Pedagogical interventions to overcome communication apprehension in employment interviews among career students.

Career programs in the Cegep system base their training on various learning activities, which are followed by a practicum. The objective is to achieve a certain number of competencies, deemed necessary by the Ministry of Education, for entry-level occupations in to the workforce. The Graphic Communications program offered at Champlain College Saint-Lambert is a three-year career program that leads to employment in the field of graphics. Many students have part-time jobs during their schooling period but most of those jobs do not relate to their field of study. Several graduates stated they were unable to persuade employers to hire them for an externship or stage at the end of their program. While jobs are important for their general skills, since they are not directly related to the field, these jobs may not have given the students a suitable model for the conduct of an employment interview. Practice interviews may be one of many successful training methods to lower communication apprehension (CA) levels. CA is defined as "an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons." This paper examines the literature on CA and employment interviews and evaluates whether pedagogical interventions, including monitored phone calls to employers and practice-videotaped interviews, allow students to feel more confident about interviewing for a future job. A qualitative tool was used to gather scientific measurements of the participants' levels of CA both at the beginning and at the end of the Career Planning course. Open-ended reflective journals gathered quantitative data on the impact specific instructional strategies had on the participants. The pedagogical interventions that were examined and tested were as follows: preparation of scripts, monitored phone calls, videotaped practice interviews, and inclass access to professional assistance. Results indicate that all interventions had a positive impact on lowering levels of CA. It is clear that positive conclusions were drawn by the students as to usefulness of these activities. Overall, participants who responded to the reflective journal questions felt positive about the contribution of this preparatory career course to their CA levels. The results of the quantitative tool were consistent with previous research and the analysis of the reflective journals gave additional support to the usefulness of the interventions on students' confidence levels. Recommandations for improvements to the curriculum include the need for students to be taugh formally about metacognition and how to monitor it. Students need to be exposed to videotaped interviews more often. They should be better prepared for unexpected interview questions, and they should experience formal rehearsals with one of their instructors before the actual practice interview. Some of these recommendations have already been successfully implemented in the program's curriculum.||Résumé:Le but de ce travail était de vérifier si certaines activités pédagogiques sont efficaces pour faire baisser le niveau d'anxiété lié à la communication orale lors de leurs entrevues d'embauche. L'objectif des programmes techniques au Québec est de fournir aux étudiants un certain nombre de compétences définies par le ministèe de l'Éducation, des Loisirs et du Sport afin que ces derniers puissent fournir des services de techniciens spécialisés aux entreprises. Le programme nommé Office Systems Technology (412) du collège Champlain de Saint-Lambert, a choisi la voie de la spécialisation en microédition et hypermédia en 1999 et a changé son nom pour Graphic Communications en 2005. Les programmes techniques au Cégep incluent un stage en milieu de travail à la fin d'un programme de trois ans et par le fait même, une entrevue pour obtenir un stage en entreprise. La compétence visée par cette étude est l'intégration au marché du travail et le cheminement professionnel des étudiants. Lors d'enquêtes informelles, plusieurs étudiants du programme ont fait part de leurs difficultés à trouver un stage en fin d'études. Certains auteurs suggèrent que ces étudiants n'ont pas de modèles appropriés lors de la tenue d'une entrevue d'emploi. Ils proposent de diminuer le niveau d'anxiété lié à la communication orale lors d'entrevues d'embauche en offrant des pratiques d'entrevue aux étudiants. Cette recherche a examiné la littérature au sujet de l'anxiété de communication, plus précisément lors d'entrevues. Elle avait pour mandat d'évaluer si les activités pédagogiques d'un cours de