An Innovative teaching tool for students is it Appropriate?

Background: Clinical supervision takes place once the newly qualified nurse is employed in clinical practice. However, often the variety and diversity of nursing jobs can result in a hit and miss delivery of supervision training. By introducing training uniformly at undergraduate stage a more seamless transition may occur (McColgan K, Rice C. 2012).

There is an increased interest in higher education in the use of online learning resources for students. As part completion of a DNP an App. for training students in clinical supervision was developed.

Aim: The creation of a clinical supervision training App. for use in undergraduate nursing.

Objectives:
•To develop a teaching tool that is up to date, current and easily accessible to students.
•To introduce supervision training for undergraduate nursing students
•To motivate the undergraduate nursing student to identify examples from their clinical experience to encourage change and promote professional development.

Approach:
Stage 1
In 2010/11 informal inquiries with senior nurses regarding the introduction of supervision training in undergraduate nursing
Stage 2
A review of UK supervision training.
Stage 3
Template production of teaching tool.
Stage 4
Collaboration with a computer technician to transfer multimedia outputs onto an App.
Stage 5
App. piloted with lecturers (n=4) and post registration students (n=20).
Stage 6
Minor alterations made to App. design template
Stage 7
App. included in an experimental study looking at online learning versus blended learning June 2013 (n=61, n=63)

Conclusion: A collaborative approach to the development of any educational programme is essential to ensure the success of the final teaching product (McCutcheon 2013). The end result is that this App. could be:
•Made available to nurses in the UK.
•Adapted to suit other healthcare professionals and students.
•Used as a prototype for other healthcare related subjects.

McColgan K., Rice C. (2012) An online training resource for clinical supervision. Nursing Standard, 26(24) 35-39.
McCutcheon K. (2013) Development of a multi-media book for clinical supervision training in an undergraduate nursing programme. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 3(5) 31-38.

The Changing Context for Planning Education in the UK and the Prospects for Research-Led, Practice-Engaged Teaching

The UK’s Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) celebrates its centenary in 2014, marking 100 years of close relationships between university-based Planning Schools and a professional body focussed on planning practice. During this period, the context for university education and the very idea of planning has changed dramatically contributing to a continual renegotiation of the relationships between the planning profession and the educational institutions it accredits. These changes have been particularly acute in the last ten years where a number of factors have forced a rapid change in the nature of planning education in the UK. This has included a boom and then slump in the number of planning students linked to the national economic situation, a reorganisation of many planning schools and their merger with cognate disciplines such as geography and an increased focus of research output, rather than professional engagement the key institutional indicator of success. This last factor adds a particularly new dimension to the profession-university relationship, which could potentially lead to either a straining of tensions or a synergy through research-led teaching that could significantly benefit both.

This paper will briefly review the evolution of UK planning schools and the co-evolution of the main ideas informing planning education. It will then describe the current profile of UK planning schools, based on an extensive national survey conducted on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute. The paper will then critically review the main challenges and opportunities facing UK Planning Schools in the context of changes in both planning practice and higher education. It will then move on to the concept of research-led teaching, drawing on current practice in the UK and review how well this concept serves students and the idea of developing reflective planning practitioners. Finally, the paper will seek to draw broad lessons from the experience of the UK and reflect on the type of planning education that can best serve planning professions in a variety of international contexts in the future.

Precision Teaching in IV Fluid Prescribing and Patient Safety

OBJECTIVES: Precision Teaching (PT) has been shown to be an effective intervention to assess teaching method effectiveness and evaluate learning outcomes. SAFMEDS (Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled) are a practice/assessment procedure within the PT framework to assist learning and fluency. We explored the effects of a brief intervention with PT, to impart high frequency performance in safe intravenous fluid prescription in a group of final year undergraduate medical students.
METHODS: 133 final year undergraduate medical students completed a multiple choice question (MCQ) test on safe IV fluid prescription at the beginning and end of the study. The control group (n= 76) of students were taught using a current standardized teaching method. Students allocated to the intervention arm of the study were additionally instructed on PT and the use of SAFMEDS. The study group (n = 57) received 50 SAFMEDS cards containing information on the principles of IV fluid prescription scenarios. These students were trained/tested twice per day for 1 minute.
RESULTS: Interim analysis showed that the study group displayed an improvement in fluency and accuracy as the study progressed. There was a statistically significant improvement in MCQ performance for the PT group compared with the control group between the beginning and end of the study (35% vs 15%).
CONCLUSION: These results suggest PT employing SAFMEDS is an effective method for improving fluency, accuracy and patient safety in intravenous fluid prescribing amongst undergraduate medical students.

