Development of the student placement evaluation form: A tool for assessing student fieldwork performance

Evaluation of students undertaking fieldwork education placements is a critical process in the health professions. As training programs and practice evolve, systems for assessing students need to be reviewed and updated constantly. In 1995, staff of the occupational therapy training program at the University of Queensland, Australia decided to develop a new tool for assessing student fieldwork performance. Using an action research methodology, a team developed the Student Placement Evaluation Form, a flexible and comprehensive criterion-referenced evaluation tool. The present paper examines action research as an appropriate methodology for considering real-life organisational problems in a systematic and participatory manner. The action research cycles undertaken, including preliminary information gathering, tool development, trial stages and current use of the tool, are detailed in the report. Current and future development of the tool is also described.

Adecuación curricular del diagnóstico y la evaluación en matemáticas = Curricular validity of assessment and evaluation instruments in mathematics.

Resumen basado en el del autor

Report and evaluation of "When is September," [an experiment in the provision of pre school experiences via educational television to orient and motivate children entering grade one and to facilitate their adjustment to group activities] Title VII, Project number 120, National Defense Education Act, grant number 708004.09.

Mode of access: Internet.

Las expectativas de los estudiantes y la calidad del servicio ofertado por la universidad de Sevilla

En este artículo se presenta un análisis diferencial de las expectativas de los estudiantes de la Universidad de Sevilla (España), en función de las ramas del conocimiento, agrupadas en las dimensiones personal, universidad, curricular y docencia. Las aportaciones han sido recogidas en un cuestionario aplicado a 1082 estudiantes de las áreas de humanidades, bio-sanitaria, económica-jurídica y científico-técnica, a través de un análisis de la varianza para la comparación de medias (asumiendo varianzas iguales y pruebas de Scheffé y Tukey). Se han contrastado los valores medios de cada rama, con el fin de determinar si las diferencias observadas resultan estadísticamente significativas. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que la dimensión personal y la de universidad son valoradas de forma similar en las cuatro ramas del conocimiento; en cambio en la dimensión curricular, las expectativas son más favorables para la rama bio-sanitaria y, en la docencia para la rama de humanidades. En definitiva, los resultados presentan las fortalezas y las debilidades en las dimensiones consideradas y permiten extraer conclusiones de las que derivan indicadores de interés para la mejora de la comunidad universitaria.

Accident & Emergency Nursing Assessment of Deliberate Self Harm. Exploring the Impact of Introducing a Suicide Education Programme and a Suicide Intent Scale into A&E/MAU Nursing Practice: A Pilot Study

A proposal to pilot nursing assessment of self harm in Accident and Emergency Departments (A&E) was developed by key stakeholders in nurse education and suicide prevention in the South East and submitted to the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery in April 2002.The proposal included the introduction of a suicide intent scale. Following an initial training programme, a suicide intent scale was utilised by nursing staff in A&E and the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU),Wexford General Hospital and evaluated over a period of nine months. Four months into the study the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) was invited to collaboratively prepare a successful submission to the Health Research Board (HRB) as part of ‘Building Partnerships for a Healthier Future Research Awards 2004’. The NSRF undertook independent scientific evaluation of the outcomes of the suicide awareness programme. The study is in line with priorities determined by Reach Out, the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention 2005-2014 (HSE, 2005) and the HSE-South East Suicide Prevention Programme through raising nursing staff awareness of the public health issue of suicide/deliberate self harm and by improving the efficiency and quality of nursing services offered to persons who present to acute hospitals with deliberate self harm. The study findings indicate evidence to positively support nursing assessment of DSH using a suicide intent scale in terms of assessing behavioural characteristics of individual clients and their suicide risk. Enhanced confidence levels of nursing personnel in caring for suicidal clients was demonstrated by staff who participated in an education programme related to risk assessment and specifically the use of a suicide intent scale.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

The development, assessment, and implementation of an evaluation of the EMPOWER Program at shelters for abused women /

The development, assessment, and implementation of a program evaluation instrument was carried out to evaluate the impact and efficacy of the EMPOWER Program. This intervention was created to educate residents at a shelter for abused women with an anticipated outcome of prevention. Participants included the staff and residents at 2 shelters in Southern Ontario. Client pre, post and follow-up measures were obtained and analyzed statistically and using keyword content analysis. A single staff measure was obtained and summarized using keyword content analysis. Qualitative results were suggestive of important change in participants. All women in the post and follow-up measures believed their participation in the EMPOWER Program provided them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to avoid abusive relationships in the fliture. This transformational impact was repeatedly expressed in both resident and staff feedback. Limitations of this research, as well as suggestions for future study were discussed.

Using technology to teach technology: design and evaluation of bilingual online physician education about electronic medical records.

The "EMR Tutorial" is designed to be a bilingual online physician education environment about electronic medical records. After iterative assessment and redesign, the tutorial was tested in two groups: U.S. physicians and Mexican medical students. Split-plot ANOVA revealed significantly different pre-test scores in the two groups, significant cognitive gains for the two groups overall, and no significant difference in the gains made by the two groups. Users rated the module positively on a satisfaction questionnaire.