The quality of life in the Master of Education program, Brock University

This study addressed the problem of the quality of life in the Brock Master of Education program. Survey and interview data were used to gain an understanding of satisfaction with the learning achieved and student life experienced. Eighty-seven percent of the study sample reported satisfaction with the program overall. Results suggested the higher the overall satisfaction with a program, the greater the likelihood learning and student life satisfaction were also more positive. Student reflections suggested satisfaction with the quality of life in the program was associated with the program's focus on the student, the use of self-directed learning, and the support of professors to meet student needs. Comparison of the Brock Master of Education survey with the Brock Pre-Service Teacher Education program showed both student groups shared a similar satisfaction with student life in the Faculty. Comparison of Master of Education programs suggested the difference between two programs, a difference which may be influenced by time in the program. The results from the three programs suggested that students beyond the first undergraduate degree favored the school domains of learning acquisition. Supplementary data on the relationship between cognitive and affective opinions suggested the more positive the affective dimension of learning, the greater the likelihood the cognitive dimensions of student life were also more positive. It was concluded that time was a chief factor influencing part-time student satisfaction with both learning and student life in the program. Part-time students, as. the majority in the survey, expressed comments about the need for clarity of communication between the organization and student to promote the effective use of limited time.

What motivates registered nurses to participate in continuing education activities?

The study was undertaken to identify what motivates registered nurses to participate in continuing education activities. The primary questions were whether basic nursing education, employment status, clinical area, and position, as well as readiness for selfdirected learning influenced Canadian nurses' motivational orientations when deciding to participate in continuing education activities. Other individual differences (e.g., age) were also examined. The sample included 142 registered nurses employed at an urban community hospital. Three instruments were used for data collection: the Education Participation Scale, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, and a nursing survey consisting of demographic questions. Basic nursing education and employment status did not effect motivational orientation or self-directed learning readiness. Clinical area and level of position significantly influenced nurses' decisions to participate in continuing education activities. Motivational orientation had a significant relationship with selfdirected learning readiness. Implications for practice as a result of this study involves program planning and delivery. The identification of the motivational orientations of participants may assist in the development and delivery of continuing education programs that are beneficial, relevant, and address the identified learning needs of participants. Implications for future research also exist in relation to studying different groups of nurses, for example, registered nursing assistants, and investigating related issues, for example, what are the deterrents to participation in continuing education?

Participants' perceptions of their involvement in a cardiovascular disease risk factor reduction program

A cardiovascular disease risk factor reduction program was implemented in the Niagara region. To gain an understanding of this program from the participants ' perspective, 10 participants of the program were interviewed to document their perceptions of what they learned in the program, their perceptions of their behaviour change and their perceptions of factors that facilitated or impeded any behaviour change. The learning style inventory and PET test were also given to the participants to further understand their perceptions. Findings unique to this study highlighted aspects of the andragogical model, self-directed learning theory, learning style preference and psychological type that were prominent in the participants' comments and perspectives. Implications for practice, theory development and further research are suggested.

Drop-In Clinics for Environmental Studies Students

The delivery of library instruction to students in those areas of the sciences and the social sciences dealing with biology and the environment has a long history (Bowden & Di Benedetto 2001; Kutner 2000; Kutner & Danks 2007; Sapp 2006; Sinn 1998). Often these instruction sessions take the form of a one hour lecture or workshop at the start of a semester before the students have begun their projects or papers. This "one-shot" approach, though popular, has its limitations. It may not be offered at a time when the students will actually start making use of library resources, it may not be tied very specifically to a particular assignment, or it may be too general in nature to be of much use to students later on when they need to look at particular topics in much more depth than can be addressed in one such session. The following article describes another approach: the strategic use of drop-in clinics as a method of instruction in which the students themselves determine how the instruction proceeds.

Kindergarten classroom engagement skills : the road to academic success in elementary school

