Factors associated with physical activity in children attending family child care homes

Objective To determine the relationship between family child care home (FCCH) practices and characteristics, and objectively measured physical activity (PA) among children attending FCCHs. Methods FCCH practices and characteristics were assessed in 45 FCCHs in Oregon (USA) in 2010-2011 using the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care Instrument. Within the 45 FCCHs, 136 children between ages 2 and 5. years wore an accelerometer during child care attendance over a one-week period. Time spent in light, moderate, and vigorous PA per hour was calculated using intensity-related cut-points (Pate et al., 2006). Results FCCH characteristics and practices associated with higher levels of PA (min/h; p < 0.05) included provision of sufficient outdoor active play [32.2 (1.0) vs. 28.6 (1.3)], active play using portable play equipment [31.7 (1.0) vs. 29.3 (1.4)], the presence of a variety of fixed play equipment [32.2 (1.0) vs. 28.9 (1.3)], and suitable indoor play space [32.2 (1.0) vs. 28.6 (1.3)], engaging in active play with children [32.1 (1.1) vs. 29.6 (1.2)], and receiving activity-related training [33.1 (1.2) vs. 30.3 (1.1)]. Conclusions This is the first study to identify practices and characteristics of FCCHs that influence children's PA. These data should be considered when developing programs and policies to promote PA in FCCHs.

Paediatric death and dying: Exploring coping strategies of health professionals and perceptions of support provision

Without question a child’s death is a devastating event for parents and their families. Health professionals working with the dying child and family draw upon their expertise and experience to engage with children, parents, and families on this painful journey. A delicate and sensitive area of practice, it has strong and penetrating effects on health professionals. They employ physical, emotional, spiritual and problem solving strategies to continue to perform this role effectively and to protect their continued sense of well-being. Aim To explore health professionals’ perceptions of bereavement support surrounding the loss of a child. Methods The research was underpinned by social constructionism. Semi-structured interviews were held with 10 health professionals including doctors, nurses and social workers who were directly involved in the care of the dying child and family in 7 cases of paediatric death. Health professional narratives were analysed consistent with Charmarz’s (2006) approach. Results For health professionals, constructions around coping emerged as peer support, personal coping strategies, family support, physical impact of support and spiritual beliefs . Analysis of the narratives also revealed health professionals’ perceptions of their support provision. Conclusion Health professionals involved in caring for dying children and their families use a variety of strategies to cope with the emotional and physical toll of providing support. They also engage in self-assessment to evaluate their support provision and this highlights the need for self-evaluation tools in paediatric palliative care.

Feedback on student performance in the workplace: The role of workplace supervisors

This chapter highlights the im portance of feedback in work - integrated learning (WIL) , the key role of workplace supervisors, and the importance of continuous improvement in systems to support feedback processes. The paper proposes a definition of feedback and formative feedback, as well as approaches for providing industry feedback in W I L . It further reports on a case analysis based on workplace supervisors providing feedback to students in engineering and urban development , yielding certain insights into student pe rformance in the workplace, and m ore importantly, hi ghlighting the need to enhance the use of feedback processes. This is requir ed in a context where delivering feedback in WIL is generally acknowledge d to be complex, and where the role of the industry supervisor in appraising the performance of the student in the workplace needs to be very c learly defined in order for supervisor s ’ feedback to have optimal impact. F eedback in WIL i s set against the bac kdrop of recognizing the importance and complexity of stakeholder engagement in WIL in general, and the intricacy associated with the provision of feedback from industry supervisors in particular. Student self - assessment is briefly considered as a fu rther dimension of their participation in providing feedback on their own performance in the workplace . ( Asia - Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, Special Issue, 2014, 15 (3 ), 241 - 25 2

Summative evaluation of climate application activities with pastoralists in western Queensland

