Influence of PBL with open-book tests on knowledge retention measured with progress tests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijne-Penninga, M.; Kuks, J. B. M.; Hofman, W. H. A.; Muijtjens, A. M. M.; Cohen-Schotanus, J.

The influence of problem-based learning (PBL) and open-book tests on long-term knowledge retention is unclear and subject of discussion. Hypotheses were that PBL as well as open-book tests positively affect long-term knowledge retention. Four progress test results of fifth and sixth-year medical

Ovis aries CR4 is involved in Mannheimia haemolytica leukotoxin-induced cytotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Paulraj K; Dassanayake, Rohana P

2010-06-15

Pneumonia caused by Mannheimia haemolytica is an important disease of domestic sheep (DS, Ovis aries) and cattle (BO). M. haemolytica is a normal commensal of the upper respiratory tract in ruminants, but during stress and viral infection it breaches the host innate mucosal defense and descents into lungs causing fibrinous pleuropneumonia. Leukotoxin (Lkt) produced by M. haemolytica is cytolytic to all subsets of ruminant leukocytes. Earlier, we and others have shown that DS and BO LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) and Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) can mediate Lkt-induced cytolysis. It is not clear whether CR4 (CD11c/CD18), which is involved in chemotaxis, phagocytosis and regulates host immune response can also mediate Lkt-induced cytolysis in ruminants. The host innate immune response to M. haemolytica is poorly understood and the involvement of CR4 in M. haemolytica pathogenesis is one of the most understudied. This problem is further compounded by the lack of cd11c genes from any ruminant species. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to clone cd11c and determine whether CR4 can serve as a receptor for Lkt. In this direction we cloned two alleles of cd11c gene from leukocytes isolated from DS blood by RT-PCR. Transfectants developed expressing functional DS CR4 were found to be cytotoxic to Lkt from four different isolates of M. haemolytica. This is the first report confirming the ability of a recombinant ovine CR4 to bind to M. haemolytica Lkt and mediate concentration-dependent lysis of host cells, thus, confirming their role in M. haemolytica pathogenesis. This is a critical step in understanding host innate immunity and the management of pneumonia in sheep. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ethnicity and HIV risk behaviour, testing and knowledge in Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Tory M; Hembling, John; Bertrand, Jane T

2015-01-01

To describe levels of risky sexual behaviour, HIV testing and HIV knowledge among men and women in Guatemala by ethnic group and to identify adjusted associations between ethnicity and these outcomes. Data on 16,205 women aged 15-49 and 6822 men aged 15-59 from the 2008-2009 Encuesta Nacional de Salud Materno Infantil were used to describe ethnic group differences in sexual behaviour, HIV knowledge and testing. We then controlled for age, education, wealth and other socio-demographic factors in a multivariate logistic regression model to examine the effects of ethnicity on outcomes related to age at sexual debut, number of lifetime sex partners, comprehensive HIV knowledge, HIV testing and lifetime sex worker patronage (men only). The data show low levels of risky sexual behaviour and low levels of HIV knowledge among indigenous women and men, compared to other respondents. Controlling for demographic factors, indigenous women were more likely than other women never to have been tested for HIV and to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge. They were less likely to report early sexual debut and three or more lifetime sexual partners. Indigenous men were more likely than other men to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge and demonstrated lower odds of early sexual debut, 10 or more lifetime sexual partners and sex worker patronage. The Mayan indigenous population in Guatemala, while broadly socially vulnerable, does not appear to be at elevated risk for HIV based on this analysis of selected risk factors. Nonetheless, low rates of HIV knowledge and testing may be cause for concern. Programmes working in indigenous communities should focus on HIV education and reducing barriers to testing. Further research into the factors that underlie ethnic self-identity and perceived ethnicity could help clarify the relative significance of these measures for HIV risk and other health outcomes.

Reliability of two social cognition tests: The combined stories test and the social knowledge test.

Science.gov (United States)

Thibaudeau, Élisabeth; Cellard, Caroline; Legendre, Maxime; Villeneuve, Karèle; Achim, Amélie M

2018-04-01

Deficits in social cognition are common in psychiatric disorders. Validated social cognition measures with good psychometric properties are necessary to assess and target social cognitive deficits. Two recent social cognition tests, the Combined Stories Test (COST) and the Social Knowledge Test (SKT), respectively assess theory of mind and social knowledge. Previous studies have shown good psychometric properties for these tests, but the test-retest reliability has never been documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability and the inter-rater reliability of the COST and the SKT. The COST and the SKT were administered twice to a group of forty-two healthy adults, with a delay of approximately four weeks between the assessments. Excellent test-retest reliability was observed for the COST, and a good test-retest reliability was observed for the SKT. There was no evidence of practice effect. Furthermore, an excellent inter-rater reliability was observed for both tests. This study shows a good reliability of the COST and the SKT that adds to the good validity previously reported for these two tests. These good psychometrics properties thus support that the COST and the SKT are adequate measures for the assessment of social cognition. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Genetics educational needs in China: physicians' experience and knowledge of genetic testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Xu, Tengda; Yashar, Beverly M

2015-09-01

The aims of this study were to explore the relationship between physicians' knowledge and utilization of genetic testing and to explore genetics educational needs in China. An anonymous survey about experience, attitudes, and knowledge of genetic testing was conducted among physicians affiliated with Peking Union Medical College Hospital during their annual health evaluation. A personal genetics knowledge score was developed and predictors of personal genetics knowledge score were evaluated. Sixty-four physicians (33% male) completed the survey. Fifty-eight percent of them had used genetic testing in their clinical practice. Using a 4-point scale, mean knowledge scores of six common genetic testing techniques ranged from 1.7 ± 0.9 to 2.4 ± 1.0, and the average personal genetics knowledge score was 2.1 ± 0.8. In regression analysis, significant predictors of higher personal genetics knowledge score were ordering of genetic testing, utilization of pedigrees, higher medical degree, and recent genetics training (P education. This study demonstrated a sizable gap between Chinese physicians' knowledge and utilization of genetic testing. Participants had high self-perceived genetics educational needs. Development of genetics educational platforms is both warranted and desired in China.Genet Med 17 9, 757-760.

A New Clinical Pain Knowledge Test for Nurses: Development and Psychometric Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernhofer, Esther I; St Marie, Barbara; Bena, James F

2017-08-01

All nurses care for patients with pain, and pain management knowledge and attitude surveys for nurses have been around since 1987. However, no validated knowledge test exists to measure postlicensure clinicians' knowledge of the core competencies of pain management in current complex patient populations. To develop and test the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to measure pain management knowledge of postlicensure nurses. Psychometric instrument validation. Four large Midwestern U.S. hospitals. Registered nurses employed full time and part time August 2015 to April 2016, aged M = 43.25 years; time as RN, M = 16.13 years. Prospective survey design using e-mail to invite nurses to take an electronic multiple choice pain knowledge test. Content validity of initial 36-item test "very good" (95.1% agreement). Completed tests that met analysis criteria, N = 747. Mean initial test score, 69.4% correct (range 27.8-97.2). After revision/removal of 13 unacceptable questions, mean test score was 50.4% correct (range 8.7-82.6). Initial test item percent difficulty range was 15.2%-98.1%; discrimination values range, 0.03-0.50; final test item percent difficulty range, 17.6%-91.1%, discrimination values range, -0.04 to 1.04. Split-half reliability final test was 0.66. A high decision consistency reliability was identified, with test cut-score of 75%. The final 23-item Clinical Pain Knowledge Test has acceptable discrimination, difficulty, decision consistency, reliability, and validity in the general clinical inpatient nurse population. This instrument will be useful in assessing pain management knowledge of clinical nurses to determine gaps in education, evaluate knowledge after pain management education, and measure research outcomes. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Testing knowledge of whole English collocations available for use in written production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Revier, Robert Lee

2014-01-01

Testing knowledge of whole English collocations available for use in written production: Developing tests for use with intermediate and advanced Danish learners (dansk resume nedenfor) The present foreign language acquisition research derives its impetus from four assumptions regarding knowledge...... of English collocations. These are: (a) collocation knowledge can be conceptualized as an independent knowledge construct, (b) collocations are lexical items in their own right, (c) testing of collocation knowledge should also target knowledge of whole collocations, and (d) the learning burden of a whole...... the development of Danish EFL learners’ productive knowledge of whole English collocations. Five empirical studies were designed to generate information that would shed light on the reliability and validity of the CONTRIX as a measure of collocation knowledge available for use in written production. Study 1...

Praxis II mathematics content knowledge test (0061)

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McCune, Ennis Donice

2007-01-01

Your guide to a higher score on the Praxis II?: Mathematics Content Knowledge Test (0061) Why CliffsTestPrep Guides? Go with the name you know and trust Get the information you need--fast! Written by test-prep specialists About the contents: Introduction * Overview of the exam * How to use this book * Proven study strategies and test-taking tips Part I: Subject Review * Focused review of all exam topics: arithmetic and basic algebra, geometry, trigonometry, analytic geometry, functions and their graphs, calculus, probability and statistics, discrete mathematics, linear algebra, compute

Uncertainty management in knowledge based systems for nondestructive testing-an example from ultrasonic testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajagopalan, C.; Kalyanasundaram, P.; Baldev Raj

1996-01-01

The use of fuzzy logic, as a framework for uncertainty management, in a knowledge-based system (KBS) for ultrasonic testing of austenitic stainless steels is described. Parameters that may contain uncertain values are identified. Methodologies to handle uncertainty in these parameters using fuzzy logic are detailed. The overall improvement in the performance of the knowledge-based system after incorporating fuzzy logic is discussed. The methodology developed being universal, its extension to other KBS for nondestructive testing and evaluation is highlighted. (author)

Using Knowledge Management to Revise Software-Testing Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Nogeste, Kersti; Walker, Derek H. T.

2006-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to use a knowledge management (KM) approach to effectively revise a utility retailer's software testing process. This paper presents a case study of how the utility organisation's customer services IT production support group improved their test planning skills through applying the American Productivity and Quality Center…

Detection of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin and fimbria-associated protein gene genotypes among periodontitis patients and healthy controls: A case–control study

Science.gov (United States)

Mahalakshmi, Krishnan; Krishnan, Padma; Chandrasekaran, S. C.

2018-01-01

Background: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans has been reported in higher proportions in subgingival microbiota of individuals with aggressive periodontitis (AgP) compared with those with chronic periodontitis (ChP) and healthy controls. The major virulence factors are the ones that help in colonization and evasion of host's defenses. Hence, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of A. actinomycetemcomitans 16S rRNA and its virulent genotypes (leukotoxin [lktA] and fimbria-associated protein [fap]). Materials and Methods: In this case– control study We performed periodontal examination and measured probing depth and clinical attachment level (CAL). Subgingival plaque samples from 200 (ChP: n = 128 and AgP: n = 72) periodontitis patients and 200 healthy controls were screened for the presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans 16S rRNA, lktA, and fap genotypes by polymerase chain reaction. The prevalence of genotypes between periodontitis patients and healthy controls was compared with Pearson's Chi-square test. P periodontitis patients, while A. actinomycetemcomitans fap genotype showed 31.8% prevalence. The prevalence of these genotypes was insignificant in healthy controls. Conclusion: The high odds ratio for A. actinomycetemcomitans prevalence suggests its strong link to periodontitis. Detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans lktA + genotype may be a useful marker for AgP as its prevalence was found to be high in AgP. PMID:29922337

A multivalent Mannheimia-Bibersteinia vaccine protects bighorn sheep against Mannheimia haemolytica challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Subramaniam, Renuka; Shanthalingam, Sudarvili; Bavananthasivam, Jegarubee; Kugadas, Abirami; Potter, Kathleen A; Foreyt, William J; Hodgins, Douglas C; Shewen, Patricia E; Barrington, George M; Knowles, Donald P; Srikumaran, Subramaniam

2011-10-01

Bighorn sheep (BHS) are more susceptible than domestic sheep (DS) to Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia. Although both species carry M. haemolytica as a commensal bacterium in the nasopharynx, DS carry mostly leukotoxin (Lkt)-positive strains while BHS carry Lkt-negative strains. Consequently, antibodies to surface antigens and Lkt are present at much higher titers in DS than in BHS. The objective of this study was to determine whether repeated immunization of BHS with multivalent Mannheimia-Bibersteinia vaccine will protect them upon M. haemolytica challenge. Four BHS were vaccinated with a culture supernatant vaccine prepared from M. haemolytica serotypes A1 and A2 and Bibersteinia trehalosi serotype T10 on days 0, 21, 35, 49, and 77. Four other BHS were used as nonvaccinated controls. On the day of challenge, 12 days after the last immunization, the mean serum titers of Lkt-neutralizing antibodies and antibodies to surface antigens against M. haemolytica were 1:160 and 1:4,000, respectively. Following intranasal challenge with M. haemolytica A2 (1 × 10(5) CFU), all four control BHS died within 48 h. Necropsy revealed acute fibrinonecrotic pneumonia characteristic of M. haemolytica infection. None of the vaccinated BHS died during the 8 weeks postchallenge observation period. Radiography at 3 weeks postchallenge revealed no lung lesions in two vaccinated BHS and mild lesions in the other two, which resolved by 8 weeks postchallenge. These results indicate that if BHS can be induced to develop high titers of Lkt-neutralizing antibodies and antibodies to surface antigens, they are likely to survive M. haemolytica challenge which is likely to reduce the BHS population decline due to pneumonia.

A Multivalent Mannheimia-Bibersteinia Vaccine Protects Bighorn Sheep against Mannheimia haemolytica Challenge ▿

Science.gov (United States)

Subramaniam, Renuka; Shanthalingam, Sudarvili; Bavananthasivam, Jegarubee; Kugadas, Abirami; Potter, Kathleen A.; Foreyt, William J.; Hodgins, Douglas C.; Shewen, Patricia E.; Barrington, George M.; Knowles, Donald P.; Srikumaran, Subramaniam

2011-01-01

Bighorn sheep (BHS) are more susceptible than domestic sheep (DS) to Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia. Although both species carry M. haemolytica as a commensal bacterium in the nasopharynx, DS carry mostly leukotoxin (Lkt)-positive strains while BHS carry Lkt-negative strains. Consequently, antibodies to surface antigens and Lkt are present at much higher titers in DS than in BHS. The objective of this study was to determine whether repeated immunization of BHS with multivalent Mannheimia-Bibersteinia vaccine will protect them upon M. haemolytica challenge. Four BHS were vaccinated with a culture supernatant vaccine prepared from M. haemolytica serotypes A1 and A2 and Bibersteinia trehalosi serotype T10 on days 0, 21, 35, 49, and 77. Four other BHS were used as nonvaccinated controls. On the day of challenge, 12 days after the last immunization, the mean serum titers of Lkt-neutralizing antibodies and antibodies to surface antigens against M. haemolytica were 1:160 and 1:4,000, respectively. Following intranasal challenge with M. haemolytica A2 (1 × 105 CFU), all four control BHS died within 48 h. Necropsy revealed acute fibrinonecrotic pneumonia characteristic of M. haemolytica infection. None of the vaccinated BHS died during the 8 weeks postchallenge observation period. Radiography at 3 weeks postchallenge revealed no lung lesions in two vaccinated BHS and mild lesions in the other two, which resolved by 8 weeks postchallenge. These results indicate that if BHS can be induced to develop high titers of Lkt-neutralizing antibodies and antibodies to surface antigens, they are likely to survive M. haemolytica challenge which is likely to reduce the BHS population decline due to pneumonia. PMID:21832104

Test and Evaluation for Enhanced Security: A Quantitative Method to Incorporate Expert Knowledge into Test Planning Decisions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rizzo, Davinia [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Blackburn, Mark [Stevens Inst. of Technology, Hoboken, NJ (United States)

2017-03-01

Complex systems are comprised of technical, social, political and environmental factors as well as the programmatic factors of cost, schedule and risk. Testing these systems for enhanced security requires expert knowledge in many different fields. It is important to test these systems to ensure effectiveness, but testing is limited to due cost, schedule, safety, feasibility and a myriad of other reasons. Without an effective decision framework for Test and Evaluation (T&E) planning that can take into consideration technical as well as programmatic factors and leverage expert knowledge, security in complex systems may not be assessed effectively. Therefore, this paper covers the identification of the current T&E planning problem and an approach to include the full variety of factors and leverage expert knowledge in T&E planning through the use of Bayesian Networks (BN).

Integrating Multiple On-line Knowledge Bases for Disease-Lab Test Relation Extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yaoyun; Soysal, Ergin; Moon, Sungrim; Wang, Jingqi; Tao, Cui; Xu, Hua

2015-01-01

A computable knowledge base containing relations between diseases and lab tests would be a great resource for many biomedical informatics applications. This paper describes our initial step towards establishing a comprehensive knowledge base of disease and lab tests relations utilizing three public on-line resources. LabTestsOnline, MedlinePlus and Wikipedia are integrated to create a freely available, computable disease-lab test knowledgebase. Disease and lab test concepts are identified using MetaMap and relations between diseases and lab tests are determined based on source-specific rules. Experimental results demonstrate a high precision for relation extraction, with Wikipedia achieving the highest precision of 87%. Combining the three sources reached a recall of 51.40%, when compared with a subset of disease-lab test relations extracted from a reference book. Moreover, we found additional disease-lab test relations from on-line resources, indicating they are complementary to existing reference books for building a comprehensive disease and lab test relation knowledge base.

EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE TESTS AND FEEDBACK IN FUNCTION OF IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duško Bjelica

2011-08-01

Full Text Available One of the most important issues in the project ”National frame of qualifications and quality providing in education”, run by the EU Delegation in Montenegro, is improvement of students’ study through effective knowledge tests and feedbacks. Knowledge tests do not only represent a problem of knowledge evaluation, but they significantly determine instructional design of the teaching process. Process of organisation and structuring of an exam, besides feasibility and applicability aspects, also has educative aspects. The knowledge tests should motivate a student to improve their own education as well as to motivate them to further studying. An exam should not be considered as individual method of knowledge evaluation, but as a procedure that will be pervaded with the educative programme. In that sense, availability of good-quality feedback enables the students to self-correct, and the chosen methods of examination have to provide relevant results

Knowledge of Genetics and Attitudes toward Genetic Testing among College Students in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Olwi, Duaa; Merdad, Leena; Ramadan, Eman

2016-01-01

Genetic testing has been gradually permeating the practice of medicine. Health-care providers may be confronted with new genetic approaches that require genetically informed decisions which will be influenced by patients' knowledge of genetics and their attitudes toward genetic testing. This study assesses the knowledge of genetics and attitudes toward genetic testing among college students. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a multistage stratified sample of 920 senior college students enrolled at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Information regarding knowledge of genetics, attitudes toward genetic testing, and sociodemographic data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. In general, students had a good knowledge of genetics but lacked some fundamentals of genetics. The majority of students showed positive attitudes toward genetic testing, but some students showed negative attitudes toward certain aspects of genetic testing such as resorting to abortion in the case of an untreatable major genetic defect in an unborn fetus. The main significant predictors of knowledge were faculty, gender, academic year, and some prior awareness of 'genetic testing'. The main significant predictors of attitudes were gender, academic year, grade point average, and some prior awareness of 'genetic testing'. The knowledge of genetics among college students was higher than has been reported in other studies, and the attitudes toward genetic testing were fairly positive. Genetics educational programs that target youths may improve knowledge of genetics and create a public perception that further supports genetic testing. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Translation and validation of the Malay version of the Stroke Knowledge Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Sowtali, Siti Noorkhairina; Yusoff, Dariah Mohd; Harith, Sakinah; Mohamed, Monniaty

2016-04-01

To date, there is a lack of published studies on assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of stroke education programs. This study developed and validated the Malay language version of the Stroke Knowledge Test research instrument. This study involved translation, validity, and reliability phases. The instrument underwent backward and forward translation of the English version into the Malay language. Nine experts reviewed the content for consistency, clarity, difficulty, and suitability for inclusion. Perceived usefulness and utilization were obtained from experts' opinions. Later, face validity assessment was conducted with 10 stroke patients to determine appropriateness of sentences and grammar used. A pilot study was conducted with 41 stroke patients to determine the item analysis and reliability of the translated instrument using the Kuder Richardson 20 or Cronbach's alpha. The final Malay version Stroke Knowledge Test included 20 items with good content coverage, acceptable item properties, and positive expert review ratings. Psychometric investigations suggest that Malay version Stroke Knowledge Test had moderate reliability with Kuder Richardson 20 or Cronbach's alpha of 0.58. Improvement is required for Stroke Knowledge Test items with unacceptable difficulty indices. Overall, the average rating of perceived usefulness and perceived utility of the instruments were both 72.7%, suggesting that reviewers were likely to use the instruments in their facilities. Malay version Stroke Knowledge Test was a valid and reliable tool to assess educational needs and to evaluate stroke knowledge among participants of group-based stroke education programs in Malaysia.

Making sense of knowledge productivity: beta testing the KP-enhancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Christiaan Stam

2007-01-01

Purpose – purpose of this article is to report about the progress of the development of a method that makes sense of knowledge productivity, in order to be able to give direction to knowledge management initiatives. Methodology/approach – the development and testing of the method is based on the

Translation and validation of the Malay version of the Stroke Knowledge Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Noorkhairina Sowtali

2016-04-01

Conclusions: Malay version Stroke Knowledge Test was a valid and reliable tool to assess educational needs and to evaluate stroke knowledge among participants of group-based stroke education programs in Malaysia.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices about HIV Testing and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

The major objective of this study was to determine knowledge, attitudes and practices about HIV testing services and the uptake of this service amongst girls aged 15-19 in selected secondary schools in Malawi. A questionnaire was administered to 457 students and 18 focus group discussions and 45 in-depth interviews ...

Combining Blink, Pupil, and Response Time Measures in a Concealed Knowledge Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Travis eSeymour

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The response time (RT based Concealed Knowledge Test (CKT has been shown to accurately detect participants’ knowledge of mock-crime related information. Tests based on ocular measures such as pupil size and blink rate have sometimes resulted in poor classification, or lacked detailed classification analyses. The present study examines the fitness of multiple pupil and blink related responses in the CKT paradigm. To maximize classification efficiency, participants’ concealed knowledge was assessed using both individual test measures and combinations of test measures. Results show that individual pupil-size, pupil-slope, and pre-response blink-rate measures produce efficient classifications. Combining pupil and blink measures yielded more accuracy classifications than individual ocular measures. Although RT-based tests proved efficient, combining RT with ocular measures had little incremental benefit. It is argued that covertly assessing ocular measures during RT-based tests may guard against effective countermeasure use in applied settings. A compound classification procedure was used to categorize individual participants and yielded high hit rates and low false-alarm rates without the need for adjustments between test paradigms or subject populations. We conclude that with appropriate test paradigms and classification analyses, ocular measures may prove as effective as other indices, though additional research is needed.

Diabetes knowledge in nursing homes and home-based care services: a validation study of the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test adapted for use among nursing personnel.

Science.gov (United States)

Haugstvedt, Anne; Aarflot, Morten; Igland, Jannicke; Landbakk, Tilla; Graue, Marit

2016-01-01

Providing high-quality diabetes care in nursing homes and home-based care facilities requires suitable instruments to evaluate the level of diabetes knowledge among the health-care providers. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test adapted for use among nursing personnel. The study included 127 nursing personnel (32 registered nurses, 69 nursing aides and 26 nursing assistants) at three nursing homes and one home-based care facility in Norway. We examined the reliability and content and construct validity of the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test. The items in both the general diabetes subscale and the insulin-use subscale were considered relevant and appropriate. The instrument showed satisfactory properties for distinguishing between groups. Item response theory-based measurements and item information curves indicate maximum information at average or lower knowledge scores. Internal consistency and the item-total correlations were quite weak, indicating that the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test measures a set of items related to various relevant knowledge topics but not necessarily related to each other. The Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test measures a broad range of topics relevant to diabetes care. It is an appropriate instrument for identifying individual and distinct needs for diabetes education among nursing personnel. The knowledge gaps identified by the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test could also provide useful input for the content of educational activities. However, some revision of the test should be considered.

Developing and evaluating a paper-and-pencil test to assess components of physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschner, Sophie; Borowski, Andreas; Fischer, Hans E.; Gess-Newsome, Julie; von Aufschnaiter, Claudia

2016-05-01

Teachers' professional knowledge is assumed to be a key variable for effective teaching. As teacher education has the goal to enhance professional knowledge of current and future teachers, this knowledge should be described and assessed. Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies quantitatively measures physics teachers' professional knowledge. The study reported in this paper was part of a bigger project with the broader goal of understanding teacher professional knowledge. We designed a test instrument to assess the professional knowledge of physics teachers (N = 186) in the dimensions of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and pedagogical knowledge (PK). A model describing the relationships between these three dimensions of professional knowledge was created to inform the design of the tests used to measure CK, PCK, and PK. In this paper, we describe the model with particular emphasis on the PCK part, and the subsequent PCK test development and its implementation in detail. We report different approaches to evaluate the PCK test, including the description of content validity, the examination of the internal structure of professional knowledge, and the analysis of construct validity by testing teachers across different school subjects, teachers from different school types, pre-service teachers, and physicists. Our findings demonstrate that our PCK test results could distinguish physics teachers from the other groups tested. The PCK test results could not be explained by teachers' CK or PK, cognitive abilities, computational skills, or science knowledge.

Licensure tests for special education teachers: how well they assess knowledge of reading instruction and mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Stotsky, Sandra

2009-01-01

To determine the extent to which knowledge of evidence-based reading instruction and mathematics is assessed on licensure tests for prospective special education teachers, this study drew on information provided by Educational Testing Service (ETS), the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, and National Evaluation Systems (now Evaluation Systems group of Pearson). It estimated the percentage of test items on phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary knowledge and on mathematics content. It also analyzed descriptions of ETS's tests of "principles of teaching and learning." Findings imply that prospective special education teachers should be required to take both a dedicated test of evidence-based reading instructional knowledge, as in California, Massachusetts, and Virginia, and a test of mathematical knowledge, as in Massachusetts. States must design their own tests of teaching principles to assess knowledge of evidence-based educational theories.

HIV testing is associated with increased knowledge and reductions ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HIV testing is associated with increased knowledge and reductions in sexual risk behaviours among men in Cape Town, South Africa. Lori AJ Scott-Sheldon, Michael P Carey, Kate B Carey, Demetria Cain, Leickness C Simbayi, Vuyelwa Mehlomakhulu, Seth C Kalichman ...

ORF Alignment: NC_002939 [GENIUS II[Archive

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Full Text Available ngth = 222 ... Query: 32 ... AGDSLVVGMELAYPPFEMTDTTGKPTGVSVDLATELGKALGKKIVIQNMAFDGLIPA...LKT 91 ... AGDSLVVGMELAYPPFEMTDTTGKPTGVSVDLATELGKALGKKIVIQNMAFDGLIPALKT Sbjct: 1 ... AGDSLVVGMELAYPPFEM

Knowledge in schizophrenia: The Portuguese version of KAST (Knowledge About Schizophrenia Test) and analysis of social-demographic and clinical factors' influence.

Science.gov (United States)

Daltio, C S; Attux, C; Ferraz, M B

2015-10-01

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder, and the knowledge about it can have a positive impact. The purpose of this study was to make the translation and cultural adaptation of the Knowledge About Schizophrenia Test (KAST) into Portuguese and determine the influence of clinical and socio-demographic factors on knowledge. The test was applied to 189 caregivers of patients enrolled in Schizophrenia Program of the Federal University of São Paulo, 30 caregivers of clinical patients of the General Outpatient Clinic of the same University, and 30 health professionals. The face and content validity of the test was established. The mean value (SD) obtained with the application of the final version to caregivers of schizophrenic patients was 12.96 (2.45) - maximum 17. Level of knowledge increased considering the following order: caregivers of clinical patients, caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and mental health professionals. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.592) obtained in the test-retest was statistically significant. An influence of social class, race, gender and education of the caregiver on the test was observed, and the last two factors were more relevant. The KAST translated and adapted into Portuguese is a valid instrument and can be used as an evaluation tool on psychoeducational interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Estimation of Knowledge Solidity Based on the Comparative Analysis of Different Test Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. K. Khenner

2012-01-01

Full Text Available At present, the testing techniques of knowledge estimation are widely spread in educational system. However, this method is seriously criticized including its application to the Unified State Examinations. The research is aimed at studying the limitations of testing techniques. The authors recommend a new way of knowledge solid- ity estimation bases on the comparative results analysis of various kinds of tests. While testing the large group of students, the authors found out that the results of the closed and open tests substantially differ. The comparative analysis demonstrates that the open tests assessment of the knowledge solidity is more adequate than that of the closed ones. As the research is only based on a single experiment, the authors recommend using this method further, substantiating the findings concerning the differences in tests results, and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the tests in question. 

Objective and Subjective Knowledge and HIV Testing among College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Su-I

2004-01-01

Little research has been conducted on the knowledge domain specifically related to HIV testing among college students. Students (age 18-24) were recruited from a major university in the southeastern United States to participate in a Web-based survey during spring 2003 (N=440). About 21% of the students reported previous voluntary HIV tests.…

Expert Knowledge Influences Decision-Making for Couples Receiving Positive Prenatal Chromosomal Microarray Testing Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubel, M A; Werner-Lin, A; Barg, F K; Bernhardt, B A

2017-09-01

To assess how participants receiving abnormal prenatal genetic testing results seek information and understand the implications of results, 27 US female patients and 12 of their male partners receiving positive prenatal microarray testing results completed semi-structured phone interviews. These interviews documented participant experiences with chromosomal microarray testing, understanding of and emotional response to receiving results, factors affecting decision-making about testing and pregnancy termination, and psychosocial needs throughout the testing process. Interview data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. In the absence of certainty about the implications of results, understanding of results is shaped by biomedical expert knowledge (BEK) and cultural expert knowledge (CEK). When there is a dearth of BEK, as in the case of receiving results of uncertain significance, participants rely on CEK, including religious/spiritual beliefs, "gut instinct," embodied knowledge, and social network informants. CEK is a powerful platform to guide understanding of prenatal genetic testing results. The utility of culturally situated expert knowledge during testing uncertainty emphasizes that decision-making occurs within discourses beyond the biomedical domain. These forms of "knowing" may be integrated into clinical consideration of efficacious patient assessment and counseling.

Participation in blood glucose test, knowledge and prevalence of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Diabetes mellitus causes great health complications which include cardiovascular diseases and nerve damage. Aim: To ascertain the participation in blood glucose test, knowledge of diabetes mellitus (DM) and prevalence of hyperglycemia among traders at New market, Enugu State. Methods: The study is a ...

Knowledge Prediction of Different Students’ Categories Trough an Intelligent Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Zheliazkova

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Student’s modelling, prediction, and grouping have remained open research issues in the multi-disciplinary area of educational data mining. The purpose of this study is to predict the correct knowledge of different categories of tested students: good, very good, and all. The experimental data set was gathered from an intelligent post-test performance containing student’s correct, missing, and wrong knowledge, time undertaken, and final mark. The proposed procedure applies consequently correlation analysis, simple and multiple liner regression using a power specialized tool for programming by the teacher. The finding is that the accuracy of the procedure is satisfactory for the three students’ categories. The experiment also confirms some findings of other researchers and previous authors’ team studies.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an information literacy self-efficacy survey and an information literacy knowledge test.

Science.gov (United States)

Tepe, Rodger; Tepe, Chabha

2015-03-01

To develop and psychometrically evaluate an information literacy (IL) self-efficacy survey and an IL knowledge test. In this test-retest reliability study, a 25-item IL self-efficacy survey and a 50-item IL knowledge test were developed and administered to a convenience sample of 53 chiropractic students. Item analyses were performed on all questions. The IL self-efficacy survey demonstrated good reliability (test-retest correlation = 0.81) and good/very good internal consistency (mean κ = .56 and Cronbach's α = .92). A total of 25 questions with the best item analysis characteristics were chosen from the 50-item IL knowledge test, resulting in a 25-item IL knowledge test that demonstrated good reliability (test-retest correlation = 0.87), very good internal consistency (mean κ = .69, KR20 = 0.85), and good item discrimination (mean point-biserial = 0.48). This study resulted in the development of three instruments: a 25-item IL self-efficacy survey, a 50-item IL knowledge test, and a 25-item IL knowledge test. The information literacy self-efficacy survey and the 25-item version of the information literacy knowledge test have shown preliminary evidence of adequate reliability and validity to justify continuing study with these instruments.

Effect of vaccination against pneumonia on the survival of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) commingled with carrier animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Raghavan, Bindu; Bavananthasivam, Jegarubee; Kugadas, Abirami; Haldorson, Gary J; Srikumaran, Subramaniam

2017-05-01

Leukotoxin producing (lkt+) members of Pasteurellaceae, particularly Mannheimia haemolytica and Bibersteinia trehalosi are important pathogens of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (BHS; Ovis canadensis), causing fatal disease. Predisposing or concurrent infection with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae enhances the severity of the disease, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Several studies have investigated the effectiveness of vaccines against lkt+ members of Pasteurellaceae in preventing fatal pneumonia in BHS. In all of these studies, however, vaccinated animals were challenged experimentally, by direct inoculation of the pathogens, rather than by natural challenge. Moreover, none has investigated the efficacy of the vaccines under conditions of concurrent infection with M. ovipneumoniae. We immunized three bighorn rams and one pregnant ewe with an experimental multivalent vaccine along with a commercial vaccine. The immunized animals were then commingled with two bighorn ewes known to be carriers of lkt+ members of Pasteurellaceae, to simulate natural infection or disease transmission. All vaccinated animals remained healthy. We then inoculated the two carrier ewes with nasal washings from domestic sheep containing M. ovipneumoniae. Within a week, all animals developed mild to moderate signs of pneumonia. While the rams died within two-three months post-inoculation (p.i.), the vaccinated ewe and her lamb died five and eight months p.i., respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that vaccination of BHS against lkt+ members of Pasteurellaceae alone can protect them from natural challenge by these pathogens. However, it may not be adequate to protect them against pneumonia compounded by concurrent infection with M. ovipneumoniae. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Predominance Of Integrative Tests Over Discrete Point Tests In Evaluating The Medical Students' General English Knowledge

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maryam Heydarpour Meymeh

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: Multiple choice tests are the most common type of tests used in evaluating the general English knowledge of the students in most medical universities, however the efficacy of these tests are not examined precisely. Wecompare and examine the integrative tests and discrete point tests as measures of the English language knowledge of medical students.Methods: Three tests were given to 60 undergraduate physiotherapy and Audiology students in their second year of study (after passing their general English course. They were divided into 2 groups.The first test for both groups was an integrative test, writing. The second test was a multiple - choice test 0.(prepositions for group one and a multiple - choice test of tensesfor group two. The same items which were mostfi-equently used wrongly in thefirst test were used in the items of the second test. A third test, a TOEFL, was given to the subjects in order to estimate the correlation between this test and tests one and two.Results: The students performed better in the second test, discrete point test rather than the first which was an integrative test. The same grammatical mistakes in the composition were used correctly in the multiple choice tests by the students.Conclusion:Our findings show that student perform better in non-productive rather than productive test. Since being competent English language user is an expected outcome of university language courses it seems warranted to switch to integrative tests as a measure of English language competency.Keywords: INTEGRATIVE TESTS, ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR MEDICINE, ACADEMIC ENGLISH

Orthopaedic nurses' knowledge and interrater reliability of neurovascular assessments with 2-point discrimination test.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Jennifer; Raley Noble, Deana; Kim, Son Chae

2013-01-01

: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of education on knowledge and interrater reliability of neurovascular assessments with 2-point discrimination (2-PD) test among pediatric orthopaedic nurses. : A pre- and posttest study was done among 60 nurses attending 2-hour educational sessions. Neurovascular assessments with 2-PD test were performed on 64 casted pediatric patients by the nurses and 5 nurse experts before and after the educational sessions. : The mean neurovascular assessment knowledge score was improved at posteducation compared with the preeducation (p < .001). The 2-PD test interrater reliability also improved from Cohen's kappa value of 0.24-0.48 at posteducation. : The 2-hour educational session may be effective in improving nurses' knowledge and the interrater reliability of neurovascular assessment with 2-PD test.

Construction of a valid and reliable test to determine knowledge on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The construction of a questionnaire, in the format of a test, to determine knowledge on dietary fat of higher-educated young adults. Design: The topics on dietary fat included were in accordance with those tested in other studies. Forty multiple-choice items were drafted as questions and incomplete statements ...

A Short Test for the Assessment of Basic Knowledge in Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Johannes; Leichner, Nikolas; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Krampen, Günter

2015-01-01

This paper reports the development of a fixed-choice test for the assessment of basic knowledge in psychology, for use with undergraduate as well as graduate students. Test content is selected based on a core concepts approach and includes a sample of concepts which are indexed most frequently in common introductory psychology textbooks. In a…

Hepatitis B knowledge, testing, and vaccination among Chinese and Vietnamese adults in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, Lan H; Gu, Zhihong; Walton, Jodie; Peet, Anthony; Dean, Judith; Dunne, Michael P; Debattista, Joseph

2012-03-01

Hepatitis B is a significant public health challenge within some subpopulations in Australia, including Chinese and Vietnamese migrants. There has been limited research on hepatitis B knowledge and actions in these communities. The authors conducted a self-administered survey among 442 Chinese and 433 Vietnamese in Brisbane. Generally, the knowledge is best described as "moderate." One in 2 could not identify the sexual transmission risk and less than one third knew that sharing foods or drinks did not spread the disease. The majority of Vietnamese (80%) and 60% of Chinese respondents indicated prior testing. Vaccination was reported in 60% of the Vietnamese and in 52% of the Chinese. Knowledge was better among Chinese people who had been tested and vaccinated compared with those who were nontested and nonvaccinated. Only 3.5% of the Chinese, but 11.6% of the Vietnamese, indicated having a positive test result hepatitis B virus. This study helps identify strategies for programs targeting both communities and practitioners.

The Cost and Utility of Renal Transplantation in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bavanandan, Sunita; Yap, Yok-Chin; Ahmad, Ghazali; Wong, Hin-Seng; Azmi, Soraya; Goh, Adrian

2015-11-01

Kidney transplantation is the optimal therapy for the majority of patients with end-stage renal disease. However, the cost and health outcomes of transplantation have not been assessed in a middle-income nation with a low volume of transplantation, such as Malaysia. This study used microcosting methods to determine the cost and health outcomes of living and deceased donor kidney transplantation in adult and pediatric recipients. The perspective used was from the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Cost-effectiveness measures were cost per life year (LY) and cost per quality-adjusted LYs. The time horizon was the lifetime of the transplant recipient from transplant to death. Records of 206 KT recipients (118 adults and 88 children) were obtained for microcosting. In adults, discounted cost per LY was US $8609(Malaysian Ringgit [RM]29 482) and US $13 209(RM45 234) for living-donor kidney transplant (LKT) and deceased donor kidney transplant (DKT), respectively, whereas in children, it was US $10 485(RM35 905) and US $14 985(RM51 317), respectively. Cost per quality-adjusted LY in adults was US $8826 (RM30 224) for LKT and US $13 592(RM46 546) for DKT. Total lifetime discounted costs of adult transplants were US $119 702 (RM409 921) for LKT, US $147 152 (RM503 922) for DKT. Total costs for pediatric transplants were US $154 841(RM530 252) and US $159 313(RM545 566) for the 2 categories respectively. Both LKT and DKT are economically favorable for Malaysian adult and pediatric patients with ESRD and result in improvement in quality of life.