The Changing Context for Planning Education in the UK and the Prospects for Research-Led, Practice-Engaged Teaching

The UK’s Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has celebrated its centenary in 2014, marking 100 years of close relationships between university-based planning schools and a professional body focused on planning practice. During this period, the context for university education and the very idea of planning have changed dramatically contributing to a continual renegotiation of the relationships between the planning profession and the educational institutions it accredits. These changes have been particularly pronounced in the last 10 years where a number of factors have forced a rapid change in the nature of planjavascript:void(0);ning education in the UK. This has included a boom and then slump in the number of planning students linked to the dynamics of national economic situation, a reorganization of many planning school curricula, and their merger with cognate disciplines such as geography and an increased focus on research output, rather than professional engagement as the key indicator of institutional success. This last factor adds a particularly new dimension to the profession-university relationship, which could potentially lead to either straining of tensions or a synergy through research-led teaching that could significantly benefit both. This chapter will briefly review the evolution of UK planning schools and of the main ideas informing planning education. It will then describe the current profile of UK planning schools, based on an extensive national survey conducted on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute. The paper will then critically review the main challenges and opportunities facing UK planning schools in the context of changes in both planning practice and higher education. It will then move on to the concept of research-led teaching, drawing on current practice in the UK and review how well this concept serves students and the idea of developing reflective planning practitioners. Finally, the paper will seek to draw broad lessons from the experience of the UK and reflect on the type of planning education that can best serve planning professions in a variety of international contexts in the future.

Integrated approach to teaching English in primary and preschool

O presente trabalho de investigação apresenta um estudo que procurou observar comportamentos de literacia emergente numa língua estrangeira (Inglês) em contexto da educação pré-escolar. Procedeu-se à conceção e implementação de uma abordagem integrada ao ensino da língua inglesa, através numa abordagem metodológica inspirada no paradigma investigação-ação, percecionada como oportunidade de inovação pedagógica e de formação de professores. O estudo foi desenvolvido em simultâneo no 1ºCEB, tendo como principal objetivo comparar os comportamentos e atitudes dos alunos de outra faixa etária relativamente aos comportamentos de literacia em língua estrangeira. Os dados foram recolhidos através da observação, gravação de aulas, posteriormente transcritas, diários do investigador, questionários, portfolios dos alunos e entrevistas semi-estruturadas a especialistas na área da pedagogia de línguas estrangeiras, analisados através da aplicação de técnicas de análise de conteúdo como procedimento de análise do corpus. Os resultados demonstram a relevância de abordagens integradas de cariz lúdico na promoção de comportamentos de leitura e escrita emergente, estimulando assim motivação intrínseca nas crianças pela aprendizagem da língua e cultura-alvo. Por conseguinte, os comportamentos observados de literacia emergente em língua estrangeira permitem estabelecer uma analogia com as crianças bilingues, na medida em que ao aprenderem uma outra língua desenvolvem em sincronia a sua flexibilidade mental e estratégias de auto-regulação em diversas áreas de conhecimento. Os resultados permitem ainda concluir que estratégias promotoras de motivação intrínseca como o lúdico e o storytelling são vitais na sensibilização à diversidade linguística e cultural, por oposição aos resultados evidenciados pela estratégia nacional para o ensino de línguas estrangeiras no 1.ºCEB. As principais implicações deste estudo sugerem a possibilidade de generalização da língua estrangeira na educação pré-escolar, sendo esta etapa compreendida como um período privilegiado na prevenção de insucesso na leitura e escrita na aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. Deste modo, a educação pré-escolar pode ser considerada como um tempo fundador do futuro linguístico das crianças, numa perspetiva de educação linguística ao longo da vida.