Survey methods were engaged to measure the change in use and knowledge of climate information by pastoralists in western Queensland. The initial mail survey was undertaken in 2000-01 (n=43) and provided a useful benchmark of pastoralists climate knowledge. Two years of climate applications activities were completed and clients were re-surveyed in 2003 (n=49) to measure the change in knowledge and assess the effectiveness of the climate applications activities. Two methods were used to assess changes in client knowledge, viz., self-assessment and test questions. We found that the use of seasonal climate forecasts in decision making increased from 36% in 2001 (n=42) to 51% in 2003 (n=49) (P=0.07). The self-assessment technique was unsatisfactory as a measure of changing knowledge over short periods (1-3 years), but the test question technique was successful and indicated an improvement in climate knowledge among respondents. The increased levels of use of seasonal climate forecasts in management and improved knowledge was partly attributed to the climate applications activities of the project. Further, those who used seasonal forecasting (n=25) didn't understand key components of forecasts (e.g. probability, median) better than those who didn't use seasonal forecasts (n=24) (P>0.05). This identifies the potential for misunderstanding and misinterpretation of forecasts among users and highlights the need for providers of forecasts to understand the difficulties and prepare simply written descriptions of forecasts and disseminate these with the maps showing probabilities. The most preferred means of accessing climate information were internet, email, 'The Season Ahead' newsletter and newspaper. The least preferred were direct contact with extension officers and attending field days and group meetings. Eighty-six percent of respondents used the internet and 67% used ADSL broadband internet (April 2003). Despite these findings, extension officers play a key role in preparing and publishing the information on the web, in emails and newsletters. We also believe that direct contact with extension officers trained in climate applications is desirable in workshop-like events to improve knowledge of the difficult concepts underpinning climate forecasts, which may then stimulate further adoption.

Developing Strategic Marketing Plan

This publication is first in a series targeted for Coordinators and Managers within Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach Programs concerned with developing continuous quality improvement approaches. This early publication focuses on understanding strategies for market position, strategic planning and provides a tool for conducting an organizational self-assessment along with a stakeholder analysis

EMS in the pastoral industries of western Queensland: From customisation to implementation

This paper outlines the customisation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for the pastoral industry of western Queensland, the recruitment and training of pastoral producers, and their development and implementation of EMS. EMS was simplified to a 7-step process and producers were recruited to trial this customised EMS. Producers from 40 properties received EMS training, either as groups or individually. Of these, 37 commenced Pastoral EMS development through a facilitated approach that allowed them to learn about EMS while developing an EMS for their property. EMS implementation has been more effective with producers who were trained in groups. At this stage, however, most producers do not see value in EMS as there are currently no strong drivers to warrant continued development and implementation. Key findings resulting from this work were that personal contact and assistance is vital to encourage producers to trial EMS, and that a staged approach to EMS implementation, commencing with a self-assessment, is recommended. EMS training is most successful in a group situation; however, an alternative method of delivery should be provided for those producers who, either by choice or isolation, have to work alone. A support network is also necessary to encourage and maintain progress with EMS development and implementation, particularly where no strong drivers exist.

Aika hyvä rehtoriksi : Selviääkö koulun johtamisesta hengissä?

The aim of this study was to describe school leadership on a practical level. By observing the daily behaviour of a principal minute by minute, the study tried to answer the following questions: how did the principals use their time, did they have time to develop their school after participating in the daily life of the school, and how did the previously studied challenges of modern leadership show in their practical work? Five principals in different areas of Helsinki were observed – two women and three men. The principals were chosen at random from three educational conferences. The main hypothesis of this research was that the work of the principal consists of solving daily problems and routines concerning the pupils, teachers and other interest groups and writing all kinds of bureaucratic reports. This means that the school and its principal do not have enough resources to give to a visionary development of teaching and learning – in other words pedagogical leading – even though every principal has the best knowledge about his or her own school’s status quo and the needs for development revealed by this status quo. The research material was gathered by applying the Peer-Assisted Leadership method. The researcher shadowed each principal for four days for three hours at a time. After each shadowing period, any unclear situations were clarified with a short interview. After all the shadowing periods, the principals participated in a semi-structured interview that covered the themes emerging from the shadowing material. In addition to this, the principals evaluated their own leading with a self-assessment questionnaire. The results gathered from the shadowing material showed that the actions of the principals were focused on bureaucratic work. The principals spent most of their time in the office (more than 50%). In the office they were sitting mainly by the computer. They also spent a significant mount of time in the office meeting teachers and occasional visitors. The time spent building networks was relatively short, although the principals considered it as an important domain of leadership according to their interviews. After the classification of the shadowing material, the activities of the principals were divided according to certain factors affecting them. The underlying factors were quality management, daily life management, strategic thinking and emotional intelligence. Through these factors the research showed that coping with the daily life of the school took about 40% of the principals’ time. Activities connected with emotional intelligence could be observed over 30% and activities which required strategic thinking were observed over 20% of the time. The activities which according to the criteria of the research consisted of quality management took only 8% of the principals’ time. This result was congruent with previous studies showing that the work of school leaders is focused on something other than developing the quality of teaching and learning. Keywords: distributed leadership, building community, network building, interaction, emotional intelligence, strategy, quality management