ORF Alignment: NC_005085 [GENIUS II[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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Topical Knowledge in L2 Speaking Assessment: Comparing Independent and Integrated Speaking Test Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Heng-Tsung Danny; Hung, Shao-Ting Alan; Plakans, Lia

2018-01-01

Integrated speaking test tasks (integrated tasks) provide reading and/or listening input to serve as the basis for test-takers to formulate their oral responses. This study examined the influence of topical knowledge on integrated speaking test performance and compared independent speaking test performance and integrated speaking test performance…

Knowledge of parents regarding newborn screening test, after accessing the website “Babies’ Portal” - Heel prick test

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Caroline Antonelli Mendes

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to assess the knowledge of mothers about the heel prick test, develop contents on this test to make it available on the "Babies’ Portal" website, evaluate and validate the informative material developed. Methods: this study was conducted in three stages, that is, the first stage which is about a descriptive study involving 105 mothers of newborn children before performing the neonatal screening "Heel Prick Test", the second one consisting in the development of the website "Babies’ Portal", and the third stage, the evaluation and validation of this material carried out by 20 parents of children between zero and 36 months old, who underwent the neonatal screening Heel Prick Test by accessing the website “Babies’ Portal”. Results: although the interviewed mothers knew that their children had the right to be tested, they showed no knowledge of the diseases that can be prevented, time of diagnosis, nor the consequences arising from the lack of early diagnosis and treatment. The website creation and validation gathered basic information about the Heel Prick Test, and the participants regarded the content from satisfactory to excellent. Conclusion: it is necessary that families know not only about the procedures their children will undergo, but also the reason they are performed and the consequences of failing in doing so.

Test your troubleshooting knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, E

2001-01-01

While troubleshooting and repairing medical instrumentation may be all that BMETs would like to do, it's just too limited in scope to perform the job effectively. Flattened organizations can require greater responsibility for BMETs--and lead to greater ambiguity. Besides electronic troubleshooting skills, mechanical ability, and the knowledge of how medical equipment normally operates, additional skills are required of the BMET to effectively facilitate a repair--such as knowledge of pertinent codes and standards, job safety laws and guidelines, politeness, and empathy for the equipment user. You will notice that many of these relate to interpersonal relations. The ability to interact with fellow health care workers in a non-threatening manner and to have an appreciation for their perspectives are valuable customer service skills--potentially more valuable than being able to do component-level troubleshooting!

412th Test Engineering Group Vision for Future Knowledge Management (KM)

Science.gov (United States)

2018-05-17

Presentation 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 17 May 2018 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 412th Test Engineering Group Vision for Future Knowledge Management (KM... Engineering Group 307 E. Popson Ave Edwards AFB, CA 93523 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 412TW-PA...centers for the TENG test customers to allow the data to be readily available within minutes of a flight, for the data to be organized so that the engineer

Towards Intelligence and Flexibility of Learning and Knowledge Testing Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nerijus AUKSTAKALNIS

2006-02-01

Full Text Available The proposed goal oriented knowledge acquisition and assessment are based on the flexible educational model and allows to implement an adaptive control of the enhanced learning process according to the requirements of student's knowledge level, his state of cognition and subject learning history. The enhanced learner knowledge model specifies how the cognition state of the user will be achieved step by step. The use case actions definition is a starting point of the specification, which depends on different levels of learning scenarios and user cognition sub goals. The use case actions specification is used as a basis to set the requirements for service software specification and attributes of learning objects respectively. The paper presents the enhanced architecture of the student self-evaluation and on-line assessment system TestTool. The system is explored as an assessment engine capable of supporting and improving the individualized intelligent goal oriented self-instructional and simulation based mode of learning, grounded on the GRID distributed service architecture.

Genetic testing for BRCA1: effects of a randomised study of knowledge provision on interest in testing and long term test uptake; implications for the NICE guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Julia; Gray, Susan; A'Hern, Roger; Shanley, Susan; Watson, Maggie; Kash, Kathryn; Croyle, Robert; Eeles, Rosalind

2009-01-01

Interest in searching for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 is high. Knowledge regarding these genes and the advantages and limitations of genetic testing is limited. It is unknown whether increasing knowledge about breast cancer genetic testing alters interest in testing. Three hundred and seventy nine women (260 with a family history of breast cancer; 119 with breast cancer) from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust were randomised to receive or not receive written educational information on cancer genetics. A questionnaire was completed assessing interest in BRCA1 testing and knowledge on breast cancer genetics and screening. Actual uptake of BRCA1 testing is reported with a six year follow-up. Eighty nine percent of women at risk of breast cancer and 76% of women with breast cancer were interested in BRCA1 testing (P testing, the families of 66% of the at risk group and 13% of the women with breast cancer would be eligible for testing (probability of BRCA1 mutation >or=20%). Within six years of randomisation, genetic testing was actually undertaken on 12 women, only 10 of whom would now be eligible, on the NICE guidelines. There is strong interest in BRCA1 testing. Despite considerable ignorance of factors affecting the inheritance of breast cancer, education neither reduced nor increased interest to undergo testing. The NICE guidelines successfully triage those with a high breast cancer risk to be managed in cancer genetics clinics.

Development and Validation of a Video-Based Social Knowledge Test for Junior Commissioned Army Officers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Schneider, R. J; Johnson, J. W

2004-01-01

Social knowledge/skill are increasingly critical to the success of U.S. Army officers. In this paper, we describe development and criterion-related validation of an experimental video-based social knowledge test...

Knowledge, attitudes and intended behaviours towards HIV testing and self-protection: a survey of Omani pregnant women.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Jabri, A A; Youssef, R M; Hasson, S S; Balkhair, A A; Al-Belushi, M; Al-Saadoon, M; Mathew, M; Al-Mahroqi, S; Said, E; Koh, C Y; Idris, M A

2014-10-20

Routine HIV testing of all pregnant women in Oman has been introduced without prior knowledge of women's attitudes towards testing or their behaviour in the event of a positive test. This study recruited 1000 Omani pregnant women from antenatal clinics to explore their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes towards HIV testing and intended behaviours in the event of a positive test. Mother-to-child transmission was recognized by 86.6% of the women but only 21.0% knew that it was preventable and a few acknowledged the important role of antiviral drugs. Half of the women (51.9%) reported having been tested for HIV and 75.8% agreed about routine HIV testing for all pregnant women. A higher level of knowledge was significantly associated with a favourable intended behaviour related to voluntary testing, disclosure and seeking professional assistance in the event of a positive HIV test. The results are discussed in relation to opt-in and opt-out approaches to voluntary testing during pregnancy.

Constructing a multiple choice test to measure elementary school teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of technology education.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rohaan, E.J.; Taconis, R.; Jochems, W.M.G.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the construction and validation of a multiple choice test to measure elementary school teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of technology education. Pedagogical Content Knowledge is generally accepted to be a crucial domain of teacher knowledge and is, therefore, an important

Testing knowledge sharing effectiveness: trust, motivation, leadership style, workplace spirituality and social network embedded model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahman Muhammad Sabbir

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this inquiry is to investigate the relationships among the antecedents of knowledge sharing effectiveness under the position of non-academic staff of higher learning institutions through an empirical test of a conceptual model consisting of trust, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, leadership style, workplace spirituality and online social network. This study used the respondents from the non-academic staff of higher learning institutions in Malaysia (n = 200, utilizing a self-administered survey questionnaire. The structural equation modeling approach was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The outcomes indicate that all the antecedents play a substantial function in knowledge sharing effectiveness. In addition, perceived risk plays a mediating role between trust and knowledge sharing effectiveness. On the other hand, this research also proved the communication skill also plays a mediating role between leadership style and knowledge sharing effectiveness. This study contributes to pioneering empirical findings on knowledge sharing literature under the scope of the non-academic staff perspective.

Building Knowledge Structures by Testing Helps Children With Mathematical Learning Difficulty.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yiyun; Zhou, Xinlin

2016-01-01

Mathematical learning difficulty (MLD) is prevalent in the development of mathematical abilities. Previous interventions for children with MLD have focused on number sense or basic mathematical skills. This study investigated whether mathematical performance of fifth grade children with MLD could be improved by developing knowledge structures by testing using a web-based curriculum learning system. A total of 142 children with MLD were recruited; half of the children were in the experimental group (using the system), and the other half were in the control group (not using the system). The children were encouraged to use the web-based learning system at home for at least a 15-min session, at least once a week, for one and a half months. The mean accumulated time of testing on the system for children in the experimental group was 56.2 min. Children in the experimental group had significantly higher scores on their final mathematical examination compared to the control group. The results suggest that web-based curriculum learning through testing that promotes the building of knowledge structures for a mathematical course was helpful for children with MLD. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Immunization knowledge and practice among Malaysian parents: a questionnaire development and pilot-testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Awadh, Ammar Ihsan; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi; Al-lela, Omer Qutaiba; Bux, Siti Halimah; Elkalmi, Ramadan M; Hadi, Hazrina

2014-10-27

Parents are the main decision makers for their children vaccinations. This fact makes parents' immunization knowledge and practices as predictor factors for immunization uptake and timeliness. The aim of this pilot study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument in Malaysian language to measure immunization knowledge and practice (KP) of Malaysian parents. A cross-sectional prospective pilot survey was conducted among 88 Malaysian parents who attended public health facilities that provide vaccinations. Translated immunization KP questionnaires (Bahasa Melayu version) were used. Descriptive statistics were applied, face and content validity were assessed, and internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity were determined. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the knowledge scores was 7.36 ± 2.29 and for practice scores was 7.13 ± 2.20. Good internal consistency was found for knowledge and practice items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.757 and 0.743 respectively); the test-retest reliability value was 0.740 (p = 0.014). A panel of three specialist pharmacists who are experts in this field judged the face and content validity of the final questionnaire. Parents with up-to-date immunized children had significantly better knowledge and practice scores than parents who did not (p Malaysian parents and therefore this version can be used in future research.

The psychotropic education and knowledge test for nurses in nursing homes : Striving for PEAK performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perehudoff, Katrina; Azermai, Majda; Wauters, Maarten; Van Acker, Sandra; Versluys, Karen; Steeman, Els; Petrovic, Mirko

2016-01-01

Objectives: The psychotropic education and knowledge test for nurses in acute geriatric care (PEAK-AC) measures knowledge of psychotropic indications, doses and adverse drug reactions in older inpatients. Given the low internal consistency and poor discrimination of certain items, this study aims to

Influence of previous knowledge in Torrance tests of creative thinking

OpenAIRE

Aranguren, María; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas CONICET

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of study field, expertise and recreational activities participation in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT, 1974) performance. Several hypotheses were postulated to explore the possible effects of previous knowledge in TTCT verbal and TTCT figural university students’ outcomes. Participants in this study included 418 students from five study fields: Psychology;Philosophy and Literature, Music; Engineering; and Journalism and Advertisin...

HEPATITIS B AWARENESS, TESTING, AND KNOWLEDGE AMONG VIETNAMESE AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Victoria M.; Choe, John H.; Yasui, Yutaka; Li, Lin; Burke, Nancy; Jackson, J. Carey

2006-01-01

Southeast Asians have higher rates of liver cancer than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States. Chronic carriage of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common underlying cause of liver cancer in the majority of Asian populations. Our objectives were to describe Vietnamese Americans’ awareness of hepatitis B, levels of HBV testing, and knowledge about hepatitis B transmission; and to compare the HBV knowledge and practices of men and women. A community-based, in-person survey of Vietnamese men and women was conducted in Seattle during 2002. Seven hundred and fifteen individuals (345 men and 370 women) completed the questionnaire. Eighty-one percent of the respondents had heard of hepatitis B (76% of men, 86% of women) and 67% reported HBV testing (66% of men, 68% of women). A majority of the participants knew that HBV can be transmitted during sexual intercourse (71% of men, 68% of women), by sharing toothbrushes (67% of men, 77% of women), and by sharing razors (59% of men, 67% of women). Less than one-half knew that hepatitis B is not spread by eating food prepared by an infected person (46% of men, 27% of women), nor by coughing (39% of men, 25% of women). One-third of our respondents did not recall being tested for HBV. Important knowledge deficits about routes of hepatitis B transmission were identified. Continued efforts should be made to develop and implement hepatitis B educational campaigns for Vietnamese immigrant communities. These efforts might be tailored to male and female audiences. PMID:16370056

Test de Evaluacion de Conocimientos Medicos-CIIPME (Test of Evaluation of Medical Knowledge-CIIPME). Publication No. 42.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfici, C.; And Others

The purpose of this research is to build a test for the evaluation of the knowledge needed by medical students before entering clinical courses in medical school. The criterion for this was provided by teachers in both the pre-clinical and clinical subjects. The Pilot instrument consisted of 335 items that covered 8 sections. Each one of these…

Knowledge and attitudes towards genetic testing: a two-year follow-up in patients with asthma, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calsbeek, H.; Morren, M.; Bensing, J.; Rijken, M.

2007-01-01

Adequate knowledge and personal attitudes towards DNA-testing are major determinants of optimal utilization of genetic testing. This study aims to (1) assess the genetic knowledge and attitude towards genetic testing of patients with asthma, diabetes mellitus type II and cardiovascular diseases, (2)

[Objective assessment of transfusion-related knowledge of nurses using modern test theory].

Science.gov (United States)

Rajki, Veronika; Deutsch, Tibor; Csóka, Mária; Mészáros, Judit

2015-09-13

Clinical practice requires knowledge of health professionals for the application of problem solving of different tasks in various clinical settings. Therefore, a set of reliable measurement tools is required to assess various components of the professional knowledge including factual knowledge, skills and competence as outcomes of nursing education and training. Traditional questionnaires and test methods do not allow the measurement of these characteristics properly, as these tools typically provide overall scores without relevant insight into areas in which nurses perform well, and those where their knowledge and/or skills should be improved substantially. The aim of this nationwide survey conducted among nurses between November 2014 and February 2015 was to determine how the teaching/training objectives have been achieved in the nurses' transfusion practice. The authors attempted to exceed the capabilities of classical test theory and acquire a detailed picture about what the nurses know about transfusion therapy and how they are involved and behave in routine clinical practice. The knowledge and skills of 657 participants were assessed using a validated instrument consisting of a set of questions covering every aspects of transfusion therapy. The answers to these items were evaluated on a binary (good or bad) scale. Recorded answers of the participants were analysed using hierarchical cluster analysis and item response theory tools such as the one-parametric Rasch model suitable for dichotomous data. Data analysis was performed with the SPSS program and the ltm module of the R statistical program. The paper presents the distribution of correct and incorrect answers to various questions about transfusion therapy along with the corresponding logit values and odds ratios, respectively. The characteristic curves of each item were determined on the basis of the number of correct answers that have been recorded. These curves highlight which questions were answered

Pregnant Women's Knowledge of and Attitudes to HIV Testing at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi.

Science.gov (United States)

Addo, Vn

2005-06-01

SummaryA questionnaire survey on the knowledge about human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and attitudes to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) in pregnancy of 334 antenatal attendants at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) was conducted. The survey showed that HIV/AIDS is recognized as a life-threatening condition and is mainly acquired through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner, use of unsterile sharp instruments and blood transfusion. Knowledge about mother to child transmission (MTCT) was lacking.The majority of women who had done the test did so as a pre-requisite for church blessing of their marriage.VCT would be acceptable especially when anonymity is ensured and drug treatment is available for mother and child should the pregnant woman test positive for HIV.

From Knowledge to Innovation and Back: Empirical Testing of Knowledge-Intensive Industries in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikola Radovanović

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: In the technology and knowledge intensive industries, innovation and knowledge use are key elements for competitiveness. Organisations are oriented towards increasing their potential for exploiting innovation and developing knowledge base internally through various techniques employed. This research aims at analysing the relationship between the dynamics of knowledge use and innovation efforts of organisations. Research Design & Methods: The methodology included quantitative and qualitative research method based on a survey, while the data of this research were analysed with the application of descriptive statistical method (variance. Findings: The results of the study suggest that realised innovation correlates with the use of knowledge in organisations and that an increase in research and development activities, as well as in patented and non-patented products or services will likely lead to an increase in the volume of internal knowledge use by employees. Implications & Recommendations: The results of this research can be useful for researchers and practitioners in technology and knowledge intensive industries. The findings can be used as a basis for adjusting organisational policies towards developing competitiveness based on the enhancement of the use of existing knowledge and by developing innovation strength. Contribution & Value Added: This paper is a valuable contribution to research fields of organisational management, innovation management, knowledge management, absorptive capacity, and especially innovation management.

Factors associated with knowledge of diabetes in patients with type 2 diabetes using the Diabetes Knowledge Test validated with Rasch analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva K Fenwick

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: In patients with Type 2 diabetes, to determine the factors associated with diabetes knowledge, derived from Rasch analysis, and compare results with a traditional raw scoring method. RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODS: Participants in this cross-sectional study underwent a comprehensive clinical and biochemical assessment. Diabetes knowledge (main outcome was assessed using the Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT which was psychometrically validated using Rasch analysis. The relationship between diabetes knowledge and risk factors identified during univariate analyses was examined using multivariable linear regression. The results using raw and Rasch-transformed methods were descriptively compared. RESULTS: 181 patients (mean age±standard deviation = 66.97±9.17 years; 113 (62% male were included. Using Rasch-derived DKT scores, those with greater education (β = 1.14; CI: 0.25,2.04, p = 0.013; had seen an ophthalmologist (β = 1.65; CI: 0.63,2.66, p = 0.002, and spoke English at home (β = 1.37; CI: 0.43,2.31, p = 0.005 had significantly better diabetes knowledge than those with less education, had not seen an ophthalmologist and spoke a language other than English, respectively. Patients who were members of the National Diabetes Service Scheme (NDSS and had seen a diabetes educator also had better diabetes knowledge than their counterparts. Higher HbA1c level was independently associated with worse diabetes knowledge. Using raw measures, access to an ophthalmologist and NDSS membership were not independently associated with diabetes knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Sociodemographic, clinical and service use factors were independently associated with diabetes knowledge based on both raw scores and Rasch-derived scores, which supports the implementation of targeted interventions to improve patients' knowledge. Choice of psychometric analytical method can affect study outcomes and should be considered during intervention

Factors Associated with Knowledge of Diabetes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Using the Diabetes Knowledge Test Validated with Rasch Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Fenwick, Eva K.; Xie, Jing; Rees, Gwyn; Finger, Robert P.; Lamoureux, Ecosse L.

2013-01-01

Objective In patients with Type 2 diabetes, to determine the factors associated with diabetes knowledge, derived from Rasch analysis, and compare results with a traditional raw scoring method. Research Design & Methods Participants in this cross-sectional study underwent a comprehensive clinical and biochemical assessment. Diabetes knowledge (main outcome) was assessed using the Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) which was psychometrically validated using Rasch analysis. The relationship between diabetes knowledge and risk factors identified during univariate analyses was examined using multivariable linear regression. The results using raw and Rasch-transformed methods were descriptively compared. Results 181 patients (mean age±standard deviation = 66.97±9.17 years; 113 (62%) male) were included. Using Rasch-derived DKT scores, those with greater education (β = 1.14; CI: 0.25,2.04, p = 0.013); had seen an ophthalmologist (β = 1.65; CI: 0.63,2.66, p = 0.002), and spoke English at home (β = 1.37; CI: 0.43,2.31, p = 0.005) had significantly better diabetes knowledge than those with less education, had not seen an ophthalmologist and spoke a language other than English, respectively. Patients who were members of the National Diabetes Service Scheme (NDSS) and had seen a diabetes educator also had better diabetes knowledge than their counterparts. Higher HbA1c level was independently associated with worse diabetes knowledge. Using raw measures, access to an ophthalmologist and NDSS membership were not independently associated with diabetes knowledge. Conclusions Sociodemographic, clinical and service use factors were independently associated with diabetes knowledge based on both raw scores and Rasch-derived scores, which supports the implementation of targeted interventions to improve patients' knowledge. Choice of psychometric analytical method can affect study outcomes and should be considered during intervention development. PMID:24312484

Creating illusions of knowledge: learning errors that contradict prior knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Lisa K; Barber, Sarah J; Rajaram, Suparna; Ornstein, Peter A; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2013-02-01

Most people know that the Pacific is the largest ocean on Earth and that Edison invented the light bulb. Our question is whether this knowledge is stable, or if people will incorporate errors into their knowledge bases, even if they have the correct knowledge stored in memory. To test this, we asked participants general-knowledge questions 2 weeks before they read stories that contained errors (e.g., "Franklin invented the light bulb"). On a later general-knowledge test, participants reproduced story errors despite previously answering the questions correctly. This misinformation effect was found even for questions that were answered correctly on the initial test with the highest level of confidence. Furthermore, prior knowledge offered no protection against errors entering the knowledge base; the misinformation effect was equivalent for previously known and unknown facts. Errors can enter the knowledge base even when learners have the knowledge necessary to catch the errors. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Increasing HIV-related knowledge, communication, and testing intentions among Latinos: Protege tu Familia: Hazte la Prueba.

Science.gov (United States)

Rios-Ellis, Britt; Espinoza, Lilia; Bird, Mara; Garcia, Melawhy; D'Anna, Laura Hoyt; Bellamy, Laura; Scolari, Rosana

2010-08-01

Latinos are less likely to be aware of their HIV seropositivity than African Americans and Whites. 'Protege tu Familia: Hazte la Prueba' is a culturally and linguistically-sensitive HIV/AIDS prevention and testing program targeting Latino families. Using community-based participatory research techniques, Spanish-speaking bicultural community health workers helped develop and then used an educational flip chart and materials to conduct outreach and HIV prevention education in diverse settings. The intervention was created to increase HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, to improve communication regarding sexual risk, and to augment intentions to use condoms and test for HIV. A secondary purpose was to decrease HIV-related stigma by improving knowledge about transmission and reducing homophobia. Participants demonstrated significant increases in HIV knowledge, intention to practice safer sex and communicate sexual risk to partner(s), and intention to test for HIV. Improvements were also found in self-reported comfort levels when interacting with and caring for the HIV positive, thus decreasing HIV/AIDS-related stigma.

Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations: Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer

Science.gov (United States)

Schrading, J. Nicolas

2013-01-01

The Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) program has a long history at KSC. Now a part of the Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations (ACLO) mission, this software system has been sporadically developed over the past 20 years. Originally designed to provide health and status monitoring for a simple water-based fluid system, it was proven to be a capable autonomous test engineer for determining sources of failure in the system. As part of a new goal to provide this same anomaly-detection capability for a complicated cryogenic fluid system, software engineers, physicists, interns and KATE experts are working to upgrade the software capabilities and graphical user interface. Much progress was made during this effort to improve KATE. A display of the entire cryogenic system's graph, with nodes for components and edges for their connections, was added to the KATE software. A searching functionality was added to the new graph display, so that users could easily center their screen on specific components. The GUI was also modified so that it displayed information relevant to the new project goals. In addition, work began on adding new pneumatic and electronic subsystems into the KATE knowledge base, so that it could provide health and status monitoring for those systems. Finally, many fixes for bugs, memory leaks, and memory errors were implemented and the system was moved into a state in which it could be presented to stakeholders. Overall, the KATE system was improved and necessary additional features were added so that a presentation of the program and its functionality in the next few months would be a success.

Development of a Sex Knowledge and Attitude Test for the Moderately and Mildly Retarded. Final Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmonson, Barbara; And Others

The Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test was designed to measure the attitudes and knowledge of retarded individuals in fourteen areas: (1) anatomy/terminology; (2) dating; (3) marriage; (4) intimacy; (5) intercourse; (6) pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing; (8) masturbation; (9) homosexuality; (10) alcohol and drugs; (11) community risks…

Knowledge productivity : designing and testing a method to diagnose knowledge productivity and plan for enhancement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stam, C.D.

2007-01-01

Our economy has changed from an industrial into a knowledge economy in which knowledge productivity has become the main challenge. The lack of appropriate techniques to reveal knowledge productivity hinders organizations to design effective policies aiming at improving knowledge-based performance.

Achievement goal orientation and situational motivation for a low-stakes test of content knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Waskiewicz, Rhonda A

2012-05-10

To determine the extent of the relationship between students' inherent motivation to achieve in a doctor of pharmacy program and their motivation to achieve on a single low-stakes test of content knowledge. The Attitude Toward Learning Questionnaire (ATL) was administered to 66 third-year pharmacy students at the beginning of the spring 2011 semester, and the Student Opinion Scale (SOS) was administered to the same group immediately following completion of the Pharmacy Curricular Outcomes Assessment (PCOA). Significant differences were found in performance approach and work avoidance based on situational motivation scores. Situational motivation was also found to be directly correlated with performance and mastery approaches and inversely correlated with work avoidance. Criteria were met for predicting importance and effort from performance and mastery approaches and work avoidance scores of pharmacy students. The ability to predict pharmacy students' motivation to perform on a low-stakes standardized test of content knowledge increases the test's usefulness as a measure of curricular effectiveness.

Formal testing and utilization of streaming media to improve flight crew safety knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellazzini, Marc A; Rankin, Peter M; Quisling, Jason; Gangnon, Ronald; Kohrs, Mike

2008-01-01

Increased concerns over the safety of air medical transport have prompted development of novel ways to increase safety. The objective of our study was to determine if an Internet streaming media safety video increased crew safety knowledge. 23 out of 40 crew members took an online safety pre-test, watched a safety video specific to our program and completed immediate and long-term post-testing 6 months later. Mean pre-test, post-test and 6 month follow up test scores were 84.9%, 92.3% and 88.4% respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in all scores (p Streaming media proved to be an accessible and effective supplement to safety training in our study.

Knowledge, attitudes and preferences regarding genetic testing for smoking cessation. A cross-sectional survey among Dutch smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Quaak, Marieke; Smerecnik, Chris; van Schooten, Frederik J; de Vries, Hein; van Schayck, Constant P

2012-01-01

Objectives Recent research strongly suggests that genetic variation influences smokers' ability to stop. Therefore, the use of (pharmaco) genetic testing may increase cessation rates. This study aims to assess the intention of smokers concerning undergoing genetic testing for smoking cessation and their knowledge, attitudes and preferences about this subject. Design Online cross-sectional survey. Setting Database internet research company of which every inhabitant of the Netherlands of ≥12 years with an email address and capable of understanding Dutch can become a member. Participants 587 of 711 Dutch smokers aged ≥18 years, daily smokers for ≥5 years and smoke on average ≥10 cigarettes/day (response rate=83%). Primary and secondary outcome measures Smokers' knowledge, attitudes and preferences and their intention to undergo genetic testing for smoking cessation. Results Knowledge on the influence of genetic factors in smoking addiction and cessation was found to be low. Smokers underestimated their chances of having a genetic predisposition and the influence of this on smoking cessation. Participants perceived few disadvantages, some advantages and showed moderate self-efficacy towards undergoing a genetic test and dealing with the results. Smokers were mildly interested in receiving information and participating in genetic testing, especially when offered by their general practitioner (GP). Conclusions For successful implementation of genetic testing for smoking in general practice, several issues should be addressed, such as the knowledge on smoking cessation, genetics and genetic testing (including advantages and disadvantages) and the influence of genetics on smoking addiction and cessation. Furthermore, smokers allocate their GPs a crucial role in the provision of information and the delivery of a genetic test for smoking; however, it is unclear whether GPs will be able and willing to take on this role.

Knowledge, attitudes and preferences regarding genetic testing for smoking cessation. A cross-sectional survey among Dutch smokers

Science.gov (United States)

Smerecnik, Chris; van Schooten, Frederik J; de Vries, Hein; van Schayck, Constant P

2012-01-01

Objectives Recent research strongly suggests that genetic variation influences smokers' ability to stop. Therefore, the use of (pharmaco) genetic testing may increase cessation rates. This study aims to assess the intention of smokers concerning undergoing genetic testing for smoking cessation and their knowledge, attitudes and preferences about this subject. Design Online cross-sectional survey. Setting Database internet research company of which every inhabitant of the Netherlands of ≥12 years with an email address and capable of understanding Dutch can become a member. Participants 587 of 711 Dutch smokers aged ≥18 years, daily smokers for ≥5 years and smoke on average ≥10 cigarettes/day (response rate=83%). Primary and secondary outcome measures Smokers' knowledge, attitudes and preferences and their intention to undergo genetic testing for smoking cessation. Results Knowledge on the influence of genetic factors in smoking addiction and cessation was found to be low. Smokers underestimated their chances of having a genetic predisposition and the influence of this on smoking cessation. Participants perceived few disadvantages, some advantages and showed moderate self-efficacy towards undergoing a genetic test and dealing with the results. Smokers were mildly interested in receiving information and participating in genetic testing, especially when offered by their general practitioner (GP). Conclusions For successful implementation of genetic testing for smoking in general practice, several issues should be addressed, such as the knowledge on smoking cessation, genetics and genetic testing (including advantages and disadvantages) and the influence of genetics on smoking addiction and cessation. Furthermore, smokers allocate their GPs a crucial role in the provision of information and the delivery of a genetic test for smoking; however, it is unclear whether GPs will be able and willing to take on this role. PMID:22223839

KNODWAT: a scientific framework application for testing knowledge discovery methods for the biomedical domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Holzinger, Andreas; Zupan, Mario

2013-06-13

Professionals in the biomedical domain are confronted with an increasing mass of data. Developing methods to assist professional end users in the field of Knowledge Discovery to identify, extract, visualize and understand useful information from these huge amounts of data is a huge challenge. However, there are so many diverse methods and methodologies available, that for biomedical researchers who are inexperienced in the use of even relatively popular knowledge discovery methods, it can be very difficult to select the most appropriate method for their particular research problem. A web application, called KNODWAT (KNOwledge Discovery With Advanced Techniques) has been developed, using Java on Spring framework 3.1. and following a user-centered approach. The software runs on Java 1.6 and above and requires a web server such as Apache Tomcat and a database server such as the MySQL Server. For frontend functionality and styling, Twitter Bootstrap was used as well as jQuery for interactive user interface operations. The framework presented is user-centric, highly extensible and flexible. Since it enables methods for testing using existing data to assess suitability and performance, it is especially suitable for inexperienced biomedical researchers, new to the field of knowledge discovery and data mining. For testing purposes two algorithms, CART and C4.5 were implemented using the WEKA data mining framework.

Knowledge and attitudes towards genetic testing: a two year follow-up study in patients with asthma, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calsbeek, Hiske; Morren, M.; Rijken, M.; Bensing, J.

Adequate knowledge and personal attitudes towards DNA-testing are major determinants of optimal utilization of genetic testing. This study aims to (1) assess the genetic knowledge and attitude towards genetic testing of patients with asthma, diabetes mellitus type II and cardiovascular diseases,

TESTING AS THE BASIC TECHNOLOGY OF THE KNOWLEDGE CONTROL OF LISTENERS OF COURSE ECDL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Kravtsov

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Results of research of distance testing systems and their introduction for the knowledge control in the course of professional skill improvement under program ECDL with use of distance learning are presented.

The establisment of an achievement test for determination of primary teachers’ knowledge level of earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aydin, Süleyman; Haşiloğlu, M. Akif; Kunduraci, Ayşe

2016-01-01

In this study it was aimed to improve an academic achievement test to establish the students’ knowledge about the earthquake and the ways of protection from earthquakes. In the method of this study, the steps that Webb (1994) was created to improve an academic achievement test for a unit were followed. In the developmental process of multiple choice test having 25 questions, was prepared to measure the pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels about the earthquake and the ways of protection from earthquakes. The multiple choice test was presented to view of six academics (one of them was from geographic field and five of them were science educator) and two expert teachers in science Prepared test was applied to 93 pre-service teachers studying in elementary education department in 2014-2015 academic years. As a result of validity and reliability of the study, the test was composed of 20 items. As a result of these applications, Pearson Moments Multiplication half-reliability coefficient was found to be 0.94. When this value is adjusted according to Spearman Brown reliability coefficient the reliability coefficient was set at 0.97.

The establisment of an achievement test for determination of primary teachers’ knowledge level of earthquake

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aydin, Süleyman, E-mail: yupul@hotmail.com; Haşiloğlu, M. Akif, E-mail: mehmet.hasiloglu@hotmail.com; Kunduraci, Ayşe, E-mail: ayse-kndrc@hotmail.com [Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Faculty of Education, Science Education, Ağrı (Turkey)

2016-04-18

In this study it was aimed to improve an academic achievement test to establish the students’ knowledge about the earthquake and the ways of protection from earthquakes. In the method of this study, the steps that Webb (1994) was created to improve an academic achievement test for a unit were followed. In the developmental process of multiple choice test having 25 questions, was prepared to measure the pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels about the earthquake and the ways of protection from earthquakes. The multiple choice test was presented to view of six academics (one of them was from geographic field and five of them were science educator) and two expert teachers in science Prepared test was applied to 93 pre-service teachers studying in elementary education department in 2014-2015 academic years. As a result of validity and reliability of the study, the test was composed of 20 items. As a result of these applications, Pearson Moments Multiplication half-reliability coefficient was found to be 0.94. When this value is adjusted according to Spearman Brown reliability coefficient the reliability coefficient was set at 0.97.

Influence of Previous Knowledge in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Aranguren

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of study field, expertise and recreational activities participation in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT, 1974 performance. Several hypotheses were postulated to explore the possible effects of previous knowledge in TTCT verbal and TTCT figural university students’ outcomes. Participants in this study included 418 students from five study fields: Psychology;Philosophy and Literature, Music; Engineering; and Journalism and Advertising (Communication Sciences. Results found in this research seem to indicate that there in none influence of the study field, expertise and recreational activities participation in neither of the TTCT tests. Instead, the findings seem to suggest some kind of interaction between certain skills needed to succeed in specific studies fields and performance on creativity tests, such as the TTCT. These results imply that TTCT is a useful and valid instrument to measure creativity and that some cognitive process involved in innovative thinking can be promoted using different intervention programs in schools and universities regardless the students study field.

Measuring the Consistency in Change in Hepatitis B Knowledge among Three Different Types of Tests: True/False, Multiple Choice, and Fill in the Blanks Tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahai, Vic; Demeyere, Petra; Poirier, Sheila; Piro, Felice

1998-01-01

The recall of information about Hepatitis B demonstrated by 180 seventh graders was tested with three test types: (1) short-answer; (2) true/false; and (3) multiple-choice. Short answer testing was the most reliable. Suggestions are made for the use of short-answer tests in evaluating student knowledge. (SLD)

Awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards genetic testing for cancer risk among ethnic minority groups: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hann, Katie E J; Freeman, Madeleine; Fraser, Lindsay; Waller, Jo; Sanderson, Saskia C; Rahman, Belinda; Side, Lucy; Gessler, Sue; Lanceley, Anne

2017-05-25

Genetic testing for risk of hereditary cancer can help patients to make important decisions about prevention or early detection. US and UK studies show that people from ethnic minority groups are less likely to receive genetic testing. It is important to understand various groups' awareness of genetic testing and its acceptability to avoid further disparities in health care. This review aims to identify and detail awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards genetic counselling/testing for cancer risk prediction in ethnic minority groups. A search was carried out in PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase and MEDLINE. Search terms referred to ethnicity, genetic testing/counselling, cancer, awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions. Quantitative and qualitative studies, written in English, and published between 2000 and 2015, were included. Forty-one studies were selected for review: 39 from the US, and two from Australia. Results revealed low awareness and knowledge of genetic counselling/testing for cancer susceptibility amongst ethnic minority groups including African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics. Attitudes towards genetic testing were generally positive; perceived benefits included positive implications for personal health and being able to inform family. However, negative attitudes were also evident, particularly the anticipated emotional impact of test results, and concerns about confidentiality, stigma, and discrimination. Chinese Australian groups were less studied, but of interest was a finding from qualitative research indicating that different views of who close family members are could impact on reported family history of cancer, which could in turn impact a risk assessment. Interventions are needed to increase awareness and knowledge of genetic testing for cancer risk and to reduce the perceived stigma and taboo surrounding the topic of cancer in ethnic minority groups. More detailed research is needed in countries other than the US and

Perceived genetic knowledge, attitudes towards genetic testing, and the relationship between these among patients with a chronic disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morren, M.; Rijken, M.; Baanders, A.N.; Bensing, J.

2007-01-01

Objective: Genetics increasingly permeate everyday medicine. When patients want to make informed decisions about genetic testing, they require genetic knowledge. This study examined the genetic knowledge and attitudes of patients with chronic diseases, and the relationship between both. In addition,

Perceived genetic knowledge, attitudes toward genetic testing, and the relationship between these among patients with a chronic disease.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morren, M.; Rijken, M.; Baanders, A.N.; Bensing, J.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Genetics increasingly permeate everyday medicine. When patients want to make informed decisions about genetic testing, they require genetic knowledge. This study examined the genetic knowledge and attitudes of patients with chronic diseases, and the relationship between both. In addition,

HPV, Cervical Cancer and Pap Test Related Knowledge Among a Sample of Female Dental Students in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Doshi, Dolar; Reddy, B Srikanth; Karunakar, P; Deshpande, Kopparesh

2015-01-01

The present study was designed to ascertain knowledge about HPV, cervical cancer (CC) and the Pap test among female dental students of Panineeya Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Hyderabad, India. A self-administered questionnaire covering demographic details, knowledge relating to human papilloma virus (HPV) (8 items), cervical cancer (4 items) and the Pap smear (6 items) was employed. Responses were coded as "True, False and Don't Know". Mean and standard deviation (SD) for correct answers and levels of knowledge were determined. Based on the year of study, significant differences in knowledge of HPV were noted for questions on symptoms (p=0.01); transmission from asymptomatic partners (p=0.002); treatment with antibiotics (p=0.002); start of sexual activity (p=0.004); and recommended age for HPV vaccination (p=0.01). For knowledge regarding CC, significance was observed for the age group being affected (p=0.008) and symptoms of the disease in early stages (p=0.001). Indications for Pap smear tests like symptoms' of vaginal discharge (p=0.002), marital status (p=0.01) and women with children (p=0.02) had significant difference based on the year of study. Based on religion, transmission of HPV via pregnancy, HPV related diseases except CC and preventive measures except condom use and oral contraceptives showed significant differences. However, significant variation with religion was observed only for two preventive measures of CC (Pap test; p=0.004) and HPV vaccination (p=0.003). Likewise, only the frequency of Pap test showed a significant difference for religion (p=0.001). This study emphasizes the lack of awareness with regard to HPV, CC and screening with pap smear even among health professionals. Hence, regular health campaigns are essential to reduce the disease burden.

Health Orientation, Knowledge, and Attitudes toward Genetic Testing and Personalized Genomic Services: Preliminary Data from an Italian Sample

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serena Oliveri

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. The study aims at assessing personality tendencies and orientations that could be closely correlated with knowledge, awareness, and interest toward undergoing genetic testing. Methods. A sample of 145 subjects in Italy completed an online survey, investigating demographic data, health orientation, level of perceived knowledge about genetic risk, genetic screening, and personal attitudes toward direct to consumer genetic testing (DTCGT. Results. Results showed that respondents considered genetic assessment to be helpful for disease prevention, but they were concerned that results could affect their life planning with little clinical utility. Furthermore, a very high percentage of respondents (67% had never heard about genetic testing directly available to the public. Data showed that personality tendencies, such as personal health consciousness, health internal control, health esteem, and confidence, motivation to avoid unhealthiness and motivation for healthiness affected the uptake of genetic information and the interest in undergoing genetic testing. Conclusions. Public knowledge and attitudes toward genetic risk and genetic testing among European countries, along with individual personality and psychological tendencies that could affect these attitudes, remain unexplored. The present study constitutes one of the first attempts to investigate how such personality tendencies could motivation to undergo genetic testing and engagement in lifestyle changes.

