Evaluation of a One-Day Meditech Magic Training Program for Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses in a long term care program

Background: An evaluation was completed on the One-Day Meditech Magic Training Program for Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) developed for the Long Term Care (LTC) Program. Methods: Both a literature review and consultation with stakeholders were completed to determine possible evaluation methods, expected outcomes, and ways to measure the effectiveness of the education program. A pretest/posttest design and questionnaire were chosen as the evaluation tools for this project. Results: No significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest total scores indicating that learners retained information from the orientation session (Z = -1.820, p = 0.069). Additional Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests were performed on the individual sections of the tests and revealed a significant decrease in the posttest scores for entering a Diagnostic Imaging requisition (Z = -1.975, p = 0.048). No other significant findings were present. Questionnaires were also analyzed revealing that most participants were pleased with the Meditech documentation education they received and did not indicate barriers that would affect electronic documentation. Conclusions: Further testing is required to ensure reliability and validity of the evaluation tools. Finally, caution is needed due to a small sample size. However, problematic documentation tasks were identified during the evaluation, and as a result both the training session and support materials will be improved as a result of this project.

The development of an online neonatal intensive care unit family education

Background: British Columbia’s Fraser Health Authority (FHA) neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) value family centered care (FCC). Nevertheless, there is limited evidence that FCC is actually incorporated into practice, as well as some concern that FHA NICU education is inaccessible, inconsistent, or disorganized. Purpose: The mission of this project is to support the principles of FCC throughout the development of an FHA online NICU family education guide by reflecting upon the needs of families throughout their NICU journey. Methods: A needs assessment was initially completed and included literature reviews, consultations, and an environmental scan. This data informed development of an online NICU family education guide which plots current education materials along key stages of the NICU journey: prenatal, admission, early days, growing and developing, discharge and at home. For the purposes of this practicum, only the prenatal stage was fully developed and will serve as a template for other stages following a formative evaluation. A pamphlet and revised FHA Neonatal Checkpoint will also be developed to augment teaching by health care professionals. Implementation and evaluation plans were adapted from the Center for Disease Control Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health. Results: The needs assessment validates and directs the development, implementation, and evaluation of the online guide illustrating an FCC approach. The online guide centralizes and organizes education by selecting education topics that relate to each stage of the NICU journey. This family-directed design enables families’ access to consistent and reliable information and offers them an opportunity to learn at their own pace. Conclusion: The process of creating, implementing, and evaluating an online family education program for FHA NICUs elucidates the intricacies and the advantages of integrating FCC into NICU practice.

Intentional Use and Evaluation of iPad Applications in the Instruction of Pre-service Teachers

This study was undertaken to examine how instructor use of emerging technologies can contribute to better quality pre-service teacher education. A group of nine Memorial University Faculty of Education instructors attempted to systematically incorporate mobile tablet (iPad) technologies into their on-campus instruction over the period of one academic year (2013-2014). Participants familiarized themselves with their device; evaluated a range of instructional applications (apps) specific to their discipline and/or teaching focus areas; and attempted to intentionally integrate the device into the classroom-learning environment. The research team utilized several focus groups and semi-structured interviews to elicit the representations of participants with respect to their impressions of the value of tablet technologies and their experiences in implementing tablet technology in their instructional practice.

A qualitative evaluation of the Scottish Staff and Associate Specialist Development Programme

Acknowledgements Our thanks to all those who took part in the interviews, and to Gillian Campbell for her help in organising these interviews. Our thanks to NHS Education for Scotland for commissioning us to carry out this project. Funding Our thanks to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) for funding this research. JC and PJ received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The use of mobile technology in evaluation

Peer reviewed

The Effects of Civic Education on Political Knowledge

Traditionally political knowledge was regarded as an important potential outcome for civic education efforts. Most of the currently available research, however, tends to focus on non-cognitive goals, despite the fact that studies repeatedly have shown that political knowledge is an important resource for enlightened and engaged citizenship. In this article, we investigate whether civic education contributes to political knowledge levels. The analysis is based on the Belgian Political Panel Survey, a two year panel study among 2,988 Belgian late adolescents. The analysis shows that experiences with group projects at school contribute significantly to political knowledge levels two years later on. Furthermore, we can observe an interaction effect as those who are already most knowledgeable about politics, gain most from these group projects. Classes about politics, on the other hand, did not have an effect on knowledge levels. In the discussion, it is argued that civic education can have strong cognitive effects, but that these effects are not always related to classical civic education efforts.