Feedback and clinical practice improvement: A tool to assist workplace supervisors and students

In work integrated learning, students may report difficulties applying theory learned at university to clinical practice. One contributing factor may be students' inability to engage in meaningful reflection and self-correcting behaviours. This paper reports the evaluation of a tool, process and resources developed to assist students to reflect on feedback and engage in self-assessment. Students were assisted to develop self-assessment skills by reflecting on, and engaging with feedback from previous workplace experiences to develop goals, learning outcomes and strategies to improve performance with mostly positive results. A secondary aim was to identify common learning strategies or barriers that impacted on student outcomes. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) preparing for clinical learning; 2) relationships and engagement levels; 3) shared awareness, and; 4) developing clinical practice. Overall students felt the tool assisted them to narrow their attention on what needed to be improved. While supervisors believed the tool helped them to focus on specific needs of each student. Common barriers to clinical practice improvement related to a lack of opportunity in some settings, and lack of staff willingness to support students to achieve identified goals. Students and supervisors found the use of the tools beneficial and assisted students to demonstrate a greater understanding of how to apply feedback received to support their learning in the clinical environment.

Sanailua, kynäilyä, intoilua ja epäilyä : Oppilaiden kirjoitustaito ja sen arvioiminen alkuopetuksessa

Objectives. In primary education the pupils form a basis for their writing skills. By assessing pupils writing skills the teacher gathers information about the development of their skills and notices possible learning disabilities. The assessment of writing skills requires both knowledge of different evaluation methods and the phonological system in Finnish language. The purpose of this study is to analyze the pupils writing skills and different assessment methods that help the teacher in writing evaluation. The pupils writing skills are viewed from spelling, composing and writing motivation s point of view. Methods. The research material consists of dictation exercises, written stories and writing motivation self-assessments of 19 pupils. Dictation exercises measured the spelling skills of pupils and they were written in the spring of the first grade and the autumn of the second grade. Dictation exercises were analyzed with two different methods: mistake analysis and word-structure analysis. Information of pupils spelling skills development was gathered by comparing their performance in autumn s dictation exercise to spring s dictation. Composing skills were measured with stories that the pupils wrote. Both the stories and the writing motivation s self-assessment were made in the autumn of the second grade. Composing skills were analyzed according to assessment criteria formed for this study. Results. The spelling skill of most of the pupils had developed from the first grade s spring to the second grade s autumn. The spelling skills of half of the pupils (N=9) had improved significantly. The composing skills of the pupils varied largely. Strongest part of the pupils composing skill was following instructions and the weakest part was the use of versatile vocabulary and clause structures. The girls outdid the boys in all segments of their composing skills. For most pupils their spelling skill reflected their composing skill: good spellers were also good story writers. The relation between writing motivation and general writing skill was not this simple: some pupils (N=5) writing motivation was much higher than what would have been expected based on their writing skills.

O Protocolo de Kyoto e o mercado de crédito de carbono: estudo de caso das emissões de gases de efeito estufa da fábrica de combustível nuclear pertencente às Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil no ano de 2008

A presente dissertação discute as questões relacionadas à intensificação das mudanças climáticas por causas antrópicas conforme a evolução no uso dos recursos naturais, inovações nos processos produtivos, transformações econômicas, sociais, culturais, políticas e, especialmente ambientais. Aborda a comercialização dos créditos de carbono através de projetos de Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo (MDL), um dos mecanismos de flexibilização criados pelo Protocolo de Kyoto. No contexto de mudanças climáticas, uma matriz energética que utilize fontes de energia que não emitam gases causadores do efeito estufa (GEE) se mostra uma importante estratégia de desenvolvimento sustentável. Sob essa perspectiva, a energia nucleoelétrica é apresentada como uma alternativa viável aos combustíveis fósseis, considerando que esta é uma energia limpa e compatível com a perspectiva de desenvolvimento sustentável. A Fábrica de Combustível Nuclear (FCN), localizada em Resende (Rio de Janeiro), pertencente às Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), é um conjunto de sofisticadas fábricas nas quais se processam etapas importantes do ciclo do combustível nuclear. Na FCN, o Centro Zoobotânico realiza a gestão das atividades voltadas para a conservação da natureza tais como o Programa de Recuperação de Mata Ciliar, Reflorestamento e Fauna. O Relatório de inventário das emissões diretas e indiretas de GEE da FCN, elaborado pela INB para o ano de 2008, permite a auto-avaliação da empresa, retratando a preocupação corporativa com as questões relativas às mudanças climáticas. Segundo este Relatório, o total de emissões de GEE quantificado corresponde a 12,14% da capacidade total de sequestro de dióxido de carbono, no período de Janeiro a Dezembro de 2008. A proteção de florestas e a plantação de árvores são componentes essenciais de qualquer estratégia global para mitigação da mudança climática, e a participação da INB no mercado de crédito de carbono pode proporcionar externalidades positivas, tais como ganhos de imagem, adequação a padrões ambientais e melhoria do relacionamento com a sociedade.