StudTest – A Platform Supporting Complex and Interactive Knowledge Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlado Glavinić

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the model and prototype implementation of a knowledge assessment framework based on problem management components. In order to support student testing with complex problem types and enable usage of rich graphical user interfaces for solution entry, we have developed an e-examination model in which the core concept is a component that can generate complex questions and evaluate students' solutions with additional explanation generation, which we named prlet. The respective system implementation is described, which can operate under heavy loads.

Online system for knowledge assessment enhances students' results on school knowledge test.

Science.gov (United States)

Kralj, Benjamin; Glazar, Sasa Aleksej

2013-01-01

Variety of online tools were built to help assessing students' performance in school. Many teachers changed their methods of assessment from paper-and-pencil (P&P) to online systems. In this study we analyse the influence that using an online system for knowledge assessment has on students' knowledge. Based on both a literature study and our own research we designed and built an online system for knowledge assessment. The system is evaluated using two groups of primary school teachers and students (N = 686) in Slovenia: an experimental and a control group. Students solved P&P exams on several occasions. The experimental group was allowed to access the system either at school or at home for a limited period during the presentation of a selected school topic. Students in the experimental group were able to solve tasks and compare their own achievements with those of their coevals. A comparison of the P&P school exams results achieved by both groups revealed a positive effect on subject topic comprehension for those with access to the online self-assessment system.

Genetic counselors' (GC) knowledge, awareness, understanding of clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) genomic testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, P M; Ruth, K; Matro, J M; Rainey, K L; Fang, C Y; Wong, Y N; Daly, M B; Hall, M J

2015-12-01

Genomic tests are increasingly complex, less expensive, and more widely available with the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS). We assessed knowledge and perceptions among genetic counselors pertaining to NGS genomic testing via an online survey. Associations between selected characteristics and perceptions were examined. Recent education on NGS testing was common, but practical experience limited. Perceived understanding of clinical NGS was modest, specifically concerning tumor testing. Greater perceived understanding of clinical NGS testing correlated with more time spent in cancer-related counseling, exposure to NGS testing, and NGS-focused education. Substantial disagreement about the role of counseling for tumor-based testing was seen. Finally, a majority of counselors agreed with the need for more education about clinical NGS testing, supporting this approach to optimizing implementation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Knowledge and perceptions of couples' voluntary counseling and testing in urban Rwanda and Zambia: a cross-sectional household survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

April L Kelley

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Most incident HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa occur between cohabiting, discordant, heterosexual couples. Though couples' voluntary HIV counseling and testing (CVCT is an effective, well-studied intervention in Africa, <1% of couples have been jointly tested.We conducted cross-sectional household surveys in Kigali, Rwanda (n = 600 and Lusaka, Zambia (n = 603 to ascertain knowledge, perceptions, and barriers to use of CVCT.Compared to Lusaka, Kigali respondents were significantly more aware of HIV testing sites (79% vs. 56%; had greater knowledge of HIV serodiscordance between couples (83% vs. 43%; believed CVCT is good (96% vs. 72%; and were willing to test jointly (91% vs. 47%. Stigma, fear of partner reaction, and distance/cost/logistics were CVCT barriers.Though most respondents had positive attitudes toward CVCT, the majority were unaware that serodiscordance between cohabiting couples is possible. Future messages should target gaps in knowledge about serodiscordance, provide logistical information about CVCT services, and aim to reduce stigma and fear.

Technical Knowledge Creation: Enabling Tacit Knowledge Use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søberg, Peder Veng; Chaudhuri, Atanu

2018-01-01

The paper investigates knowledge creation in nascent technical industries, a somewhat neglected empirical setting concerning knowledge creation. Frameworks on organizational learning and knowledge creation assume that knowledge creation depends on language creation and neglect the benefits involved...... by allowing elements of new product and process ideas to mature in a tacit form, whereas cognitive neuroscience data suggests that technical knowledge creation is largely nonlinguistic. The four case studies point to excessive reliance on group discussion, a need for more trial and error and that field tests...... and prototypes generate new learnings that save time and lowers subsequent risks. Technical knowledge creation in nascent high tech industries requires opportunities to work with and further develop knowledge in its tacit form. The paper refines frameworks on organizational learning and knowledge creation...

Testing controlled productive knowledge of adverb-verb collocations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study also reveals that controlled productive knowledge of adverbverb collocations is less problematic. Based on these results, teaching strategies aimed at improving the use of adverb-verb collocations among EFL users are proposed. Keywords: academic writing, adverb-verb collocations, productive knowledge of ...

Genetic counselors’ (GC) knowledge, awareness, and understanding of clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) genomic testing

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, PM; Ruth, K; Matro, JM; Rainey, KL; Fang, CY; Wong, YN; Daly, MB; Hall, MJ

2014-01-01

Genomic tests are increasingly complex, less expensive, and more widely available with the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS). We assessed knowledge and perceptions among genetic counselors pertaining to NGS genomic testing via an online survey. Associations between selected characteristics and perceptions were examined. Recent education on NGS testing was common, but practical experience limited. Perceived understanding of clinical NGS was modest, specifically concerning tumor testing. Greater perceived understanding of clinical NGS testing correlated with more time spent in cancer-related counseling, exposure to NGS testing, and NGS-focused education. Substantial disagreement about the role of counseling for tumor-based testing was seen. Finally, a majority of counselors agreed with the need for more education about clinical NGS testing, supporting this approach to optimizing implementation. PMID:25523111

Knowledge of carrier status and barriers to testing among mothers of sons with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogue, Lauren; Peay, Holly; Martin, Ann; Lucas, Ann; Ramchandren, Sindhu

2016-12-01

Our study objective was to survey female carriers for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy to identify barriers to carrier testing and the impact of carrier risk knowledge on cardiac and reproductive health management. We surveyed women who have or had biological sons with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy and were enrolled in the US DuchenneConnect patient registry, with questions assessing knowledge of carrier status and recurrence risk, knowledge of care standards for carriers, and barriers to testing. Of the 182 eligible respondents, 25% did not know their carrier status and 14% incorrectly classified themselves as not at risk. Cost of testing was the most commonly identified barrier to testing. Women reporting unknown carrier status were 13 times as likely to express uncertainty regarding their recurrence risk compared to women reporting positive carrier status. 37% of women at an increased risk for cardiomyopathy had never had an echocardiogram. Women who were certain of their positive carrier status were twice as likely to have had an echocardiogram in the last five years compared to women with unknown carrier status. Future research on reducing barriers to counseling and carrier testing, such as cost, may improve care standard adherence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Managing Knowledge Performance: Testing the Components of a Knowledge Management System on Organizational Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Taejun; Korte, Russell

2014-01-01

The main purpose of the current study is to validate the framework of knowledge management (KM) capabilities created by Gold ("Towards a theory of organizational knowledge management capabilities." Doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) 2001) in a study of South Korean companies. However, the original framework…

Knowledge of HIV Testing Guidelines Among US Internal Medicine Residents: A Decade After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Routine HIV Testing Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Dandachi, Dima; Dang, Bich N; Wilson Dib, Rita; Friedman, Harvey; Giordano, Thomas

2018-05-01

Ten years after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended universal HIV screening, rates remain low. Internal medicine residents are the front-line medical providers for large groups of patients. We evaluated the knowledge of internal medicine residents about HIV testing guidelines and examined adherence to universal HIV testing in an outpatient setting. A cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents at four residency programs in Chicago was conducted from January to March 2016. Aggregate data on HIV screening were collected from 35 federally qualified community health centers in the Chicago area after inclusion of an HIV testing best practice alert in patients' electronic medical records. Of the 192 residents surveyed, 130 (68%) completed the survey. Only 58% were aware of universal HIV screening and 49% were aware that Illinois law allows for an opt-out HIV testing strategy. Most of the residents (64%) ordered no more than 10 HIV tests in 6 months. The most frequently reported barriers to HIV testing were deferral because of urgent care issues, lack of time, and the perception that patients were uncomfortable discussing HIV testing. From July 2015 to February 2016, the average HIV testing adherence rate in the 35 health centers was 18.2%. More effort is needed to change HIV testing practices among internal medicine residents so that they will adopt this approach in their future clinical practice. Improving knowledge about HIV testing and addressing other HIV testing barriers are essential for such a successful change.

Human papilloma virus testing knowledge and attitudes among women attending colposcopy clinic with ASCUS/LGSIL pap smears.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, T; Hicks, W; Menard, C; Boyd, D; Hewson, T; Hopkins, L; Kee Fung, M Fung

2004-09-01

To study women's knowledge regarding the role of human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and their attitudes toward the integration of HPV testing as part of routine follow-up of atypical squamous cell of uncertain significance/low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASCUS/LGSIL) abnormalities. Over a 12-month period, all women attending the University of Ottawa colposcopy clinic for evaluation and follow-up of ASCUS/LGSIL Pap smears were recruited. Demographic data included age, nature of the Pap smear abnormality, gravidity, parity, occupation and education level, smoking history, previous history of abnormal smears, colposcopic examination and treatment, and current method of contraception. The women were asked to rate their level of concern over their Pap smear abnormality, from 0 (not concerned) to 10 (very concerned). Women's knowledge regarding the role of HPV in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and the rationale behind the use of HPV testing was assessed by the clinic nurse as being minimal, moderate, or good, as defined by pre-specified criteria. Upon explanation by the nurses of the results of the recent ALTS (ASCUS/LGSIL Triage Study) trial, the women were asked to state whether they preferred to continue with regular colposcopic surveillance every 6 months, or to use the results of the HPV test, if negative, to reduce the number of colposcopy examinations to one annually. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to identify significant demographic factors associated with the women's preference for incorporation of HPV testing in their follow-up. All P values less than.10 were considered to be statistically significant, due to the exploratory nature of the study. Of the 100 women who participated in the study, 42% presented with ASCUS. The mean age (+/- SD) of the women was 33.63 +/- 11.25 years (range, 18-75 years); 66% were office workers with at least a community college degree, 86% reported

The Tarsal Bone Test: A Basic Test of Health Sciences Students' Knowledge of Lower Limb Anatomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel Castillo-López

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. The aim of the present study was to design an easy-to-use tool, the tarsal bone test (TBT, to provide a snapshot of podiatry students’ basic anatomical knowledge of the bones of the lower limb. Methods. The study included 254 podiatry students from three different universities, 145 of them were first-year students and 109 were in their fourth and final years. The TBT was administered without prior notice to the participants and was to be completed in 5 minutes. Results. The results show that 97.2% of the subjects (n=247 correctly labelled all tarsal bones, while the other 2.8% (n=7 incorrectly labelled at least one bone, that was either the cuboid (7 times or the navicular (6 times. Although only one fourth-year student inaccurately identified one bone, no significant differences in the distribution of the correct and incorrect responses were found between first and fourth-year students. Conclusions. The TBT seems to be a straightforward and easy-to-apply instrument, and provides an objective view of the level of knowledge acquired at different stages of podiatry studies.

Creating Illusions of Knowledge: Learning Errors that Contradict Prior Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Lisa K.; Barber, Sarah J.; Rajaram, Suparna; Ornstein, Peter A.; Marsh, Elizabeth J.

2013-01-01

Most people know that the Pacific is the largest ocean on Earth and that Edison invented the light bulb. Our question is whether this knowledge is stable, or if people will incorporate errors into their knowledge bases, even if they have the correct knowledge stored in memory. To test this, we asked participants general-knowledge questions 2 weeks…

The nutrition for sport knowledge questionnaire (NSKQ): development and validation using classical test theory and Rasch analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Trakman, Gina Louise; Forsyth, Adrienne; Hoye, Russell; Belski, Regina

2017-01-01

Appropriate dietary intake can have a significant influence on athletic performance. There is a growing consensus on sports nutrition and professionals working with athletes often provide dietary education. However, due to the limitations of existing sports nutrition knowledge questionnaires, previous reports of athletes' nutrition knowledge may be inaccurate. An updated questionnaire has been developed based on a recent review of sports nutrition guidelines. The tool has been validated using a robust methodology that incorporates relevant techniques from classical test theory (CTT) and Item response theory (IRT), namely, Rasch analysis. The final questionnaire has 89 questions and six sub-sections (weight management, macronutrients, micronutrients, sports nutrition, supplements, and alcohol). The content and face validity of the tool have been confirmed based on feedback from expert sports dietitians and university sports students, respectively. The internal reliability of the questionnaire as a whole is high (KR = 0.88), and most sub-sections achieved an acceptable internal reliability. Construct validity has been confirmed, with an independent T-test revealing a significant ( p  < 0.001) difference in knowledge scores of nutrition (64 ± 16%) and non-nutrition students (51 ± 19%). Test-retest reliability has been assured, with a strong correlation ( r  = 0.92, p  < 0.001) between individuals' scores on two attempts of the test, 10 days to 2 weeks apart. Three of the sub-sections fit the Rasch Unidimensional Model. The final version of the questionnaire represents a significant improvement over previous tools. Each nutrition sub-section is unidimensional, and therefore researchers and practitioners can use these individually, as required. Use of the questionnaire will allow researchers to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of nutrition education programs, and differences in knowledge across athletes of varying ages, genders, and athletic

Continuous quality improvement intervention for adolescent and young adult HIV testing services in Kenya improves HIV knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Anjuli D; Mugo, Cyrus; Bluemer-Miroite, Shay; Mutiti, Peter M; Wamalwa, Dalton C; Bukusi, David; Neary, Jillian; Njuguna, Irene N; O'Malley, Gabrielle; John-Stewart, Grace C; Slyker, Jennifer A; Kohler, Pamela K

2017-07-01

To determine whether continuous quality improvement (CQI) improves quality of HIV testing services for adolescents and young adults (AYA). CQI was introduced at two HIV testing settings: Youth Centre and Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Center, at a national referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Primary outcomes were AYA satisfaction with HIV testing services, intent to return, and accurate HIV prevention and transmission knowledge. Healthcare worker (HCW) satisfaction assessed staff morale. T tests and interrupted time series analysis using Prais-Winsten regression and generalized estimating equations accounting for temporal trends and autocorrelation were conducted. There were 172 AYA (Youth Centre = 109, VCT = 63) during 6 baseline weeks and 702 (Youth Centre = 454, VCT = 248) during 24 intervention weeks. CQI was associated with an immediate increase in the proportion of AYA with accurate knowledge of HIV transmission at Youth Centre: 18 vs. 63% [adjusted risk difference (aRD) 0.42,95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21 to 0.63], and a trend at VCT: 38 vs. 72% (aRD 0.30, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.63). CQI was associated with an increase in the proportion of AYA with accurate HIV prevention knowledge in VCT: 46 vs. 61% (aRD 0.39, 95% CI 0.02-0.76), but not Youth Centre (P = 0.759). In VCT, CQI showed a trend towards increased intent to retest (4.0 vs. 4.3; aRD 0.78, 95% CI -0.11 to 1.67), but not at Youth Centre (P = 0.19). CQI was not associated with changes in AYA satisfaction, which was high during baseline and intervention at both clinics (P = 0.384, P = 0.755). HCW satisfaction remained high during intervention and baseline (P = 0.746). CQI improved AYA knowledge and did not negatively impact HCW satisfaction. Quality improvement interventions may be useful to improve adolescent-friendly service delivery.

Motivation in vigilance - A test of the goal-setting hypothesis of the effectiveness of knowledge of results.

Science.gov (United States)

Warm, J. S.; Riechmann, S. W.; Grasha, A. F.; Seibel, B.

1973-01-01

This study tested the prediction, derived from the goal-setting hypothesis, that the facilitating effects of knowledge of results (KR) in a simple vigilance task should be related directly to the level of the performance standard used to regulate KR. Two groups of Ss received dichotomous KR in terms of whether Ss response times (RTs) to signal detections exceeded a high or low standard of performance. The aperiodic offset of a visual signal was the critical event for detection. The vigil was divided into a training phase followed by testing, during which KR was withdrawn. Knowledge of results enhanced performance in both phases. However, the two standards used to regulate feedback contributed little to these effects.

Stop the drama Downunder: a social marketing campaign increases HIV/sexually transmitted infection knowledge and testing in Australian gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedrana, Alisa; Hellard, Margaret; Guy, Rebecca; El-Hayek, Carol; Gouillou, Maelenn; Asselin, Jason; Batrouney, Colin; Nguyen, Phuong; Stoovè, Mark

2012-08-01

Since 2000, notifications of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased significantly in Australian gay men. We evaluated the impact of a social marketing campaign in 2008-2009 aimed to increase health-seeking behavior and STI testing and enhance HIV/STI knowledge in gay men. A convenience sample of 295 gay men (18-66 years of age) was surveyed to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign. Participants were asked about campaign awareness, HIV/STI knowledge, health-seeking behavior, and HIV/STI testing. We examined associations between recent STI testing and campaign awareness. Trends in HIV/STI monthly tests at 3 clinics with a high case load of gay men were also assessed. Logistic and Poisson regressions and χ tests were used. Both unaided (43%) and aided (86%) campaign awareness was high. In a multivariable logistic regression, awareness of the campaign (aided) was independently associated with having had any STI test within the past 6 months (prevalence ratio = 1.5; 95% confidence interval = 1.0-2.4. Compared with the 13 months before the campaign, clinic data showed significant increasing testing rates for HIV, syphilis, and chlamydia among HIV-negative gay men during the initial and continued campaign periods. These findings suggest that the campaign was successful in achieving its aims of increasing health-seeking behavior, STI testing, and HIV/STI knowledge among gay men in Victoria.

Knowledge, group-based medical mistrust, future expectations, and perceived disadvantages of medical genetic testing: perspectives of Black African immigrants/refugees.

Science.gov (United States)

Buseh, A; Kelber, S; Millon-Underwood, S; Stevens, P; Townsend, L

2014-01-01

Reasons for low participation of ethnic minorities in genetic studies are multifactorial and often poorly understood. Based on published literature, participation in genetic testing is low among Black African immigrants/refugees although they are purported to bear disproportionate disease burden. Thus, research involving Black African immigrant/refugee populations that examine their perspectives on participating in genetic studies is needed. This report examines and describes the knowledge of medical genetics, group-based medical mistrust, and future expectations of genetic research and the influence of these measures on the perceived disadvantages of genetic testing among Black African immigrants/refugees. Using a cross-sectional survey design, a nonprobability sample (n = 212) of Black African immigrants/refugees was administered a questionnaire. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 61 years (mean = 38.91, SD = 9.78). The questionnaire consisted of 5 instruments: (a) sociodemographic characteristics, (b) Knowledge of Medical Genetics scale, (c) Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale, (d) Future Expectations/Anticipated Consequences of Genetics Research scale, and (e) Perceived Disadvantages of Genetic Testing scale. Participants were concerned that genetic research may result in scientists 'playing God,' interfering with the natural order of life. In multivariate analyses, the perceived disadvantages of genetic testing increased as medical mistrust and anticipated negative impacts of genetic testing increased. Increase in genetic knowledge contributed to a decrease in perceived disadvantages. Our findings suggest that recruitment of Black African immigrants/refugees in genetic studies should address potential low knowledge of genetics, concerns about medical mistrust, the expectations/anticipated consequences of genetic research, and the perceived disadvantages of genetic testing.

Vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing for the diagnosis of conductive hearing loss: survey of pediatric otolaryngologists' knowledge and beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Dargie, Jenna M; Zhou, Guangwei; Dornan, Briana K; Whittemore, Kenneth R

2014-11-01

To assess physicians' knowledge and beliefs regarding vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) testing in children. A survey was delivered via email in html format to 1069 members of the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery who identified as pediatric otolaryngologists. Study data were collected and managed using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tools. 443 (41.4%) physicians opened the email. 190 (42.9% of opens) initiated the survey, of which 117 (61.9%) fully completed the survey of the physicians who responded to a question regarding knowledge of VEMP, 16% of respondents had never heard of the test. 16% of participants would use it in the setting of diagnosing pediatric conductive hearing loss. Responses regarding the youngest age at which VEMP is possible ranged from younger than 6 months through greater than 13 years of age. Beliefs regarding utility and reliability of VEMP varied, with 'unsure' as the most frequent response. Additionally, only 26% of pediatric otolaryngologists indicated some access to the test. The knowledge and availability of VEMP testing in the pediatric otolaryngology community varies widely. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading Comprehension in Test Preparation Classes: An Analysis of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge in TESOL

Science.gov (United States)

Irvine-Niakaris, Christine; Kiely, Richard

2015-01-01

This article examines the pedagogical content knowledge which underpins the practices in reading lessons of experienced teachers in test preparation classes. It takes as a starting point the assumption that practice is shaped by teacher cognitions, which are established through professional training and classroom experience. Thus, the study…

Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (V.2016) in Arabic: Translation and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Alhaiti, Ali Hassan; Alotaibi, Alanod Raffa; Jones, Linda Katherine; DaCosta, Cliff

2016-01-01

Objective. To translate the revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test into the Arabic language and examine its psychometric properties. Setting. Of the 139 participants recruited through King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 34 agreed to the second-round sample for retesting purposes. Methods. The translation process followed the World Health Organization's guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. All translations were examined for their validity and reliability. Results. The translation process revealed excellent results throughout all stages. The Arabic version received 0.75 for internal consistency via Cronbach's alpha test and excellent outcomes in terms of the test-retest reliability of the instrument with a mean of 0.90 infraclass correlation coefficient. It also received positive content validity index scores. The item-level content validity index for all instrument scales fell between 0.83 and 1 with a mean scale-level index of 0.96. Conclusion. The Arabic version is proven to be a reliable and valid measure of patient's knowledge that is ready to be used in clinical practices. PMID:27995149

Knowledge and Concern about STIs/HIV and Sociodemographic Variables Associated with Getting Tested for HIV Among the General Population in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Teva, Inmaculada; de Araújo, Ludgleydson Fernandes; de la Paz Bermúdez, María

2018-07-04

HIV testing is important in terms of prevention and treatment. However, HIV testing rates in the Spanish general population remains low. Therefore, HIV testing promotion constitutes a key issue. A high level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS is associated with having been tested for HIV. The general aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of people who had ever been tested for HIV in Spain. The sample consisted of 1,106 participants from the general population - 60.0% females and 40.0% males - aged between 17 and 55 years old. The assessment instruments were a questionnaire on sociodemographic data and HIV testing, a scale of knowledge about STIs and HIV/AIDS, and a scale of concern about STIs/HIV. Results showed that greater knowledge about STIs and HIV was associated with a greater likelihood of being tested for HIV (OR = .77; 95.0% CI = .73-.82; p concern about HIV/AIDS decreased the likelihood of not having been tested for HIV (OR = .87; 95.0% CI = .83-.92; p concern about STIs was, the lower their likelihood of not having been tested for HIV was (OR = .87; 95.0% CI = .83-.91; p < .05). It is necessary to promote HIV testing in the general population as well as to consider their socio-demographic and psychological characteristics.

Differential expression of interleukin-8 by polymorphonuclear leukocytes of two closely related species, Ovis canadensis and Ovis aries, in response to Mannheimia haemolytica infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Herndon, Caroline N; Foreyt, William J; Srikumaran, Subramaniam

2010-08-01

The pneumonic lesions and mortality caused by Mannheimia haemolytica in bighorn sheep (BHS; Ovis canadensis) are more severe than those in the related species, domestic sheep (DS; Ovis aries), under both natural and experimental conditions. Leukotoxin (Lkt) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) are the most important virulence factors of this organism. One hallmark of pathogenesis of pneumonia is the influx of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) into the lungs. Lkt-induced cytolysis of PMNs results in the release of cytotoxic compounds capable of damaging lung tissue. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a potent PMN chemoattractant. The objective of the present study was to determine if there is differential expression of IL-8 by the macrophages and PMNs of BHS and DS in response to M. haemolytica. Macrophages and PMNs of BHS and DS were stimulated with heat-killed M. haemolytica or LPS. IL-8 expression by the cells was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The PMNs of BHS expressed severalfold higher levels of IL-8 than those of DS upon stimulation. Lesional lung tissue of M. haemolytica-infected BHS contained significantly higher levels of IL-8 than nonlesional tissue. The bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of infected BHS also contained higher levels of IL-8 than that of infected DS. Depletion of IL-8 reduced migration of PMNs toward BAL fluid by approximately 50%, indicating that IL-8 is integral to PMN recruitment to the lung during M. haemolytica infection. Excessive production of IL-8, enhanced recruitment of PMNs, and PMN lysis by Lkt are likely responsible for the severity of the lung lesions in M. haemolytica-infected BHS.

Challenges of Testing Deep Word Knowledge of Vocabulary: Which ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal for Language Teaching ... Results indicate that (i) ESL students outperform their EFL counterparts of comparable class level, (ii) aspects of deep word knowledge among both higher education EFL and ESL students ... Furthermore, teaching implications aimed to foster deep word knowledge growth are discussed.

Knowledge acquisition and representation for the Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL) Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS)

Science.gov (United States)

Seamster, Thomas L.; Eike, David R.; Ames, Troy J.

1990-01-01

This presentation concentrates on knowledge acquisition and its application to the development of an expert module and a user interface for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). The Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL) ITS is being developed to assist NASA control center personnel in learning a command and control language as it is used in mission operations rooms. The objective of the tutor is to impart knowledge and skills that will permit the trainee to solve command and control problems in the same way that the STOL expert solves those problems. The STOL ITS will achieve this object by representing the solution space in such a way that the trainee can visualize the intermediate steps, and by having the expert module production rules parallel the STOL expert's knowledge structures.

key competences in the context of personnel policy and diagnostics of suitability ; a validation study of the START-W knowledge test for entry-level employees

OpenAIRE

Speckemeier, Christian

2013-01-01

This paper pursues the goal of further developing a testing procedure which precisely and reliably records the knowledge in the inductive conclusion allowing for a differentiated statement about the individual extent of knowledge as well as a prognosis about the future success of training. The START-W knowledge test is a component of the comprehensive START battery of tests which reproduces the individual basic competences at the commencement of work and is oriented on DIN Norm 33430. The...

Knowledge claim evaluation : a fundamental issue for knowledge management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peters, K.; Maruster, L.; Jorna, R.J.J.M.

2010-01-01

Purpose - This paper aims to present a classification of approaches toward knowledge claim evaluation (KCE), which is the process of evaluating and testing knowledge claims in organizations, and to position KCE as a fundamental research issue for KM. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws

Development and testing of a CD-ROM program for improving adolescent knowledge of inflammatory bowel disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Boamah, Lynelle M; Bohren, Janet R; Pentiuk, Scott; Baker, Raymond; Yi, Michael; Moyer, M Susan

2010-05-01

The aim of this study was to design a theory-based educational program for adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using an interactive multimedia CD-ROM and to test its effectiveness in improving knowledge in IBD. Curriculum-based instruction using educational theory and principles was designed for adolescents on an interactive multimedia CD-ROM. Twenty subjects completed summative evaluation of the CD-ROM measuring gain in knowledge about IBD immediately and 9 months after instruction. Subjects found the CD-ROM to be informative, appealing, and easy to use. The mean baseline score of the adolescents on the Crohn's and Colitis Knowledge questionnaire was 12.2 (standard deviation 5.14, range 3-24). After an average of 30 minutes of self-directed learning, adolescent subjects increased their posttest score to a mean of 19.8, a gain of 7.6 points over baseline (95% confidence interval 5.2-10.1, P < 0.0001). Knowledge of medications, disease complications, and gastrointestinal structure and function was gained and retained upon retesting at 9 months with a mean Crohn's and Colitis Knowledge questionnaire score of 17.5 (standard deviation 3.9, range 12-26), which was still an improvement over the mean pretest knowledge score of 12.2 (P < 0.001). Adolescents with IBD have low baseline knowledge about their disease. A rigorously developed interactive educational tool is now available for instructing adolescent patients about their IBD.

Evaluating College Students' Conceptual Knowledge of Modern Physics: Test of Understanding on Concepts of Modern Physics (TUCO-MP)

Science.gov (United States)

Akarsu, Bayram

2011-01-01

In present paper, we propose a new diagnostic test to measure students' conceptual knowledge of principles of modern physics topics. Over few decades since born of physics education research (PER), many diagnostic instruments that measure students' conceptual understanding of various topics in physics, the earliest tests developed in PER are Force…

Non-genetic health professionals' attitude towards, knowledge of and skills in discussing and ordering genetic testing for hereditary cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Douma, Kirsten F L; Smets, Ellen M A; Allain, Dawn C

2016-04-01

Non-genetic health professionals (NGHPs) have insufficient knowledge of cancer genetics, express educational needs and are unprepared to counsel their patients regarding their genetic test results. So far, it is unclear how NGHPs perceive their own communication skills. This study was undertaken to gain insight in their perceptions, attitudes and knowledge. Two publically accessible databases were used to invite NGHPs providing cancer genetic services to complete a questionnaire. The survey assessed: sociodemographic attributes, experience in ordering hereditary cancer genetic testing, attitude, knowledge, perception of communication skills (e.g. information giving, decision-making) and educational needs. Of all respondents (N = 49, response rate 11%), most have a positive view of their own information giving (mean = 53.91, range 13-65) and decision making skills (64-77% depending on topic). NGHPs feel responsible for enabling disease and treatment related behavior (89-91%). However, 20-30% reported difficulties managing patients' emotions and did not see management of long-term emotions as their responsibility. Correct answers on knowledge questions ranged between 41 and 96%. Higher knowledge was associated with more confidence in NGHPs' own communication skills (r(s) = .33, p = 0.03). Although NGHPs have a positive view of their communication skills, they perceive more difficulties managing emotions. The association between less confidence in communication skills and lower knowledge level suggests awareness of knowledge gaps affects confidence. NGHPs might benefit from education about managing client emotions. Further research using observation of actual counselling consultations is needed to investigate the skills of this specific group of providers.

Opinion and knowledge among hospital medical staff regarding diagnosis of diabetes and proper usage of a specific test tube for glucose analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bar-Dayan, Y; Bogaiov, A; Boaz, M; Landau, Z; Wainstein, J

2014-02-01

Accuracy of blood sugar values, as examined by glucose analysis, has significant importance on the diagnosis of diabetes and follow up of diabetes treatment. Usage of a designated test tube significantly improves the accuracy of measurement. Knowledge of the medical staff is a major determinant in the current usage of such a technology. The aim of the study was to assess the level of knowledge exhibited by medical staff in the diabetes field and specifically for the usage of a designated tube to test blood glucose level. A prospective study. The staff of the internal and surgical departments and outpatient clinics at the Wolfson Medical Center completed a questionnaire that assessed the level of knowledge about the designated glucose test tube, other randomly used test tubes, the parameters that influence the blood glucose values in a non-designated tube and the diagnosis of diabetes. A number of 160 questionnaires (50% from internal departments, 36% from surgical departments and 14% from outpatient clinics) were analysed. The majority of the staff members (65%) knew that diabetes is diagnosed by glucose levels in blood. Of the 35% that did not know, 91% were nurses. The majority (75%) knew that diabetes is diagnosed during fasting conditions; however, most of the staff indicated that 12 h is needed. Only 25% knew of the designated test tube, and most of the staff indicated that a regular chemistry tube was the tube of choice for them. The staff exhibited poor level of knowledge regarding the parameters that influence the quality of the test. Staff members are not aware of the various aspects of diabetes diagnosis and the designated test tube for glucose measurements, and most of them use a tube that gives inaccurate measurements, therefore there is an urgent need to improve diabetes knowledge among staff members. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Easy and Informative: Using Confidence-Weighted True-False Items for Knowledge Tests in Psychology Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Dutke, Stephan; Barenberg, Jonathan

2015-01-01

We introduce a specific type of item for knowledge tests, confidence-weighted true-false (CTF) items, and review experiences of its application in psychology courses. A CTF item is a statement about the learning content to which students respond whether the statement is true or false, and they rate their confidence level. Previous studies using…

An investigation into the knowledge and attitudes towards radon testing among residents in a high radon area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clifford, Susan; Menezes, Gerard; Hevey, David

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of residents in the Castleisland area to radon. Castleisland in Co. Kerry was described as a high radon area following the discovery of a house in the area with radon levels 245 times that of the national reference level. Residents in this area were then asked to measure their homes for radon in the Castleisland radon survey. The uptake of this measurement was 17%. In order to investigate this response rate further, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to residents in the Castleisland area. This questionnaire measured the testing history of the participants, the reasons for testing/not testing, the factors important to them when considering having their home tested, radon knowledge and finally intentions to measure their home for radon. It was found that the main reason people do not test their home for radon is that they believe their home does not have a problem. Optimistic bias was thought to play a role here. The subjective norm component of the theory of planned behaviour was found to have a significant independent contribution in the variation in intentions to measure one’s home for radon and this in turn could be targeted to increase uptake of radon measurement in the future. (note)

What women want? A scoping survey on women's knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards ovarian reserve testing and egg freezing.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Yvonne; Martyn, Fiona; Glover, Louise E; Wingfield, Mary B

2017-10-01

We aimed to investigate women's knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards ovarian reserve testing and egg freezing for non-medical reasons in the general population. This was a cross-sectional survey study of 663 women aged 18-44 years which assessed female perception of ovarian reserve testing and oocyte cryopreservation. An online forum was used to deliver the survey through the use of two social media sites. Participants were recruited through the technique of "snowballing", whereby existing study subjects recruited others from among their acquaintances. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS to explore descriptive statistics and frequencies relating to the participants' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards the practices of ovarian reserve testing and oocyte cryopreservation. Categorical variables were analyzed using Chi-squared; a p-value of women surveyed had knowledge of ovarian reserve testing. 64.8% would be interested in having testing performed. Younger women (women were also more likely to be interested, (73.6% v's 62.1%, p=0.022). 89.7% of women surveyed were aware of oocyte cryopreservation. 72.2% agreed that they would consider freezing their eggs to preserve fertility. There was no significant difference in the numbers of single women compared to women in a relationship who would consider egg freezing to preserve fertility (75.7% v's 71.2%, p=0.347, or in younger (women, (74.7% v's 71.1%, p=0.387). A majority (62.1%) of study participants believed that it is a woman's right to postpone pregnancy for social reasons and to freeze her eggs, with no significant difference in options noted between younger and older women. Knowledge of ovarian reserve testing and oocyte cryopreservation for non-medical reasons were higher than in previous studies, possibly reflecting increasing awareness of these issues among the general public. Additionally, we demonstrated that the women, in our study, were very open to the use of these modern technologies in

Geographic-didactical games as interactive tools to test and improve student's basic knowledge in Physical Geography

Science.gov (United States)

Winkler, S.; Tintrup Gen. Suntrup, A.

2009-04-01

Due to an increasing disproportion between experienced teaching staff and student numbers at German universities, the time available for teaching the fundamental basic knowledge in Physical Geography was condensed during the past decade. Unfortunately, this mainly has been achieved at the expense of practical lessons of testing student's knowledge. The recent introduction of the Bachelor/Master degree has not solved this problem, but rather accelerated that tend. The "losers" of this tendency are those students enrolled in trainee teacher studies in Geography. In conjunction with the recent modifications of the study programs putting more focus on applied or specialized fields of Geography and its methodology, the trainee teacher students often express their critics and urgently demand opportunities to improve and test their basic knowledge (because it is especially that knowledge, they need at school and for their traditional examination). As the study program is quite dense, there is no room for special courses or seminars. By contrast, one has to use some free time slots available e.g. in the evenings of the usually quite long German excursions or of weekend seminars. However, after a day in the field or in the classroom, the teacher has to find a method owing enough excitement and clearly visible benefit for the students to achieve sufficient motivation. Interactive geographic-didactical games have been developed exclusively for this purpose and applied at different occasions. Those games had the goal of testing student's basic knowledge in a rather unconventional and "casual" style in order to motivate active participation. Most of the games could be played in small groups of students with the teacher only occasionally being involved as referee. Of course, the games had the general aim of improving the basic knowledge - or at least give the students the possibility to discover their own strength (or weakness) just before it is too late (as it e.g. would be

Relations among conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and procedural flexibility in two samples differing in prior knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Michael; Rittle-Johnson, Bethany; Star, Jon R

2011-11-01

Competence in many domains rests on children developing conceptual and procedural knowledge, as well as procedural flexibility. However, research on the developmental relations between these different types of knowledge has yielded unclear results, in part because little attention has been paid to the validity of the measures or to the effects of prior knowledge on the relations. To overcome these problems, we modeled the three constructs in the domain of equation solving as latent factors and tested (a) whether the predictive relations between conceptual and procedural knowledge were bidirectional, (b) whether these interrelations were moderated by prior knowledge, and (c) how both constructs contributed to procedural flexibility. We analyzed data from 2 measurement points each from two samples (Ns = 228 and 304) of middle school students who differed in prior knowledge. Conceptual and procedural knowledge had stable bidirectional relations that were not moderated by prior knowledge. Both kinds of knowledge contributed independently to procedural flexibility. The results demonstrate how changes in complex knowledge structures contribute to competence development.

Organizational forms and knowledge absorption

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Radovanović Nikola

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Managing the entire portion of knowledge in an organization is a challenging task. At the organizational level, there can be enormous quantities of unknown, poorly valued or inefficiently applied knowledge. This is normally followed with the underdeveloped potential or inability of organizations to absorb knowledge from external sources. Facilitation of the efficient internal flow of knowledge within the established communication network may positively affect organizational capacity to absorb or identify, share and subsequently apply knowledge to commercial ends. Based on the evidences that the adoption of different organizational forms affects knowledge flows within an organization, this research analyzed the relationship between common organizational forms and absorptive capacity of organizations. In this paper, we test the hypothesis stating that the organizational structure affects knowledge absorption and exploitation in the organization. The methodology included quantitative and qualitative research method based on a questionnaire, while the data has been statistically analyzed and the hypothesis has been tested with the use of cross-tabulation and chi-square tests. The findings suggest that the type of organizational form affects knowledge absorption capacity and that having a less formalized and more flexible structure in an organization increases absorbing and exploiting opportunities of potentially valuable knowledge.

Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) and Preferences for Risk Information among High School Students in Sweden.

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Georgsson, Susanne; Sahlin, Ellika; Iwarsson, Moa; Nordenskjöld, Magnus; Gustavsson, Peter; Iwarsson, Erik

2017-06-01

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) was recently introduced for prenatal testing of genetic disorders. Cell-free fetal DNA is present in maternal blood during pregnancy and enables detection of fetal chromosome aberrations in a maternal blood sample. The public perspective to this new, simple method has not been illuminated. The views of young people (i.e. future parents) are important to develop suitable counseling strategies regarding prenatal testing. The aim was to explore Swedish high school students' attitudes, knowledge and preferences regarding NIPT. A questionnaire was completed by 305 students recruited from one high school in Stockholm, November and December 2014. Most students (80 %) considered prenatal testing as good. The majority (65 %) was positive or very positive towards NIPT and 62 % stated that they potentially would like to undergo the test if they or their partner was pregnant. The vast majority (94 %) requested further information about NIPT. Most students (61 %) preferred verbal information, whereas 20 % preferred information via the Internet. The majority of the high school students was positive towards prenatal testing and most was positive towards NIPT. Further, information was requested by the vast majority before making a decision about NIPT. Most of the students preferred verbal information and to a lesser extent information via the Internet. The attitudes, knowledge and preferences for risk information concerning NIPT in young adults are important, in order to increase knowledge on how to educate and inform future parents.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of voluntary HIV counselling and testing among rural migrants in central China: a cross-sectional study.