Higher education, equality & ethnicity:the attainment gap – what should we be doing?

This brief paper draws upon part of the findings of a HEA Sponsored evaluation of work conducted in 8 Universities across UK aimed at addressing the attainment gap between BME and White students. Following a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews with staff at each of the institutions were analysed and three main themes identified: Organisational Sensitivities: Language: and, Ownership. This paper provides a brief discussion of the issues identifying two areas where positive change is needed in institutional practice. The conclusion highlights the complexities of the underlying issues impacting and shaping the Attainment Gap before reaffirming the need to identify and evaluate which interventions are most likely to be transferable across the Sector so as to address the issues and thus enhance the experiences of all students.

Communities of practice as professional and organizational development strategy in local public health organizations in Québec, Canada : an evaluation model

Communities of practice (CoPs) are among the professional development strategies most widely used in such fields as management and education. Though the approach has elicited keen interest, knowledge pertaining to its conceptual underpinnings is still limited, thus hindering proper assessment of CoPs' effects and the processes generating the latter. To address this shortcoming, this paper presents a conceptual model that was developed to evaluate an initiative based on a CoP strategy: Health Promotion Laboratories are a professional development intervention that was implemented in local public health organizations in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). The model is based on latest theories on work-group effectiveness and organizational learning and can be usefully adopted by evaluators who are increasingly called upon to illuminate decision-making about CoPs. Ultimately, validation of this conceptual model will help advance knowledge and practice pertaining to CoPs as well as professional and organizational development strategies in public health.

Program evaluation primer: A review of three evaluations

Program evaluation—a “tool used to assess the implementation and outcomes of a program, to increase a program’s efficiency and impact over time, and to demonstrate accountability” (MacDonald et. al, 2001, p. 1)—is an essential process to program assessment and improvement. This paper overviews three published program evaluations and considers important aspects of program evaluation more broadly.

Application of an Education Research Lab (ERL) Model to a Community Sailing Program

This presentation showcases the application of a university-based education research lab (ERL) model to the evaluation of a community sailing program for individuals with disabilities. Presenters conceptualize the ERL model as a mutually beneficial relationship between universities and community education agencies.

A case study on a design-informed developmental evaluation

Developmental evaluation (DE) is an evaluation approach that aims to support the development of an innovation (Patton, 1994, 2011). This aim is achieved through supporting clients’ information needs through evaluative inquiry as they work to develop and refine the innovation. While core concepts and principles are beginning to be articulated and refined, challenges remain as to how to focus a developmental evaluation beyond those knowledge frameworks most immediate to clients to support innovation development. Anchoring a DE in knowledge frameworks other than those of the clients might direct attention to issues not yet obvious to clients, but which might further the goal of supporting innovation development if attended to. Drawing concepts and practices from the field of design may be one avenue with which to inform developmental evaluation in achieving its aim. Through a case study methodology, this research seeks to understand the nuances of operationalizing the guiding principles of DE as well as to investigate the utility, feasibility, and consequences of integrating design concepts and practices into developmental evaluation (design-informed developmental evaluation, “DI-DE”). It does so by documenting the efforts of a design-informed developmental evaluator and a task force of educators and researchers in a Faculty of Education as they work to develop a graduate-level education program. A systematic review into those purposeful efforts made to introduce DI-DE thinking into task force deliberations, and an analysis into the responses and consequences of those efforts shed light on what it had meant to practice DI-DE. As a whole, this research on evaluation is intended to further contemporary thinking about the closely coupled relationship between program development and evaluation in complex and dynamic environments.