Análise da atividade de supervisão do trabalho: um olhar Psico-social para o gerenciamento na indústria

Analisou-se na tese o deslizamento discursivo em direção ao uso do vocábulo gestão e as mudanças recentemente operadas no trabalho gerencial. Com a suposição de que se apreciado enquanto atividade humana este trabalho não é simples e exclusivamente heterodeterminado pelo modelo de gerenciamento segundo os interesses do capital, a proposta foi colocar ênfase nos debates de normas e nas possíveis reservas de alternativas nas atividades de profissionais que gerenciam, assim como nas possibilidades de seu desenvolvimento em direção a um gerenciamento ergológico. Visando a contribuir para a discussão sobre se no interior da própria produção material poderiam coexistir formas de construção de uma sociabilidade efetivamente humana, analisa-se em que medida os profissionais que gerenciam fazem cotidianamente uma gestão (não apenas do outro, também de si próprio) na qual são convocados valores outros que os exclusivamente mercantis e econômicos. Adotando-se um olhar para o objeto de pesquisa informado por uma Psicologia Social do Trabalho que privilegia o ponto de vista da atividade, se pretendeu a uma sucessiva aproximação das atividades de supervisão do trabalho. Trabalho este que, em tendência, tem se ampliado no sentido de incluir o gerenciamento da produção, de aproximação com os serviços de apoio à produção e de incentivo à participação dos operadores. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada em uma unidade industrial de uma empresa multinacional privada que fabrica e comercializa produtos pneumáticos. No delineamento metodológico privilegiou-se um enquadramento clínico por meio de método indireto de investigação, com base no princípio de (auto)confrontação, e de uma abordagem dialógica de análise, fazendo-se uso do dispositivo de Encontros sobre o Trabalho e da técnica de Instrução ao Sósia. Os resultados indicam que o trabalho de supervisão envolve uma integração de múltiplas determinações, exigências e valores. Ressalta-se a existência de dimensões sociais no trabalho gerencial efetuado pelos supervisores. No processo de análise de suas atividades de trabalho, realizada por eles próprios, apontam-se indícios de que, mobilizando-se intelectual, cognitiva, afetiva e corporalmente nos debates de normas em suas atividades, buscam por meio de renormatizações também fazer valer suas próprias normas de vida, onde valores relativos ao viver em conjunto e à saúde estão presentes. Colocando-se em questão as condições para o pôr o trabalho em debate na perspectiva da atividade, discute-se a relação entre o potencial de produção de novas normas nas atividades de supervisão e o suposto de um modo ergológico de gerenciar, reforçando-se a posição de que as propostas de gestão participativa não se apresentam por si só como uma abertura para um modo de gerenciamento que dê visibilidade à gestão cotidiana do trabalho, que é sempre, em algum nível, formulada e operada coletivamente

Políticas públicas de avaliação para a educação superior no Brasil: autonomia e produção do conhecimento