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Zhang, Tiejun; Zhang, Jinling; Gao, Meiyang; He, Na; Detels, Roger

2012-04-01

To document knowledge, attitudes and practices of voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) among rural migrants in central China. A cross-sectional study with face-to-face anonymous questionnaire interviews was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Among 1280 participants, 87.9% reported having had sexual intercourse during their lifetime, with 69% of singles reporting having had sexual intercourse and 49.1% having had sex in the past month. Only 21% always used condoms, 84.4% knew HIV infection was diagnosed through blood testing, 56.6% had heard of VCT, but only 3.8% perceived their own risk for HIV infection. Only 43 (2.3%) had ever been tested for HIV, and none had ever been tested at a VCT site. About two-thirds (64.5%) would be willing to use VCT services upon awareness of HIV risk. A logistic regression model showed that females, those having little knowledge of HIV/AIDS, those unwilling to work with HIV-infected individuals, never having been tested for HIV and having low awareness regarding HIV risk were less willing to use VCT. The results of this study indicated that much greater efforts are needed to improve HIV/AIDS and VCT knowledge, to promote safer sex and to improve VCT acceptance among rural migrants in central China, particularly those engaging in risky behaviours.

Models and procedures for interval evaluating the results of control of knowledge in computer systems testing of Navy

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D. A. Pechnikov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available To implement effective military and professional training of Navy specialists, a corresponding educational and material base is needed. As a result of the reduction in the 1990s in the branches of the military-industrial complex developing weapons and equipment for the Navy, the latest models of this technology are now produced not in batches, but in individual copies. The question of the production of training and training samples is not worth it at all. Under these conditions, only virtual analogues of military equipment and weapons, developed by means of information technology, i.e., training and training systems (TOS, can be considered as the only means capable of providing military-professional training. At the modern level of the development of information technologies, testing is the only universal technical means of monitoring the knowledge of students. Procedures for knowledge control in modern computer testing systems do not meet the requirements for them according to the following characteristics: 1 the absence of the possibility of evaluating the error of the test results; 2 the absence of the possibility of stopping testing when the specified reliability of its results is achieved. In order to effectively implement the means of operational criteria-based pedagogical control of knowledge in the process of training specialists of the Navy and to enable joint analysis and processing of evaluations of learning outcomes, it is advisable to implement the following practical recommendations: 1. Formulating the teacher's preferences system regarding the quality of trainee training and the teacher's preferences system in relation to The significance of single test tasks in the test should be considered as the most important The essential steps in preparing a test for practical use. 2. The teacher who first enters the input of his preference systems should check their actual compliance on a sample of 5-10 such test results that cover the full

Examples of verification knowledge and testing of the secondary students through the worksheet. Suggestions for leisure time activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chmielewska, E.; Kuruc, J.

2010-01-01

In this chapter some examples of verification knowledge and testing of the secondary students through the worksheet as well as suggestions for leisure time activities are presented. Used and recommended literature is included.

Subcutaneous immunization with inactivated bacterial components and purified protein of Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Trueperella pyogenes prevents puerperal metritis in Holstein dairy cows.

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Machado, Vinícius Silva; Bicalho, Marcela Luccas de Souza; Meira Junior, Enoch Brandão de Souza; Rossi, Rodolfo; Ribeiro, Bruno Leonardo; Lima, Svetlana; Santos, Thiago; Kussler, Arieli; Foditsch, Carla; Ganda, Erika Korzune; Oikonomou, Georgios; Cheong, Soon Hon; Gilbert, Robert Owen; Bicalho, Rodrigo Carvalho

2014-01-01

In this study we evaluate the efficacy of five vaccine formulations containing different combinations of proteins (FimH; leukotoxin, LKT; and pyolysin, PLO) and/or inactivated whole cells (Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium necrophorum, and Trueperella pyogenes) in preventing postpartum uterine diseases. Inactivated whole cells were produced using two genetically distinct strains of each bacterial species (E. coli, F. necrophorum, and T. pyogenes). FimH and PLO subunits were produced using recombinant protein expression, and LKT was recovered from culturing a wild F. necrophorum strain. Three subcutaneous vaccines were formulated: Vaccine 1 was composed of inactivated bacterial whole cells and proteins; Vaccine 2 was composed of proteins only; and Vaccine 3 was composed of inactivated bacterial whole cells only. Two intravaginal vaccines were formulated: Vaccine 4 was composed of inactivated bacterial whole cells and proteins; and Vaccine 5 was composed of PLO and LKT. To evaluate vaccine efficacy, a randomized clinical trial was conducted at a commercial dairy farm; 371 spring heifers were allocated randomly into one of six different treatments groups: control, Vaccine 1, Vaccine 2, Vaccine 3, Vaccine 4 and Vaccine 5. Late pregnant heifers assigned to one of the vaccine groups were each vaccinated twice: at 230 and 260 days of pregnancy. When vaccines were evaluated grouped as subcutaneous and intravaginal, the subcutaneous ones were found to significantly reduce the incidence of puerperal metritis. Additionally, subcutaneous vaccination significantly reduced rectal temperature at 6±1 days in milk. Reproduction was improved for cows that received subcutaneous vaccines. In general, vaccination induced a significant increase in serum IgG titers against all antigens, with subcutaneous vaccination again being more effective. In conclusion, subcutaneous vaccination with inactivated bacterial components and/or protein subunits of E. coli, F. necrophorum and T. pyogenes

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing among Rural Migrants in Shanghai, China

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He, Na; Zhang, Jinling; Yao, Jinjian; Tian, Xiuhong; Zhao, Genming; Jiang, Qingwu; Detels, Roger

2009-01-01

A study of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) among rural migrants was conducted in Shanghai, China. An anonymous questionnaire was administered face-to-face. Among 2,690 participants, 78% reported having had lifetime sexual intercourse with 41.3% of singles reporting sexual intercourse, 9.2%…

On the importance of the distance measures used to train and test knowledge-based potentials for proteins.

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Martin Carlsen

Full Text Available Knowledge-based potentials are energy functions derived from the analysis of databases of protein structures and sequences. They can be divided into two classes. Potentials from the first class are based on a direct conversion of the distributions of some geometric properties observed in native protein structures into energy values, while potentials from the second class are trained to mimic quantitatively the geometric differences between incorrectly folded models and native structures. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between energy and geometry when training the second class of knowledge-based potentials. We assume that the difference in energy between a decoy structure and the corresponding native structure is linearly related to the distance between the two structures. We trained two distance-based knowledge-based potentials accordingly, one based on all inter-residue distances (PPD, while the other had the set of all distances filtered to reflect consistency in an ensemble of decoys (PPE. We tested four types of metric to characterize the distance between the decoy and the native structure, two based on extrinsic geometry (RMSD and GTD-TS*, and two based on intrinsic geometry (Q* and MT. The corresponding eight potentials were tested on a large collection of decoy sets. We found that it is usually better to train a potential using an intrinsic distance measure. We also found that PPE outperforms PPD, emphasizing the benefits of capturing consistent information in an ensemble. The relevance of these results for the design of knowledge-based potentials is discussed.

Secular trends on traditional ecological knowledge: An analysis of different domains of knowledge among Tsimane' men.

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Reyes-García, Victoria; Luz, Ana C; Gueze, Maximilien; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Macía, Manuel J; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan

2013-10-01

Empirical research provides contradictory evidence of the loss of traditional ecological knowledge across societies. Researchers have argued that culture, methodological differences, and site-specific conditions are responsible for such contradictory evidences. We advance and test a third explanation: the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge systems. Specifically, we test whether different domains of traditional ecological knowledge experience different secular changes and analyze trends in the context of other changes in livelihoods. We use data collected among 651 Tsimane' men (Bolivian Amazon). Our findings indicate that different domains of knowledge follow different secular trends. Among the domains of knowledge analyzed, medicinal and wild edible knowledge appear as the most vulnerable; canoe building and firewood knowledge seem to remain constant across generations; whereas house building knowledge seems to experience a slight secular increase. Our analysis reflects on the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge, highlighting how changes in this knowledge system respond to the particular needs of a society in a given point of time.

Knowledge Acquisition and Readiness Assurance Testing: The Connected Notes Intervention

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Young, Mark R.

2016-01-01

The responsibility for knowledge acquisition is increasingly being shifted to students though the utilization of experiential learning, teamwork, online, and flipped classroom pedagogies. Students are expected to enter the classroom prepared to engage in thoughtful knowledge application activities; however, many students have not adequately…

The acceptability, knowledge and perceptions of pregnant women toward HIV Testing in pregnancy at Ilembe District

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FN Dube

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This research study aimed to investigate the acceptability, knowledge and perceptions of pregnant women toward HIV testing in pregnancy in Ilembe District. An exploratory research design guided the study. A systematic random sampling was used to select pregnant women who were attending the ante-natal clinic for the first time in their current pregnancy.

Educational intervention on knowledge of cervical cancer and uptake of Pap smear test among market women in Niger State, Nigeria.

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Gana, Godwin Jiya; Oche, Mansur O; Ango, Jessica Timane; Kaoje, Aminu Umar; Awosan, Kehinde Joseph; Raji, Ismail A

2017-12-31

Cervical cancer is the most common female genital tract carcinoma worldwide. It is increasingly becoming the leading carcinoma seen among women in the developing world. The aim of our study was to showcase the effect of educational intervention on the knowledge of cervical cancer and subsequently the uptake of Pap smear test amongst market women in Niger state, Nigeria. The state has a rich network of markets in all the local government areas because of the fishing activities, bountiful agricultural produce yearly and its situation to the North of the national capital, Abuja. This was a quasi-experimental study conducted in two groups with pre and post intervention data collection. Sample size was determined based on a previous similar study done in Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used for recruiting the study participants. SPSS statistical software was used for data entry, editing and analysis. Respondents' knowledge of cervical cancer were comparable at pre-intervention but were statistically significantly better (P<0.0001) at post-intervention in the intervention group compared to the control group for every variable measured. However, there was only a (Fisher's exact, P=0.621) compared to the control group. This study showed an increase in knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear test however the uptake of Pap smear test remained low even after intervention. This underscores the need for sustained intervention programs to eventually translate knowledge acquired to habitual practice.

Improving Decision Making about Genetic Testing in the Clinic: An Overview of Effective Knowledge Translation Interventions.

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Légaré, France; Robitaille, Hubert; Gane, Claire; Hébert, Jessica; Labrecque, Michel; Rousseau, François

2016-01-01

Knowledge translation (KT) interventions are attempts to change behavior in keeping with scientific evidence. While genetic tests are increasingly available to healthcare consumers in the clinic, evidence about their benefits is unclear and decisions about genetic testing are thus difficult for all parties. We sought to identify KT interventions that involved decisions about genetic testing in the clinical context and to assess their effectiveness for improving decision making in terms of behavior change, increased knowledge and wellbeing. We searched for trials assessing KT interventions in the context of genetic testing up to March 2014 in all systematic reviews (n = 153) published by two Cochrane review groups: Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) and Consumers and Communication. We retrieved 2473 unique trials of which we retained only 28 (1%). Two EPOC reviews yielded two trials of KT interventions: audit and feedback (n = 1) and educational outreach (n = 1). Both targeted health professionals and the KT intervention they assessed was found to be effective. Four Consumers and Communication reviews yielded 26 trials: decision aids (n = 15), communication of DNA-based disease risk estimates (n = 7), personalized risk communication (n = 3) and mobile phone messaging (n = 1). Among these, 25 trials targeted only health consumers or patients and the KT interventions were found to be effective in four trials, partly effective in seven, and ineffective in four. Lastly, only one trial targeted both physicians and patients and was found to be effective. More research on the effectiveness of KT interventions regarding genetic testing in the clinical context may contribute to patients making informed value-based decisions and drawing the maximum benefit from clinical applications of genetic and genomic innovations.

Environmental Knowledge and Behavioural Outcomes of Tourism Students in Australia: Towards Testing a Range of Mediation and Moderated Mediation Effects

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Fatima, Johra Kayeser; Khan, Habib Zaman; Goh, Edmund

2016-01-01

Our study examines the environmental knowledge (EK) and behavioural outcomes of students studying ecotourism in Sydney, Australia. Three competing models were tested to examine the relationships between EK, participation intention (PI) in ecotourism programs, landscape likeability (LL) and social interactions (SI); and the study also tested the…

Knowledge and attitude of women regarding breast cancer screening tests in Eastern Iran.

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Izanloo, Azra; Ghaffarzadehgan, Kamran; Khoshroo, Fahimeh; Erfani Haghiri, Maryam; Izanloo, Sara; Samiee, Mohadeseh; Tabatabaei, Alireza; Mirshahi, Azadeh; Fakoor, Morteza; Moghadam, Najmeh Jafari; Sadrzadeh, Sayyed Majid

2018-01-01

According to recent statistics, there has been a rapid growth of breast cancer in developing countries. Thus, early detection is essential. This study is based on the perception of people in the Northeast of Iran regarding breast cancer screening. In a cross-sectional study, 1469 women were selected randomly in the period from April to November 2016. The study population consisted of women or their companions referring to outpatient clinics or people in public urban areas who filled out a breast cancer screening questionnaire in an interview. The patients' age was in the range of 14 to 84 years (mean = 38.8). More than 84% of interviewees were not informed of breast cancer and screening tests. The main reasons mentioned by patients for their failure to do screening tests was 'absence of any symptom or problem' and 'they did not think it was necessary'.There was not a significant difference between income level, marital status and knowledge of people about breast cancer screening tests (P > 0.05). However, employment, education level and family history had a positive effect on people's awareness of breast cancer and its screening tests (P economic classes was the main barrier to breast cancer screening. In this regard, organizing training programs by physicians and the media can help raise screening rates.

Stop the Knowledge Flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sofka, Wolfgang; Shehu, Edlira; de Faria, Pedro

2014-01-01

knowledge protection intensity. In addition, technological cluster regions in the host country can be expected to provide opportunities for knowledge sourcing and MNC subsidiaries may be willing to protect knowledge less intensively to participate in cluster networks. We test our hypotheses using a dataset...... of knowledge protection intensity of MNC subsidiaries. We argue that knowledge protection intensity is determined by MNC subsidiary mandates and by opportunities and risks originating from the host region. We hypothesize that not just competence-creating but also competence-exploiting mandates increase...

Parental monitoring and knowledge: Testing bidirectional associations with youths’ antisocial behavior

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Wertz, Jasmin; Nottingham, Kate; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Matthews, Timothy; Pariante, Carmine M.; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Arseneault, Louise

2017-01-01

In the present study, we used separate measures of parental monitoring and parental knowledge and compared their associations with youths’ antisocial behavior during preadolescence, between the ages of 10 and 12. Parental monitoring and knowledge were reported by mothers, fathers and youths taking part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study which follows 1,116 families with twins. Information on youths’ antisocial behavior was obtained from mothers, as well as teachers. We report two main findings: First, longitudinal cross-lagged models revealed that greater parental monitoring did not predict less antisocial behavior later, once family characteristics were taken into account. Second, greater youth antisocial behavior predicted less parental knowledge later. This effect of youths’ behavior on parents’ knowledge was consistent across mothers’, fathers’, youths’, and teachers’ reports, and robust to controls for family confounders. The association was partially genetically-mediated according to a Cholesky decomposition twin model; youths’ genetically-influenced antisocial behavior led to a decrease in parents’ knowledge of youths’ activities. These two findings question the assumption that greater parental monitoring can reduce preadolescents’ antisocial behavior. They also indicate that parents’ knowledge of their children’s activities is influenced by youths’ behavior. PMID:27427796

Parental monitoring and knowledge: Testing bidirectional associations with youths' antisocial behavior.

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Wertz, Jasmin; Nottingham, Kate; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Matthews, Timothy; Pariante, Carmine M; Moffitt, Terrie E; Arseneault, Louise

2016-08-01

In the present study, we used separate measures of parental monitoring and parental knowledge and compared their associations with youths' antisocial behavior during preadolescence, between the ages of 10 and 12. Parental monitoring and knowledge were reported by mothers, fathers, and youths taking part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study that follows 1,116 families with twins. Information on youths' antisocial behavior was obtained from mothers as well as teachers. We report two main findings. First, longitudinal cross-lagged models revealed that greater parental monitoring did not predict less antisocial behavior later, once family characteristics were taken into account. Second, greater youth antisocial behavior predicted less parental knowledge later. This effect of youths' behavior on parents' knowledge was consistent across mothers', fathers', youths', and teachers' reports, and robust to controls for family confounders. The association was partially genetically mediated according to a Cholesky decomposition twin model; youths' genetically influenced antisocial behavior led to a decrease in parents' knowledge of youths' activities. These two findings question the assumption that greater parental monitoring can reduce preadolescents' antisocial behavior. They also indicate that parents' knowledge of their children's activities is influenced by youths' behavior.

Can education alter attitudes, behaviour and knowledge about organ donation? A pretest–post-test study

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McGlade, Donal; Pierscionek, Barbara

2013-01-01

Objective The emergence of evidence suggests that student nurses commonly exhibit concerns about their lack of knowledge of organ donation and transplantation. Formal training about organ donation has been shown to positively influence attitude, encourage communication and registration behaviours and improve knowledge about donor eligibility and brain death. The focus of this study was to determine the attitude and behaviour of student nurses and to assess their level of knowledge about organ donation after a programme of study. Design A quantitative questionnaire was completed before and after participation in a programme of study using a pretest–post-test design. Setting Participants were recruited from a University based in Northern Ireland during the period from February to April 2011. Participants 100 preregistration nurses (female : male=96 : 4) aged 18–50 years (mean (SD) 24.3 (6.0) years) were recruited. Results Participants’ knowledge improved over the programme of study with regard to the suitability of organs that can be donated after death, methods available to register organ donation intentions, organ donation laws, concept of brain death and the likelihood of recovery after brain death. Changes in attitude postintervention were also observed in relation to participants’ willingness to accept an informed system of consent and with regard to participants’ actual discussion behaviour. Conclusions The results provide support for the introduction of a programme that helps inform student nurses about important aspects of organ donation. PMID:24381257

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Sudanese Women Regarding the Pap Smear Test and Cervical Cancer.

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Almobarak, Ahmed O; Elbadawi, Ayman A; Elmadhoun, Wadie M; Elhoweris, Mohammed H; Ahmed, Mohammed H

2016-01-01

Despite the established role of the Pap smear test (PST) in prevention and early detection of cervical cancer, it is still rarely practiced in Sudan. Many challenges hinder the establishment of an effective cervical cancer screening program, including socio-cultural factors. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of Sudanese women with regard to the Pap smear test and cervical cancer. A total of 500 married women aged 14 to 58 years were recruited from obstetric clinics, hospitals and universities in Khartoum in 2014. Data were collected using a standardized, pretested questionnaire that inquired socio-demographic characteristics and their KAP about cervical cancer and the PST. More than 52% of participating women were above 30 years of age, and the majority (78.8%) were university degree holders. A total of 486 (97.2 %) of participants were resident in urban areas of Khartoum State. However about 48% of the respondents had never heard about PST, and only 15.8% of the participants had undergone a Pap smear test previously; 46.6% (233/500) knew that the human papilloma virus (HPV) was the causative agent, but only 39.2% (196/500) had heard about HPV vaccination, and only 11.4% (57/500) had received the vaccine. However 68% of the respondents agreed to do Pap smear if properly informed about the test and 75.4% of the respondents agreed to participate in a cervical cancer screening program. Despite a high educational level, less than half of our participants had accurate knowledge about cervical cancer, HPV, and cervical cancer screening. Health education about cervical cancer, HPV and sexually transmitted infections and the role of PST in cervical cancer prevention are crucial when designing interventions aimed at improving cervical cancer screening for Sudanese women.

Knowledge Transfers in IJVs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Park, Chansoo; Vertinsky, Ilan; Minbaeva, Dana

firms to their international joint ventures (IJVs) in South Korea. We developed a theoretical model that examines the impacts of the knowledge senders¡¯ disseminative capacities on knowledge transfer to IJVs. We tested our theory with data from 199 IJVs in South Korea. We found that the willingness...... of parent firms to share knowledge is manifested in an increased capacity to articulate and codify knowledge and create opportunities to transfer this knowledge. Mediated by the effective use of organizational communication channels, articulation and codification capabilities have a significant impact...

[A test to measure the degree of knowledge on food and nutrition at the onset of elementary school].

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanovic Marincovich, D; Castro Gómez, C G; Ivanovic Marincovich, R

1997-06-01

The objective of this work was to design a test to measure the degree of knowledge on food and nutrition in school-age children from elementary first and second grades. A graphic instrument was designed according to the psychological child development and was based on the specific objectives pursued by the curriculum programs of the Ministry of Education. The test was developed around the following topics through 15 items: Area 1: Basic Concepts on Food and Nutrition (9 items) and Area 2: Food, Personal and Environmental Hygiene (9 items). The test was pilot tested on 103 school-age children of both grades (1:1), of both sexes (1:1), belonging to Peñalolén and Las Condes counties from Chile's Metropolitan Region and from high and low socioeconomic status (SES) (1:1), measured through the Graffar's Modified Method. The final version of the test was applied in a representative sample of 1.482 school-age children from Chile's Metropolitan Region from elementary first and second grades during 1986-1987. Content validity was assured by a team of judges and by the curriculum programs. Reliability was assessed by the Spearman correlation with the Spearman-Brown correction. Item-test consistency was determined by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Data were processed by the statistical analysis system (SAS) package. Results showed that reliability coefficient was 0.84 and item-test consistency was equal or above 0.25 in all items. It can be concluded that this test can be useful to determine the degree of knowledge on food and nutrition at the onset of elementary school, both in Chile and in other countries.

Improving Decision Making about Genetic Testing in the Clinic: An Overview of Effective Knowledge Translation Interventions.

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France Légaré

Full Text Available Knowledge translation (KT interventions are attempts to change behavior in keeping with scientific evidence. While genetic tests are increasingly available to healthcare consumers in the clinic, evidence about their benefits is unclear and decisions about genetic testing are thus difficult for all parties.We sought to identify KT interventions that involved decisions about genetic testing in the clinical context and to assess their effectiveness for improving decision making in terms of behavior change, increased knowledge and wellbeing.We searched for trials assessing KT interventions in the context of genetic testing up to March 2014 in all systematic reviews (n = 153 published by two Cochrane review groups: Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC and Consumers and Communication.We retrieved 2473 unique trials of which we retained only 28 (1%. Two EPOC reviews yielded two trials of KT interventions: audit and feedback (n = 1 and educational outreach (n = 1. Both targeted health professionals and the KT intervention they assessed was found to be effective. Four Consumers and Communication reviews yielded 26 trials: decision aids (n = 15, communication of DNA-based disease risk estimates (n = 7, personalized risk communication (n = 3 and mobile phone messaging (n = 1. Among these, 25 trials targeted only health consumers or patients and the KT interventions were found to be effective in four trials, partly effective in seven, and ineffective in four. Lastly, only one trial targeted both physicians and patients and was found to be effective.More research on the effectiveness of KT interventions regarding genetic testing in the clinical context may contribute to patients making informed value-based decisions and drawing the maximum benefit from clinical applications of genetic and genomic innovations.

Does Knowledge Sharing Pay?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahnke, Volker; Pedersen, Torben; Venzin, Markus

are developed using a simultaneous equation model applied to a unique dataset encompassing a German MNC, HeidelbergCement. Enablers and impediments of knowledge outflows are assessed in order to explain why subsidiaries share their knowledge with other MNC units. Implications are examined by studying the link......This empirical paper explores knowledge outflow from MNC subsidiaries and its impact on the MNC performance. We develop and test hypotheses derived from literature on MNC knowledge flows integrated with the perspective of knowledge-creating, self-interested MNC subsidiaries. The hypotheses...... between knowledge outflows and subsidiary performance. Our findings suggest that knowledge outflows increase a subsidiary's performance only up to a certain point and that too much knowledge sharing may be detrimental to the contributing subsidiary's performance....

Domain knowledge patterns in pedagogical diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Miarka, Rostislav

2017-07-01

This paper shows a proposal of representation of knowledge patterns in RDF(S) language. Knowledge patterns are used for reuse of knowledge. They can be divided into two groups - Top-level knowledge patterns and Domain knowledge patterns. Pedagogical diagnostics is aimed at testing of knowledge of students at primary and secondary school. An example of domain knowledge pattern from pedagogical diagnostics is part of this paper.

Job Knowledge Test Design: A Cognitively-Oriented Approach

Science.gov (United States)

1993-07-01

34 developed by Gelman and Gallistel (1978) and now incorporated into knowledge engineering techniques for expert systems (Hayes-Roth, Waterman & Lenat... Gallistel , R. (1978). The child’s understanding of number. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Greeno, J. G. (1989). A perspective on thinking

Measurable Changes in Pre-Post Test Scores in Iraqi 4-H Leader’s Knowledge of Animal Science Production Principles

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Justen O. Smith

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The 4-H volunteer program is a new concept to the people of Iraq, for decades the country has been closed to western ideas. Iraqi culture and the Arabic customs have not embraced the volunteer concept and even more the concept of scientific animal production technologies designed to increase profitability for producers. In 2011 the USAID-Inma Agribusiness program teamed with the Iraq 4-H program to create youth and community entrepreneurship opportunities for widowed families. Iraq 4-H provided the youth members and adult volunteers and Inma provided the financial capital (livestock and the animal science training program for the volunteers. The purpose of this study was to measure the knowledge level gained through intensive animal science training for Iraqi 4-H volunteers. Researchers designed and implemented a pre and post test to measure the knowledge of fifteen volunteers who participated in the three day course. The pretest exposed a general lack of animal science knowledge of all volunteers; over 80% of the participants incorrectly answered the questions. However, the post-test indicated positive change in the participants understanding of animal science production principles.

Consumers report lower confidence in their genetics knowledge following direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Carere, Deanna Alexis; Kraft, Peter; Kaphingst, Kimberly A; Roberts, J Scott; Green, Robert C

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to measure changes to genetics knowledge and self-efficacy following personal genomic testing (PGT). New customers of 23andMe and Pathway Genomics completed a series of online surveys. We measured genetics knowledge (nine true/false items) and genetics self-efficacy (five Likert-scale items) before receipt of results and 6 months after results and used paired methods to evaluate change over time. Correlates of change (e.g., decision regret) were identified using linear regression. 998 PGT customers (59.9% female; 85.8% White; mean age 46.9 ± 15.5 years) were included in our analyses. Mean genetics knowledge score was 8.15 ± 0.95 (out of 9) at baseline and 8.25 ± 0.92 at 6 months (P = 0.0024). Mean self-efficacy score was 29.06 ± 5.59 (out of 35) at baseline and 27.7 ± 5.46 at 6 months (P reported lower self-efficacy following PGT. Change in self-efficacy was positively associated with health-care provider consultation (P = 0.0042), impact of PGT on perceived control over one's health (P consumers in response to receiving complex genetic information.Genet Med 18 1, 65-72.

Impact of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) knowledge on HIV prevention practices among traditional birth attendants in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Osuji, Alice; Pharr, Jennifer R; Nwokoro, Uche; Ike, Anulika; Ali, Christiana; Ejiro, Ogheneaga; Osuyali, John; Obiefune, Michael; Fiscella, Kevin; Ezeanolue, Echezona E

2015-02-10

Nigeria is second in the world for the number of people with HIV and has a high rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Over 60% of births in Nigeria occur outside of health care facilities, and because of this, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) play a significant role in maternal and child health. It is important that TBAs be knowledgeable about HIV prevention. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) knowledge on the HIV prevention practices among TBAs in Nigeria. Five hundred TBAs were surveyed. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to assess differences in HIV prevention practices between TBAs with and without HTC knowledge. TBAs with HTC knowledge are significantly more likely to engage in HIV prevention practices than TBAs without HTC. Prevention practices included: wearing gloves during delivery (p births occur outside health care facilities in Nigeria, there will be a need for TBAs. Providing TBAs with HTC training increases HIV prevention practices and can be a key to improve maternal and child health.

Knowledge from the web. Putting Wikipedia to the test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thieme, Christian

2011-01-01

On January 15, 2011 Wikipedia, the star project of the Web 2.0 Community, celebrated its 10th birthday. Wikipedia has made not only friends over this decade. As a source of knowledge Wikipedia soon became popular among users of the Internet. Educational institutions, however, take a more sceptical view of developments, as they have made students unwilling to conduct literature searches and carefully investigate in all directions available. Students rely 100% on knowledge stored in the Internet without critically observing or examining the information found. To the normal Internet user, however, the encyclopedia reflects the Web 2.0 model. A huge community is engaged in updating and extending knowledge in the database. Moreover, there are no restrictions on taking part in the project. Literally anybody may participate. The subject portals in the ''Technology'' section in Wikipedia contain a ''Nuclear Power'' column. This subject portal is outstanding because of its large number of entries. Information can be found about all areas of nuclear technology, although a real absence of bias is difficult to detect. According to reports, this category of information is characterized by regular skirmishes about the correctness and absence of bias in contents. (orig.)

Construction of a valid and reliable test to determine knowledge on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

knowledge-dietary behaviour relationship require use of valid and reliable knowledge .... Which of the following beverages has the lowest energy content per cup (250 ml)?b .... Diploma (ND): Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition together.

A checklist approach to caring for women seeking pregnancy testing: effects on contraceptive knowledge and use.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jessica; Papic, Melissa; Baldauf, Erin; Updike, Glenn; Schwarz, E Bimla

2015-02-01

To assess how a checklist reminding clinicians to deliver a bundled intervention affects contraceptive knowledge and use 3 months after women seek walk-in pregnancy testing. Pre-intervention, an inner-city family planning clinic provided unstructured care; during the intervention period, clinic staff used a checklist to ensure women received needed services. Women seeking walk-in pregnancy testing who wished to avoid pregnancy for at least 6 months were asked to complete surveys about their contraceptive knowledge and use immediately after and 3-months after visiting the study clinic. To assess the significance of changes over time, we used logistic regression models. Between January 2011 and May 2013, over 1500 women sought pregnancy testing from the study clinic; 323 completed surveys (95 pre-intervention and 228 during the intervention period). With this checklist intervention, participants were more likely to receive emergency contraception (EC) (22% vs. 5%, [aOR 4.66 (1.76-12.35)], [corrected] have an intrauterine device or implant placed at the time of their clinic visit (5% vs. 0%, p=0.02), or receive a contraceptive prescription (23% vs. 10%, pcontraception and were more likely to report at 3-month follow-up a method of contraception more effective than the method they used prior to seeking pregnancy testing from the study clinic (aOR=2.02, 95% CI=1.03-3.96). The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. [corrected]. Women seeking walk-in pregnancy testing appear more likely to receive EC and to have switched to a more effective form of birth control in the 3 months following their visit when clinic staff used a 3-item checklist and provided scripted counseling. A checklist reminding clinic staff to assess pregnancy intentions, provide scripted counseling about both emergency and highly-effective reversible contraception, and offer same-day contraceptive initiation to women seeking walk-in pregnancy testing appears to increase use of

Analysing lawyers’ attitude towards knowledge sharing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wole M. Olatokun

2012-09-01

Method: A field survey of 273 lawyers was carried out, using questionnaire for data collection. Collected data on all variables were structured into grouped frequency distributions. Principal Component Factor Analysis was applied to reduce the constructs and Simple Regression was applied to test the hypotheses. These were tested at 0.05% level of significance. Results: Results showed that expected associations and contributions were the major determinants of lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. Expected reward was not significantly related to lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. A positive attitude towards knowledge sharing was found to lead to a positive intention to share knowledge, although a positive intention to share knowledge did not significantly predict a positive knowledge sharing behaviour. The level of Information Technology (IT usage was also found to significantly affect the knowledge sharing behaviour of lawyers’. Conclusion: It was recommended that law firms in the study area should deploy more IT infrastructure and services that encourage effective knowledge sharing amongst lawyers.

Young Adults' Knowledge and Understanding of Personal Finance in Germany: Interviews with Experts and Test-Takers

Science.gov (United States)

Happ, Roland; Förster, Manuel; Rüspeler, Ann-Katrin; Rothweiler, Jasmin

2018-01-01

In recent years, the financial education of young adults has gained importance in Germany; however, very few valid test instruments to assess the knowledge and understanding of personal finance are suitable for use in Germany. In this article, we describe results of a survey in which experts in Germany in areas related to personal finance judged…

Is conscious stimulus identification dependent on knowledge of the perceptual modality? Testing the "source misidentification hypothesis"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Overgaard, Morten; Lindeløv, Jonas Kristoffer; Svejstrup, Stinna

2013-01-01

This paper reports an experiment intended to test a particular hypothesis derived from blindsight research, which we name the “source misidentification hypothesis.” According to this hypothesis, a subject may be correct about a stimulus without being correct about how she had access...... to this knowledge (whether the stimulus was visual, auditory, or something else). We test this hypothesis in healthy subjects, asking them to report whether a masked stimulus was presented auditorily or visually, what the stimulus was, and how clearly they experienced the stimulus using the Perceptual Awareness...... experience of the stimulus. To demonstrate that particular levels of reporting accuracy are obtained, we employ a statistical strategy, which operationally tests the hypothesis of non-equality, such that the usual rejection of the null-hypothesis admits the conclusion of equivalence....

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gudde, Harmen B; Griffiths, Debra; Coventry, Kenny R

2018-02-19

The memory game paradigm is a behavioral procedure to explore the relationship between language, spatial memory, and object knowledge. Using two different versions of the paradigm, spatial language use and memory for object location are tested under different, experimentally manipulated conditions. This allows us to tease apart proposed models explaining the influence of object knowledge on spatial language (e.g., spatial demonstratives), and spatial memory, as well as understanding the parameters that affect demonstrative choice and spatial memory more broadly. Key to the development of the method was the need to collect data on language use (e.g., spatial demonstratives: "this/that") and spatial memory data under strictly controlled conditions, while retaining a degree of ecological validity. The language version (section 3.1) of the memory game tests how conditions affect language use. Participants refer verbally to objects placed at different locations (e.g., using spatial demonstratives: "this/that red circle"). Different parameters can be experimentally manipulated: the distance from the participant, the position of a conspecific, and for example whether the participant owns, knows, or sees the object while referring to it. The same parameters can be manipulated in the memory version of the memory game (section 3.2). This version tests the effects of the different conditions on object-location memory. Following object placement, participants get 10 seconds to memorize the object's location. After the object and location cues are removed, participants verbally direct the experimenter to move a stick to indicate where the object was. The difference between the memorized and the actual location shows the direction and strength of the memory error, allowing comparisons between the influences of the respective parameters.

Knowledge and attitude of general pratictioners towards direct-to-consumer genomic tests: a survey conducted in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Baroncini

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Personal genomic tests (PGT offered directly-to-consumers (DTC for complex disease risk assessment have raised several concerns regarding their potential adverse impact. To mitigate worries continuing professional education has been advocated and the central gatekeeper role of family physicians has been highlighted. Nevertheless, to date, only few studies have been published on awareness, involvement and attitudes of  primary healthcare providers on DTC marketing of PGT and, to the best of our knowledge, none in Italy.Methods: An exploratory survey to achieve information about knowledge and attitudes towards DTC-PGT of a selected group of family physicians participating to courses on predictive medicine and public health genomics was conducted. Results: A total amount of 114 partially or fully filled questionnaires was obtained. The majority of the primary care providers (68,4%  expressed that they are unaware that companies are selling genomic tests directly to consumers, while 31,6% was aware.  In terms of attitudes toward testing 61,1% of the aware respondents deemed the DTC-PGT for chronic complex diseases to be ‘‘not clinically useful.’’  The overwhelming majority of our respondents (95,6% felt unprepared to answer patients’ questions on DTC-PGT. If only aware respondents are considered this percentage results obviously  lower (86,1%, though still very high. Conclusion: The low percentage of aware respondents suggests that DTC advertising in the realm of genomic testing is still limited in Italy. Should DTC-PGT become more widely used, a comprehensive education program may be necessary to increase family physicians’ awareness and help them discuss testing with their patients. 

An empirical comparison of knowledge and skill in the context of traditional ecological knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kightley, Eric P; Reyes-García, Victoria; Demps, Kathryn; Magtanong, Ruth V; Ramenzoni, Victoria C; Thampy, Gayatri; Gueze, Maximilien; Stepp, John Richard

2013-10-16

We test whether traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about how to make an item predicts a person's skill at making it among the Tsimane' (Bolivia). The rationale for this research is that the failure to distinguish between knowledge and skill might account for some of the conflicting results about the relationships between TEK, human health, and economic development. We test the association between a commonly-used measure of individual knowledge (cultural consensus analysis) about how to make an arrow or a bag and a measure of individual skill at making these items, using ordinary least-squares regression. The study consists of 43 participants from 3 villages. We find no association between our measures of knowledge and skill (core model, p > 0.5, R2 = .132). While we cannot rule out the possibility of a real association between these phenomena, we interpret our findings as support for the claim that researchers should distinguish between methods to measure knowledge and skill when studying trends in TEK.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (V.2016) in Arabic: Translation and Validation

OpenAIRE

Alhaiti, Ali Hassan; Alotaibi, Alanod Raffa; Jones, Linda Katherine; DaCosta, Cliff; Lenon, George Binh

2016-01-01

Objective. To translate the revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test into the Arabic language and examine its psychometric properties. Setting. Of the 139 participants recruited through King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 34 agreed to the second-round sample for retesting purposes. Methods. The translation process followed the World Health Organization’s guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. All translations were examined for their validity and reliability...

Development and Construct Validation of a Situational Judgment Test of Strategic Knowledge of Classroom Management in Elementary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Bernadette; Holodynski, Manfred

2015-01-01

The current study describes the development and construct validation of a situational judgment test for assessing the strategic knowledge of classroom management in elementary schools. Classroom scenarios and accompanying courses of action were constructed, of which 17 experts confirmed the content validity. A pilot study and a cross-validation…

Knowledge and Opinion on the Nuclear Freeze: A Test of Three Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Tankard, James W., Jr.

To explore how knowledge influences opinion in foreign policy, results of a survey on voter familiarity with and attitude toward nuclear policy issues were compared with three theoretical models of the knowledge/opinion relationship: (1) the enlightenment model--as knowledge increases, support for belligerent foreign policy stands decreases; (2)…

Development and Initial Reliability Testing of NAK-50+: A Nutrition Attitude and Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults 50+ Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Ducak, Kate; Keller, Heather

2016-03-01

Few questionnaires to test nutrition knowledge and attitudes of older adults living independently in the community have been developed and tested to assess self-management tools such as Nutri-eSCREEN and other education programs. This study is a first step in the development of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the nutrition knowledge and attitudes of independent older adults (NAK-50+). The steps involved in this study were: (i) drafting initial questions based on the content of the Nutri-eSCREEN education material, (ii) using cognitive interviewing to determine if these questions were understandable and relevant (n = 9 adults ≥50 years of age), and (iii) completing test-retest reliability in a convenient community sample (n = 60 adults ≥50 years of age). Intra-class coefficients (ICC) and kappa were used to determine reliability. A 33-item questionnaire resulted from this development and analysis. ICC for the total score was 0.68 indicating good agreement and thus initial reliability. NAK-50+ is a face valid and reliable questionnaire that assesses nutrition knowledge and attitudes in independent adults aged ≥50 years. Further work to determine construct validity and to refine the questionnaire is warranted. Availability of the questionnaire for this age group will support rigorous evaluation of education and self-management interventions for this segment of the population.

Collaborative-group testing improves learning and knowledge retention of human physiology topics in second-year medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Vázquez-García, Mario

2018-06-01

The present study examined the relationship between second-year medical students' group performance and individual performance in a collaborative-learning environment. In recent decades, university professors in the scientific and humanistic disciplines have successfully put into practice different modalities of collaborative approaches to teaching. Essentially, collaborative approach refers to a variety of techniques that involves the joint intellectual effort of a small group of students, which encourages interaction and discussion among students and professors. The present results show the efficacy of collaborative learning, which, furthermore, allowed students to participate actively in the physiology class. Average student's grades were significantly higher when they engaged in single-best-response, multiple-choice tests as a student team, compared with taking the same examinations individually. The method improved notably knowledge retention, as learning is more effective when performed in the context of collaborative partnership. A selected subset of questions answered wrongly in an initial test, both individually and collectively, was used on a second test to examine student retention of studied material. Grade averages were significantly improved, both individually and groupwise, when students responded to the subset of questions a second time, 1, 2, or 3 wk after the first attempt. These results suggest that the collaborative approach to teaching allowed a more effective understanding of course content, which meant an improved capacity for retention of human physiology knowledge.