préparation à la carrière ont été efficaces pour faire baisser les taux d'anxiété en communication orale lors d'entrevues. En plus, une conseillère à l'emploi fut invitée à plusieurs reprises afin de fournir un support professionnel en classe, étant donné que les étudiants ne prennent pas nécessairement le temps de consulter des professionnels en raison de leurs activités personnelles trop nombreuses. Le type d'enseignement évalué est considéré comme stratégique, étant donné qu'il agit au niveau cognitif et métacognitif de l'étudiant. Le cours de préparation à l'emploi débute par la vérification des acquis antérieurs des étudiants et il tient compte de leur motivation scolaire et professionnelle. De plus, il est axé sur la construction du savoir en proposant des activités de plus en plus complexes, débutant par la rédaction de textes à utiliser lors d'appels aux employeurs, en passant par la préparation et la pratique d'appels et se terminant par des entrevues d'emploi qui serviront de modèle à perfectionner par chaque étudiant. Ces entrevues se font avec des employeurs qui ont déjà embauché des étudiants du programme de Graphic Communications au collège Champlain de Saint-Lambert et sont enregistrées sur bande vidéo afin de permettre une visualisation ultérieure et cohérente avec les objectifs visés. La méthodologie de cette recherche inclut deux outils, un quantitatif et un qualitatif. L'outil quantitatif permet de mesurer scientifiquement les taux d'appréhension en communication des étudiants au début et à la fin du cours de préparation à l'emploi. Cet outil est la fusion de deux outils, le Personal Report of Communication Apprehension ou PRCA-24, qui fut développé par McCroskey (1984), en tandem avec celui de Wongprasert & Ayres (2000), qui lui met l'accent sur les entrevues d'emploi. Les réponses à cet outil combiné sont évaluées sur une échelle Likert de cinq points. L'outil qualitatif est une série de questions auxquelles les étudiants ont répondu quatre fois lors de la session. Les réponses à ces questions ont été analysées et les commentaires des étudiants évalués. Il découle de cette analyse que les niveaux d'anxiété des étudiants qui ont participé (14) étaient définitivement à la baisse en fin de cours. La pratique téléphonique structurée, dans un laboratoire avec les téléphones, a été très révélatrice pour les étudiants. Ils ont appris comment utiliser un script comme piste de départ pour un appel et qu'il était possible de contourner certains obstacles de façon professionnelle. Ensuite, lors d'une visite d'une compagnie de graphisme, ils ont pu observer divers modèles d'emploi. Ils ont eu la possibilité de poser des questions sur le fonctionnement et les besoins de l'entreprise. Ceci facilita la rédaction de leur curriculum vitae en leur permettant de mieux décrire leurs acquis en fonction d'emplois recherchés. Par la suite, ils se sont préparés pour une pratique d'entrevue, filmée. Les interviewers avaient déjà travaillé avec le collège et avaient déjà embauché certains étudiants de ce programme, donc ils connaissaient leur potentiel. Une liste de questions possibles fut suggérée mais il n'en restait pas moins que les interviewers pouvaient les modifier, ceci étant représentatif du marché de l'emploi. Même si le collège fournit un enseignement en anglais, un des intervieweurs donna ses entrevues en français. Trois étudiants se sont portés volontaires, mais deux ont constaté qu'ils auraient dû pratiquer leur script en français avant l'entrevue pour mieux diminuer leur niveau d'anxiété. Finalement, les étudiants durent visionner leur segment d'entrevue : ceci leur a permis de voir si leur attitude non-verbale concordait avec ce qu'ils ressentaient en entrevue et d'emmener les correctifs appropriés. Les taux d'anxiété furent vérifiés une deuxième fois en fin de session et les résultats ont démontré une baisse des taux d'appréhension. Les résultats de cette étude concordent donc avec ceux trouvés dans la littérature et donnent de bonnes pistes pour l'amélioration de ce cours de préparation à la carrière. L'auteur recommande d'enseigner la métacognition de façon formelle et ainsi de faciliter la prise de conscience des apprentissages que les étudiants effectuent. De plus, les étudiants devraient être filmés en studio au moins une fois par année pour diminuer le facteur de stress causé par les caméras et finalement ils pourraient certainement bénéficier de pratiques formelles d'entrevue avec un instructeur avant l'entrevue filmée. L'augmentation des pratiques a déjà été mise en oeuvre dans le programme et des résultats positifs se sont ensuivis.