The militarisation of English schools: Troops to Teaching and the implications for Initial Teacher Education and race equality

This article considers the implications of the Troops to Teaching (TtT) programme, to be introduced in England in autumn 2013, for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and race equality. TtT will fast-track ex-armed service members to teach in schools, without necessarily the requirement of a university degree. Employing theories of white supremacy, and Althusser’s (1971) concept of Ideological and Repressive State Apparatus, I argue that this initiative both stems from, and contributes to, a system of social privilege and oppression in education. Despite appearing to be aimed at all young people, the planned TtT initiative is actually aimed at poor and racially subordinated youth. This is likely to further entrench polarisation in a system which already provides two tier educational provision: TtT will be a programme for the inner-city disadvantaged, whilst wealthier, whiter schools will mostly continue to get highly qualified teachers. Moreover, TtT contributes to a wider devaluing of current ITE; ITE itself is rendered virtually irrelevant, as it seems TtT teachers will not be subject specialists, rather will be expected to provide military-style discipline, the skills for which they will be expected to bring with them. More sinister, I argue that TtT is part of the wider militarisation of education. This military-industrial-education complex seeks to contain and police young people who are marginalised along lines of race and class, and contributes to a wider move to increase ideological support for foreign wars - both aims ultimately in the service of neoliberal objectives which will feed social inequalities.

English as a lingua Franca : bridging the gap between theory and practice in english language teaching

Tese de doutoramento, Linguística (Linguística Aplicada), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2015

Patients' understanding of blood tests and attitudes to HIV screening in the emergency department of a Swiss teaching hospital: a cross-sectional observational study.

BACKGROUND: In Switzerland, patients may undergo "blood tests" without being informed what these are screening for. Inadequate doctor-patient communication may result in patient misunderstanding. We examined what patients in the emergency department (ED) believed they had been screened for and explored their attitudes to routine (non-targeted) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening. METHODS: Between 1st October 2012 and 28th February 2013, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among patients aged 16-70 years old presenting to the ED of Lausanne University Hospital. Patients were asked: (1) if they believed they had been screened for HIV; (2) if they agreed in principle to routine HIV screening and (3) if they agreed to be HIV tested during their current ED visit. RESULTS: Of 466 eligible patients, 411 (88%) agreed to participate. Mean age was 46 ± 16 years; 192 patients (47%) were women; 366 (89%) were Swiss or European; 113 (27%) believed they had been screened for HIV, the proportion increasing with age (p ≤0.01), 297 (72%) agreed in principle with routine HIV testing in the ED, and 138 patients (34%) agreed to be HIV tested during their current ED visit. CONCLUSION: In this ED population, 27% believed incorrectly they had been screened for HIV. Over 70% agreed in principle with routine HIV testing and 34% agreed to be tested during their current visit. These results demonstrate willingness among patients concerning routine HIV testing in the ED and highlight a need for improved doctor-patient communication about what a blood test specifically screens for.

Teaching sexual abuse prevention skills to two children with intellectual disabilities through game play

The current study examined the effectiveness of a sexual abuse prevention program developed locally for children with intellectual disabilities. The program package included a board game with informational storybooks that were designed to be used in a family setting. Additionally, this research sought to determine if parents could be effective at presenting the sexual abuse pr~vention materials to their children. A multiple baseline across behaviours design was used with two participants with a diagnosis of autism. Through role play scenarios as well as verbal knowledge tests, it was determined that the program was effective at teaching the participants the skills presented for self protection. It was also determined that the skills learned were generalized to scenarios that were untrained during the game play. Finally, with additional supports, it was determined that parents were able to effectively teach their children the required skills.

The Search for Scholarly Teaching in Elementary Education

Elementary teachers are expected to prepare students to work efficiently with others, solve complex problems and self-regulate their own learning. Considering the importance of a solid educational foundation in the early years, students would benefit if elementary teachers engaged in scholarly teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate Boyer’s (1990) four dimensions of scholarship, application, integration, teaching and discovery, to better understand if there is scholarly teaching in elementary education. Four professional teaching documents were analyzed using a hermeneutic orientation. A deductive analysis suggests that we do have scholarly teaching in elementary education, with strong evidence that elementary teachers are scholars of application and integration. An inductive analysis of latent and manifest content suggests that underlying humanistic values run deeply through elementary education driving current curricular, instructional and pedagogical practices.