Gamma-ray spectrometry combined with acceptable knowledge (GSAK). A technique for characterization of certain remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) wastes. Part 2. Testing and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartwell, J.K.; McIlwain, M.E.

2005-01-01

Gamma-ray spectrometry combined with acceptable knowledge (GSAK) is a technique for the characterization of certain remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) wastes. GSAK uses gamma-ray spectrometry to quantify a portion of the fission product inventory of RH-TRU wastes. These fission product results are then coupled with calculated inventories derived from acceptable process knowledge to characterize the radionuclide content of the assayed wastes. GSAK has been evaluated and tested through several test exercises. These tests and their results are described; while the former paper in this issue presents the methodology, equipment and techniques. (author)

Non-genetic health professionals' attitude towards, knowledge of and skills in discussing and ordering genetic testing for hereditary cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Douma, Kirsten F. L.; Smets, Ellen M. A.; Allain, Dawn C.

2016-01-01

Non-genetic health professionals (NGHPs) have insufficient knowledge of cancer genetics, express educational needs and are unprepared to counsel their patients regarding their genetic test results. So far, it is unclear how NGHPs perceive their own communication skills. This study was undertaken to

High-Risk Palliative Care Patients' Knowledge and Attitudes about Hereditary Cancer Testing and DNA Banking.

Science.gov (United States)

Quillin, John M; Emidio, Oluwabunmi; Ma, Brittany; Bailey, Lauryn; Smith, Thomas J; Kang, In Guk; Yu, Brandon J; Owodunni, Oluwafemi Patrick; Abusamaan, Mohammed; Razzak, Rab; Bodurtha, Joann N

2017-12-04

Even at the end of life, testing cancer patients for inherited susceptibility may provide life-saving information to their relatives. Prior research suggests palliative care inpatients have suboptimal understanding of genetic importance, and testing may be underutilized in this clinical setting. These conclusions are based on limited research. This study aimed to estimate genetic testing prevalence among high-risk palliative care patients in a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. We also aimed to understand these patients' understanding of, and attitudes toward, hereditary cancer testing and DNA banking. Palliative care in-patients with cancer completed structured interviews, and their medical records were reviewed. Among patients at high risk for hereditary cancer, we assessed history of genetic testing/DNA banking; and related knowledge and attitudes. Among 24 high-risk patients, 14 (58.3%) said they/their relatives had genetic testing or they had been referred for a genetics consultation. Of the remaining 10 patients, seven (70%) said they would "probably" or "definitely" get tested. Patients who had not had testing were least concerned about the impact of future testing on their family relationships; two (20%) said they were "extremely concerned" about privacy related to genetic testing. Of patients without prior testing, five (50%) said they had heard or read "a fair amount" about genetic testing. No high-risk patients had banked DNA. Overall, 23 (95.8%) said they had heard or read "almost nothing" or "relatively little" about DNA banking. Written materials and clinician discussion were most preferred ways to learn about genetic testing and DNA banking. Overall, this study demonstrates underutilization of genetics services at the end of life continues to be problematic, despite high patient interest.

Knowledge and use of unauthorized HIV self-test kits among men who have sex with men in Spain, following approval of an over-the-counter self-test in the U.S: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Koutentakis, Konstantinos; Rosales-Statkus, María Elena; Hoyos, Juan; Fernández-Balbuena, Sonia; Ruiz, Mónica; Agustí, Cristina; de la Fuente, Luis; Belza, María José

2016-07-08

Shortly after the approval of an over-the-counter HIV self-test in the US, we conducted a study to estimate the proportion of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Spain who knew that unauthorized HIV self-tests could be purchased online, and the proportion that had already used these tests, as well as their socio-demographic and behavioural correlates. Between September 2012 and February 2013, MSM users of gay dating websites were invited to complete an online questionnaire. We calculated estimates of the knowledge and use of unauthorized HIV self-testing and assessed the associated factors by rare event logit regression models. Among 8620 participants, 4.2 % (95 % CI:3.8-4.6) knew they could buy an unauthorized HIV self-test kit online, and 12.7 % (95 % CI:12.0-13.4) thought that such a test might exist, although they had never seen one. Only 0.7 % (95 % CI:0.5-0.9) had ever self-tested. In the multivariable analysis, knowledge of online availability of self-tests was associated with being a non-Latin American foreigner, having at least two previous HIV tests, intending to test for HIV in the next year, and knowing about U.S. approval of self-testing. Ever-use of HIV self-testing was associated with being over 34 years of age, living outside Spain during the last 12 months, and knowing about U.S. approval of self-testing. Both knowledge and use of unauthorized HIV self-testing among MSM in Spain was very low among HIV negative or untested MSM in Spain. The recent approval in the United Kingdom and France might increase the number of MSM seeking such testing and possibly using unauthorized test kits not meeting quality standards.

The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in knowledge management and innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolreza Sadeghi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Therefore, improving innovative performance is critical for creating com-petitive advantage. On the other hand, availability of information and knowledge can be defined as one the best ways to increase the innovation ability of organizations. Many theorists as well as practitioners emphasize on knowledge management as an enabler in enhancing organizational inno-vation. Hence, This study is carried out in the Fars governor in Iran during the year of 2017 to in-vestigate the relationship between the knowledge-based leadership and knowledge management and innovation performance. This study is descriptive / survey and the data collection is a cross-sectional and data questionnaire is used to collect the required data. Data analysis and hypotheses testing have indicated a significant relationship between knowledge-based leadership and knowledge management and innovation performance in Fars governor. The results also suggest a relationship between knowledge-based leadership and the knowledge management activities with a coefficient of 0.97. In addition, There is also a positive and meaningful relationship between knowledge management and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.73 and between knowledge-based leadership and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.73. The results al-so led to the existence of a relationship between knowledge based leadership, knowledge manage-ment practices and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.7081.

Analysing lawyers’ attitude towards knowledge sharing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wole M. Olatokun

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The study examined and identified the factors that affect lawyers’ attitudes to knowledge sharing, and their knowledge sharing behaviour. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between the salient beliefs affecting the knowledge sharing attitude of lawyers’, and applied a modified version of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA in the knowledge sharing context, to predict how these factors affect their knowledge sharing behaviour.Method: A field survey of 273 lawyers was carried out, using questionnaire for data collection. Collected data on all variables were structured into grouped frequency distributions. Principal Component Factor Analysis was applied to reduce the constructs and Simple Regression was applied to test the hypotheses. These were tested at 0.05% level of significance.Results: Results showed that expected associations and contributions were the major determinants of lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. Expected reward was not significantly related to lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. A positive attitude towards knowledge sharing was found to lead to a positive intention to share knowledge, although a positive intention to share knowledge did not significantly predict a positive knowledge sharing behaviour. The level of Information Technology (IT usage was also found to significantly affect the knowledge sharing behaviour of lawyers’.Conclusion: It was recommended that law firms in the study area should deploy more IT infrastructure and services that encourage effective knowledge sharing amongst lawyers. 

Knowledge translation regarding financial abuse and dementia for the banking sector: the development and testing of an education tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Peisah, Carmelle; Bhatia, Sangita; Macnab, Jenna; Brodaty, Henry

2016-07-01

Financial abuse is the most common form of elder abuse. Capacity Australia, established to promote education regarding capacity and abuse prevention across health, legal and financial sectors, was awarded a grant by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre to educate the banking sector on financial abuse and dementia. We aimed to develop a knowledge translation tool for bank staff on this issue. The banking sector across Australia was engaged and consulted to develop a tailored education tool based on Australian Banking Association's Guidelines on Financial Abuse Prevention, supplemented by information related to dementia, financial capacity and supported decision-making. The tool was tested on 69 banking staff across Australia from two major banks. An online education tool using adaptive learning was developed, comprising a pretest of 15 multiple choice questions, followed by a learning module tailored to the individual's performance on the pretest, and a post-test to assess knowledge translation. A significant increase in scores was demonstrated when baseline scores were compared with post-course scores (mean difference in scores = 3.5; SD = 1.94; t = 15.1; df = 68; p tool took approximately 10-20 min to complete depending on the knowledge of participant and continuity of completion. The Australian banking industry was amenable to assist in the development of a tailored education tool on dementia, abuse and financial capacity. This online e-tool provides an effective medium for knowledge translation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Marine Education Knowledge Inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hounshell, Paul B.; Hampton, Carolyn

This 35-item, multiple-choice Marine Education Knowledge Inventory was developed for use in upper elementary/middle schools to measure a student's knowledge of marine science. Content of test items is drawn from oceanography, ecology, earth science, navigation, and the biological sciences (focusing on marine animals). Steps in the construction of…

Governing Individual Knowledge Sharing Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minbaeva, Dana; Pedersen, Torben

2010-01-01

The emerging Knowledge Governance Approach asserts the need to build microfoundations grounded in individual action. Toward this goal, using the Theory of Planned Behavior, we aim to explain individual knowledge sharing behavior as being determined by the intention to share knowledge and its...... antecedents: attitude toward knowledge sharing, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. In addition, we consider managerial interventions (governance mechanisms) that managers can employ to influence the identified antecedents and thereby govern individual knowledge sharing behavior. We test...... a positive effect on subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, respectively....

Knowledge acquisition for temporal abstraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, A; Musen, M A; Shahar, Y

1996-01-01

Temporal abstraction is the task of detecting relevant patterns in data over time. The knowledge-based temporal-abstraction method uses knowledge about a clinical domain's contexts, external events, and parameters to create meaningful interval-based abstractions from raw time-stamped clinical data. In this paper, we describe the acquisition and maintenance of domain-specific temporal-abstraction knowledge. Using the PROTEGE-II framework, we have designed a graphical tool for acquiring temporal knowledge directly from expert physicians, maintaining the knowledge in a sharable form, and converting the knowledge into a suitable format for use by an appropriate problem-solving method. In initial tests, the tool offered significant gains in our ability to rapidly acquire temporal knowledge and to use that knowledge to perform automated temporal reasoning.

Anaesthesia for laparoscopic kidney transplantation: Influence of Trendelenburg position and CO 2 pneumoperitoneum on cardiovascular, respiratory and renal function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beena Kandarp Parikh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy is a routine practice since 1995. Until now, the recipient has always undergone open surgery for transplantation. In our institute, laparoscopic kidney transplantation (LKT started in 2010. To facilitate this surgery, the patient must be in steep Trendelenburg position for a long duration. Hence, we decided to study the effect of CO2 pnuemoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position in chronic renal failure (CRF patients undergoing LKT. Methods: A total of 20 adult CRF patients having mean age of 31.7±10.36 years and body mass index 19.65±3.41 kg/m 2 without significant coronary artery disease were selected for the procedure. Cardiovascular parameters heart rate (HR, mean arterial pressure (MAP, Central venous pressure (CVP and respiratory parameters (ETCO 2 , peak airway pressure were noted at the time of induction, after induction, 15 min after creation of pnuemoperitoneum, 30 min after Trendelenburg position, 15 min after decompression of pnuemoperitonuem and after extubation. Arterial blood gas analysis was carried out after induction, 15 min after creation of pnuemoperitoneum, 30 min after Trendelenburg position and 15 min after clamp release. Total duration of surgery, anastomosis time, time for the establishment of urine output and total urine output were noted. Serum creatinine on the 1 st and 7 th post-operative day were recorded. Results: Significant increase in HR was observed after creation of CO 2 pneumoperitoneum and just before extubation. Significant increase in the MAP and CVP was noted after creation of pneumoperitoneum and after giving Trendelenburg position. No significant rise in the ETCO 2 and PaCO 2 was observed. Significant increase in the base deficit was observed after the clamp release, but none of the patients required correction. Conclusion: LKT performed in steep Trendelenburg position with CO 2 pneumoperitoneum significantly influenced cardiovascular and respiratory

Test your knowledge and understanding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This quiz is designed to test your understanding of the concepts covered in this issue and to give you an opportunity to reflect on what you have learnt. These multiple true/false questions were produced in collaboration with the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO.

KNOWLEDGE SCIENCES AND NANATSUDAKI: A NEW MODEL OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION PROCESSES

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Andrzej P.WIERZBICKI; Yoshiteru NAKAMORI

2007-01-01

The paper starts from a discussion of the concepts of knowledge management versus technology management,and the emergence of knowledge sciences.This is followed be a summary of recent results in the theory of knowledge creation.Most of them concern diverse spirals of creative interplay between rational (explicit) and intuitive or emotional (tacit) aspects of knowledge.Some of them concentrate on organizational (market or purpose-oriented) knowledge creation,other describe academic (research-oriented) knowledge creation.The problem addressed in this paper is how to integrate diverse spirals of knowledge creation into a prescriptive or exemplar model that would help to overcome the differences between organizational (market-oriented) and normal academic knowledge creation.As such prescriptive approach,the JAIST Nanatsudaki Model of knowledge creation is proposed.It consists of seven spirals,known from other studies,but integrated in a sequence resulting from the experience of authors in practical management of research activities.Not all of these spirals have to be fully utilized,depending on a particular application,but all of them relate to some essential aspects of either academic or organizational knowledge creation.The paper presents Nanatsudaki Model in detail with comments on consecutive spirals.The results of a survey of opinions about creativity conditions at JAIST indicate the importance of many spirals constituting the Nanatsudaki Model.Directions of further testing the Nanatsudaki Model are indicated.

Knowledge, attitudes and acceptability to provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling: patients' perspectives in Moshi and Rombo Districts, Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Manongi, Rachel; Mahande, Michael; Njau, Bernard

2014-10-01

Provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) is referred to as routine testing in a clinical setting as part of a standard programme of medical services. PITC is initiated in order to avoid missed opportunities for people to get tested for HIV. While advocated as a strategy, there is dearth of information on patients' views on PITC in a number of districts in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and acceptability to PITC services among patients attending health care facilities in rural and urban settings in Kilimanjaro region A total of 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 99 (73 female and 26 male) patients enrolled into out-patient clinics in 8 (2 hospitals and 6 primary care centers) health facilities in Moshi Urban and Rombo districts in northern Tanzania. The study explored on knowledge, attitudes and acceptability of PITC, perceived benefits and barriers of PITC, and ethical issues related to PITC. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed, translated, and analyzed using Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing and Theorizing (NUDIST) software. Knowledge about PITC services was generally low. Compared to men, women had a more positive attitude towards PITC services, because of its ability to identify and treat undiagnosed HIV cases. HIV stigma was regarded as a major barrier to patients' uptake of PITC. Institutional factors such as lack of supplies and human resources were identified as barriers to successful provision of PITC. In conclusion, the findings highlight both opportunities and potential barriers in the successful uptake of PITC, and underscore the importance of informed consent, counseling and confidentiality and the need for specific strategies on advocacy for the service.

Generative Knowledge Interviewing: A Method for Knowledge Transfer and Talent Management at the University of Michigan

Science.gov (United States)

Peet, Melissa R.; Walsh, Katherine; Sober, Robin; Rawak, Christine S.

2010-01-01

Experts and leaders within most fields possess knowledge that is largely tacit and unconscious in nature. The leaders of most organizations do not "know what they know" and cannot share their knowledge with others. The loss of this essential knowledge is of major concern to organizations. This study tested an innovative method of tacit…

Knowledge management in fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuriakose, K.K.; Satya Murty, S.A.V.; Swaminathan, P.; Raj, Baldev

2010-01-01

This paper highlights the work that is being carried out in Knowledge Management of Fast Reactors at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) including a few examples of how the knowledge acquired because of various incidents in the initial years has been utilized for the successful operation of Fast Breeder Test Reactor. It also briefly refers to the features of the IAEA initiative on the preservation of Knowledge in the area of Fast Reactors in the form of 'Fast Reactor Knowledge Organization System' (FR-KOS), which is based on a taxonomy for storage and mining of Fast Reactor Knowledge. (author)

The knowledge base of journalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svith, Flemming

In this paper I propose the knowledge base as a fruitful way to apprehend journalism. With the claim that the majority of practice is anchored in knowledge – understood as 9 categories of rationales, forms and levels – this knowledge base appears as a contextual look at journalists’ knowledge......, and place. As an analytical framework, the knowledge base is limited to understand the practice of newspaper journalists, but, conversely, the knowledge base encompasses more general beginnings through the inclusion of overall structural relationships in the media and journalism and general theories...... on practice and knowledge. As the result of an abductive reasoning is a theory proposal, there is a need for more deductive approaches to test the validity of this knowledge base claim. It is thus relevant to investigate which rationales are included in the knowledge base of journalism, as the dimension does...

The acquisition of tacit knowledge in medical education: learning by doing.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, P J; Steinert, Y; Meagher, T; Schuwirth, L; Tabatabai, D; McLeod, A H

2006-02-01

This study was designed to assess medical school teachers' tacit knowledge of basic pedagogic principles and to explore the specific character of the knowledge base. We developed a 50-item, multiple-choice question test based on important pedagogic principles, and classified all questions as requiring either declarative or procedural knowledge. A total of 72 medical teachers representing 5 different groups of clinicians and educators agreed to sit the test. Teachers in all 5 groups performed well on the test of tacit pedagogic knowledge but those with advanced education degrees, or local recognition as experts, performed best. All test takers performed best on questions requiring procedural knowledge. Medical teachers possess tacit knowledge of basic pedagogic principles. Superior test performance on questions requiring procedural knowledge is consistent with their working in a clinical environment characterised by repeated procedural activities.

A new technique for testing distribution of knowledge and to estimate sampling sufficiency in ethnobiology studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Araújo, Thiago Antonio Sousa; Almeida, Alyson Luiz Santos; Melo, Joabe Gomes; Medeiros, Maria Franco Trindade; Ramos, Marcelo Alves; Silva, Rafael Ricardo Vasconcelos; Almeida, Cecília Fátima Castelo Branco Rangel; Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino

2012-03-15

We propose a new quantitative measure that enables the researcher to make decisions and test hypotheses about the distribution of knowledge in a community and estimate the richness and sharing of information among informants. In our study, this measure has two levels of analysis: intracultural and intrafamily. Using data collected in northeastern Brazil, we evaluated how these new estimators of richness and sharing behave for different categories of use. We observed trends in the distribution of the characteristics of informants. We were also able to evaluate how outliers interfere with these analyses and how other analyses may be conducted using these indices, such as determining the distance between the knowledge of a community and that of experts, as well as exhibiting the importance of these individuals' communal information of biological resources. One of the primary applications of these indices is to supply the researcher with an objective tool to evaluate the scope and behavior of the collected data.

Incorporating personalized gene sequence variants, molecular genetics knowledge, and health knowledge into an EHR prototype based on the Continuity of Care Record standard

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Xia; Kay, Stephen; Marley, Tom; Hardiker, Nicholas R.; Cimino, James J.

2011-01-01

Summary Objectives The current volume and complexity of genetic tests, and the molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge related to interpretation of the results of those tests, are rapidly outstripping the ability of individual clinicians to recall, understand and convey to their patients information relevant to their care. The tailoring of molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge in clinical settings is important both for the provision of personalized medicine and to reduce clinician information overload. In this paper we describe the incorporation, customization and demonstration of molecular genetic data (mainly sequence variants), molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge into a standards-based electronic health record (EHR) prototype developed specifically for this study. Methods We extended the CCR (Continuity of Care Record), an existing EHR standard for representing clinical data, to include molecular genetic data. An EHR prototype was built based on the extended CCR and designed to display relevant molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge from an existing knowledge base for cystic fibrosis (OntoKBCF). We reconstructed test records from published case reports and represented them in the CCR schema. We then used the EHR to dynamically filter molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge from OntoKBCF using molecular genetic data and clinical data from the test cases. Results The molecular genetic data were successfully incorporated in the CCR by creating a category of laboratory results called “Molecular Genetics ” and specifying a particular class of test (“Gene Mutation Test”) in this category. Unlike other laboratory tests reported in the CCR, results of tests in this class required additional attributes (“Molecular Structure” and “Molecular Position”) to support interpretation by clinicians. These results, along with clinical data (age, sex, ethnicity, diagnostic procedures, and therapies) were used

Knowledge of HIV and willingness to conduct oral rapid HIV testing among dentists in Xi'an China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lirong Wang

Full Text Available China is considered a country of low HIV prevalence (780,000 people living with HIV, however, HIV infections among high-risk populations continue to grow at alarming rates. Voluntary Counseling and Testing services were first implemented in 2003, and oral rapid HIV testing (ORHT began in 2012. Dentists, as oral health experts, would be well placed to conduct ORHT. We assessed willingness of dentists to undertake ORHT in their clinical practice.A cross-sectional, paper-based survey of dentists from the Xi'an region of China was conducted from April to June 2013. Dentists were recruited from Shaanxi Stomatological Association using a stratified sampling methodology. A 40-item survey was used to measure knowledge of HIV, attitudes toward people living with HIV and willingness to conduct ORHT.477 dentists completed the survey with a mean HIV knowledge test score of 13.2/18 (SD 1.9. If made available in the dental setting, 276 (57.9% preferred to use blood to diagnose HIV, only 190 (39.8% preferred saliva or both. Four hundred and thirty-five (91.2% thought that ORHT was needed in dental clinics. Female dentists felt more accepting of ORHT than males (93.8% vs. 87.8%; χ2=5.145; p<0.05. 42.6% of the participants who responded thought that lack of education on ORHT for dentists was the most urgent problem to solve for ORHT, 144 (31.3% thought that lack of support for ORHT from patients was the most urgent problem. There was statistically significant difference among dental hospital, dentistry and department of dentistry (χ2=24.176; p<0.05.The majority of Chinese dentists thought that ORHT was needed in the dental setting. Providing opportunities for dentists and dental students to learn about HIV testing guidelines and practices is needed as well as feasibility and implementation science research.

Knowledge of prenatal screening and psychological management of test decisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Katja; Hvidman, Lone; Jørgensen, Finn Stener

2010-01-01

well-being respectively worries in pregnancy. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study with 6,427 pregnant women consecutively included before the time of a nuchal translucency scan. Participants were recruited from three Danish obstetric departments offering prenatal screening free of charge....... The results presented are based on 4,111 pregnant women (64%). Knowledge was measured by 15 knowledge questions. The primary outcomes were measured by use of pre-existing validated scales i.e. The Decisional Conflict Scale, the WHO well-being index, and the Cambridge Worry Scale. Associations were analysed...... associated with higher levels of well-being (adjusted linear coefficient 0.51 (0.26 to 0.75), p

Relationships between structural social capital, knowledge identification capability and external knowledge acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz Ortiz

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating effect of the identification of valuable external knowledge on the relationship between the development of inter-organizational ties (structural social capital and the acquisition of external knowledge. Design/methodology/approach - Using a sample of 87 firms from Spanish biotechnology and pharmaceutics industries, the authors have tested the proposed mediation hypothesis by applying the partial least squares technique to a structural equations model. Findings - The study results show that those firms with stronger, more frequent and closer inter-relationships are able to increase the amount of intentionally acquired knowledge, partly due to the greater level of development of their knowledge identification capability. Thus, firms with a higher capability to recognize the value of the knowledge embedded in their inter-organizational networks will be more likely to design better strategies to acquire and integrate such knowledge into their current knowledge bases for either present or future use. Originality/value - This research contributes to knowledge management and social capital literature by means of the study of two key determinants of knowledge acquisition – structural social capital and knowledge identification capability – and the explanation of their relationships of mutual influence. The paper thus tries to fill this literature gap and connects the relational perspective of social capital with the knowledge-based view from a strategic point of view.

The effectiveness of virtual simulation in improving student nurses' knowledge and performance during patient deterioration: A pre and post test design.

Science.gov (United States)

Borg Sapiano, Alexis; Sammut, Roberta; Trapani, Josef

2018-03-01

Preparing nursing students to perform competently in complex emergency situations, such as during rapid patient deterioration, is challenging. Students' active engagement in such scenarios cannot be ensured, due to the unexpected nature of such infrequent events. Many students may consequently not experience and integrate the management of patient deterioration into their knowledge and practical competency by the end of their studies, making them unprepared to manage such situations as practicing nurses. This study investigated the effectiveness of virtual simulation in improving performance during rapid patient deterioration. To investigate the effectiveness of virtual simulation in improving student nurses' knowledge and performance during rapid patient deterioration. A pre- and post-test design was used. Nursing students at a university in Malta were invited to participate in a virtual simulation program named FIRST 2 ACTWeb™, using their own computer devices. A total of 166 (response rate=50%) second and third year diploma and degree nursing students participated in the study. The simulation included three scenarios (Cardiac-Shock-Respiratory) portraying deteriorating patients. Performance feedback was provided at the end of each scenario. Students completed pre- and post-scenario knowledge tests and performance during each scenario was recorded automatically on a database. Findings showed a significant improvement in the students' post-scenario knowledge (z=-6.506, psimulation as an effective learning tool for pre-registration nursing students in different programs. Simulation improves both knowledge about and performance during patient deterioration. Virtual simulation of rare events should be a key component of undergraduate nurse education, to prepare students to manage complex situations as practicing nurses. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building the BIKE: Development and Testing of the Biotechnology Instrument for Knowledge Elicitation (BIKE)

Science.gov (United States)

Witzig, Stephen B.; Rebello, Carina M.; Siegel, Marcelle A.; Freyermuth, Sharyn K.; Izci, Kemal; McClure, Bruce

2014-10-01

Identifying students' conceptual scientific understanding is difficult if the appropriate tools are not available for educators. Concept inventories have become a popular tool to assess student understanding; however, traditionally, they are multiple choice tests. International science education standard documents advocate that assessments should be reform based, contain diverse question types, and should align with instructional approaches. To date, no instrument of this type targeting student conceptions in biotechnology has been developed. We report here the development, testing, and validation of a 35-item Biotechnology Instrument for Knowledge Elicitation (BIKE) that includes a mix of question types. The BIKE was designed to elicit student thinking and a variety of conceptual understandings, as opposed to testing closed-ended responses. The design phase contained nine steps including a literature search for content, student interviews, a pilot test, as well as expert review. Data from 175 students over two semesters, including 16 student interviews and six expert reviewers (professors from six different institutions), were used to validate the instrument. Cronbach's alpha on the pre/posttest was 0.664 and 0.668, respectively, indicating the BIKE has internal consistency. Cohen's kappa for inter-rater reliability among the 6,525 total items was 0.684 indicating substantial agreement among scorers. Item analysis demonstrated that the items were challenging, there was discrimination among the individual items, and there was alignment with research-based design principles for construct validity. This study provides a reliable and valid conceptual understanding instrument in the understudied area of biotechnology.

Spatial abilities and anatomy knowledge assessment: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Langlois, Jean; Bellemare, Christian; Toulouse, Josée; Wells, George A

2017-06-01

Anatomy knowledge has been found to include both spatial and non-spatial components. However, no systematic evaluation of studies relating spatial abilities and anatomy knowledge has been undertaken. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the relationship between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment. A literature search was done up to March 20, 2014 in Scopus and in several databases on the OvidSP and EBSCOhost platforms. Of the 556 citations obtained, 38 articles were identified and fully reviewed yielding 21 eligible articles and their quality were formally assessed. Non-significant relationships were found between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using essays and non-spatial multiple-choice questions. Significant relationships were observed between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using practical examination, three-dimensional synthesis from two-dimensional views, drawing of views, and cross-sections. Relationships between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using spatial multiple-choice questions were unclear. The results of this systematic review provide evidence for spatial and non-spatial methods of anatomy knowledge assessment. Anat Sci Educ 10: 235-241. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Description of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge on Muhammadiyah Semarang University's preservice teacher

Science.gov (United States)

Astuti, Andari Puji; Wijayatiningsih, Testiana Deni; Azis, Abdul; Sumarti, Sri Susilogati; Barati, Dwi Anggani Linggar

2017-12-01

One of the competencies of teachers to be mastered under the constitution is pedagogic competence. This study aims to provide an overview of the pedagogic competence of Preservice teachers through the mastery of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and Content knowledge (CK). The research method used is descriptive qualitative, with data retrieval technique through essay tests, questionnaire and interview. The results showed that of the five PCK indicators, only knowledge of learning strategies to teach chemistry already in high category. For Content Knowledge of preservice teachers are in the middle category for indicators of knowledge of disciplinary content, whereas knowledge that alternative frameworks for thinking about the content exist and the knowledge of the relationship between big ideas and the supporting ideas in a content area is in the fair category.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of the smear test and its relation with female age.

Science.gov (United States)

Silveira, Nara Sibério Pinho; Vasconcelos, Camila Teixeira Moreira; Nicolau, Ana Izabel Oliveira; Oriá, Mônica Oliveira Batista; Pinheiro, Patricia Neyva da Costa; Pinheiro, Ana Karina Bezerra

2016-06-14

to verify the association among the knowledge attitude and practice of women in relation to the smear test and the age range. a cross-sectional research was undertaken, associated with the knowledge, attitude and practice survey at a Primary Health Care service. The sample consisted of 775 women, distributed in three age ranges: adolescent, young and elderly. although high rates of inappropriate knowledge were found in all age ranges, it was significantly higher among the adolescents (p=0.000). A similar trend was found in the attitude component, with percentages of inappropriateness in adolescence that drop as age advances (p=0.000). Nevertheless, no statistical difference among the groups was found in terms of practice (p=0.852). the study demonstrated a relation between the age range and knowledge, attitude and practice of the smear test. verificar a associação entre o conhecimento, atitude e prática de mulheres em relação ao exame colpocitológico e a faixa etária. trata-se de pesquisa de corte transversal associada ao inquérito conhecimento, atitude e prática, em uma Unidade de Atenção Primária à Saúde. A amostra foi composta por 775 mulheres, distribuídas em três faixas etárias: adolescentes, jovens e idosas. embora o conhecimento inadequado tenha tido altas taxas em todas as faixas etárias, foi significativamente superior entre as adolescentes (p=0,000). Tendência semelhante no componente atitude por apresentar percentuais de inadequabilidade na adolescência e decair com o avançar da idade (p=0,000). Todavia, não houve diferença estatística entre os grupos quanto à prática (p=0,852). o estudo demonstrou relação entre a faixa etária e o conhecimento, a atitude e a prática do exame colpocitológico. verificar la asociación entre el conocimiento, la actitud y práctica de mujeres con relación a la prueba colpocitológica y el rango de edad. se trata de investigación trasversal asociada a la encuesta conocimiento, actitud y pr

Testing the impact of a multimedia video CD of patient-controlled analgesia on pain knowledge and pain relief in patients receiving surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hsing-Hsia; Yeh, Mei-Ling; Yang, Hui-Ju

2005-07-01

This study aimed to develop a multimedia video CD (VCD) of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and test its effects on pain knowledge and pain relief in patients receiving surgery. This multimedia VCD of PCA was created to convey fundamental knowledge to both patients and their family members and help patients properly utilize PCA devices to relieve pain and improve recovery. The content of multimedia VCD of PCA included pre-admission pain education, introduction of PCA, nursing care procedures, and questions and answers. This study used a quasi-experimental research design to test effects of the multimedia education program in the experimental group of 30 subjects compared to the control subjects of equal number (without the multimedia VCD of PCA). (1) The intervention of multimedia VCD of PCA resulted in a statistically significant difference in pain knowledge between the experimental and control groups. (2) Subjects in the experimental group obtained a better outcome of pain relief compared to control subjects. (3) Subjects in the experimental group indicated that the multimedia VCD of PCA indeed helped them effectively operate their PCA devices to relieve surgery pain. The clinical application of the multimedia VCD of PCA could help patients improve knowledge on pain, learn how to use PCA devices, achieve proper pain relief, and increase effectiveness of recovery activities.

The new genesis of knowledge: Shared leadership for knowledge development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crielaard, J.P.; Wubben, E.F.M.; Omta, S.W.F.

2012-01-01

Today’s issues, like sustainable growth, are demanding for leaders, employees, knowledge and organisational innovation. Leadership literature until now is restrained by a hierarchical bias. This study takes an Ecologic System Model, and tests the contribution of shared leadership, self-directive

Hygiene Knowledge of Food Staff in Catering Industry

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Hülya Yardımcı

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study, designed as a cross-sectional study, was carried out to determine the hygiene knowledge of the staff (N = 317 employed in kitchen and service departments of catering firms in Ankara. It was found that the mean scores of the staff with regard to personal hygiene, food hygiene, and kitchen and equipment hygiene were 10.7 ± 1.6, 19.8 ± 4.0, and 13.6 ± 2.0, respectively. Male staff achieved higher mean scores in personal hygiene knowledge test compared with female staff (p < .01. The staff receiving a hygiene training were determined to have higher mean scores in terms of hygiene knowledge tests compared with those who have not received, and the production staff had higher knowledge as to hygiene than the other groups (p < .01. The mean scores for hygiene knowledge tests were found to be increasing with age. Hygiene knowledge scores of the staff were quite lower than what must be taken. For that reason, periodical training programs should be organized to increase the awareness of the staff about hygiene.

Ovarian Cancer Knowledge in Women and Providers Following Education with Inside Knowledge Campaign Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Puckett, Mary C; Townsend, Julie S; Gelb, Cynthia A; Hager, Polly; Conlon, Amy; Stewart, Sherri L

2017-06-24

Because no effective methods for preventing or screening for ovarian cancer exist, symptom recognition is integral to its early detection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Inside Knowledge: Get the Facts about Gynecologic Cancer campaign was developed to raise awareness and educate women and providers about risk factors, symptoms, recommended screening, and prevention strategies for the five main gynecologic cancers, including ovarian cancer. Inside Knowledge campaign materials were utilized by CDC's National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program grantees to educate women and providers about gynecologic cancer from 2014 to 2015. Grantees recruited participants and held educational sessions using Inside Knowledge materials. Questionnaires were given before and after the sessions to assess changes in awareness, confidence, and behavioral intentions around gynecologic cancer information and analyzed in 2016. This analysis focused on an assessment of changes related to ovarian cancer information. Participants' knowledge increased after educational sessions. Among women, there were increases in correctly identifying that the Papanicolaou (Pap) test does not screen for ovarian cancer (89.2%) and that genetic testing is available (77.9%). There was a lower increase in knowledge that HPV is not a cause of ovarian cancer (56.4%). Providers and women reported significant increases in their confidence in their ability to talk to each other about gynecologic cancer post-session. Ovarian cancer awareness, confidence, and related behaviors increased in participants exposed to Inside Knowledge materials. Using these materials to increase knowledge could lead to more empowered patients, better provider-patient communications, and improved care for gynecologic cancers, including ovarian cancer.

Retention of Emergency Care Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Burckes, Mardie E.; Shao, Kung Ping Pam

1984-01-01

Data on the emergency care knowledge of college students were measured by a pretest, posttest, and retention test. A high relationship was found between students' posttest scores and retention test scores. Findings are discussed. (Author/DF)

Developing and Testing a New Measurement Instrument for Documenting Instrumental Knowledge Utilisation: The Degrees of Knowledge Utilization (DoKU) Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Bøllingtoft Knudsen, Søren

2018-01-01

Focus on evidence-based policymaking is greater than ever, and public spending on evaluations is rising. A primary merit of these expenditures is that politicians actually use new knowledge instrumentally--to influence and inform decision making. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little about whether and how research-based knowledge is utilised.…

Physicians' knowledge about radiation dose and possible risks of common medical tests: a survey in Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakeri, Farideh; Mianji, Fereidoun; Shakeri, Mahsa; Rajabpour, Mohammad Reza; Farshidpour, Mohammad Reza

2016-01-01

Recent data suggest that knowledge of radiation exposures among physicians is inadequate. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate their knowledge of the radiation doses their patients received and awareness of associated biological risks of radiation exposure. A questionnaire in multiple-choice format consisted of four sections with a total of 10 questions based on the literature review. A total of 136 questionnaires were returned from 69 general practitioners and 67 physicians in various specialties from 10 different hospitals in the capital city of Tehran, Iran. Fifty-four percent of general practitioners and twenty-five percent of specialties declared that they are not aware of biological risks of radiation exposure. Fifty-six percent of physicians did not know the correct definition of absorbed dose. Only 33% of physicians knew the dose exposure of a chest X-ray and only 31% knew the approximate doses of various procedures relative to a chest X-ray. Forty-seven percent of physicians incorrectly distinguished the stochastic effects of radiation from the deterministic effects, and thirty-eight of physicians did not know the organs of the body that are most sensitive to ionizing radiation. Only 23.5% of physicians were aware of the one in 2000 risk of induction of fatal carcinoma from computed tomography of the abdomen. Seventy-nine percent of physicians incorrectly underestimated the contribution of nuclear and radiological tests in exposure of an average person. The mean score of the specialties trended toward being more accurate than general practitioners (4.18 ± 1.28 vs. 3.89 ± 1.46, respectively, from a potential accurate total score of 9), but these differences were not statistically significant. Among specialists, orthopedics had the highest scores. The present study demonstrated the limited knowledge of radiation exposures among general practitioners and specialists and a need to improve their knowledge by means of targeted training and re

Information Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Information Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge management

Five (5) research questions guided the study and three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of ... key factor of knowledge management is knowledge sharing. ... difference has been recorded in terms of skills acquisition, information literacy, classroom ... However, little is known about knowledge-sharing strategies and their ...

Towards a Knowledge Communication Perspective on Designing Artefacts Supporting Knowledge Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niclas Eberhagen

2015-02-01

previous findings from empirical encounters.Findings – A conceptual frame is presented that captures the design situation as a situated knowledge communication process.Research limitations/implications – The conceptual frame presented remains yet to be validated in practical application. This may be achieved either using it as a lens to uncover and explain phenomena in similar design work, thereby putting its explanatory power to the test, or using it to direct future development undertakings, thereby putting its predictive power to the test.Practical implications – The practical implications of the design frame lies in its power to provide linguistic constructs to direct one’s effort in planning and organizing development undertakings, and in extension to provide argument for decision-makers allocating resources.Originality/Value – By extending the model of knowledge communication of Kensing and Munk-Madsen, and framing it within a situated design context, it better reflects characteristics of knowledge work, providing practitioners with the means to better organize design activities.Research type – conceptual.