A tese aborda as políticas públicas de avaliação para a educação superior no Brasil, desde o seu surgimento, indicado na Reforma Universitária de 1968 e sua efetivação a partir da década de 1980, no Programa de Avaliação da Reforma Universitária PARU e no Grupo de Estudos da Reforma da Educação Superior GERES, ambos com a função de avaliar a Universidade brasileira. Contextualiza a sua institucionalização na década de 1990, por meio do Programa de Avaliação Institucional das Universidades Brasileiras PAIUB, do Exame Nacional de Cursos ENC ou Provão, com enfoque na última e atual política, o Sistema Nacional de Avaliação da Educação Superior SINAES e, neste, a avaliação institucional. O objetivo que motivou a produção desta tese foi conseguir clareza sobre as políticas públicas de avaliação para a educação superior no Brasil, especificamente o processo de implantação e implementação da avaliação institucional no período do SINAES na UNIOESTE, bem como, seus desdobramentos no que concerne à autonomia e à produção do conhecimento. Para tanto, foi preciso percorrer meandros do tema, historicizando as políticas públicas de avaliação para a educação superior no Brasil; identificando, examinando e discutindo os processos de implantação e implementação da avaliação institucional na UNIOESTE PR; analisando e discutindo os desdobramentos da avaliação institucional no que concerne à autonomia e à produção do conhecimento na UNIOESTE. A metodologia se constituiu de pesquisa bibliográfica, análise documental e estudo do processo de implantação e implementação do SINAES e também de seus desdobramentos na questão da autonomia e produção do conhecimento em uma universidade pública estadual, a UNIOESTE. Sobre os desdobramentos do SINAES na questão da autonomia e da produção do conhecimento, infere-se que as medidas das políticas públicas de avaliação para a educação superior interferem e impactam a universidade, imprimindo autonomia e produção do conhecimento na medida/lógica necessária para dar vigor a determinada conjuntura societária. No SINAES, a Autoavaliação Institucional é um mecanismo falho, inoperante, que não atende às demandas da comunidade acadêmica e, ainda, que não atinge a sua finalidade profícua, a melhoria da universidade. Dessa maneira, no contexto atual, a universidade se consome em seu papel e função social, dando espaço e força à conformação da universidade às demandas e determinações do capital. A Autoavaliação Institucional precisa ser analisada em suas premissas e no formato que se incorpora ao SINAES, mas não somente isso isoladamente, e, sim, todo o SINAES, enquanto uma política pública de avaliação, para que seja direcionada em favor da universidade e da sociedade brasileira

对癌症生存者应对资源的研究

A survey study of cancer survivors was conducted to explore the coping resources, which buffers the life of cancer survivors against stressful situation. Participants reported coping strategies, positive affect and negative affect, personality, perceived social support, fighting spirit and helpless/hopeless as well as quality of life through a set of self-assessment questionnaire. The results indicated that the frequency of coping strategies used by cancer survivors from high to low were: growing, problem solving, seeking support,self-controlling, wishful thinking, and distancing. The correlational analysis indicated that among the six sets of coping strategies, growing was positively correlated most strongly with most of the dimensions in quality of life as well as positive affect. Among the five personality, Neuroticism was positively correlated most strongly with helpless/hopeless and negative affect; and was negatively correlated most strongly with fighting spirit and positive affect. Extraversion was positively correlated most strongly with positive affect and negatively correlated most strongly with helpless/hopeless; Agreeableness was negatively correlated most strongly with negative affect; Conscientiousness was positively correlated most strongly with fighting spirit. Subjects with higher score in quality of life reported higher frequency of coping strategies in growing and problem solving and less in wishful thinking. They also reported higher scores in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness as well as lower scores in Neuroticism. The regression analysis displayed that not negative affect but positive affect entered the regression model when all the psychological and social variables in the study were accounted for. Taken together, these data suggested that, growing was the most effective coping strategy among the six sets of strategies for cancer survivors to improve quality of life, to maintain positive affect and to enhance fighting spirit. Neuroticism was vulnerable to resist stressors; Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were stress-resisted factors. Positive affect may has more adaptational significance than negative affect during chronic stress. These data also implicated that positive affect should be paid more attention to in coping research.

Developing the ability for making evaluative judgements.

It is suggested that a more specific emphasis should be placed in undergraduate education on the explicit development of the ability to make evaluative judgements. This higher level cognitive ability is highlighted as the foundation for much sound and successful personal and professional development throughout education, and in lifelong development. Yet it seldom seems to receive the explicit attention which is given in curricula in higher education to analysis and creativity. The paper includes several examples of activities which have been used and judged effective in developing the ability to make evaluative judgements, often at an early stage in undergraduate courses. Keywords: evaluative judgement; personal development; self-assessment; peerassessment; lifelong learning Outline

Droga do ucznia. Polonistyczne ocenianie kształtujące na III i IV etapie edukacyjnym

Wydział Filologii Polskiej i Klasycznej: Instytut Filologii Polskiej