[almost An Autobiography: A Study Of Social Scientists In Health Based On The Lattes Curriculum].

Among the various ways of adopting the biographical approach, we used the curriculum vitaes (CVs) of Brazilian researchers who work as social scientists in health as our research material. These CVs are part of the Lattes Platform of CNPq - the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, which includes Research and Institutional Directories. We analyzed 238 CVs for this study. The CVs contain, among other things, the following information: professional qualifications, activities and projects, academic production, participation in panels for the evaluation of theses and dissertations, research centers and laboratories and a summarized autobiography. In this work there is a brief review of the importance of autobiography for the social sciences, emphasizing the CV as a form of autobiographical practice. We highlight some results, such as it being a group consisting predominantly of women, graduates in social sciences, anthropology, sociology or political science, with postgraduate degrees. The highest concentration of social scientists is located in Brazil's southern and southeastern regions. In some institutions the main activities of social scientists are as teachers and researchers with great thematic diversity in research.

Cariology In Curriculum Of Brazilian Dental Schools.

Reasons for the iniquities of caries, globally recognized, may be related to how Cariology has been taught in dental schools. In Brazil, the most important universities, when considering healthcare teaching, are the public ones. The objective of this study was to identify the insertion of the contents of Cariology in the course flowcharts of public dental schools in the country. The survey was conducted in 2013 seeking to identify the realities of different geographical regions, aimed to the census of public dental schools. It was performed a documentary analysis of the menus of disciplines, identifying the following issues: number of dental schools that include content related to Cariology in their curricula; average total workload undergraduate courses and disciplines that contemplate the theme; distribution of disciplines in professional training cycles (basic, clinical and public health); existence of discipline and/or a specific department; verification of bibliographic indication directly related to Cariology. The response rate was 93.6%. All dental schools recommended specific books, and none of them had a Department of Cariology. All dental schools in the country contemplated content related to Cariology in their disciplines, distributed in specific disciplines (except for the Northern region) and disciplines in the three cycles of learning (basic, clinical and public health), with larger workload in the clinical cycle. Although public dental schools in Brazil demonstrated commitment to contemplating the content related to Cariology in their disciplines, the emphasis on the clinical cycle may not be promoting the integrated formation of students, which could be contributing to reflect the inequalities of the disease in the country.

Closing the gap in curriculum development leadership

“Closing the gap in curriculum development leadership” is a Carrick-funded University of Queensland project which is designed to address two related gaps in current knowledge and in existing professional development programs for academic staff. The first gap is in our knowledge of curriculum and pedagogical issues as they arise in relation to multi-year sequences of study, such as majors in generalist degrees, or core programs in more structured degrees. While there is considerable knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy at the course or individual unit of study level (e.g. Philosophy I), there is very little properly conceptualised, empirically informed knowledge about student learning (and teaching) over, say, a three-year major sequence in a traditional Arts or Sciences subject. The Carrick-funded project aims to (begin to) fill this gap through bottom-up curriculum development projects across the range of UQ’s offerings. The second gap is in our professional development programs and, indeed, in our recognition and support for the people who are in charge of such multi-year sequences of study. The major convener or program coordinator is not as well supported, in Australian and overseas professional development programs, as the lecturer in charge of a single course (or unit of study). Nor is her work likely to be taken account of in workload calculations or for the purposes of promotion and career advancement more generally. The Carrick-funded project aims to fill this gap by developing, in consultation with crucial stakeholders, amendments to existing university policies and practices. The attached documents provide a useful introduction to the project. For more information, please contact Fred D’Agostino at f.dagostino@uq.edu.au.

Integrating infection control into the dental curriculum

The dental profession has possessed traditional standards of cross-infection control but the recent expression of real concerns by both the public and the profession over the transmissibility of infectious diseases in the dental surgery has demanded a formalized and extended approach to teaching cross-infection control in the dental curriculum. Clear curriculum content must be formulated within contemporary Workplace Health and Safety Guidelines and the Strategic Plan of the Dental School or academic health centre. The full integration demands that the area is taught as a discrete entity but recognized as an intrinsic part of each clinical encounter. This paper discusses the structure and integration of cross-infection control into the curriculum at the University of Queensland Dental School.