Teaching Adolescents to Think and Act Responsibly Through Narrative Film-making: A Qualitative Study

The current qualitative study examined an adapted version of the psychoeducational program, Teaching Adolescents to Think and Act Responsibly: The EQUIP Approach (DiBiase, Gibbs, Potter, & Blount, 2012). The adapted version, referred to as the EQUIP – Narrative Filmmaking Program, was implemented as a means of character education. The purpose of this study was three-fold: 1) to examine how the EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program influenced student’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours; 2) to explore the students’ and the teacher’s perception of their experience with the program; and 3) to assess whether or not the integrated EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program addressed the goals of Ontario’s character education initiative. Purposive sampling was used to select one typical Grade 9 Exploring Technologies class, consisting of 15 boys from a Catholic board of education in the southern Ontario region. The EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program required students to create moral narrative films that first portrayed a set of self-centered cognitive distortions, with follow-up portrayals of behavioural modifications. Before, during, and after intervention questionnaires were administered to the students and teacher. The student questionnaires invited responses to a set of cognitive distortion vignettes. In addition, data was collected through student and teacher interviews, and researcher observation protocol reports. Initially the data was coded according to an a priori set of themes that were further analyzed according to emotion and values coding methods. The results indicated that while each student was unique in his thoughts, feelings, and behavioural responses to the cognitive distortion vignettes after completing the EQUIP program, the overall trends showed students had a more positive attitude, with a decreased proclivity for antisocial behaviour and self-serving cognitive distortion portrayed in the vignettes. Overall, the teacher and students’ learning experiences were mainly positive and the program met the learning expectations of Ontario’s character education initiative. Based on these results of the present study, it is recommended that the EQUIP – Narrative Film-making Program be further evaluated through quantitative research and longitudinal study.

Using Effective Teaching Strategies and Personality Type to Enhance the Mathematics Classroom: A Handbook for Intermediate Math Teachers

This project addressed the need for more insightful, current, and applicable resources for intermediate math teachers in Canadian classrooms. A need for a handbook in this division seemed warranted by a lack of government resource support. Throughout an extensive review of the literature, themes and topics for the handbook emerged. The handbook was designed to not only provide educators with examples of effective teaching strategies within the mathematics classroom but to also inform them about the ways in which their personal characteristics and personality type could affect their students and their own pedagogical practices. Three teaching professionals who had each taught in an intermediate math class within the past year evaluated the handbook. The feedback received from these educators was directly applied to the first draft of the handbook in order to make it more accessible and applicable to other math teachers. Although the handbook was written with teachers in mind, the language and format used throughout the manual also make it accessible to parents, tutors, preservice education students, and educational administrators. Essentially, any individual who is hoping to inspire and educate intermediate math students could make use of the content within the handbook.

Exploring the Current State of Grades 4 to 8 Science Education in Ontario

This study sought to explore the current state of Grades 4 to 8 science education in Ontario from the perspective of Junior/Intermediate (J/I) teachers. The study’s methodology was a sequential 2-phased mixed methods explanatory design denoted as QUAN (qual)  qual. Data were collected from an online survey and follow-up interviews. J/I teachers (N = 219) from 48 school boards in Ontario completed a survey that collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviewees were selected from the survey participant population (n = 6) to represent a range of teaching strategies, attitudes toward teaching science, and years of experience. Survey and interview questions inquired about teacher attitudes toward teaching science, academic and professional experiences, teaching strategies, support resources, and instructional time allotments. Quantitative data analyses involved the descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Qualitative data was coded inductively and deductively. Academic background in science was found to significantly influence teachers’ reported level of capability to teach science. The undergraduate degrees held by J/I science teachers were found to significantly influence their reported levels of capability to teach science. Participants identified a lack of time allocated for science instruction and inadequate equipment and facilities as major limitations on science instruction. Science in schools was reported to be of a “second-tiered” value to language and mathematics. Implications of this study include improving undergraduate and preservice experiences of elementary teachers by supporting their science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.

Purpose built teaching equipment for a laboratory based course in three phase machines and drives

The hazards associated with high voltage three phase inverters and the rotating shafts of large electrical machines have resulted in most of the engineering courses covering these topics to be predominantly theoretical. This paper describes a set of purpose built, low voltage and low cost teaching equipment which allows the "hands on" instruction of three phase inverters and rotating machines. By using low voltages, the student can experiment freely with the motors and inverter and can access all of the current and voltage waveforms, which until now could only be studied in text books or observed as part of laboratory demonstrations. Both the motor and the inverter designs are optimized for teaching purposes cost around $25 and can be made with minimal effort.