Les caractéristiques de l’enfant à la maternelle prédisent le succès des transitions à travers les premières années scolaires ainsi que la poursuite académique à l’âge de 22 ans. Les habiletés en mathématiques et langagières à la maternelle sont étroitement liées au rendement scolaire. Cependant, il est également important de tenir compte du rôle de l’autocontrôle et de la maîtrise de soi dans la réussite académique. Spécifiquement, la capacité de suivre des instructions et travailler de manière autonome pourrait faciliter l’adaptation des enfants en milieu scolaire. La présente thèse examine la valeur potentielle de cibler l’engagement scolaire à la maternelle, sous forme d’orientation vers la tâche, pour améliorer l’ajustement académique des enfants au cours du primaire. Une première étude, a examiné si l’engagement scolaire à la maternelle est associé à un meilleur niveau de réussite scolaire et d’ajustement psychosocial à la quatrième année du primaire. Les résultats suggèrent que les habitudes de travail dès l’entrée à l’école représentent des prédicteurs robustes du rendement académique quatre ans plus tard. Un plus haut niveau d’engagement prédit également moins de comportements externalisés et de victimisation par les pairs en quatrième année. Ces résultats sont demeurés significatifs suite au contrôle statistique des habilités en mathématique, langagières et socio-émotionnelles des enfants ainsi que de facteurs de risques familiaux. Une deuxième étude a examiné l’origine de l’engagement scolaire au primaire. Cette étude a permis d’observer que le niveau de contrôle cognitif des enfants d’âge préscolaire représente un prédicteur significatif de l’engagement scolaire à la maternelle. Ces résultats suggèrent l’existence d’une continuité développementale du contrôle cognitif de la petite enfance à la maternelle, et que celle-ci pourrait servir de base pour le développement de bonnes habitudes de travail au primaire. Finalement dans une troisième étude, des analyses centrées sur la personne ont été effectués. Trois sous-groupes d’enfants ont été identifiés dans notre échantillon. Les résultats obtenus indiquent des trajectoires d’engagement bas, moyen et élevé respectivement, au primaire. Le faible contrôle cognitif et les facteurs de risques familiaux ont prédit l’appartenance à la trajectoire d’engagement faible. Dans l’ensemble, les résultats de ces trois études soulignent l’importance de tenir compte de l’engagement dans les évaluations de la maturité scolaire à la maternelle. Cette recherche pourrait également informer le développement de programmes d’interventions préscolaires visant à augmenter la préparation scolaire ainsi que la réduction des écarts au niveau de la réussite académique des enfants.

iPad use in fieldwork: formal and informal use to enhance pedagogical practice in a bring your own technology world

We report on use of iPads (and other IOS devices) for student fieldwork use and as electronic field notebooks and to promote active. We have used questionnaires and interviews of tutors and students to elicit their views and technology and iPad use for fieldwork. There is some reluctance for academic staff to relinquish paper notebooks for iPad use, whether in the classroom or on fieldwork, as well as use them for observational and measurement purposes. Students too are largely unaware of the potential of iPads for enhancing fieldwork. Apps can be configured for a wide variety of specific uses that make iPads useful for educational as well as social uses. Such abilities should be used to enhance existing practice as well as make new functionality. For example, for disabled students who find it difficult to use conventional note taking. iPads can be used to develop student self-directed learning and for group contributions. The technology becomes part of the students’ personal learning environments as well as at the heart of their knowledge spaces – academic and social. This blurring of boundaries is due to iPads’ usability to cultivate field use, instruction, assessment and feedback processes. iPads can become field microscopes and entries to citizen science and we see the iPad as the main ‘computing’ device for students in the near future. As part of the Bring Your Own Technology/Device (BYOD) the iPad has much to offer although, both staff and students need to be guided in the most effective use for self-directed education via development of Personal Learning Environments. A more student-oriented pedagogy is suggested to correspond to the increasing use of tablet technologies by students

Developing preparedness for flexible delivery of training in enterprises

On a basis of research and literature review, Smith, in 2001, suggested a model for the development of preparedness of learners and their workplaces to support the flexible delivery of training in enterprises. Using the model as a framework, he then developed a detailed set of strategies that may be used in operating workplaces to develop learners and workplaces for effective flexible delivery. The research reported here was designed to test that strategy set in 12 different enterprises to assess the feasibility of their implementation in operating workplaces. The research shows that a majority of suggested strategies are feasible for implementation; some are feasible with qualification; and a minority were not seen as feasible.

The effects of specific educational preparation on emergency nurses` clinical decisions regarding supplemental oxygen administration

Abstract The use of supplemental oxygen by emergency nurses has important implications for patient outcomes, yet there is significant variability in oxygen administration practises. Specific education related to oxygen administration increases factual knowledge in this domain; however, the impact of knowledge acquisition on nurses' clinical decisions is poorly understood. This study aimed to examine the effect of educational preparation on 20 emergency nurses' decisions regarding the assessment of oxygenation and the use of supplemental oxygen. A pre-test/post-test, quasi-experimental design was used. The intervention was a written, self-directed learning package. The major effects of the completion of the learning package included no change in the number or types of parameters used by nurses to assess oxygenation, a significant decrease in the selection of simple masks, a significant increase in the selection of air entrainment masks, fewer hypothetical outcomes of unresolved respiratory distress and more hypothetical outcomes of decreased respiratory distress. As many nursing education programs are aimed at increasing factual knowledge, while experience remains relatively constant, a greater understanding of the relationship between factual knowledge and clinical decisions is needed if educational interventions are to improve patient outcomes.