From Where Do We Teach? Potential Positions in Public Education

This thesis is a conceptual examination of the positions from which we teach in public education. As it is philosophical in nature, it takes no qualitative or quantitative data. It offers a review of selected relevant literature and an analysis of personal and professional experience, with the intent to pose critical questions about teaching and learning. The framework of this thesis represents the following contentions: First, from its inception, public schooling served capital by preparing skilled labour for emerging industrial markets. This history is the hegemonic shadow that hangs over public education today. Second, movements toward the standardization of funding, curriculum, and evaluation support the further commodification of public schooling. The “accountability” that standardization offers, the “back to basics” that it aims for, is counter to the potential that public education might critically inform citizens and seek social justice. Third, movements toward the privatization of public schooling under the guise of “choice” and “mobility”, brought on by manufactured crisis, serve only to widen socio-economic inequities as capitalist neoliberal interests seek profit in both the product of public schools and in schooling itself. If we recognize and understand the power of public education to inform vast numbers of citizens who will, in turn, either maintain or reform society, we must ask: What do we want public education to be? What are the effects of continuing down historically conventional and increasingly standardized paths? What do progressive pedagogies offer? How might teachers destandardize their pedagogy and pursue equitable opportunities for marginalized students? How might students name themselves and their world, that they might play a part in its reimagining? For whom do we teach, and under what conditions? From where do we teach, and why? For educators to ask these questions, and to employ what they discover, will necessitate taking substantial risks. It will necessitate taking a stand and cannot be done alone. Teachers must seek out the collaboration of their students. They must offer students the time and the space to find their own voices, to create their own selves, and to envision previously uncharted paths on which we might walk together.

Education and self-regulation of learning for gifted pupils: Systemic design and development.

Gifted pupils differ from their age-mates with respect to development potential, actual competencies, self-regulatory capabilities, and learning styles in one or more domains of competence. The question is how to design and develop education that fits and further supports such characteristics and competencies of gifted pupils. Analysis of various types of educational interventions for gifted pupils reflects positive cognitive or intellectual effects and differentiated social comparison or group-related effects on these pupils. Systemic preventive combination of such interventions could make these more effective and sustainable. The systemic design is characterised by three conditional dimensions: differentiation of learning materials and procedures, integration by and use of ICT support, and strategies to improve development and learning. The relationships to diagnostic, instructional, managerial, and systemic learning aspects are expressed in guidelines to develop or transform education. The guidelines imply the facilitation of learning arrangements that provide flexible self-regulation for gifted pupils. A three-year pilot in Dutch nursery and primary school is conducted to develop and implement the design in collaboration with teachers. The results constitute prototypes of structured competence domains and supportive software. These support the screening of entry characteristics of all four-year old pupils and assignment of adequate play and learning processes and activities throughout the school career. Gifted and other pupils are supported to work at their actual achievement or competency levels since their start in nursery school, in self-regulated learning arrangements either in or out of class. Each pupil can choose other pupils to collaborate with in small groups, at self-chosen tasks or activities, while being coached by the teacher. Formative evaluation of the school development process shows that the systemic prevention guidelines seem to improve learning and social progress of gifted pupils, including their self-regulation. Further development and implementation steps are discussed.

Shared Education in contested spaces: How collaborative networks improve communities and schools

Societies which suffer from ethnic and political divisions are often characterised by patterns of social and institutional separation, and sometimes these divisions remain even after political conflict has ended. This has occurred in Northern Ireland where there is, and remains, a long-standing pattern of parallel institutions and services for the different communities. A socially significant example lies in the education system where a parallel system of Catholic and Protestant schools has been in place since the establishment of a national school system in the 1830s. During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland a variety of educational interventions were implemented to promote reconciliation, but most of them failed to create any systemic change. This paper describes a post-conflict educational initiative known as Shared Education which aims to promote social cohesion and school improvement by encouraging sustained and regular shared learning between students and broader collaboration between teachers and school leaders from different schools. The paper examines the background to work on Shared Education, describes a ‘sharing continuum’ which emerged as an evaluation and policy tool from this work and considers evidence from a case study of a Shared Education school partnership in a divided city in Northern Ireland. The paper will conclude by highlighting some of the significant social and policy impact of the Shared Education work.