Low knowledge and anecdotal use of unauthorized online HIV self-test kits among attendees at a street-based HIV rapid testing programme in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Belza, M José; Figueroa, Carmen; Rosales-Statkus, M Elena; Ruiz, Mónica; Vallejo, Fernando; de la Fuente, Luis

2014-08-01

The objectives of this study were to estimate the percentage of potential users who know that unauthorized HIV self-tests can be purchased online and the percentage of those who have already used them, and to determine socio-demographic and behavioural correlates. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect data from attendees at a street-based HIV testing programme. Logistic regression for rare events was performed. Of the 3340 participants, 5.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.5-6.0%) had knowledge of self-tests being sold online and 7.5% (95% CI 6.6-8.5%) thought they existed but had never seen them; only 0.6% (95% CI 0.3-0.9%) had ever used one. Knowing that self-tests are sold online (odds ratio (OR) 3.6, 95% CI 2.4-5.4) and using them (OR 7.3, 95% CI 2.2-23.8) were associated with having undergone more than two previous HIV tests. Use was also associated with being neither Spanish nor Latin American (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.2-12.0) and with having a university degree (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.7). At the time of the study, the impact on the population of issues related to the use of unauthorized tests was very low. However, media coverage following the approval of self-testing in the USA might have changed the situation. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

HIV-related knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and utilisation of HIV counselling and testing: a venue-based intercept commuter population survey in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucy Chimoyi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: HIV counselling and testing (HCT and knowledge about HIV have been key strategies utilised in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS worldwide. HIV knowledge and uptake of HCT services in sub-Saharan Africa are still low. This study was conducted to determine factors associated with HCT and HIV/AIDS knowledge levels among a commuter population in Johannesburg, South Africa. Objective: To identify the factors associated with HCT uptake among the commuter population. Design: A simple random sampling method was used to select participants in a venue-based intercept survey at a taxi rank in the Johannesburg Central Business District. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis assessed factors associated with HIV testing stratified by gender. Results: 1,146 respondents were interviewed, the maority (n=579, 50.5% were females and (n=780, 68.1% were over 25 years of age. Overall HCT knowledge was high (n=951, 83% with more females utilising HCT facilities. There was a significant difference in HIV testing for respondents living closer to and further away from health facilities. Slightly more than half of the respondents indicated stigma as one of the barriers for testing (n=594, 52%, p-value=0.001. For males, living with a partner (aOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.02–2.78, p-value: 0.041 and possessing a post-primary education were positively associated with testing (aOR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.15–3.47, p-value: 0.014, whereas stigma and discrimination reduced the likelihood of testing (aOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.31–0.62, p-value: <0.001. For females, having one sexual partner (aOR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.19–5.90, p-value: 0.017 and a low perceived benefit for HIV testing (aOR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.30–0.96, p-value: 0.035 were associated with HIV testing. Conclusion: The overall HIV/AIDS knowledge was generally high. Gender-specific health education and HIV intervention programmes are needed for improved access to HCT services

Perspectives on knowledge in engineering design

Science.gov (United States)

Rasdorf, W. J.

1985-01-01

Various perspectives are given of the knowledge currently used in engineering design, specifically dealing with knowledge-based expert systems (KBES). Constructing an expert system often reveals inconsistencies in domain knowledge while formalizing it. The types of domain knowledge (facts, procedures, judgments, and control) differ from the classes of that knowledge (creative, innovative, and routine). The feasible tasks for expert systems can be determined based on these types and classes of knowledge. Interpretive tasks require reasoning about a task in light of the knowledge available, where generative tasks create potential solutions to be tested against constraints. Only after classifying the domain by type and level can the engineer select a knowledge-engineering tool for the domain being considered. The critical features to be weighed after classification are knowledge representation techniques, control strategies, interface requirements, compatibility with traditional systems, and economic considerations.

Nutrition Knowledge of Teen-Agers.

Science.gov (United States)

Skinner, Jean D.; Woodburn, Margy J.

1984-01-01

Nutrition knowledge tests were administered to 1,193 adolescents in Oregon prior to instructional units on nutrition in health and home economics classes. Mean scores on the tests were low. Guidelines for nutrition educators of adolescents are presented. (Author/CJB)

Confidence Testing for Knowledge-Based Global Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Jack, Brady Michael; Liu, Chia-Ju; Chiu, Houn-Lin; Shymansky, James A.

2009-01-01

This proposal advocates the position that the use of confidence wagering (CW) during testing can predict the accuracy of a student's test answer selection during between-subject assessments. Data revealed female students were more favorable to taking risks when making CW and less inclined toward risk aversion than their male counterparts. Student…

Knowledge about knowledge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramm, Hans Henrik

2006-01-01

Technology and knowledge make up the knowledge capital that has been so essential to the oil and gas industry's value creation, competitiveness and internationalization. Report prepared for the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) and The Norwegian Society of Chartered Technical and Scientific Professionals (Tekna), on the Norwegian petroleum cluster as an environment for creating knowledge capital from human capital, how fiscal and other framework conditions may influence the building of knowledge capital, the long-term perspectives for the petroleum cluster, what Norwegian society can learn from the experiences in the petroleum cluster, and the importance of gaining more knowledge about the functionality of knowledge for increased value creation (author) (ml)

Investigating Arabic Academic Vocabulary Knowledge Among Middle School Pupils: Receptive Versus Productive Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Makhoul, Baha

2017-08-01

The current study attempted to investigate the development of Arabic academic vocabulary knowledge among middle-school Arabic native speakers, taking into account the socioeconomic status of the Arab population in Israel. For this purpose, Arabic academic word list was developed, mapping the required academic words that are needed for adequate coping with informational texts as appearing in the different content areas text-books. Six-hundred Arabic speaking middle school pupils from the different areas in Israel, representing the different Arab subgroups: general Arab community, Druze and Bedouins, have participated in the current study. Two academic vocabulary tests, including receptive and productive academic vocabulary evaluation tests, were administrated to the students across the different age groups (7th, 8th and 9th). The results pointed to no significant difference between 7th and 9th grade in academic vocabulary knowledge. In contrast, significant difference was encountered between the different Arab sub-groups where the lowest scores were noted among the Bedouin sub-group, characterized by the lowest SES. When comparing receptive and productive academic vocabulary knowledge between 7th and 9th grade, the results pointed to improvement in receptive academic knowledge towards the end of middle school but not on the productive knowledge level. In addition, within participants' comparison indicated a gap between the pupils' receptive and productive vocabulary. The results are discussed in relation to the existing scientific literature and to its implication of both research and practice in the domain of Arabic literacy development.

Genetic testing for susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer: evaluating the impact of a direct-to-consumer marketing campaign on physicians' knowledge and practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Melanie F; Chang, Man-Huei; Jorgensen, Cynthia; Whitworth, William; Kassim, Sidibe; Litch, James A; Armstrong, Lori; Bernhardt, Barbara; Faucett, W Andrew; Irwin, Debra; Mouchawar, Judy; Bradley, Linda A

2006-06-01

To assess the impact of direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic testing for risk of breast and ovarian cancer by a biotechnology company on: 1) physicians' knowledge; 2) reasons given when asking questions about the test; and 3) physicians' practice patterns in two pilot cities where the campaign took place and two control cities. Survey of randomly selected family physicians, internists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and oncologists from May 1-May 21, 2003. Physicians' knowledge did not differ between pilot and control cities. Significant differences (pilot versus control cities) were seen in the reasons patients gave for asking questions about testing. More physicians in pilot cities (14%) than control cities (7%) reported an increase in the number of times they ordered genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk in the previous 6 months (adjusted odds ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval, 1.2-3.1). Awareness of professional guidelines and being in a practice with a policy on genetic testing for risk of breast and ovarian cancer were associated with physicians' behaviors and interest among patients in testing. Given the complexity and limitations of genetic testing for risk of breast and ovarian cancer, the development and broad dissemination of clinical guidelines and education of physicians are needed.

Exploring one aspect of pedagogical content knowledge of teaching assistants using the test of understanding graphs in kinematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Maries

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The Test of Understanding Graphs in Kinematics (TUG-K is a multiple-choice test developed by Beichner in 1994 to assess students’ understanding of kinematics graphs. Many of the items on the TUG-K have strong distractor choices which correspond to students’ common difficulties with kinematics graphs. Instruction is unlikely to be effective if instructors do not know the common difficulties of introductory physics students and explicitly take them into account in their instructional design. We evaluate one aspect of the pedagogical content knowledge of first-year physics graduate students enrolled in a teaching assistant training course related to topics covered in the TUG-K. In particular, for each item on the TUG-K, the graduate students were asked to identify which incorrect answer choice they thought would be most commonly selected by introductory physics students if they did not know the correct answer after instruction in relevant concepts. We used the graduate student data and the data from Beichner’s original paper for introductory physics students (which was collected from over 500 college and high school students to assess this aspect of the pedagogical content knowledge of the graduate students, i.e., knowledge of student difficulties related to kinematics graphs as they are revealed by the TUG-K. We find that, although the graduate students, on average, performed better than random guessing at identifying introductory student difficulties on the TUG-K, they did not identify many common difficulties that introductory students have with graphs in kinematics. In addition, we find that the ability of graduate students to identify the difficulties of introductory students is context dependent and that discussions among the graduate students improved their understanding of student difficulties related to kinematics graphs. Moreover, we find that the ability of American graduate students in identifying common student difficulties is

TEACHING TACIT KNOWLEDGE: CAN ARTIFICAL INTELIGENCE HELP?

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ŠVEC, Václav

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the paper we first examine students´ ability to use tacit knowledge. We conducted the experiment to test whether the students are able to transfer and use tacit knowledge they obtained in the basic course of Strategic management. As tacit knowledge is difficult to transfer to another person we used course design with several experiential techniques to increase the students´ abilities in the field of Strategic management. For the evaluation experiment we chose to play a board game “Power Grid”, where we tested whether the students were able to use knowledge they had been taught in the basic course. As the result we found out low students´ ability to use tacit knowledge even despite the fact that in the basic course where they obtained the knowledge we used experiential techniques which force students to acquire a skill and therefore, according to Polanyi (in Schmidt, Hunter, 1993, they also acquire corresponding understanding that defies articulation, therefore tacit knowledge. According to the result of the experiment we propose the business game with the artificial intelligence as a teaching tool which can be further discussed as a tool for teaching specific tacit knowledge in the paper.

Development and validity of a questionnaire to test the knowledge of primary care personnel regarding nutrition in obese adolescents.

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de Pinho, Lucinéia; Moura, Paulo Henrique Tolentino; Silveira, Marise Fagundes; de Botelho, Ana Cristina Carvalho; Caldeira, Antônio Prates

2013-07-18

In light of its epidemic proportions in developed and developing countries, obesity is considered a serious public health issue. In order to increase knowledge concerning the ability of health care professionals in caring for obese adolescents and adopt more efficient preventive and control measures, a questionnaire was developed and validated to assess non-dietitian health professionals regarding their Knowledge of Nutrition in Obese Adolescents (KNOA). The development and evaluation of a questionnaire to assess the knowledge of primary care practitioners with respect to nutrition in obese adolescents was carried out in five phases, as follows: 1) definition of study dimensions 2) development of 42 questions and preliminary evaluation of the questionnaire by a panel of experts; 3) characterization and selection of primary care practitioners (35 dietitians and 265 non-dietitians) and measurement of questionnaire criteria by contrasting the responses of dietitians and non-dietitians; 4) reliability assessment by question exclusion based on item difficulty (too easy and too difficult for non-dietitian practitioners), item discrimination, internal consistency and reproducibility index determination; and 5) scoring the completed questionnaires. Dietitians obtained higher scores than non-dietitians (Mann-Whitney U test, P validity of the questionnaire criteria. Items were discriminated by correlating the score for each item with the total score, using a minimum of 0.2 as a correlation coefficient cutoff value. Item difficulty was controlled by excluding questions answered correctly by more than 90% of the non-dietitian subjects (too easy) or by less than 10% of them (too difficult). The final questionnaire contained 26 of the original 42 questions, increasing Cronbach's α value from 0.788 to 0.807. Test-retest agreement between respondents was classified as good to very good (Kappa test, >0.60). The KNOA questionnaire developed for primary care practitioners is a

Cognitive and behavioral knowledge about insulin-dependent diabetes among children and parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, S B; Pollak, R T; Silverstein, J H; Rosenbloom, A L; Spillar, R; McCallum, M; Harkavy, J

1982-06-01

Youngster's knowledge about insulin-dependent diabetes was assessed across three domains: (1) general information; (2) problem solving and (3) skill at urine testing and self-injection. These youngster's parents completed the general information and problem-solving components of the assessment battery. All test instruments were showed good reliability. The test of problem solving was more difficult than the test of general information for both parents and patients. Mothers were more knowledgeable than fathers and children. Girls performed more accurately than boys, and older children obtained better scores than did younger children. Nevertheless, more than 80% of the youngsters made significant errors on urine testing and almost 40% made serious errors in self-injection. A number of other knowledge deficits were also noted. Duration of diabetes was not related to any of the knowledge measures. Intercorrelations between scores on the assessment instruments indicated that skill at urine testing or self-injection was not highly related to other types of knowledge about diabetes. Furthermore, knowledge in one content are was not usually predictive of knowledge in another content area. The results of this study emphasize the importance of measuring knowledge from several different domains. Patient variables such as sex and age need to be given further consideration in the development and use of patient educational programs. Regular assessment of patients' and parents' knowledge of all critical aspects of diabetes home management seems essential.

Breaking Health Insurance Knowledge Barriers Through Games: Pilot Test of Health Care America

Science.gov (United States)

James, Juli

2017-01-01

Background Having health insurance is associated with a number of beneficial health outcomes. However, previous research suggests that patients tend to avoid health insurance information and often misunderstand or lack knowledge about many health insurance terms. Health insurance knowledge is particularly low among young adults. Objective The purpose of this study was to design and test an interactive newsgame (newsgames are games that apply journalistic principles in their creation, for example, gathering stories to immerse the player in narratives) about health insurance. This game included entry-level information through scenarios and was designed through the collation of national news stories, local personal accounts, and health insurance company information. Methods A total of 72 (N=72) participants completed in-person, individual gaming sessions. Participants completed a survey before and after game play. Results Participants indicated a greater self-reported understanding of how to use health insurance from pre- (mean=3.38, SD=0.98) to postgame play (mean=3.76, SD=0.76); t71=−3.56, P=.001. For all health insurance terms, participants self-reported a greater understanding following game play. Finally, participants provided a greater number of correct definitions for terms after playing the game, (mean=3.91, SD=2.15) than they did before game play (mean=2.59, SD=1.68); t31=−3.61, P=.001. Significant differences from pre- to postgame play differed by health insurance term. Conclusions A game is a practical solution to a difficult health issue—the game can be played anywhere, including on a mobile device, is interactive and will thus engage an apathetic audience, and is cost-efficient in its execution. PMID:29146564

HIV-related knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and utilisation of HIV counselling and testing: a venue-based intercept commuter population survey in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Chimoyi, Lucy; Tshuma, Ndumiso; Muloongo, Keith; Setswe, Geoffrey; Sarfo, Bismark; Nyasulu, Peter S

2015-01-01

HIV counselling and testing (HCT) and knowledge about HIV have been key strategies utilised in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS worldwide. HIV knowledge and uptake of HCT services in sub-Saharan Africa are still low. This study was conducted to determine factors associated with HCT and HIV/AIDS knowledge levels among a commuter population in Johannesburg, South Africa. To identify the factors associated with HCT uptake among the commuter population. A simple random sampling method was used to select participants in a venue-based intercept survey at a taxi rank in the Johannesburg Central Business District. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis assessed factors associated with HIV testing stratified by gender. 1,146 respondents were interviewed, the maority (n=579, 50.5%) were females and (n=780, 68.1%) were over 25 years of age. Overall HCT knowledge was high (n=951, 83%) with more females utilising HCT facilities. There was a significant difference in HIV testing for respondents living closer to and further away from health facilities. Slightly more than half of the respondents indicated stigma as one of the barriers for testing (n=594, 52%, p-value=0.001). For males, living with a partner (aOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.02-2.78, p-value: 0.041) and possessing a post-primary education were positively associated with testing (aOR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.15-3.47, p-value: 0.014), whereas stigma and discrimination reduced the likelihood of testing (aOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.31-0.62, p-value: Gender-specific health education and HIV intervention programmes are needed for improved access to HCT services. One favourable intervention would be the use of home-based HCT programmes.

The Impact of Vocabulary Knowledge Level on EFL Reading Comprehension

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Shima Kameli

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the impact of vocabulary knowledge level on reading comprehension performance among EFL language learners. The ultimate intention was to determine the association between levels of vocabulary knowledge and to clarify the relationship among vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension performance of EFL Iranian students on subtest of VLT and IELTS. Quantitative data were collected from 220 EFL Iranian adult students at the beginning of second semester of 2011 in private English language institute (BAHAR, Shiraz, Iran. The Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT and Reading Comprehension Test (IELTS were performed in one session as research instruments. The findings indicated that there were positive relationships among different levels of vocabulary test and also test scores on vocabulary size/breadth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension.

The frequency of having pap-smear tests among women between 15-64 years old and the evaluation of the level of their knowledge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sevil, S.; Kevser, O.; Aleattin, U.

2013-01-01

Objective: To determine the frequency of Pap smear testing among women and to evaluate their level of knowledge about the test and other relevant factors. Methods: The study comprised women who presented to the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Polyclinic of Sakarya Training and Research Hospital, Turkey, between April 1 and 30, 2012. The questionnaire was developed in line with the objectives of the study. They were filled by the participants who were supervised during the process. Women who had had at least one Pap smear test in life were considered to have taken a Pap smear test , and those who had heard of the test were accepted as women who k new of the Pap smear test . Data was analysed using SPSS 15.0. Chi-square test was used for analyses, and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The age of 601 subjects ranged between 15 and 64 years, with a mean of 31.09+-10.49 years. Of the total, 115 (19.1%) had taken a Pap smear test before and 293 (48.8%) knew of the test. The proportion of the women who had had a Pap smear test was higher among those who were over 30 years of age (n=73; 63.47%), had post-high school educational degrees (n=68; 59.13%), had moderate familial income status (n=74; 64.34%), were married (n=109; 94.78%), had first sexual experience after 25 years of age(n=42; 36.52%), and were not using a contraceptive method (n=97; 84.34%) (p<0.05 for each). Besides, more women with previous knowledge of the test had taken the test (p<0.05). Conclusion: The subjects did not have sufficient information on Pap smear and the frequency of having a test was low. Raising awareness would prove beneficial. (author)

The Awareness of Morphemic Knowledge for Young Adults' Vocabulary Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Varatharajoo, Chandrakala; Asmawi, Adelina Binti; Abdallah, Nabeel; Abedalaziz, Mohammad

2015-01-01

The study explored the awareness of morphemic knowledge among young adult learners in the ESL context. Morphological Relatedness Test and Morphological Structure Test (adapted from Curinga, 2014) were two important tools used to assess the students' morphemic knowledge in this study. The tests measured the students' ability to reflect and…

Combining Stocks and Flows of Knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambos, Tina C.; Nell, Phillip Christopher; Pedersen, Torben

In the area of knowledge management and knowledge governance, previous research has mostly focused on either knowledge stocks or knowledge flows of firms or organizational units. Contrary to this work, our study is among the first to integrate these two perspectives in order to shed light...... on the complementarity effects of different types of knowledge stocks and flows in the multinational corporation (MNC). We investigate intra-functional as well as cross-functional complementarity effects from the perspective of the knowledge recipient. We test the impact of stocks on flows on the benefit that is created...... for MNC units. Based on a comprehensive sample of 324 relationships between MNC units we find that both types of complementarity create benefits for these units, but that the effects from intra-functional combinations of knowledge stocks and flows are significantly stronger than from cross...

Comparison of knowledge and attitudes toward human papillomavirus, HPV vaccine, pap tests, and cervical cancer between US and Peruvian women.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Chi-Son; Ferris, Daron G; Waller, Jennifer; Tharp, Philip; Walter, Jessica; Allmond, Lynn

2012-04-01

The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the knowledge and attitudes toward human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV vaccine, Pap tests, and cervical cancer among US and Peruvian women. A convenience sample of 275 US women in Augusta, GA, and 702 Peruvian women living in or near Cusco, Peru, completed 22- or 21-item questionnaires, respectively. These questionnaires determined their knowledge about HPV, the HPV vaccine, Pap tests, and cervical cancer. Simple logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between location and language on the correct responses. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. US Spanish- (OR = 0.02), Quechua- (OR = 0.05), and Peru Spanish-speaking women (OR = 0.03) were significantly less likely to know that HPV causes cervical cancer compared with US non-Spanish-speaking women. US Spanish- (OR = 10.61, OR = 5.74), Quechua- (OR = 11.08, OR = 9.89), and Peru Spanish-speaking women (OR = 17.25, 14.43) were significantly more likely to be embarrassed and afraid, respectively, to get a Pap test compared with US non-Spanish-speaking women. US Spanish- (OR = 0.11), Quechua- (OR = 0.14), and Peru Spanish-speaking women (OR = 0.11) women were significantly less likely to know the HPV vaccine is safe and effective compared with US non-Spanish-speaking women. Education must be implemented to address serious misconceptions and worrisome attitudes toward Pap tests and the HPV vaccine to decrease the rate of cervical cancer in Peru and US Spanish-speaking women.

The study features of test procedures of students' knowledge on the physical training lessons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korobejnik V.A.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The aim is to determine the significance of the relationship and special professional skills necessary to detect and correct errors and evaluating students in physical education classes. The surveys were a group of qualified teachers (n = 31 with different pedagogical experience. Each teacher was asked to arrange the professional quality of the places from 1 to 10. It was found that all investigated have a certain quality and a high level of relationship, but they are manifested in different periods of teaching. It is shown that the process of organizing and carrying out checks of expertise includes logically related mental operations which are the basis of test procedures of students' knowledge on the physical training lessons. Found that the most weighty qualities were related to skills: a rating, comment exposed estimate visually identify the error and determine its significance.

Knowledge Sharing is Knowledge Creation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Linda

2015-01-01

Knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer are important to knowledge communication. However when groups of knowledge workers engage in knowledge communication activities, it easily turns into mere mechanical information processing despite other ambitions. This article relates literature of knowledge...... communication and knowledge creation to an intervention study in a large Danish food production company. For some time a specific group of employees uttered a wish for knowledge sharing, but it never really happened. The group was observed and submitted to metaphor analysis as well as analysis of co...

KNOWLEDGE FACTORS OF KNOWLEDGE-SHARING INTENTION AND BEHAVIOR

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Mahyarni mahyarni

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Changes in the external environment in the world of education, ranging from the social, economy, technology, and politics, require a rethinking of these influences as an institution and  their interactions. Islamic University has more challenges than other high education. The challenges are linked to the human resource improvement in science and technology. Islamic University has also been bonded to a commitment in leading the core mission of university; therefore, Islamic University has to hold strong commitment and needs to be attached by a self-image which bolds life values in leading the commitment. This research is based on the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior, which develops other theories related to knowledge-sharing behavior such as covering information technology and Islamic teachings. Data are analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with Analysis of Moment Structures application program. The research objectives are to test and analyze direct and indirect effects of information technology covering variables, Islamic teachings, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control and knowledge-sharing behavior.The result shows that technology, religion taught, and theory of planned behavior insignificantly influence knowledge-sharing behavior.

Comprehensive knowledge of HIV among women in rural Mozambique: development and validation of the HIV knowledge 27 scale.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip J Ciampa

Full Text Available The relationship between HIV knowledge and HIV-related behaviors in settings like Mozambique has been limited by a lack of rigorously validated measures.A convenience sample of women seeking prenatal care at two clinics were administered an adapted, orally-administered, 27 item HIV-knowledge scale, the HK-27. Validation analyses were stratified by survey language (Portuguese and Echuabo. Kuder-Richardson (KR-20 coefficients estimated internal reliability. Construct validity was assessed with bivariate associations between HK-27 scores (% correct and selected participant characteristics. The association between knowledge, self-reported HIV testing, and HIV infection were evaluated with multivariable logistic regression.Participants (N = 348 had a median age of 24; 188 spoke Portuguese, and 160 spoke Echuabo. Mean HK-27 scores were higher for Portuguese-speaking participants than Echuabo-speaking participants (68% correct vs. 42%, p0.8 for scales in both languages. Higher HK-27 scores were significantly (p≤0.05 correlated with more education, more media items in the home, a history of HIV testing, and participant work outside of the home for women of both languages. HK-27 scores were independently associated with completion of HIV testing in multivariable analysis (per 1% correct: aOR:1.02, 95%CI:0.01-0.03, p = 0.01, but not with HIV infection.HK-27 is a reliable and valid measure of HIV knowledge among Portuguese and Echuabo-speaking Mozambican women. The HK-27 demonstrated significant knowledge deficits among women in the study, and higher scores were associated with higher HIV testing probability. Future studies should evaluate the role of the HK-27 in longitudinal studies and in other populations.

Comprehensive knowledge of HIV among women in rural Mozambique: development and validation of the HIV knowledge 27 scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciampa, Philip J; Skinner, Shannon L; Patricio, Sérgio R; Rothman, Russell L; Vermund, Sten H; Audet, Carolyn M

2012-01-01

The relationship between HIV knowledge and HIV-related behaviors in settings like Mozambique has been limited by a lack of rigorously validated measures. A convenience sample of women seeking prenatal care at two clinics were administered an adapted, orally-administered, 27 item HIV-knowledge scale, the HK-27. Validation analyses were stratified by survey language (Portuguese and Echuabo). Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) coefficients estimated internal reliability. Construct validity was assessed with bivariate associations between HK-27 scores (% correct) and selected participant characteristics. The association between knowledge, self-reported HIV testing, and HIV infection were evaluated with multivariable logistic regression. Participants (N = 348) had a median age of 24; 188 spoke Portuguese, and 160 spoke Echuabo. Mean HK-27 scores were higher for Portuguese-speaking participants than Echuabo-speaking participants (68% correct vs. 42%, p0.8) for scales in both languages. Higher HK-27 scores were significantly (p≤0.05) correlated with more education, more media items in the home, a history of HIV testing, and participant work outside of the home for women of both languages. HK-27 scores were independently associated with completion of HIV testing in multivariable analysis (per 1% correct: aOR:1.02, 95%CI:0.01-0.03, p = 0.01), but not with HIV infection. HK-27 is a reliable and valid measure of HIV knowledge among Portuguese and Echuabo-speaking Mozambican women. The HK-27 demonstrated significant knowledge deficits among women in the study, and higher scores were associated with higher HIV testing probability. Future studies should evaluate the role of the HK-27 in longitudinal studies and in other populations.

Knowledge sharing to facilitate regulatory decision-making in regard to alternatives to animal testing: Report of an EPAA workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, Tzutzuy; Beken, Sonja; Chlebus, Magda; Ellis, Graham; Griesinger, Claudius; De Jonghe, Sandra; Manou, Irene; Mehling, Annette; Reisinger, Kerstin; Rossi, Laura H; van Benthem, Jan; van der Laan, Jan Willem; Weissenhorn, Renate; Sauer, Ursula G

2015-10-01

The European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) convened a workshop Knowledge sharing to facilitate regulatory decision-making. Fifty invited participants from the European Commission, national and European agencies and bodies, different industry sectors (chemicals, cosmetics, fragrances, pharmaceuticals, vaccines), and animal protection organizations attended the workshop. Four case studies exemplarily revealed which procedures are in place to obtain regulatory acceptance of new test methods in different sectors. Breakout groups discussed the status quo identifying the following facilitators for regulatory acceptance of alternatives to animal testing: Networking and communication (including cross-sector collaboration, international cooperation and harmonization); involvement of regulatory agencies from the initial stages of test method development on; certainty on prerequisites for test method acceptance including the establishment of specific criteria for regulatory acceptance. Data sharing and intellectual property issues affect many aspects of test method development, validation and regulatory acceptance. In principle, all activities should address replacement, reduction and refinement methods (albeit animal testing is generally prohibited in the cosmetics sector). Provision of financial resources and education support all activities aiming at facilitating the acceptance and use of alternatives to animal testing. Overall, workshop participants recommended building confidence in new methodologies by applying and gaining experience with them. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Is Power for Medical Assistants: Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence As Predictors of Vocational Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Moehring

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Medical education research has focused almost entirely on the education of future physicians. In comparison, findings on other health-related occupations, such as medical assistants, are scarce. With the current study, we wanted to examine the knowledge-is-power hypothesis in a real life educational setting and add to the sparse literature on medical assistants. Acquisition of vocational knowledge in vocational education and training (VET was examined for medical assistant students (n = 448. Differences in domain-specific vocational knowledge were predicted by crystallized and fluid intelligence in the course of VET. A multiple matrix design with 3 year-specific booklets was used for the vocational knowledge tests of the medical assistants. The unique and joint contributions of the predictors were investigated with structural equation modeling. Crystallized intelligence emerged as the strongest predictor of vocational knowledge at every stage of VET, while fluid intelligence only showed weak effects. The present results support the knowledge-is-power hypothesis, even in a broad and more naturalistic setting. This emphasizes the relevance of general knowledge for occupations, such as medical assistants, which are more focused on learning hands-on skills than the acquisition of academic knowledge.

Knowledge Is Power for Medical Assistants: Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence As Predictors of Vocational Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Moehring, Anne; Schroeders, Ulrich; Wilhelm, Oliver

2018-01-01

Medical education research has focused almost entirely on the education of future physicians. In comparison, findings on other health-related occupations, such as medical assistants, are scarce. With the current study, we wanted to examine the knowledge-is-power hypothesis in a real life educational setting and add to the sparse literature on medical assistants. Acquisition of vocational knowledge in vocational education and training (VET) was examined for medical assistant students ( n = 448). Differences in domain-specific vocational knowledge were predicted by crystallized and fluid intelligence in the course of VET. A multiple matrix design with 3 year-specific booklets was used for the vocational knowledge tests of the medical assistants. The unique and joint contributions of the predictors were investigated with structural equation modeling. Crystallized intelligence emerged as the strongest predictor of vocational knowledge at every stage of VET, while fluid intelligence only showed weak effects. The present results support the knowledge-is-power hypothesis, even in a broad and more naturalistic setting. This emphasizes the relevance of general knowledge for occupations, such as medical assistants, which are more focused on learning hands-on skills than the acquisition of academic knowledge.

Knowledge and Practice of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this study, the knowledge and practice of the 2000 CPR guidelines of doctors and nurses in Benin City, Nigeria was evaluated. This cross sectional study was conducted in six health facilities in Benin City. A structured self administered questionnaire was used to test the knowledge and practice of CPR of 145 doctors and ...

Accessible Knowledge - Knowledge on Accessibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkeby, Inge Mette

2015-01-01

Although serious efforts are made internationally and nationally, it is a slow process to make our physical environment accessible. In the actual design process, architects play a major role. But what kinds of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, do practicing architects make use of when...... designing accessible environments? The answer to the question is crucially important since it affects how knowledge is distributed and how accessibility can be ensured. In order to get first-hand knowledge about the design process and the sources from which they gain knowledge, 11 qualitative interviews...... were conducted with architects with experience of designing for accessibility. The analysis draws on two theoretical distinctions. The first is research-based knowledge versus knowledge used by architects. The second is context-independent knowledge versus context-dependent knowledge. The practitioners...

Measuring primary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in technology education with a multiple choice test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rohaan, E.J.; Taconis, R.; Jochems, W.M.G.; Fatih Tasar, M.; Cakankci, G.; Akgul, E.

2009-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a crucial part of a teacher’s knowledge base for teaching. Studies in the field of technology education for primary schools showed that this domain of teacher knowledge is related to pupils’ increased learning, motivation, and interest. The common methods to

Knowledge assistant for robotic environmental characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feddema, J.; Rivera, J.; Tucker, S.; Matek, J.

1996-08-01

A prototype sensor fusion framework called the open-quotes Knowledge Assistantclose quotes has been developed and tested on a gantry robot at Sandia National Laboratories. This Knowledge Assistant guides the robot operator during the planning, execution, and post analysis stages of the characterization process. During the planning stage, the Knowledge Assistant suggests robot paths and speeds based on knowledge of sensors available and their physical characteristics. During execution, the Knowledge Assistant coordinates the collection of data through a data acquisition open-quotes specialist.close quotes During execution and postanalysis, the Knowledge Assistant sends raw data to other open-quotes specialists,close quotes which include statistical pattern recognition software, a neural network, and model-based search software. After the specialists return their results, the Knowledge Assistant consolidates the information and returns a report to the robot control system where the sensed objects and their attributes (e.g., estimated dimensions, weight, material composition, etc.) are displayed in the world model. This report highlights the major components of this system

Knowledge that Acts: Evaluating the Outcomes of a Knowledge Brokering Intervention in Western Australia's Ningaloo Region

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Kelly; Boschetti, Fabio; Fulton, Elizabeth; Horwitz, Pierre; Jones, Tod; Scherrer, Pascal; Syme, Geoff

2017-11-01

Knowledge exchange involves a suite of strategies used to bridge the divides between research, policy and practice. The literature is increasingly focused on the notion that knowledge generated by research is more useful when there is significant interaction and knowledge sharing between researchers and research recipients (i.e., stakeholders). This is exemplified by increasing calls for the use of knowledge brokers to facilitate interaction and flow of information between scientists and stakeholder groups, and the integration of scientific and local knowledge. However, most of the environmental management literature focuses on explicit forms of knowledge, leaving unmeasured the tacit relational and reflective forms of knowledge that lead people to change their behaviour. In addition, despite the high transaction costs of knowledge brokering and related stakeholder engagement, there is little research on its effectiveness. We apply Park's Manag Learn 30(2), 141-157 (1999); Knowledge and Participatory Research, London: SAGE Publications (2006) tri-partite knowledge typology as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of knowledge brokering in the context of a large multi-agency research programme in Australia's Ningaloo coastal region, and for testing the assumption that higher levels of interaction between scientists and stakeholders lead to improved knowledge exchange. While the knowledge brokering intervention substantively increased relational networks between scientists and stakeholders, it did not generate anticipated increases in stakeholder knowledge or research application, indicating that more prolonged stakeholder engagement was required, and/or that there was a flaw in the assumptions underpinning our conceptual framework.

Guidelines for assessing the knowledge management maturity of organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. J. Kruger

2007-11-01

Full Text Available In a recent article Kruger and Snyman hypothesized that progressions in knowledge management maturity (from a strategic perspective are directly related to an increased ability to speed up the strategic cycle of imitation, consolidation and innovation. The arguments proposed, however, neglected to supply the reader with a practical toolkit or even a roadmap (a time-related matrix, or questionnaire to successfully measure succession in knowledge management maturity. This article builds on the previous one and proposes a questionnaire consisting of six sections, containing 101 descriptive questions, to enable organizations to test and assess their knowledge management maturity empirically. The development of an instrument to measure knowledge management maturity required adhering to a research design that combined theoretical propositions with practical experimentation. As a point of departure, a knowledge management maturity matrix consisting of seven maturity levels was formulated. All questions contained within the matrix were benchmarked against a survey questionnaire developed by the public management service of the OECD (PUMA and were also pre-tested and validated. This process of refinement led to the formulation of the Knowledge Management Maturity Questionnaire. To avoid any taint of this research being based only on theoretical propositions, the questionnaire was tested by 178 master students of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in nine different industries. The proposed questionnaire provides a bridge between theoretical propositions and practical usability, not only enabling knowledge management practitioners to assess the level of knowledge management maturity reached successfully but, more importantly, also serving as a guideline to institutionalize further and future knowledge management endeavours.

[Knowledge management system for laboratory work and clinical decision support].

Science.gov (United States)

Inada, Masanori; Sato, Mayumi; Yoneyama, Akiko

2011-05-01

This paper discusses a knowledge management system for clinical laboratories. In the clinical laboratory of Toranomon Hospital, we receive about 20 questions relevant to laboratory tests per day from medical doctors or co-medical staff. These questions mostly involve the essence to appropriately accomplish laboratory tests. We have to answer them carefully and suitably because an incorrect answer may cause a medical accident. Up to now, no method has been in place to achieve a rapid response and standardized answers. For this reason, the laboratory staff have responded to various questions based on their individual knowledge. We began to develop a knowledge management system to promote the knowledge of staff working for the laboratory. This system is a type of knowledge base for assisting the work, such as inquiry management, laboratory consultation, process management, and clinical support. It consists of several functions: guiding laboratory test information, managing inquiries from medical staff, reporting results of patient consultation, distributing laboratory staffs notes, and recording guidelines for laboratory medicine. The laboratory test information guide has 2,000 records of medical test information registered in the database with flexible retrieval. The inquiry management tool provides a methos to record all questions, answer easily, and retrieve cases. It helps staff to respond appropriately in a short period of time. The consulting report system treats patients' claims regarding medical tests. The laboratory staffs notes enter a file management system so they can be accessed to aid in clinical support. Knowledge sharing using this function can achieve the transition from individual to organizational learning. Storing guidelines for laboratory medicine will support EBM. Finally, it is expected that this system will support intellectual activity concerning laboratory work and contribute to the practice of knowledge management for clinical work support.

Governing by Testing: Circulation, Psychometric Knowledge, Experts and the "Alliance for Progress" in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s

Science.gov (United States)

Alarcón, Cristina

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the activities, members, and effects of an inter-American expert network for the diffusion of psychometric knowledge, specifically of standardized aptitude testing for university admission in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s. Within the framework of educational transfer studies, the role of international,…

Clinical teachers' tacit knowledge of basic pedagogic principles.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, P J; Meagher, T; Steinert, Y; Schuwirth, L; McLeod, A H

2004-02-01

Academic faculty members in medical schools rarely receive formal instruction in basic pedagogic principles; nevertheless many develop into competent teachers. Perhaps they acquire tacit knowledge of these principles with teaching experience. This study was designed to assess clinical teachers' tacit knowledge of basic pedagogic principles and concepts. The authors developed a multiple-choice question (MCQ) exam based on 20 pedagogic principles judged by a panel of education experts to be important for clinical teaching. Three groups of clinician-educators sat the test: (1) clinicians with advanced education training and experience; (2) internal medicine specialists; (3) surgical specialists. All four groups of clinicians-educators passed the test, indicating that they possess a reasonable tacit knowledge of basic pedagogic principles. Those with advanced education training performed much better than members of the other two groups while specialists and residents working in teaching hospitals outperformed specialists from non-teaching hospitals. It is possible that converting this tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge may improve individual teaching effectiveness.

High HIV Prevalence, Suboptimal HIV Testing, and Low Knowledge of HIV-Positive Serostatus Among Injection Drug Users in St. Petersburg, Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Toussova, Olga V.; Verevochkin, Sergei V.; Barbour, Russell; Heimer, Robert; Kozlov, Andrei P.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this analysis was to estimate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence and testing patterns among injection drug users (IDUs) in St. Petersburg, Russia. HIV prevalence among 387 IDUs in the sample was 50%. Correlates of HIV-positive serostatus included unemployment, recent unsafe injections, and history/current sexually transmitted infection. Seventy-six percent had been HIV tested, but only 22% of those who did not report HIV-positive serostatus had been tested in the past 12 months and received their test result. Correlates of this measure included recent doctor visit and having been in prison or jail among men. Among the 193 HIV-infected participants, 36% were aware of their HIV-positive serostatus. HIV prevalence is high and continuing to increase in this population. Adequate coverage of HIV testing has not been achieved, resulting in poor knowledge of positive serostatus. Efforts are needed to better understand motivating and deterring factors for HIV testing in this setting. PMID:18843531

Science knowledge and biblical literalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Zigerell, L J

2012-04-01

Biblical literalists are often described as scientific illiterates, but little if any empirical research has tested this claim. Analysis of a sixteen-item battery from the 2008 US General Social Survey revealed that literalists possess less science knowledge than those with other views of Scripture, but that much of this deficit can be attributed to demographic factors and unequal educational attainment. The marginal direct effect of biblical belief suggests that literalism is not incompatible with knowledge of science and, therefore, the best avenue for increasing science knowledge among literalists may be to foster interest in science and design science courses to attenuate any perceived conflict between science and religion.

Chemistry Teachers' Knowledge and Application of Models

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zuhao; Chi, Shaohui; Hu, Kaiyan; Chen, Wenting

2014-01-01

Teachers' knowledge and application of model play an important role in students' development of modeling ability and scientific literacy. In this study, we investigated Chinese chemistry teachers' knowledge and application of models. Data were collected through test questionnaire and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The result indicated…

Knowledge Management at the Fast Flux Test Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wootan, David; Omberg, Ron

2013-01-01

Conclusions: • Accessibility of information from FFTF has been substantially increased; • FFTF Startup Test information available – FFTF had a disciplined, organized approach; • Extensive Startup Characterization program data available; • Extensive Passive safety testing data available

KNOWLEDGE CYCLE AND STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE WITHIN COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ovidiu NICOLESCU

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In the knowledge-based economy, a company performs a set of activities focused on knowledge: identifying necessary knowledge, buying knowledge, learning, acquiring knowledge, creating knowledge, storing knowledge, sharing knowledge, using knowledge, protection of knowledge, capitalizing knowledge. As a result, a new function emerge: the knowledge function. In the knowledge-based companies, not every knowledge has the same impact. The analysis of the actual situations in the most developed and highly performing companies - based in knowledge, outlines the occurrence of a new category of knowledge – strategic knowledge. Generating this category of knowledge is a new category of challenge for the scientific system.