Barriers to learners' successful completion of VET flexible delivery programs

In the early 1990s, Australian policymakers began explicitly promoting increased use of flexible delivery in vocational education and training (VET). Some researchers argued that many students lack the learning skills required to deal with the unique demands of flexible delivery. Concerns were also raised about the VET sector's capacity to help students develop needed cognitive and metacognitive skills. A review of the literature revealed wide agreement that students' success in flexible delivery and open and distance education in Australia and elsewhere is generally determined by a complex interplay of factors, including the following: readiness for self-directed learning; ability to balance the time demands of study with other commitments such as family and work; level of literacy; ability to understand and deal with assessment requirements; level of motivation; and previous educational experiences. Two case studies based on the actual experiences of two of six students interviewed about their experiences in flexible VET delivery were reviewed. Both students decided to withdraw from their VET course because of several interconnected factors that built up over time. Both cases illustrated that some problems that can be addressed quickly in face-to-face learning environments are much more difficult to resolve when students are off campus.

The effect of education on hypothetical and actual oxygen administration decisions

Aim
This study examined the effect of an education intervention on emergency nurses’ decisions related to oxygen administration.

Method
A controlled pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was used. The intervention was a written self directed learning package. Outcome measures were (i) factual knowledge measured using parallel form multiple choice questions (MCQs) and (ii) clinical decisions measured using parallel form MCQs, parallel form patient scenarios and clinical practice observation.

Results
Eighty-eight nurses from 4 Melbourne EDs participated in the study (control group: n = 37 and experimental group: n = 51). Subgroups of nurses from the experimental group also participated in the patient scenarios (n = 20) and clinical practice observation (n = 10). Emergency nurses’ knowledge increased as a function of education. Both patient scenario data and clinical practice observation showed decreased selection of nasal cannulae, increased selection of air entrainment masks and a trend towards selection of higher oxygen flow rates following education.

Conclusions
Evaluation of educational interventions in nursing should focus on identifying strategies that enhance learning in a clinical environment, are valid in terms of the clinical context and culture in which they are being used and most importantly, produce sustained improvements in actual clinical practice.

Information skills and the distance education student : an exploratory study into the approaches of Southern Cross University distance educators to the information needs of external students

This study unites the concepts of self-directed learning and information literacy in the external higher education environment. It asserts that many attempts by librarians at building better working relationships with distance educators have failed because the approaches of distance educators to the information needs of students are not adequately addressed. This exploratory and qualitatively based study examines the approaches of ten distance educators at Southern Cross University (SCU) to the information needs of their external students. It then makes recommendations based on these interviews which aim to improve relationships and co-operation between libraries and distance educators and to promote self-directed learning approaches by external students.