Evaluating curriculum changes in undergraduate cancer education

Background. Previous studies have indicated that Australian medical schools have not adequately prepared our graduating doctors to care for patients with cancer. The University of Western Australia (UWA) introduced a two-week clinical attachment in cancer medicine for fifth-year students in 2000 and a four-day clinical attachment in palliative care for sixth-year students in 2001. This article evaluates the introduction of these dedicated clinical attachments in cancer and palliative care. Method. The Australian Cancer Society's Cancer Education Survey was administered to the UWA graduates starting their intern year in teaching hospitals in Perth, Western Australia, in 2002. Their responses were compared with data collected in a similar national survey of Australian and New Zealand interns in 2001. Results. The response rate was 56% (n = 70). When compared with the national data for 2001, more UWA interns (2002) would refer a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient to a multidisciplinary breast clinic (97% vs. 74%, P<.001). Fewer UWA 2002 interns rated their training as poor or very poor in the management of patients with incurable cancer (19% vs. 35%, P=.008) and the management of symptoms in patients dying from cancer (10% vs. 37%, P<.001), but they were more likely to rate their training in assisting a patient to stop smoking as poor or very poor (54% vs. 21%, P<.001). Only a quarter of the UWA 2002 interns had examined a patient with a cancer of the mouth or tongue (25% vs. 49%, P<.001), and only two thirds had examined a patient with lymphoma (64% vs. 83%, P<.001). Conclusions. Our data reflect changes in the final two years of the medical course at UWA and suggest that the introduction of dedicated attachments in cancer and palliative care has better prepared graduating doctors to care for patients with cancer.

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee project in 'Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology'

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) funds projects intended to improve the quality of teaching and learning in specific disciplinary areas. The project brief for 'Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology' for 2004/2005 was to 'produce an evaluative overview of courses ... with a focus on the specification and assessment of learning outcomes and ... identify strategic directions for universities to enhance teaching and learning'. This project was awarded to a consortium from The University of Queensland, University of Tasmania, and Southern Cross University. The starting point for this project is an analysis of the scientist-practitioner model and its role in curriculum design, a review of current challenges at a conceptual level, and consideration of the implications of recent changes to universities relating to such things as intemationalisation of programs and technological advances. The project will seek to bring together stakeholders from around the country in order to survey the widest possible range of perspectives on the project brief requirements. It is hoped also to establish mechanisms for fiiture scholarly discussion of these issues, including the establishment of an Australian Society for the Teaching of Psychology and an annual conference.

The neurosurgical training curriculum in Australia and New Zealand is changing. Why?

The Neurosurgical Advanced Training curriculum of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is currently undergoing change. Given the high standard of neurosurgery in Australia and New Zealand, it may be questioned why such change is necessary. However, the curriculum has not kept pace with developments in professional practice, educational practice or educational theory, particularly in the assessment of medical competence and performance. The curriculum must also adapt to the changing training environment, particularly the effects of reduced working hours, reducing caseloads due to shorter inpatient hospital stays and restricted access to public hospital beds and operating theatres, and the effects of subspecialisation. A formal review of the curriculum is timely. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching of medical ethics: Implications for an integrated curriculum

This paper reports on an investigation into the teaching of medical ethics and related areas in the medical undergraduate course at the University of Queensland. The project was designed in the context of a major curriculum change to replace the current 6 year course by an integrated, problem-based, 4 year graduate medical course, which began in 1997. A survey of clinical students, observations of clinical teaching sessions, and interviews with clinical teachers were conducted. Data obtained have contributed to curriculum development and will provide a baseline for comparison and evaluation of the graduate course in this field. A view of integrated ethics teaching is advanced in the light of the data obtained.