The relationship between knowledge of leadership and knowledge management practices in the food industry in Kurdistan province, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Jad, Seyyed Mohammad Moosavi; Geravandi, Sahar; Mohammadi, Mohammad Javad; Alizadeh, Rashin; Sarvarian, Mohammad; Rastegarimehr, Babak; Afkar, Abolhasan; Yari, Ahmad Reza; Momtazan, Mahboobeh; Valipour, Aliasghar; Mahboubi, Mohammad; Karimyan, Azimeh; Mazraehkar, Alireza; Nejad, Ali Soleimani; Mohammadi, Hafez

2017-12-01

The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between the knowledge of leadership and knowledge management practices. This research strategy, in terms of quantity, procedure and obtain information, is descriptive and correlational. Statistical population, consist of all employees of a food industry in Kurdistan province of Iran, who were engaged in 2016 and their total number is about 1800 people. 316 employees in the Kurdistan food industry (Kurdistan FI) were selected, using Cochran formula. Non-random method and valid questions (standard) for measurement of the data are used. Reliability and validity were confirmed. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out, using SPSS 16. The statistical analysis of collected data showed the relationship between knowledge-oriented of leadership and knowledge management activities as mediator variables. The results of the data and test hypotheses suggest that knowledge management activities play an important role in the functioning of product innovation and the results showed that the activities of Knowledge Management (knowledge transfer, storage knowledge, application of knowledge, creation of knowledge) on performance of product innovation.

The relationship between knowledge of leadership and knowledge management practices in the food industry in Kurdistan province, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyyed Mohammad Moosavi Jad

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between the knowledge of leadership and knowledge management practices. This research strategy, in terms of quantity, procedure and obtain information, is descriptive and correlational. Statistical population, consist of all employees of a food industry in Kurdistan province of Iran, who were engaged in 2016 and their total number is about 1800 people. 316 employees in the Kurdistan food industry (Kurdistan FI were selected, using Cochran formula. Non-random method and valid questions (standard for measurement of the data are used. Reliability and validity were confirmed. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out, using SPSS 16. The statistical analysis of collected data showed the relationship between knowledge-oriented of leadership and knowledge management activities as mediator variables. The results of the data and test hypotheses suggest that knowledge management activities play an important role in the functioning of product innovation and the results showed that the activities of Knowledge Management (knowledge transfer, storage knowledge, application of knowledge, creation of knowledge on performance of product innovation. Keywords: Knowledge-oriented leadership, Product innovation performance, Knowledge management practices, Iran

ANALYZE THE KNOWLEDGE INQUIRY SCIENCE PHYSICS TEACHER CANDIDATES WITH ESSENCE INQUIRY SCIENCE TEST INSTRUMENT OPTIKA GEOMETRY

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Wawan Bunawan

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The objective in this research to explore the relationship between ability of the knowledge essential features inquiry science and their reasons underlying sense of scientific inquiry for physics teacher candidates on content geometrical optics. The essential features of inquiry science are components that should arise during the learning process subject matter of geometrical optics reflectance of light on a flat mirror, the reflection of light on curved mirrors and refraction of light at the lens. Five of essential features inquiry science adopted from assessment system developed by the National Research Council. Content geometrical optics developed from an analysis of a college syllabus material. Based on the study of the essential features of inquiry and content develop the multiple choice diagnostic test three tier. Data were taken from the students who are taking courses in optics and wave from one the LPTK in North Sumatra totaled 38 students. Instruments showed Cronbach alpha reliability of 0.67 to test the essential features of inquiry science and 0.61 to there as on geometrical optics science inquiry.

Work-domain knowledge in usability evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Følstad, Asbjørn; Hornbæk, Kasper

2010-01-01

Usability evaluation helps to determine whether interactive systems support users in their work tasks. However, knowledge about those tasks and, more generally, about the work-domain is difficult to bring to bear on the processes and outcome of usability evaluation. One way to include such work......-domain knowledge might be Cooperative Usability Testing, an evaluation method that consists of (a) interaction phases, similar to classic usability testing, and (b) interpretation phases, where the test participant and the moderator discuss incidents and experiences from the interaction phases. We have studied...... whether such interpretation phases improve the relevance of usability evaluations in the development of work-domain specific systems. The study included two development cases. We conclude that the interpretation phases generate additional insight and redesign suggestions related to observed usability...

A survey of university students' vitamin D-related knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, Shaunessey; Irwin, Jennifer D; Johnson, Andrew M

2015-01-01

To survey Canadian university students' vitamin D-related knowledge. Undergraduate university students (n = 1,088) were surveyed as to their vitamin D-related knowledge, including its sources, health benefits, and recommended intake. Overall, students answered 29% of questions correctly on the knowledge test. In addition, the overall test was subdivided into 3 subtests, and students scored 26% on vitamin D source knowledge, 23% on factors affecting vitamin D levels, and 37% on health effects of vitamin D. Only 8% of participants correctly identified the recommended vitamin D intake; 14% correctly identified the amount of time in the sun required to produce adequate vitamin D. These results suggest that Canadian university students have poor knowledge concerning vitamin D. Program planners should consider improving vitamin D knowledge as a component of future health promotion programs for university students. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parents' reading-related knowledge and children's reading acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladd, Megan; Martin-Chang, Sandra; Levesque, Kyle

2011-12-01

Teacher reading-related knowledge (phonological awareness and phonics knowledge) predicts student reading, however little is known about the reading-related knowledge of parents. Participants comprised 70 dyads (children from kindergarten and grade 1 and their parents). Parents were administered a questionnaire tapping into reading-related knowledge, print exposure, storybook reading, and general cultural knowledge. Children were tested on measures of letter-word knowledge, sound awareness, receptive vocabulary, oral expression, and mathematical skill. Parent reading-related knowledge showed significant positive links with child letter-word knowledge and sound awareness, but showed no correlations with child measures of mathematical skill or vocabulary. Furthermore, parent reading-related knowledge was not associated with parents' own print exposure or cultural knowledge, indicating that knowledge about English word structure may be separate from other cognitive skills. Implications are discussed in terms of improving parent reading-related knowledge to promote child literacy.

"Tacit Knowledge" versus "Explicit Knowledge"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sanchez, Ron

creators and carriers. By contrast, the explicit knowledge approach emphasizes processes for articulating knowledge held by individuals, the design of organizational approaches for creating new knowledge, and the development of systems (including information systems) to disseminate articulated knowledge...

Quantity and structure of word knowledge across adulthood.

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Salthouse, Timothy A

2014-09-01

Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from moderately large samples of healthy adults confirmed prior findings of age-related declines in measures of the quantity of word knowledge beginning around age 65. Additional analyses were carried out to investigate the interrelations of different types of vocabulary knowledge at various periods in adulthood. Although the organizational structures were similar in adults of different ages, scores on tests with different formats had weaker relations to a higher-order vocabulary construct beginning when adults were in their 60's. The within-person dispersion among different vocabulary test scores was also greater after about 65 years of age. The discovery of quantitative decreases in amount of knowledge occurring at about the same age as qualitative shifts in the structure of knowledge raises the possibility that the two types of changes may be causally linked.

Intracultural Differences in Local Botanical Knowledge and Knowledge Loss among the Mexican Isthmus Zapotecs.

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Alfredo Saynes-Vásquez

Full Text Available This study reports on the socio-demographic and locality factors that influence ethnobiological knowledge in three communities of Zapotec indigenous people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It uses local botanical nomenclature as a proxy for general ethnobiological knowledge. In each of these communities (one urban and two rural, 100 adult men were interviewed aided with a field herbarium. Fifty had a background in farming, and 50 worked in the secondary or tertiary sector as their main economic activity, totaling 300 interviews. Using a field herbarium with samples of 30 common and rare wild regional species, we documented visual recognition, knowledge of the local life form, generic and specific names and uses (five knowledge levels measuring knowledge depth. The relationship between sociodemographic variables and knowledge was analyzed with simple correlations. Differences between the three communities and the five knowledge levels were then evaluated with a discriminant analysis. A general linear analysis identified factors and covariables that influenced the observed differences. Differences between the groups with different economic activities were estimated with a t-test for independent samples. Most of the relationships found between sociodemographic variables and plant knowledge were expected: age and rurality were positively related with knowledge and years of formal schooling was negatively related. However, the somewhat less rural site had more traditional knowledge due to local circumstances. The general linear model explained 70-77% of the variation, a high value. It showed that economic activity was by far the most important factor influencing knowledge, by a factor of five. The interaction of locality and economic activity followed. The discriminant analysis assigned interviewees correctly to their localities in 94% of the cases, strengthening the evidence for intracultural variation. Both sociodemographic and historic

Knowledge about osteoporosis prevention among women screened by bone densitometry

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Mariola Janiszewska

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction : Osteoporosis is an illness characterized by the handicapped endurance of the bones, causing an increased risk of fracture. Aim of the study was to establish the level of knowledge about osteoporosis prevention among women screened by bone densitometry and to answer the question whether the level of knowledge is dependent on socio-demographic factors. Material and methods: The research was realized by means of a survey method, a poll technique in 2014. The study involved 292 women aged 51-83. The examined women were patients undergoing bone densitometry in the healthcare centres in Lublin. The osteoporosis knowledge test (OKT, revised 2011 by Phyllis Gendler was used as a research tool. Gathered material was subject to descriptive and statistical analysis. Tukey’s test, t-Student test and variance analysis (ANOVA were all applied. A statistical significance level was set at  = 0.05. Results and conclusions : Respondents presented the basic exercise knowledge (M = 9.97 and low knowledge concerning risk factors, screening and treatment of osteoporosis (M = 7.87. The calcium knowledge remained on an average level (M = 14.03. Better educated women, city inhabitants as well as women having very good or good social and welfare conditions showed a significantly higher level of knowledge about osteoporosis prevention. Even women undergoing bone densitometry examination present insufficient knowledge about osteoporosis prevention.

Profiles of inconsistent knowledge in children's pathways of conceptual change.

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Schneider, Michael; Hardy, Ilonca

2013-09-01

Conceptual change requires learners to restructure parts of their conceptual knowledge base. Prior research has identified the fragmentation and the integration of knowledge as 2 important component processes of knowledge restructuring but remains unclear as to their relative importance and the time of their occurrence during development. Previous studies mostly were based on the categorization of answers in interview studies and led to mixed empirical results, suggesting that methodological improvements might be helpful. We assessed 161 third-graders' knowledge about floating and sinking of objects in liquids at 3 measurement points by means of multiple-choice tests. The tests assessed how strongly the children agreed with commonly found but mutually incompatible statements about floating and sinking. A latent profile transition analysis of the test scores revealed 5 profiles, some of which indicated the coexistence of inconsistent pieces of knowledge in learners. The majority of students (63%) were on 1 of 7 developmental pathways between these profiles. Thus, a child's knowledge profile at a point in time can be used to predict further development. The degree of knowledge integration decreased on some individual developmental paths, increased on others, and remained stable on still others. The study demonstrates the usefulness of explicit quantitative models of conceptual change. The results support a constructivist perspective on conceptual development, in which developmental changes of a learner's knowledge base result from idiosyncratic, yet systematic knowledge-construction processes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Knowledge of teachers about teaching reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Hurk, H. T. G.; Houtveen, A. A. M.; van de Grift, W. J. C. M.

2012-01-01

A test is developed for teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the field of reading. Items on phonological awareness, alphabetic principle and fluency were presented to a panel of 30 reading experts. This procedure resulted in a test consisting of 45 items that was completed by 215 elementary

Determinants of the accuracy of nursing diagnoses: influence of ready knowledge, knowledge sources, disposition toward critical thinking, and reasoning skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Paans, Wolter; Sermeus, Walter; Nieweg, Roos; van der Schans, Cees

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how knowledge sources, ready knowledge, and disposition toward critical thinking and reasoning skills influence the accuracy of student nurses' diagnoses. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the influence of knowledge sources. We used the following questionnaires: (a) knowledge inventory, (b) California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, and (c) Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT). The use of knowledge sources had very little influence on the accuracy of nursing diagnoses. Accuracy was significantly related to the analysis domain of the HSRT. Students were unable to operationalize knowledge sources to derive accurate diagnoses and did not effectively use reasoning skills. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sharing experience and knowledge with wearable computers

OpenAIRE

Nilsson, Marcus; Drugge, Mikael; Parnes, Peter

2004-01-01

Wearable computer have mostly been looked on when used in isolation. But the wearable computer with Internet connection is a good tool for communication and for sharing knowledge and experience with other people. The unobtrusiveness of this type of equipment makes it easy to communicate at most type of locations and contexts. The wearable computer makes it easy to be a mediator of other people knowledge and becoming a knowledgeable user. This paper describes the experience gained from testing...

Predictors of Knowledge and Image Interpretation Skill Development in Radiology Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravesloot, Cécile J; van der Schaaf, Marieke F; Kruitwagen, Cas L J J; van der Gijp, Anouk; Rutgers, Dirk R; Haaring, Cees; Ten Cate, Olle; van Schaik, Jan P J

2017-09-01

Purpose To investigate knowledge and image interpretation skill development in residency by studying scores on knowledge and image questions on radiology tests, mediated by the training environment. Materials and Methods Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ethical review board of the Netherlands Association for Medical Education. Longitudinal test data of 577 of 2884 radiology residents who took semiannual progress tests during 5 years were retrospectively analyzed by using a nonlinear mixed-effects model taking training length as input variable. Tests included nonimage and image questions that assessed knowledge and image interpretation skill. Hypothesized predictors were hospital type (academic or nonacademic), training hospital, enrollment age, sex, and test date. Results Scores showed a curvilinear growth during residency. Image scores increased faster during the first 3 years of residency and reached a higher maximum than knowledge scores (55.8% vs 45.1%). The slope of image score development versus knowledge question scores of 1st-year residents was 16.8% versus 12.4%, respectively. Training hospital environment appeared to be an important predictor in both knowledge and image interpretation skill development (maximum score difference between training hospitals was 23.2%; P radiology residency and leveled off in the 3rd and 4th training year. The shape of the curve was mainly influenced by the specific training hospital. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Management of knowledge across generations: preventing knowledge loss, enabling knowledge readiness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Day, John A.

2012-01-01

J. Day argued that the preservation of records is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition to enable intelligent future decision making and management of nuclear waste. He distinguishes knowledge management from information management. Information without the potential to act on it is information for its own sake. He believes that knowledge will be a key factor for the generations that follow us. Records need knowledge, and knowledge needs records. A single representation of knowledge can be dangerous. Knowledge is multifaceted and complex, which necessitates a holistic approach. Throughout the presentation the concepts of 'knowledge readiness' and 'knowledge mothballing' (the process of knowing, forgetting and relearning) were proposed. Based on experiences at Sellafield the actions of knowledge audit mapping (including technical, societal and historical knowledge), knowledge loss risk assessing (although we would like to we cannot hold on to everything, and should thus take a risk approach, asking ourselves what is at stake if we delete certain parts of information), and knowledge retention for the long term management of a nuclear facility were presented. During the discussion, the link between knowledge and behaviour was raised. It was argued that the better informed people are, the less likely they are to make mistakes

The Relationship between Anxiety and Test-Taking C-Test and Cloze-Test

Science.gov (United States)

Azimi, Mozhgan

2016-01-01

Anxiety has an important role in teaching and learning. If teachers can recognize which kind of tests create high anxiety then they will be able to omit these kinds of tests. Then, the results of test can probably show the students' knowledge more carefully. The subjects of the present study were sixty Iranian female junior university students.…

Knowledge productivity for sustainable innovation: social capital as HRD target

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ehlen, Corry; Van der Klink, Marcel; Roentgen, Uta; Curfs, Emile; Boshuizen, Els

2018-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of a conceptual model on relations between organisational innovation, knowledge productivity and social capital. It explores processes of knowledge productivity for sustainable innovation and associated HRD implications in knowledge

Exploring Secondary Students' Knowledge and Misconceptions about Influenza: Development, validation, and implementation of a multiple-choice influenza knowledge scale

Science.gov (United States)

Romine, William L.; Barrow, Lloyd H.; Folk, William R.

2013-07-01

Understanding infectious diseases such as influenza is an important element of health literacy. We present a fully validated knowledge instrument called the Assessment of Knowledge of Influenza (AKI) and use it to evaluate knowledge of influenza, with a focus on misconceptions, in Midwestern United States high-school students. A two-phase validation process was used. In phase 1, an initial factor structure was calculated based on 205 students of grades 9-12 at a rural school. In phase 2, one- and two-dimensional factor structures were analyzed from the perspectives of classical test theory and the Rasch model using structural equation modeling and principal components analysis (PCA) on Rasch residuals, respectively. Rasch knowledge measures were calculated for 410 students from 6 school districts in the Midwest, and misconceptions were verified through the χ 2 test. Eight items measured knowledge of flu transmission, and seven measured knowledge of flu management. While alpha reliability measures for the subscales were acceptable, Rasch person reliability measures and PCA on residuals advocated for a single-factor scale. Four misconceptions were found, which have not been previously documented in high-school students. The AKI is the first validated influenza knowledge assessment, and can be used by schools and health agencies to provide a quantitative measure of impact of interventions aimed at increasing understanding of influenza. This study also adds significantly to the literature on misconceptions about influenza in high-school students, a necessary step toward strategic development of educational interventions for these students.

Validation of self assessment patient knowledge questionnaire for heart failure patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Lainscak, Mitja; Keber, Irena

2005-12-01

Several studies showed insufficient knowledge and poor compliance to non-pharmacological management in heart failure patients. Only a limited number of validated tools are available to assess their knowledge. The aim of the study was to test our 10-item Patient knowledge questionnaire. The Patient knowledge questionnaire was administered to 42 heart failure patients from Heart failure clinic and to 40 heart failure patients receiving usual care. Construct validity (Pearson correlation coefficient), internal consistency (Cronbach alpha), reproducibility (Wilcoxon signed rank test), and reliability (chi-square test and Student's t-test for independent samples) were assessed. Overall score of the Patient knowledge questionnaire had the strongest correlation to the question about regular weighing (r=0.69) and the weakest to the question about presence of heart disease (r=0.33). There was a strong correlation between question about fluid retention and questions assessing regular weighing, (r=0.86), weight of one litre of water (r=0.86), and salt restriction (r=0.57). The Cronbach alpha was 0.74 and could be improved by exclusion of questions about clear explanation (Chronbach alpha 0.75), importance of fruit, soup, and vegetables (Chronbach alpha 0.75), and self adjustment of diuretic (Chronbach alpha 0.81). During reproducibility testing 91% to 98% of questions were answered equally. Patients from Heart failure clinic scored significantly better than patients receiving usual care (7.9 (1.3) vs. 5.7 (2.2), p<0.001). Patient knowledge questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool to measure knowledge of heart failure patients.

Knowledge of identity and reputation: Do people have knowledge of others' perceptions?

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, Brittany C; Vazire, Simine

2016-09-01

It may be important to know when our impressions of someone differ from how that person sees him/herself and how others see that same person. We investigated whether people are aware of how their friends see themselves (knowledge of identity) and are seen by others (knowledge of reputation). Previous research indicates that, for physical attractiveness, romantic partners do have such knowledge of others' perceptions, but it is unknown whether people in platonic relationships also detect such discrepancies between their own perceptions and others'. We examined this phenomenon for a new set of characteristics: the Big Five personality traits. Our primary research questions pertained to identity accuracy and reputation accuracy (i.e., knowledge of a target's self-views and how others view the target, respectively) and identity insight and reputation insight (i.e., identity accuracy and reputation accuracy that cannot be accounted for by a potential artifact: perceivers assuming that others share their own views of targets). However, after a series of preliminary tests, we did not examine reputation insight, as several necessary conditions were not met, indicating that any effects would likely be spurious. We did find that perceivers can accurately infer a target's identity and reputation on global personality traits (identity and reputation accuracy), and that perceivers can sometimes accurately distinguish between their own perceptions of targets and targets' self-views, but not others' views of targets (i.e., identity, but not reputation, insight). Finally, we explored boundary conditions for knowledge of others' perceptions and whether knowledge of identity is correlated with knowledge of reputation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Knowledge Dimension of Production Transfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Jens Ove; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum; Madsen, Erik Skov

2010-01-01

Empirical studies in three industrial companies have revealed that even companies with many years of experience in production transfer tend to focus attention on planning the physical transfer and on the explicit knowledge associated with normal production. They are uncertain about capturing, trans......­ferring and developing tacit knowledge. Supported by studies in the literature it is concluded that there is a need for a more systematic approach to knowledge transfer and development to provide an accelerated ramp-up after the physical transfer. A framework will be structured around a generic set of phases...... of the transfer process, and a distinction between the sending and the receiving orga­nizational unit. A method for capturing the tacit knowledge embedded in a pro­duction job has been developed and tested. The framework and the method will provide a basis for preparing a master plan for knowledge transfer...

Registered nurses' and midwives' knowledge of epidural analgesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bird, Annette; Wallis, Marianne; Chaboyer, Wendy

2009-01-01

Despite epidural analgesia increasingly being utilized in hospitals, very little research-based evidence is available about registered nurses' (RNs) and midwives' knowledge of this technique. To describe the current epidural knowledge levels of RNs and midwives in a multi-site setting. RNs and midwives at four, regional teaching facilities completed an epidural knowledge test. The instrument included demographic items and five knowledge subscales relating to epidural analgesia: spinal cord anatomy and physiology; epidural pharmacology; complications of epidural analgesia; assessment of sensory and motor blockade and the general management of patients with epidural analgesia. A total of 408 (99.7% response) RNs and midwives completed the test. Respondents demonstrated good knowledge of sensory and motor blockade assessment and the general management of epidural analgesia subscales with correct responses to 75 and 77% of the questions in these subscales, respectively. Fair knowledge relating to the spinal cord anatomy and physiology subscale was demonstrated with 69% of the questions answered correctly. The knowledge subscales relating to epidural pharmacology (57% correct responses) and the complications of epidural analgesia (56% correct responses) were problematic for the sample. The research results provide generalizable information about what RNs and midwives know about epidural analgesia. These results are an important guide in the development of new and existing dedicated epidural education programs. The results also provide some direction for further research into this important topic.

Knowledge brokerage context factors – What matters in knowledge exchange in impact assessment?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saarela, Sanna-Riikka; Söderman, Tarja; Lyytimäki, Jari

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Different knowledge brokerage strategies can be applied in impact assessment. • A conceptual framework for knowledge brokering is introduced. • Six test cases from different areas and jurisdictions are reviewed. • Various context factors affect the success of knowledge brokering in IA. - Abstract: The success of an impact assessment (IA) can mean both instrumental success of applying IA results directly in decision-making, and conceptual success linked to learning about policy problems more generally. Both instrumental and conceptual success can be claimed to be reliant on the knowledge exchange context of the IA, shaped by factors such as the complexity of the policy problem, type of policy area, organisational norms, actor constellations and continuance and openness of information sharing. Even though such context factors may be pre-set, they are nevertheless contested and reformulated during each IA process. This paper ties together lessons from six different IA processes that were performed between 2011 and 2013. The cases include agricultural policy at the EU and regional level in Greece, national-level climate change and energy policy in Finland and Estonia, resource efficiency policy at the German national level, and sustainable land use policy in Inner Mongolia, China. The paper introduces and applies a typology of knowledge brokerage context factors. The paper asks how knowledge brokerage is shaped by different contexts and what determines the consequent application (or non-application) of IA tools and the use of IA results. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of identification and acknowledgement of different knowledge exchange contexts in IA

Pre-service teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching basic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study measured pre-service teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) basic school mathematics. MKT multiple-choice test was administered to 100 pre-service teachers from two colleges of education (located at Mampong in the Ashanti Region of Ghana) to assess their mathematical knowledge for ...

Refinement of an Instrument to Assess Readiness for Knowledge Management

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bailey, Landon C

2007-01-01

... for knowledge management. This study culminates in the development and field-testing of the resultant knowledge management readiness instrument, filling in an important gap in contemporary literature.

Knowledge Productivity for Sustainable Innovation: Social Capital as HRD Target

Science.gov (United States)

Ehlen, Corry; van der Klink, Marcel; Roentgen, Uta; Curfs, Emile; Boshuizen, Henny

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of a conceptual model on relations between organisational innovation, knowledge productivity and social capital. It explores processes of knowledge productivity for sustainable innovation and associated HRD implications in knowledge intensive organisations, taking the perspective that…

Workplace nutrition knowledge questionnaire: psychometric validation and application.

Science.gov (United States)

Guadagnin, Simone C; Nakano, Eduardo Y; Dutra, Eliane S; de Carvalho, Kênia M B; Ito, Marina K

2016-11-01

Workplace dietary intervention studies in low- and middle-income countries using psychometrically sound measures are scarce. This study aimed to validate a nutrition knowledge questionnaire (NQ) and its utility in evaluating the changes in knowledge among participants of a Nutrition Education Program (NEP) conducted at the workplace. A NQ was tested for construct validity, internal consistency and discriminant validity. It was applied in a NEP conducted at six workplaces, in order to evaluate the effect of an interactive or a lecture-based education programme on nutrition knowledge. Four knowledge domains comprising twenty-three items were extracted in the final version of the NQ. Internal consistency of each domain was significant, with Kuder-Richardson formula values>0·60. These four domains presented a good fit in the confirmatory factor analysis. In the discriminant validity test, both the Expert and Lay groups scored>0·52, but the Expert group scores were significantly higher than those of the Lay group in all domains. When the NQ was applied in the NEP, the overall questionnaire scores increased significantly because of the NEP intervention, in both groups (Pnutrition knowledge among participants of NEP at the workplace. According to the NQ, an interactive nutrition education had a higher impact on nutrition knowledge than a lecture programme.

Bible Knowledge and Moral Judgment: Knowing Scripture and Using Ethical Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Daniel

2004-01-01

The relationship between moral judgment and religious knowledge was investigated, with an analysis of the impact of academic skill on both domains. Fifty-six Bible college seniors completed measures of moral judgment (Defining Issues Test), Bible knowledge (Standardized Bible Content Test), and academic skill (Academic Profile). Results indicate…

The critical success factors and impact of prior knowledge to nursing students when transferring nursing knowledge during nursing clinical practise.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Ming-Tien; Tsai, Ling-Long

2005-11-01

Nursing practise plays an important role in transferring nursing knowledge to nursing students. From the related literature review, prior knowledge will affect how learners gain new knowledge. There has been no direct examination of the prior knowledge interaction effect on students' performance and its influence on nursing students when evaluating the knowledge transfer success factors. This study explores (1) the critical success factors in transferring nursing knowledge, (2) the impact of prior knowledge when evaluating the success factors for transferring nursing knowledge. This research utilizes in-depth interviews to probe the initial success factor phase. A total of 422 valid questionnaires were conducted by the authors. The data were analysed by comparing the mean score and t-test between two groups. Seventeen critical success factors were identified by the two groups of students. Twelve items were selected to examine the diversity in the two groups. Students with prior knowledge were more independent than the other group. They also preferred self-directed learning over students without prior knowledge. Students who did not have prior knowledge were eager to take every opportunity to gain experience and more readily adopted new knowledge.

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and Attitude Toward Voluntary Counselling and Testing Among Antenatal Clinic Attendees at a Tertiary Care Hospital in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagili, H; Kumar, S; Lakshminarayanan, S; Papa, D; Abi, C

2015-04-01

Maternal to child transmission (MTCT) is responsible for over 90 % of all childhood HIV infections. Lack of awareness regarding HIV and preventive practices against MTCT maybe one of the reasons behind high HIV transmission rates. In our study, we assessed the knowledge of HIV/AIDS in antenatal women, attending a tertiary care hospital in India as well as their attitude toward voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out from May-July 2012 using a pretested interview-based questionnaire given to 386 antenatal women after obtaining consent. Data were abstracted for knowledge of HIV, MTCT, and attitude toward VCT. Results were expressed as percentages using SPSS v.16 software. Amongst the respondents, 92.5 % had heard of HIV and in 41 % of them, the source of information was through mass media. 81 % were aware of sexual intercourse as a mode of transmission of HIV while 55 % knew that sharing sharp objects and infected blood products can spread HIV. 37.6 % of respondents were aware of MTCT and 44 % heard of antiretroviral therapy as a method of prevention of MTCT. While 68 % were willing to get tested for HIV, 18.9 % knew about the steps involved and 44 % knew where to get VCT. There exists a lack of adequate knowledge regarding HIV and preventive practices against MTCT. Health education and awareness campaigns on MTCT prevention and VCT promotion should target women in their antenatal period in order to increase acceptability and accessibility of these services.

Knowledge does not protect against illusory truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Lisa K; Brashier, Nadia M; Payne, B Keith; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2015-10-01

In daily life, we frequently encounter false claims in the form of consumer advertisements, political propaganda, and rumors. Repetition may be one way that insidious misconceptions, such as the belief that vitamin C prevents the common cold, enter our knowledge base. Research on the illusory truth effect demonstrates that repeated statements are easier to process, and subsequently perceived to be more truthful, than new statements. The prevailing assumption in the literature has been that knowledge constrains this effect (i.e., repeating the statement "The Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth" will not make you believe it). We tested this assumption using both normed estimates of knowledge and individuals' demonstrated knowledge on a postexperimental knowledge check (Experiment 1). Contrary to prior suppositions, illusory truth effects occurred even when participants knew better. Multinomial modeling demonstrated that participants sometimes rely on fluency even if knowledge is also available to them (Experiment 2). Thus, participants demonstrated knowledge neglect, or the failure to rely on stored knowledge, in the face of fluent processing experiences. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Knowledge as an Asset and Knowledge Management

OpenAIRE

Sevinç Gülseçen

2014-01-01

The most valuable resource available to any organization today is its knowledge asset which is stored in processes and information systems, corporate data warehouses, employees’ brains, copyrights and patents. Knowledge management is the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using this knowledge. The factors affecting Knowledge Management can be listed as follows: organizational culture, knowledge manager, the evolution of knowledge, knowledge polution and technology.

Knowledge as an Asset and Knowledge Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sevinç Gülseçen

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The most valuable resource available to any organization today is its knowledge asset which is stored in processes and information systems, corporate data warehouses, employees’ brains, copyrights and patents. Knowledge management is the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using this knowledge. The factors affecting Knowledge Management can be listed as follows: organizational culture, knowledge manager, the evolution of knowledge, knowledge polution and technology.

Knowledge translation of the HELPinKIDS clinical practice guideline for managing childhood vaccination pain: usability and knowledge uptake of educational materials directed to new parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Taddio, Anna; Shah, Vibhuti; Leung, Eman; Wang, Jane; Parikh, Chaitya; Smart, Sarah; Hetherington, Ross; Ipp, Moshe; Riddell, Rebecca Pillai; Sgro, Michael; Jovicic, Aleksandra; Franck, Linda

2013-02-08

Although numerous evidence-based and feasible interventions are available to treat pain from childhood vaccine injections, evidence indicates that children are not benefitting from this knowledge. Unrelieved vaccination pain puts children at risk for significant long-term harms including the development of needle fears and subsequent health care avoidance behaviours. Parents report that while they want to mitigate vaccination pain in their children, they lack knowledge about how to do so. An evidence-based clinical practice guideline for managing vaccination pain was recently developed in order to address this knowledge-to-care gap. Educational tools (pamphlet and video) for parents were included to facilitate knowledge transfer at the point of care. The objectives of this study were to evaluate usability and effectiveness in terms of knowledge acquisition from the pamphlet and video in parents of newly born infants. Mixed methods design. Following heuristic usability evaluation of the pamphlet and video, parents of newborn infants reviewed revised versions of both tools and participated in individual and group interviews and individual knowledge testing. The knowledge test comprised of 10 true/false questions about the effectiveness of various pain management interventions, and was administered at three time points: at baseline, after review of the pamphlet, and after review of the video. Three overarching themes were identified from the interviews regarding usability of these educational tools: receptivity to learning, accessibility to information, and validity of information. Parents' performance on the knowledge test improved (p≤0.001) from the baseline phase to after review of the pamphlet, and again from the pamphlet review phase to after review of the video. Using a robust testing process, we demonstrated usability and conceptual knowledge acquisition from a parent-directed educational pamphlet and video about management of vaccination pain. Future studies

Knowledge translation of the HELPinKIDS clinical practice guideline for managing childhood vaccination pain: usability and knowledge uptake of educational materials directed to new parents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taddio Anna

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although numerous evidence-based and feasible interventions are available to treat pain from childhood vaccine injections, evidence indicates that children are not benefitting from this knowledge. Unrelieved vaccination pain puts children at risk for significant long-term harms including the development of needle fears and subsequent health care avoidance behaviours. Parents report that while they want to mitigate vaccination pain in their children, they lack knowledge about how to do so. An evidence-based clinical practice guideline for managing vaccination pain was recently developed in order to address this knowledge-to-care gap. Educational tools (pamphlet and video for parents were included to facilitate knowledge transfer at the point of care. The objectives of this study were to evaluate usability and effectiveness in terms of knowledge acquisition from the pamphlet and video in parents of newly born infants. Methods Mixed methods design. Following heuristic usability evaluation of the pamphlet and video, parents of newborn infants reviewed revised versions of both tools and participated in individual and group interviews and individual knowledge testing. The knowledge test comprised of 10 true/false questions about the effectiveness of various pain management interventions, and was administered at three time points: at baseline, after review of the pamphlet, and after review of the video. Results Three overarching themes were identified from the interviews regarding usability of these educational tools: receptivity to learning, accessibility to information, and validity of information. Parents’ performance on the knowledge test improved (p≤0.001 from the baseline phase to after review of the pamphlet, and again from the pamphlet review phase to after review of the video. Conclusions Using a robust testing process, we demonstrated usability and conceptual knowledge acquisition from a parent-directed educational

Nutritional knowledge and eating habits of professional rugby league players: does knowledge translate into practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Alaunyte, Ieva; Perry, John L; Aubrey, Tony

2015-01-01

Adequate nutrient intake is important to support training and to optimise performance of elite athletes. Nutritional knowledge has been shown to play an important role in adopting optimal nutrition practices. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the level of nutritional knowledge and dietary habits in elite English rugby league players using the eatwell plate food categories. General nutritional knowledge questionnaires were collected during the Super League competitive season in the first team squad of 21 professional Rugby league players (mean age 25 ± 5 yrs, BMI 27 ± 2.4 kg/m2, experience in game 6 ± 4 yrs). According to their nutritional knowledge scores, the players were assigned to either good or poor nutritional knowledge group (n = 11, n = 10, respectively). Their dietary habits were assessment using a food frequency questionnaire. The findings revealed that nutritional knowledge was adequate (mean 72.82%) in this group of athletes with the highest scores in dietary advice section (85.71%), followed by food groups (71.24%) and food choice (69.52%). The majority of athletes were not aware of current carbohydrate recommendations. This translated into their dietary habits as many starchy and fibrous foods were consumed only occasionally by poor nutritional knowledge group. In terms of their eating habits, the good nutritional knowledge group consumed significantly more fruit and vegetables, and starchy foods (p Nutritional knowledge was positively correlated to fruit and vegetables consumption (rs = .52, p nutritional knowledge in professional rugby league players with the exception of recommendation for starchy and fibrous foods. Players who scored higher in nutritional knowledge test were more likely to consume more fruits, vegetables and carbohydrate-rich foods.

CRESST Human Performance Knowledge Mapping System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Chung, Gregory K; Michiuye, Joanne K; Brill, David G; Sinha, Ravi; Saadat, Farzad; de Vries, Linda F; Delacruz, Girlie C; Bewley, William L; Baker, Eva L

2002-01-01

.... This report presents a review of knowledge mapping scoring methods and current online mapping systems, and the overall design, functionality, scoring, usability testing, and authoring capabilities of the CRESST system...

Knowledge and Outcome Measure of HbA1c Testing in Asian Indian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes from a Tertiary Care Center

Science.gov (United States)

Kumpatla, Satyavani; Medempudi, Srikanth; Manoharan, Deepa; Viswanathan, Vijay

2010-01-01

Aim: HbA1c test is considered to be the reliable measure for evaluating long-term glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether knowledge about HbA1c test is associated with a better glycemic control. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 480 (M:F; 287:193) adults with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary care center during a period of four months. Baseline demographic and clinical data of all the subjects was obtained. Subject’s knowledge about HbA1c test and their target goal was assessed using a questionnaire. Recent HbA1c results were obtained from medical records. Results: Seventy four per cent of the subjects had awareness about HbA1c test and about 43% of those who knew HbA1c test also knew their target goal. 33% remember their last HbA1c result. The mean A1C of Group A was significantly lower when compared with Group B (8.1 ± 1.7 vs 9.2 ± 1.9, P<0.0001). Group C had lower A1C levels compared to Group D (7.7 ± 1.4 vs 8.5 ± 1.9, p<0.0001). Patients who kept their HbA1c less than 7% were significantly higher in Group C than in Group D. (37.8 vs 12.7%, p<0.00001). Subjects had good glycemic control with increasing levels of awareness about HbA1c. Conclusion: Majority of the diabetic patients who attended the tertiary care center for diabetes care knew HbA1c test and half of them were aware about their target goal. Awareness about HbA1c had a positive impact on maintenance of better glycemic control. PMID:20922109

Knowledge repositories in knowledge cities: institutions, conventions and knowledge subnetworks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cheng, P.; Choi, C.J.; Chen, Shu; Eldomiaty, T.I.; Millar-Schijf, Carla C.J.M.

2004-01-01

Abstract: Suggests another dimension of research in, and application of, knowledge management. This theoretical paper adopts a conceptual, multi-disciplinary approach. First, knowledge can be stored and transmitted via institutions. Second, knowledge "subnetworks" or smaller groupings within larger

Knowledge management: organizing nursing care knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Jane A; Willson, Pamela

2009-01-01

Almost everything we do in nursing is based on our knowledge. In 1984, Benner (From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley; 1984) described nursing knowledge as the culmination of practical experience and evidence from research, which over time becomes the "know-how" of clinical experience. This "know-how" knowledge asset is dynamic and initially develops in the novice critical care nurse, expands within competent and proficient nurses, and is actualized in the expert intensive care nurse. Collectively, practical "know-how" and investigational (evidence-based) knowledge culminate into the "knowledge of caring" that defines the profession of nursing. The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of knowledge management as a framework for identifying, organizing, analyzing, and translating nursing knowledge into daily practice. Knowledge management is described in a model case and implemented in a nursing research project.

Linking a Conceptual Framework on Systems Thinking with Experiential Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Garavito-Bermúdez, Diana; Lundholm, Cecilia; Crona, Beatrice

2016-01-01

This paper addresses a systemic approach for the study of fishers' ecological knowledge in order to describe fishers' ways of knowing and dealing with complexity in ecosystems, and discusses how knowledge is generated through, e.g. apprenticeship, experiential knowledge, and testing of hypotheses. The description and analysis of fishers'…

Advanced software development workstation. Knowledge base design: Design of knowledge base for flight planning application

Science.gov (United States)

Izygon, Michel E.

