain target information is crucial. It presents important milestones toward self-regulated learning skills. The chapter discusses precursors of later strategic behaviors and metacognitive skills, the distinct research methods suitable to assessing early indicators of deliberate memory skills, as well as their importance for the emerging memory skills. It outlines the challenges arising from the application of deliberate memory skills in naturalistic, complex task contexts. The chapter adopted an explicit developmental perspective of memory strategies and metacognition in deliberate memory situations.

Individual Video Training iVT - Development of a National Infrastructure for Video-Supported Learning

Introduction: Video‐Supported Learning is particularly effective when it comes to skills and behaviors. Video registration of patient‐physician interviews, class room instruction or practical skills allow it to learners themselves, their peers, and their tutors to assess the quality of the learner's performance, to give specific feedback, and to make suggestions for improvement. Methods: In Switzerland, four pedagogical universities and two medical faculties joined to initiate the development of a national infrastructure for Video Supported Learning. The goal was to have a system that is simple to use, has most steps automated, provides the videos over the Internet, and has a sophisticated access control. Together with SWITCH, the national IT‐Support‐Organisation for Swiss Universities, the program iVT (Individual Video Training) was developed by integrating two preexisting technologies. The first technology is SWITCHcast, a podcast system. With SWITCHcast, videos are automatically uploaded to a server as soon as the registration is over. There the videos are processed and converted to different formats. The second technology is the national Single Logon System AAI (Authentification and Authorization Infrastructure) that enables iVT to link each video with the corresponding learner. The learner starts the registration with his Single Logon. Thus, the video can unambiguously be assigned. Via his institution's Learning Management System (LMS), the learner can access his video and give access to his video to peers and tutors. Results: iVT is now used at all involved institutions. The system works flawlessly. In Bern, we use iVT for the communications skills training in the forth and sixth year. Since students meet with patient actors alone, iVT is also used to certify attendance. Students are encouraged to watch the videos of the interview and the feedback of the patient actor. The offer to discuss a video with a tutor was not used by the students. Discussion: We plan to expand the use of iVT by making peer assessment compulsory. To support this, annotation capabilities are currently added to iVT. We also want to use iVT in training of practical skills, again for self as well as for peer assessment.  At present, we use iVT for quality control of patient actor's performance.

Development of meta-representations: Procedural metacognition and the relationship to Theory of Mind

In several studies it was shown that metacognitive ability is crucial for children and their success in school. Much less is known about the emergence of that ability and its relationship to other meta-representations like Theory of Mind competencies. In the past years, a growing literature has suggested that metacognition and Theory of Mind could theoretically be assumed to belong to the same developmental concept. Since then only a few studies showed empirically evidence that metacognition and Theory of Mind are related. But these studies focused on declarative metacognitive knowledge rather than on procedural metacognitive monitoring like in the present study: N = 159 children were first tested shortly before making the transition to school (aged between 5 1/2 and 7 1/2 years) and one year later at the end of their first grade. Analyses suggest that there is in fact a significant relation between early metacognitive monitoring skills (procedural metacognition) and later Theory of Mind competencies. Notably, language seems to play a crucial role in this relationship. Thus our results bring new insights in the research field of the development of meta-representation and support the view that metacognition and Theory of Mind are indeed interrelated, but the precise mechanisms yet remain unclear.