Preparing for flexible delivery in industry : learners and their workplaces

This thesis examines the learning preferences and learning strategies of apprentices, and the contexts within which they learn in their workplaces. Since the end of the 1980s Australian vocational education and training (VET) structures and processes have undergone radical change in attempts to develop skills in the workforce that will ensure enterprise, national, and international competitiveness. A major strategy in the national reforms has been the encouragement of flexible delivery as a means through which workplace-based learning can be accessed by a larger number of workers in ways that are cost-efficient, and that reduce the amount of time that workers spend away from their jobs. Although flexible delivery has been championed by governments and industry alike, there has been little attempt to identify the preparedness of either learners or their workplaces for the demands of flexible learning. The thesis examines the economic context for these changes to VET, and also examines the literature available on workplace learning. Additionally, the thesis examines the conceptualisations of flexible delivery that are available in the literature, pointing to the possibility that the wide range of meanings associated with the term ‘flexible delivery’ may result in quite different practices and expectations. The thesis also examines the literature on independent learning and self-directed learning, and explores the concept of ‘client-focused’ flexible delivery. The study of learner preferences uses data collected from apprentices over a period of some years, in the four occupational areas commanding the highest number of apprentices in Australia. These occupational areas are Metals and Machining, Building, Electrical, and Hairdressing. These data on learning preferences are collected using the commercially available Canfield Learning Styles Inventory (CLSI). The data from the sample of 389 apprentices are analysed statistically through analyses of variance, and indicate that variables such as age, gender, and occupational area are related to learning preferences. Apprentices are shown by this analysis to prefer structured programs of instruction that are instructor-led, and to not have a high preference for independent learning or the development of their own learning goals. Additionally, they are shown to have very low preferences for learning through reading, preferring instead to learn through direct hands-on experience. While these characteristics are largely common among the four occupational groups, the Hairdressing apprentices are shown to have a slightly higher preference for independent learning and goal setting. Females are shown to have a higher preference than males for learning qualitative material through reading. Interestingly, the younger apprentices are shown to have a higher preference than the older ones for self-directed learning. Some possibilities for that finding are discussed. The research also shows that the learning preferences displayed by different groups of apprentices in any one program are much the same over time, providing some confidence that data generated from one group of apprentices can be used to make instructional decisions for future groups in the same program. The data are also factor analysed to indicate three major factors underlying apprentice learning preferences. The first factor indicates a Verbal–Non-verbal preference factor, with apprentices clearly preferring to learn through non-verbal means. A second factor is described as Structure–Content, with apprentices showing a preference for learning from structured programs in a structured environment. A third factor, Self-directed–Social preference, indicates apprentices preferring to learn through socially mediated presentations and contexts rather than through more independent forms of learning. Qualitative data are also generated through interviewing eight apprentices, and focusing on the learning strategies they employ while constructing knowledge in the workplace. That component of the research uses a modification of the Marland, Patching and Putt (1992a, 1992b) stimulated recall technique, and a set of learning strategies derived from the work of O’Malley and Chamot (1990) and Billett (1996a). The eight apprentices are drawn from the Metals and Machining, Electrical, and Hairdressing trades. The findings indicate that the learning strategies most often used by apprentices in the workplace are those associated with the construction of knowledge that is structured and provided by the instructor or learning program, and those that include social mediation of learning. Additionally, the strategies associated with demonstration and hands-on practice are most favoured. The qualitative data are confirmatory of the quantitative data. The research also indicates, through the apprentice interviews, that support for apprentice’s learning in their workplace is typically unplanned and haphazard. Their experience was sometimes characterised by a reluctance on the part of the workplace to acknowledge learning needs such as trialling and practice of new knowledge, or pro-actively seeking understanding from other more skilled workers. The learning preferences and learning strategies findings for apprentices, coupled with the findings of typically poor or unplanned support in the workplace, indicate that effective flexible delivery of training to apprentices in the workplace provides a number of challenges. These challenges, it is argued, demand strategies to be developed and implemented to prepare both learners and workplaces for effective engagement with flexible delivery. Using as a theoretical framework Kember’s (1995) two-dimensional model of open learning for adults, the thesis integrates the findings into a proposed two-dimensional model of learner and workplace preparedness for flexible delivery. The model provides for a Learner Development Space, a Workplace Development Space, and a Strategy Space. Within the Learner Development Space, focuses for the development of learner preparedness are identified in terms of self-directed learning, skills developments, and effective participation in a community of practice. Focuses for workplace development identified in the Workplace Development Space are those associated with development of training policies, training structures, and trainer skills and abilities. The Strategy Space then provides detail of seventy-nine specific strategies developed to enhance learner and workplace preparedness within each of the focuses identified.

How social is the virtual design studio? A case study of a third year design studio

With the advent of social networks, it became apparent that the social aspect of designing and learning plays a crucial role in students’ education. Technologies and skills are the base on which learners interact. The ease of communication, leadership opportunity, democratic interaction, teamwork, and the sense of community are some of the aspects that are now in the centre of design interaction. The paper examines Virtual Design Studios (VDS) that used media-rich platforms and analyses the influence the social aspect plays in solving all problems on the sample of a design studio at Deakin University. It studies the effectiveness of the generated social intelligence and explores the facilitation of students’ self-directed learning. Hereby the paper studies the construction of knowledge via social interaction and how blended learning environments foster motivation and information exchange. It presents its finding based on VDS that were held over the past three years.

Virtual design studio via social networks

With the advent of social networks, it became apparent that the social aspect of designing and learning plays a crucial role in students’ education. The ease of communication, leadership opportunity, democratic interaction, teamwork, and the sense of community are some of the aspects that are now in the centre of design interaction. Online interactions, multimedia, mobile computing and face-to-face learning create blended learning environments to which some Virtual Design Studios (VDS) have reacted. On the sample of a design studio at Deakin University the paper discusses details of the Social Network VDS, its pedagogical implications to PBL, and presents how it is successful in empowering architectural students to collaborate and communicate design proposals that integrate a variety of skills, deep learning, and construction of knowledge. It studies the effectiveness of the generated social intelligence and explores the facilitation of students’ self-directed learning. Hereby the paper studies the construction of knowledge via social interaction and how blended learning environments foster motivation and information exchange.

My road ahead study protocol: a randomised controlled trial of an online psychological intervention for men following treatment for localised prostate cancer

There is a need for psychosocial interventions for men with prostate cancer to promote adaptive coping with the challenges and distress associated with diagnosis, treatment and recovery. In addition, interventions are needed that help to overcome barriers to psychosocial treatment such as limited face-to-face psychosocial support services, a shortage of adequately trained professionals, geographical distance, perceived and personal stigma and a preference for consumer-centric and self-directed learning. My Road Ahead is an online cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) intervention for prostate cancer. This protocol describes a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that will evaluate the efficacy of this online intervention alone, the intervention in combination with a moderated online forum, and the moderated online forum alone.