1992-01-01

The development process of the knowledge base for the generation of Test Libraries for Mission Operations Computer (MOC) Command Support focused on a series of information gathering interviews. These knowledge capture sessions are supporting the development of a prototype for evaluating the capabilities of INTUIT on such an application. the prototype includes functions related to POCC (Payload Operation Control Center) processing. It prompts the end-users for input through a series of panels and then generates the Meds associated with the initialization and the update of hazardous command tables for a POCC Processing TLIB.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills of registered nurses in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajeswaran, Lakshmi; Ehlers, Valerie J

2014-01-01

In Botswana nurses provide most health care in the primary, secondary and tertiary level clinics and hospitals. Trauma and medical emergencies are on the increase, and nurses should have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) knowledge and skills in order to be able to implement effective interventions in cardiac arrest situations. The objective of this descriptive study was to assess registered nurses’ CPR knowledge and skills. A pre-test, intervention and re-test time-series research design was adopted, and data were collected from 102 nurses from the 2 referral hospitals in Botswana. A multiple-choice questionnaire and checklist were used to collect data. All nurses failed the pre-test. Their knowledge and skills improved after training, but deteriorated over the three months until the post-test was conducted. The significantly low levels of registered nurses’ CPR skills in Botswana should be addressed by instituting country-wide CPR training and regular refresher courses

Knowledge Sharing in Knowledge-Intensive Firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gupta, Akshey; Michailova, Snejina

2004-01-01

This paper is a study of the knowledge-sharing difficulties experienced by three departments in a knowledge-intensive firm. The case organization is a global consulting firm that has been on the forefront of knowledge management and has won several knowledge management related international accla...

Effect of Simulation on Undergraduate Nursing Students' Knowledge of Nursing Ethics Principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Mary Broderick; Horsley, Trisha Leann; Adams, William H; Gallagher, Peggy; Zibricky, C Dawn

2017-12-01

Background Undergraduate nursing education standards include acquisition of knowledge of ethics principles and the prevalence of health-care ethical dilemmas mandates that nursing students study ethics. However, little research has been published to support best practices for teaching/learning ethics principles. Purpose This study sought to determine if participation in an ethics consultation simulation increased nursing students' knowledge of nursing ethics principles compared to students who were taught ethics principles in the traditional didactic format. Methods This quasi-experimental study utilized a pre-test/post-test design with randomized assignment of students at three universities into both control and experimental groups. Results Nursing students' knowledge of nursing ethics principles significantly improved from pre-test to post-test ( p = .002); however, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups knowledge scores ( p = .13). Conclusion Further research into use of simulation to teach ethics principles is indicated.

Organizational design and knowledge performance: An empirical study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrique Claver-Cortés

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes how the traditional variables that define a firm’s organizational structure (formalization, complexity, and centralization influence knowledge performance (the degree to which a firm generates knowledge and uses it to reach a competitive advantage. Three hypotheses are tested using a sample of 164 large Spanish firms. The results show that organizational complexity and centralization exert a positive and a negative influence, respectively, on knowledge performance, which confirms the two hypotheses related to these variables. However, the analysis reveals no empirical evidence to confirm the hypothesis that formalization and knowledge performance are related positively.

Knowledge management systems success in healthcare: Leadership matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Nor'ashikin; Tretiakov, Alexei; Whiddett, Dick; Hunter, Inga

2017-01-01

To deliver high-quality healthcare doctors need to access, interpret, and share appropriate and localised medical knowledge. Information technology is widely used to facilitate the management of this knowledge in healthcare organisations. The purpose of this study is to develop a knowledge management systems success model for healthcare organisations. A model was formulated by extending an existing generic knowledge management systems success model by including organisational and system factors relevant to healthcare. It was tested by using data obtained from 263 doctors working within two district health boards in New Zealand. Of the system factors, knowledge content quality was found to be particularly important for knowledge management systems success. Of the organisational factors, leadership was the most important, and more important than incentives. Leadership promoted knowledge management systems success primarily by positively affecting knowledge content quality. Leadership also promoted knowledge management use for retrieval, which should lead to the use of that better quality knowledge by the doctors, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Retention of Knowledge following training of students in Basic Trauma Life Support.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, K G; Lum, S K; Burud, I A S

2016-12-01

In the course of their undergraduate training at the International Medical University, students receive a Basic Trauma Life Support course. We wanted to test the long-term retention of knowledge (after 16 months) of third year medical students who had received training in Basic Trauma Life Support Method: To assess the retention of knowledge one cohort of students who received the training course were tested again 16 months later using the same 30 question One Best Answer quiz. Seventy-three students who underwent the course sat for the Retention test. The number of students who passed the Retention test was not significantly different from the test taken immediately after the course. The mean scores, 62.5% and 59.5% respectively, were however significantly different. Our study involves a relatively long interval between the course and retention of knowledge test shows encouraging results.

HCV knowledge among a sample of HCV positive Aboriginal Australians residing in New South Wales.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Hannah; Brener, Loren; Jackson, L Clair; Saunders, Veronica; Johnson, Priscilla; Treloar, Carla

2017-06-01

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are overrepresented in both the prevalence and incidence of the hepatitis C (HCV). HCV knowledge has been associated with a range of positive health behaviours. HCV knowledge has previously been investigated as a single construct; however examining different knowledge domains (i.e. transmission, risk of complications, testing and treatment) separately may be beneficial. This study investigated whether having greater HCV knowledge in different domains is associated with self-reported positive health behaviours. 203 Aboriginal people living with HCV completed a survey assessing HCV knowledge, testing and care, lifestyle changes since diagnosis and treatment intent. Respondents' knowledge was relatively high. Greater knowledge of risk of health complications was associated with undertaking more positive lifestyle changes since diagnosis. Respondents testing and treatment knowledge was significantly associated with incarceration, lifestyle changes since diagnosis and future treatment intentions. This study illustrates the importance of ensuring that knowledge is high across different HCV domains to optimise a range of positive health behaviours of Aboriginal people living with HCV. Future health promotion campaigns targeted at Aboriginal people living with HCV could benefit from broadening their focus from prevention to other domains such as testing and treatment.

The Validity and Incremental Validity of Knowledge Tests, Low-Fidelity Simulations, and High-Fidelity Simulations for Predicting Job Performance in Advanced-Level High-Stakes Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Lievens, Filip; Patterson, Fiona

2011-01-01

In high-stakes selection among candidates with considerable domain-specific knowledge and experience, investigations of whether high-fidelity simulations (assessment centers; ACs) have incremental validity over low-fidelity simulations (situational judgment tests; SJTs) are lacking. Therefore, this article integrates research on the validity of…

First-year University Students' Productive Knowledge of Collocations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The present study examines productive knowledge of collocations of tertiary-level second language (L2) learners of English in an attempt to make estimates of the size of their knowledge. Participants involved first-year students at North-West University who sat a collocation test modelled on that developed by Laufer and ...

Knowledge on neoplastic diseases among young rural inhabitants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Lewandowska

2017-09-01

According to self-assessment, every third respondent stated having a low or average level of knowledge. The most frequently used source of knowledge was the Internet, and much more rarely a doctor or a nurse. Very few of the respondents could enumerate the tests applied in the early detection of neoplastic diseases.

Knowledge and attitudes about smoking cessation among pharmacy technicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Zillich, Alan J; Aquilino, Mary L; Farris, Karen B

2004-01-01

To evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of pharmacy technicians before and after attending a continuing education program about smoking cessation. A pre/post survey of a single group. Two statewide meetings of the Iowa Pharmacy Association. Pharmacy technicians. One 2-hour continuing education (CE) course about smoking cessation for pharmacy technicians. Changes in scores before and after the CE sessions among three domains (knowledge, efficacy, and outcome) of a validated survey instrument. Fifty-one technicians completed both the presession and postsession questionnaire. For the three survey domains, technicians' knowledge (P = .034), efficacy (P < .001), and outcome (P < .001) showed significant improvement between the presession and postsession surveys (Wilcoxon signed rank test). Pharmacy technicians who attended a CE program on smoking cessation improved their knowledge, attitudes, and self-confidence in helping smokers quit. Additional research should be conducted to test the role of pharmacy technicians in smoking cessation promotion.

Development of knowledge tests for multi-disciplinary emergency training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sorensen, J. L.; Thellesen, L.; Strandbygaard, J.

2015-01-01

and evaluating a multiple-choice question(MCQ) test for use in a multi-disciplinary training program inobstetric-anesthesia emergencies. Methods: A multi-disciplinary working committee with 12members representing six professional healthcare groups andanother 28 participants were involved. Recurrent revisions......, 40 out of originally50 items were included in the final MCQ test. The MCQ test wasable to distinguish between levels of competence, and good con-struct validity was indicated by a significant difference in the meanscore between consultants and first-year trainees, as well as betweenfirst...

Immediate And Retention Effects Of Teaching Games For Understanding Approach On Basketball Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olosová Gabriela

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU links tactics and skills by emphasizing the appropriate timing and application within the tactical context of the game. It has been linked to the development of enhanced tactical knowledge. The purpose of the study was to determine immediate and delayed effects of TGfU on procedural and declarative knowledge of basketball and to compare it with a technical approach. Experimental group (EG (11 fifth graders + 18 sixth graders was taught by TGfU and a control group (CG (16 fifth graders + 24 sixth graders was taught by a technical approach for 8 weeks in Physical Education (PE classes, both. A written test was constructed to evaluate pupils’ declarative and procedural knowledge of basketball. The test was applied after the intervention to determine immediate effects and 8 months after the intervention to determine retention effects of the experimental programme. Shapiro-Wilk test, Wilcoxon T-test, Man-Whitney U-test were used for statistical analysis of obtained data. Cohen’s d was used to calculate effect size. Generally basketball knowledge was better in EG than in CG after the intervention (p<0.05 what confirms moderate effect size. When declarative and procedural knowledge were analysed separately there was no significant difference between EG and CG. Nevertheless, moderate effect sizes indicate that the data are particularly meaningful in terms of school practice. Retention effects of both approaches were similar. Total knowledge and declarative knowledge were worse after 8 months than immediately after the intervention in both groups (p<0.01. In both groups, there was no significant difference in procedural knowledge between the test written immediately after the intervention and 8 months later. Differences of changes were not significant between the groups.

The Relationship between Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xian; Lu, Xiaofei

2015-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge. One hundred and fifty first-year university students in China took the Vocabulary Levels Test, a meaning recall task, and the Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Test. The first two tests were used to elicit two types of vocabulary…

Knowledge Loss: Managing Local Knowledge in Rural Uzbekistan

OpenAIRE

Wall, Caleb; Evers, Hans-Dieter

2006-01-01

Knowledge loss is not a remote phenomenon, unique to one knowledge system. Rather we argue that the loss of knowledge is an issue for other knowledge systems as well. Knowledge loss is certainly a concern for anthropologists working on indigenous knowledge, fearful of ‘losing’ indigenous knowledge entirely as a result of modernisation (cf. Cox, 2000). Equally, staff movements within the corporate world probably lead to a large amount of knowledge displacement, yet staff (and thus knowledge) r...

Knowledge and Skills for PISA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dohn, Nina Bonderup

2007-01-01

to the claims of PISA, PISA is not an assessment of the ‘knowledge and skills for life' of students, but only of ‘knowledge and skills in assessment situations'. Even this latter form of assessment is not fully reliable, however, because of problems at the level of concrete test items and because of an inherent......This article gives a critique of the methodology of OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It is argued that PISA is invalidated by the fact that the methodology chosen does not constitute an adequate operationalisation of the question of inquiry. Therefore, contrary...

Towards a kernel theory of external knowledge integration for high-tech firms: exploring a failed theory test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen; Wijnhoven, Alphonsus B.J.M.; Groen, Arend J.

2007-01-01

Designing information systems (ISs) requires a thorough understanding of the organizational knowledge processes in which these systems are used. Although much is known about internal organizational knowledge processes, the understanding of external knowledge processes is less developed. Hence, this

Testing the importance of family solidarity, community structure, information access, and social capital in predicting nutrition health knowledge and food choices in the Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

Moxley, Robert L; Jicha, Karl A; Thompson, Gretchen H

2011-01-01

This study investigates the influence of family solidarity, community structure, information access, social capital, and socioeconomic status on the extent of nutrition and health knowledge (NHK) among primary household meal planners. In turn, we pose the question: does this knowledge influence dietary decision making? Data are taken from a survey determining socioeconomic impacts of vitamin A fortified peanut butter on Philippine households. Questions on the relationships of nutrition to health were selected to construct a knowledge index on which household respondents could be ranked. We then tested hypotheses regarding what types of individual, family-level, and community structural characteristics would predict performance on this index. The results indicate that the strongest predictors of NHK come from sociological theory related to family solidarity and community centrality, in addition to information accessibility and household income. Our findings also indicate that NHK influences dietary choices with regard to the purchase of a vitamin fortified staple food product, which is essential when addressing nutritional deficiency problems in developing countries.

Knowledge management and safety compliance in a high-risk distributed organizational system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gressgård, Leif Jarle

2014-06-01

In a safety perspective, efficient knowledge management is important for learning purposes and thus to prevent errors from occurring repeatedly. The relationship between knowledge exchange among employees and safety behavior may be of particular importance in distributed organizational systems where similar high-risk activities take place at several locations. This study develops and tests hypotheses concerning the relationship between knowledge exchange systems usage, knowledge exchange in the organizational system, and safety compliance. The operational context of the study is petroleum drilling and well operations involving distributed high-risk activities. The hypotheses are tested by use of survey data collected from a large petroleum operator company and eight of its main contractors. The results show that safety compliance is influenced by use of knowledge exchange systems and degree of knowledge exchange in the organizational system, both within and between units. System usage is the most important predictor, and safety compliance seems to be more strongly related to knowledge exchange within units than knowledge exchange between units. Overall, the study shows that knowledge management is central for safety behavior.

Kitchen confidential? Norms for the use of transferred knowledge in gourmet cuisine

OpenAIRE

G. Di Stefano; A.King; G. Verona

2014-01-01

When will knowledge holders share their knowledge with peers? Several studies suggest that norms of knowledge disclosure encourage knowledge transfer. More recently, scholars have hypothesized that norms of knowledge use may indirectly promote it. In this article, we synthesize a theoretical framework of the effect of norms of knowledge use and test its predictions by means of a field experiment involving more than 500 Italian chefs. For the literature on knowledge transfer, we confirm the im...

Multinational Subsidiary Knowledge Protection - Do Mandates and Clusters Matter?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sofka, Wolfgang; Shehu, Edlira; de Faria, Pedro

2014-01-01

knowledge protection intensity. In addition, technological cluster regions in the host country can be expected to provide opportunities for knowledge sourcing and MNC subsidiaries may be willing to protect knowledge less intensively to participate in cluster networks. We test our hypotheses using a dataset...... of knowledge protection intensity of MNC subsidiaries. We argue that knowledge protection intensity is determined by MNC subsidiary mandates and by opportunities and risks originating from the host region. We hypothesize that not just competence-creating but also competence-exploiting mandates increase...... of 694 observations of 631 MNC subsidiaries in Germany and develop recommendations for research, managers and policy makers....

Uncovering tacit knowledge: a pilot study to broaden the concept of knowledge in knowledge translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kothari, Anita R; Bickford, Julia J; Edwards, Nancy; Dobbins, Maureen J; Meyer, Mechthild

2011-08-18

All sectors in health care are being asked to focus on the knowledge-to-practice gap, or knowledge translation, to increase service effectiveness. A social interaction approach to knowledge translation assumes that research evidence becomes integrated with previously held knowledge, and practitioners build on and co-create knowledge through mutual interactions. Knowledge translation strategies for public health have not provided anticipated positive changes in evidence-based practice, possibly due in part to a narrow conceptualization of knowledge. More work is needed to understand the role of tacit knowledge in decision-making and practice. This pilot study examined how health practitioners applied tacit knowledge in public health program planning and implementation. This study used a narrative approach, where teams from two public health units in Ontario, Canada were conveniently selected. Respondents participated in individual interviews and focus groups at each site. Questions were designed to understand the role of tacit knowledge as it related to the program planning process. Data were analyzed through a combination of content analysis and thematic comparison. The findings highlighted two major aspects of knowledge that arose: the use of tacit knowledge and the integration of tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge included: past experiences, organization-specific knowledge, community contextual knowledge, and the recognition of the tacit knowledge of others. Explicit knowledge included: research literature, the Internet, popular magazines, formal assessments (surveys and interviews), legislation and regulations. Participants sometimes deliberately combined tacit and explicit knowledge sources in planning. This pilot demonstrated that front-line public health workers draw upon both tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge in their everyday lived reality. Further, tacit knowledge plays an important role in practitioners' interpretation and implementation

The Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale: Development and Psychometric Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Brian D.; Balsis, Steve; Otilingam, Poorni G.; Hanson, Priya K.; Gatz, Margaret

2009-01-01

Purpose: This study provides preliminary evidence for the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the new Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), a content and psychometric update to the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Test. Design and Methods: Traditional scale development methods were used to generate items and evaluate their psychometric…

Developing and Evaluating a Paper-and-Pencil Test to Assess Components of Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschner, Sophie; Borowski, Andreas; Fischer, Hans E.; Gess-Newsome, Julie; von Aufschnaiter, Claudia

2016-01-01

Teachers' professional knowledge is assumed to be a key variable for effective teaching. As teacher education has the goal to enhance professional knowledge of current and future teachers, this knowledge should be described and assessed. Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies quantitatively measures physics teachers' professional…

Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward nutritional labels.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannoosamy, Komeela; Pugo-Gunsam, Prity; Jeewon, Rajesh

2014-01-01

To determine Mauritian consumers' attitudes toward nutritional labels based on the Kano model and to identify determinants of the use and understanding of nutrition labels. The researchers also used a Kano model questionnaire to determine consumers' attitudes toward nutrition labeling. Four hundred consumers residing in Mauritius. Information was elicited via a questionnaire that assessed nutritional knowledge and information about the use and understanding of nutritional labels and demographic factors. Nutritional label use and understanding, nutrition knowledge, and association of demographic factors with label use. Statistical tests performed included 1-way ANOVA and independent samples t tests. Statistically significant relationships (P nutritional knowledge and nutritional label usage with demographic factors. All demographic factors with the exception of gender were significantly associated (P nutritional label understanding. Based on the outcome of the Kano survey, calorie content, trans fat content, protein content, and cholesterol content were found to be must-be attributes: that is, attributes that, when not present, result in consumer dissatisfaction. Age, education, income, household size, and nutrition knowledge had an impact on nutritional label use. Health promoters should aim to increase the use of nutritional labels. Copyright © 2014 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Outward knowledge transfer: the impact of project-based organization on performance

OpenAIRE

Ulrich Lichtenthaler

2010-01-01

Recently, interfirm knowledge transactions have increased although many firms experience major managerial difficulties in outward knowledge transfer, e.g. technology licensing. To reduce the traditional underemphasis on empirical research into corporate outward knowledge transfer, we use data from 152 firms to test four hypotheses relating firms' outward knowledge transfer performance to two types of project-based organization, which complement formal and informal organizational structures: p...

Board Level Proton Testing Book of Knowledge for NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program

Science.gov (United States)

Guertin, Steven M.

2017-01-01

This book of knowledge (BoK) provides a critical review of the benefits and difficulties associated with using proton irradiation as a means of exploring the radiation hardness of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) systems. This work was developed for the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Board Level Testing for the COTS task. The fundamental findings of this BoK are the following. The board-level test method can reduce the worst case estimate for a board's single-event effect (SEE) sensitivity compared to the case of no test data, but only by a factor of ten. The estimated worst case rate of failure for untested boards is about 0.1 SEE/board-day. By employing the use of protons with energies near or above 200 MeV, this rate can be safely reduced to 0.01 SEE/board-day, with only those SEEs with deep charge collection mechanisms rising this high. For general SEEs, such as static random-access memory (SRAM) upsets, single-event transients (SETs), single-event gate ruptures (SEGRs), and similar cases where the relevant charge collection depth is less than 10 µm, the worst case rate for SEE is below 0.001 SEE/board-day. Note that these bounds assume that no SEEs are observed during testing. When SEEs are observed during testing, the board-level test method can establish a reliable event rate in some orbits, though all established rates will be at or above 0.001 SEE/board-day. The board-level test approach we explore has picked up support as a radiation hardness assurance technique over the last twenty years. The approach originally was used to provide a very limited verification of the suitability of low cost assemblies to be used in the very benign environment of the International Space Station (ISS), in limited reliability applications. Recently the method has been gaining popularity as a way to establish a minimum level of SEE performance of systems that require somewhat higher reliability performance than previous applications. This sort of application of

Retention of basic life support knowledge, self-efficacy and chest compression performance in Thai undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Partiprajak, Suphamas; Thongpo, Pichaya

2016-01-01

This study explored the retention of basic life support knowledge, self-efficacy, and chest compression performance among Thai nursing students at a university in Thailand. A one-group, pre-test and post-test design time series was used. Participants were 30 nursing students undertaking basic life support training as a care provider. Repeated measure analysis of variance was used to test the retention of knowledge and self-efficacy between pre-test, immediate post-test, and re-test after 3 months. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the difference in chest compression performance two times. Basic life support knowledge was measured using the Basic Life Support Standard Test for Cognitive Knowledge. Self-efficacy was measured using the Basic Life Support Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Chest compression performance was evaluated using a data printout from Resusci Anne and Laerdal skillmeter within two cycles. The training had an immediate significant effect on the knowledge, self-efficacy, and skill of chest compression; however, the knowledge and self-efficacy significantly declined after post-training for 3 months. Chest compression performance after training for 3 months was positively retaining compared to the first post-test but was not significant. Therefore, a retraining program to maintain knowledge and self-efficacy for a longer period of time should be established after post-training for 3 months. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Knowledge as Design Development Agent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buthayna Hasan Eilouti

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Linking knowledge learnt from nature with concepts of man-made product generation, Biomimetics represents an application of environmental knowledge on engineering design. In this paper, an exploratory approach that is based on the concepts of Biomimetics and their potential transformations into design processing agents is introduced. The approach is tested as a project that applies knowledge inspired by organisms in their natural biomes for the derivation of architectural designs. The project is implemented in a digital architectural design studio in order to model metamorphosis and simulate adaptations of products. The results of the project implementation seem to encourage adopting its associative environmental problem-solving techniques and inter-disciplinary methods as alternatives or complementary to conventional functional- or formal-oriented problem-solving approaches.

Differential Relationships Between Diabetes Knowledge Scales and Diabetes Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Aprill Z; Walker, Rebekah J; Egede, Leonard E

2017-08-01

Background Diabetes affects more than 29 million people in the US and requires daily self-management in addition to knowledge of the disease. Three knowledge assessments used are the Michigan Brief Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT), Starr County Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ), and Kaiser DISTANCE Survey (DISTANCE). Purpose The purpose of the study was to test the discriminate validity of 3 diabetes knowledge scales and determine which is best associated with diabetes self-care and glycemic control. Methods Three hundred sixty-one adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited from primary care clinics. Four analyses were conducted to investigate the validity and relationships of the scale: alpha statistic to test internal validity, factor analysis to determine how much of the variance was explained, Pearson's correlation between the 3 scales, and Pearson's correlation between each scale, self-care, and outcomes. Results The DKQ had an alpha of 0.75, the DKT had an alpha of 0.49, and DISTANCE had an alpha of 0.36. The DKQ was significantly correlated with glycemic control. The DKT scale was significantly associated with general diet, the DISTANCE survey was significantly associated with exercise, and both DKT and DISTANCE were significantly associated with foot care. Conclusion Correlations among the 3 scales were modest, suggesting the scales are not measuring the same underlying construct. These findings indicate that researchers should carefully select scales appropriate for study goals or to appropriately capture the information being sought to inform practice.

Knowledge Based Help desk System in Nuclear Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamad Safuan Sulaiman; Abdul Muin Abdul Rahman; Norzalina Nasirudin; Khairiel Adyani Abdul Ghani; Abdul Aziz Mhd Ramli; Mohd Ashhar Khalid

2012-01-01

Knowledge based (K-based) Help desk system is a knowledge oriented web based system that provides support to business process of the technical service providers. It is a multi-centric system which focuses on end-users, technical workers and higher level management through utilization of knowledge which resides and grows within the system. The objectives of the system are to be a user-friendly, capture technical knowledge for efficient performance and educating users for self reliance. These were achieved through the improvement of the help desk business process and better management of technical knowledge. This system has been tested and implemented in Information Technology Center (IT), Engineering Division (BKJ) and Instrumentation and Automation Center (IAC) at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia). Higher levels of user satisfaction and faster growth in technical knowledge repository have been recorded in the system. This paper describes the help desk system in the perspective of management of its technical knowledge contributing to strengthening organizational knowledge asset of Nuclear Malaysia as national nuclear research institution. (Author)

Knowledge Management Design Using Collaborative Knowledge Retrieval Function

OpenAIRE

Suryadi, Kadarsah; Sigit Pramudyo, Cahyono

2008-01-01

Knowledge is a key word in the information age. Organizational knowledge provides businesses with a way to compete effectively and efficiently in the market. The performance of many organizations is determined more by their knowledge than their physical assets. Capturing and representing knowledge is critical in knowledge management. The spread of organizational knowledge has made a difficulty in sharing knowledge. This problem creates a longer learning cycle. This research proposes a web bas...

A Standard of Knowledge for the Professional Practice of Toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulla, Janis E; Kinter, Lewis B; Kelman, Bruce

2015-08-01

Employers, courts, and the general public judge the credibility of professionals based on credentials such as academic degrees, publications, memberships in professional organizations, board certifications, and professional registrations. However, the relevance and merit of these credentials can be difficult to determine objectively. Board certification can be a reliable indicator of proficiency if the certifying organization demonstrates, through regularly scheduled independent review, that its processes meet established standards and when a certificate holder is required to periodically demonstrate command of a body of knowledge that is essential to current professional practice. We report herein a current Standard of Knowledge in general toxicology compiled from the experience and opinions of 889 certified practicing professional toxicologists. An examination is the most commonly used instrument for testing a certification candidate's command of the body of knowledge. However, an examination-based certification is only creditable when the body of knowledge, to which a certification examination tests, is representative of the current knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed to effectively practice at the professional level. Thus, that body of knowledge must be the current "Standard of Knowledge" for the profession, compiled in a transparent fashion from current practitioners of the profession. This work was conducted toward ensuring the scientific integrity of the products produced by professional toxicologists.

Awareness and Knowledge of Undergraduate Dental Students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Data were collected by questionnaires and analyzed by Mann–Whitney U‑test and Kruskal–Wallis test using SPSS software version 16 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: In this study, 235 dental students participated in the study. The average awareness and knowledge score was 7.27 (1.92). Based on the ...

BEST-TEST2: assessment of hematology trainee knowledge of transfusion medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yulia; Tinmouth, Alan; Mallick, Ranjeeta; Haspel, Richard L

2016-02-01

As transfusion is a common therapy and key component in every hematologist's practice, hematology training programs should dedicate significant time and effort to delivering high-quality transfusion medicine education to their trainees. The current state of hematology trainee knowledge of transfusion medicine is not known. A validated assessment tool developed by the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative was used to assess prior transfusion medicine education, attitudes, perceived ability, and transfusion medicine knowledge of hematology trainees. A total of 149 hematology trainees at 17 international sites were assessed. The overall mean exam score was 61.6% (standard deviation, 13.4%; range, 30%-100%) with no correlation in exam scores with postgraduate year or previous transfusion medicine education in medical school or internal medicine residency. However, better scores correlated with 3 or more hours of transfusion medicine education (p = 0.0003) and perceived higher-quality education during hematology training (p = 0.03). Hematology trainees at US sites, where hematology is often combined with oncology training, had statistically lower scores than trainees at non-US sites (56.2% vs. 67.4%; p hematology training programs to reevaluate the quality and quantity of transfusion medicine training and can assist in the development of targeted curricula. © 2015 AABB.

Development of reactor accident diagnostic system DISKET using knowledge engineering technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokobayashi, Masao; Yoshida, Kazuo; Kohsaka, Atsuo; Yamamoto, Minoru.

1986-01-01

An accident diagnostic system DISKET has been developed to identify the cause and the type of an abnormal transient of a nuclear power plant. The system is based on the knowledge engineering (KE) and consists of an inference engine IERIAS and a knowledge base. The main features of DISKET are the following : (1) Time-varying characteristics of transients can be treated. (2) Knowledge base can be divided into several knowledge units to handle a lot of rules effectively. (3) Programming language UTILISP, which is a dialect of LISP, is used to manipulate symbolic data effectively. For the verification of DISKET, performance tests have been conducted for several types of accidents. The knowledge base used in the tests was generated from the data of various types of transients produced by a PWR plant simulator. The results of verification studies showed a good applicability of DISKET to reactor accident diagnosis. (author)

Knowledge and skills of cancer clinical trials nurses in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Kathleen; White, Kate; Johnson, Catherine; Roydhouse, Jessica K

2012-05-01

  This paper is a report of the development and testing of a questionnaire measuring knowledge and skills of cancer clinical trials nurse in Australia.   The role of cancer clinical trials nurse, widely acknowledged as an integral member of the clinical research team, has evolved in recent years. Elements of the clinical trials nurse role in cancer have previously been described. To evaluate specific cancer clinical trials nurse educational and training needs, the development of a valid and reliable tool is required.   In 2009, a study was conducted in three stages. Stage I: questionnaire development and pilot testing; stage II: focus group; stage III: national survey. Internal consistency reliability testing and multi-trait analysis of item convergent/divergent validity were employed. Regression analysis was used to identify predictors of clinical trials nurse knowledge and skills.   The national survey was a 48-item questionnaire, measuring six clinical trial knowledge and seven skills sub-scales. Of 61 respondents, 90% were women, with mean age 43 years, 19 years as a Registered Nurse and 5 years as a cancer clinical trials nurse. Self-reported knowledge and skills were satisfactory to good. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha: knowledge = 0·98; skills = 0·90). Criteria for item convergent/divergent validity were met. Number of years as cancer clinical trials nurse was positively related to self-reported knowledge and skills.   Preliminary data suggest that the national survey is reliable and valid. Data have contributed to better understanding the knowledge and skills of cancer clinical trials nurse in Australia and development of a postgraduate course in clinical trials. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Metacognitive Knowledge in Relation to Inquiry Skills and Knowledge Acquisition Within a Computer-Supported Inquiry Learning Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zrinka Ristić Dedić

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The study examines two components of metacognitive knowledge in the context of inquiry learning: metatask and metastrategic. Existing work on the topic has shown that adolescents often lacked metacognitive understanding necessary for optimal inquiry learning (Keselman & Kuhn, 2002; Kuhn, 2002a; Kuhn, Black, Keselman, & Kaplan, 2000, but demonstrated that engagement with inquiry tasks may improve it (Keselman, 2003; Kuhn & Pearsall, 1998.The aim of the study is to investigate the gains in metacognitive knowledge that occur as a result of repeated engagement with an inquiry learning task, and to examine the relationship between metacognitive knowledge and performance on the task.The participants were 34 eighth grade pupils, who participated in a self-directed experimentation task using the FILE programme (Hulshof, Wilhelm, Beishuizen, & van Rijn, 2005. The task required pupils to design and conduct experiments and to make inferences regarding the causal structure of a multivariable system. Pupils participated in four learning sessions over the course of one month. Metacognitive knowledge was assessed by the questionnaire before and after working in FILE.The results indicate that pupils improved in metacognitive knowledge following engagement with the task. However, many pupils showed insufficient metacognitive knowledge in the post-test and failed to apply newly achieved knowledge to the transfer task. Pupils who attained a higher level of metacognitive knowledge were more successful on the task than pupils who did not improve on metacognitive knowledge. A particular level of metacognitive understanding is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for successful performance on the task.

Testing Students under Cognitive Capitalism: Knowledge Production of Twenty-First Century Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Clara

2016-01-01

Scholars studying the global governance of education have noted the increasingly important role corporations play in educational policy making. I contribute to this scholarship by examining the Assessment and Teaching of twenty-first century skills (ATC21S™) project, a knowledge production apparatus operating under cognitive capitalism. I analyze…

Conceptual Knowledge of Fraction Arithmetic

Science.gov (United States)

Siegler, Robert S.; Lortie-Forgues, Hugues

2015-01-01

Understanding an arithmetic operation implies, at minimum, knowing the direction of effects that the operation produces. However, many children and adults, even those who execute arithmetic procedures correctly, may lack this knowledge on some operations and types of numbers. To test this hypothesis, we presented preservice teachers (Study 1),…

Interrogating the dynamics between power, knowledge and pregnant bodies in amniocentesis decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Markens, Susan; Browner, Carole H; Mabel Preloran, H

2010-01-01

A common assumption is that women who decline prenatal testing distrust biomedicine and trust embodied/experiential knowledge sources, while women who accept testing trust biomedicine and distrust embodied/experiential sources. Another major assumption about prenatal testing utilisation is that women who are open to abortion will undergo prenatal testing while those who are opposed to abortion will decline testing. Yet, previous research has produced inconsistent findings as to what, if anything, distinguishes women who accept or decline the offer of prenatal diagnosis. Analysing interviews with 147 pregnant women, this paper questions these assumptions about the role of abortion views and pregnant women's relative trust in various knowledge sources on their decisions to accept or decline an amniocentesis offer after a positive result on an initial diagnostic screening. We found that pregnant women's attitudes toward different knowledge sources were equally, if not more, important factors than abortion views in affecting whether individual women accepted or declined amniocentesis. At the same time, our data reveal that the relationship between 'expert' and 'lay' knowledge sources is often complex and synergistic.

Medical Students' Knowledge of Fertility Awareness-Based Methods of Family Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Danis, Peter G; Kurz, Sally A; Covert, Laura M

2017-01-01

Traditional medical school curricula have not addressed fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) of family planning. The objective of this study was to assess (1) 3-year medical students' knowledge of FABMs of family planning, (2) their confidence in utilizing that knowledge in patient care, and (3) to implement focused education on FABMs to improve knowledge and confidence. Third-year medical students at one institution in the United States were given a 10-question assessment at the beginning of their OB-GYN rotation. Two lectures about FABMs and their clinical applications were given during the rotation. Students were given the same questions at the end of the rotation. Each questionnaire consisted of eight questions to assess a student's knowledge of FABMs and two questions to assess the student's confidence in sharing and utilizing that information in a clinical setting. McNemar's test was used to analyze the data. Two hundred seventy-seven students completed a pretest questionnaire and 196 students completed the posttest questionnaire. Medical knowledge improved from an initial test score of 38.99% to final test score of 53.57% ( p  Medical schools may not include FABMs in OB-GYN curriculum; however, to patients, these methods remain a sought after and valid form of family planning. This study shows that brief, focused education can increase medical students' knowledge of and confidence with FABMs of family planning.

Very long-term retention of basic science knowledge in doctors after graduation.

Science.gov (United States)

Custers, Eugène J F M; Ten Cate, Olle T J

2011-04-01

Despite frequent complaints that biomedical knowledge is quickly forgotten after it has been learned, few investigations of actual long-term retention of basic science knowledge have been conducted in the medical domain. Our aim was to illuminate the long-term retention of basic science knowledge, particularly of unrehearsed knowledge. Using a cross-sectional study design, medical students and doctors in the Netherlands were tested for retention of basic science knowledge. Relationships between retention interval and proportion of correct answers on a knowledge test were investigated. The popular notion that most of basic science knowledge is forgotten shortly after graduation is not supported by our findings. With respect to the full test scores, which reflect a composite of unrehearsed and rehearsed knowledge, performance decreased from approximately 40% correct answers for students still in medical school, to 25-30% correct answers for doctors after many years of practice. When rehearsal during the retention interval is controlled for, it appears that little knowledge is lost for 1.5-2 years after it was last used; from then on, retention is best described by a negatively accelerated (logarithmic) forgetting curve. After ≥ 25 years, retention levels were in the range of 15-20%. Conclusions about the forgetting of unrehearsed knowledge in this study are in line with findings reported in other domains: it proceeds in accordance with the Ebbinghaus curve for meaningful material, except that in our findings the 'downward' part appears to start later than in most other studies. The limitations of the study are discussed and possible ramifications for medical education are proposed. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

Assessment of nurses’ cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills within three district hospitals in Botswana

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Background Nurses are usually the first to identify the need for and initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on patients with cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital setting. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation has been shown to reduce in-hospital deaths when received from adequately trained health care professionals. Aim We aimed to investigate nurses’ retention of CPR knowledge and skills at district hospitals in Botswana. Methods A quantitative, quasi-experimental study was conducted at three hospitals in Botswana. A pre-test, intervention, post-test, and a re-test after 6 months were utilised to determine the retention of CPR knowledge and skills. Non-probability, convenience sampling technique was used to select 154 nurses. The sequences of the test were consistent with the American Heart Association’s 2010 basic life support (BLS) guidelines for health care providers. Data were analysed to compare performance over time. Results This study showed markedly deficient CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses in the three district hospitals. The pre-test knowledge average score (48%) indicated that the nurses did not know the majority of the BLS steps. Only 85 nurses participated in the re-evaluation test at 6 months. While a 26.4% increase was observed in the immediate post-test score compared with the pre-test, the performance of the available participants dropped by 14.5% in the re-test 6 months after the post-test. Conclusion Poor CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses may impede the survival and management of cardiac arrest victims. Employers and nursing professional bodies in Botswana should encourage and monitor regular CPR refresher courses. PMID:29781687

Assessment of nurses' cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills within three district hospitals in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajeswaran, Lakshmi; Cox, Megan; Moeng, Stoffel; Tsima, Billy M

2018-04-12

 Nurses are usually the first to identify the need for and initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on patients with cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital setting. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation has been shown to reduce in-hospital deaths when received from adequately trained health care professionals.  We aimed to investigate nurses' retention of CPR knowledge and skills at district hospitals in Botswana.  A quantitative, quasi-experimental study was conducted at three hospitals in Botswana. A pre-test, intervention, post-test, and a re-test after 6 months were utilised to determine the retention of CPR knowledge and skills. Non-probability, convenience sampling technique was used to select 154 nurses.The sequences of the test were consistent with the American Heart Association's 2010 basic life support (BLS) guidelines for health care providers. Data were analysed to compare performance over time.  This study showed markedly deficient CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses in the three district hospitals. The pre-test knowledge average score (48%) indicated that the nurses did not know the majority of the BLS steps. Only 85 nurses participated in the re-evaluation test at 6 months. While a 26.4% increase was observed in the immediate post-test score compared with the pre-test, the performance of the available participants dropped by 14.5% in the re-test 6 months after the post-test.  Poor CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses may impede the survival and management of cardiac arrest victims. Employers and nursing professional bodies in Botswana should encourage and monitor regular CPR refresher courses.

development of a food knowledge test for first-year students at a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

barriers to maintaining or adopting a healthy lifestyle (Von Ah et al, ... The most common barriers facing students, aged 18 to 23 ..... knowledgeable about the topic. The students also completed a questionnaire to determine their demographic and biographic characteris- tics. The Pearson‟s chi-square statistic was used to ...

The Successful Test Taker: Exploring Test-Taking Behavior Profiles through Cluster Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Stenlund, Tova; Lyrén, Per-Erik; Eklöf, Hanna

2018-01-01

To be successful in a high-stakes testing situation is desirable for any test taker. It has been found that, beside content knowledge, test-taking behavior, such as risk-taking strategies, motivation, and test anxiety, is important for test performance. The purposes of the present study were to identify and group test takers with similar patterns…

An Investigation into Pragmatic Knowledge in the Reading Section of TOLIMO, TOEFL, and IELTS Examinations

Science.gov (United States)

Karbalaei, Alireza; Rahmanzade, Mehrnaz Kashkooli

2015-01-01

The present study focused on the analysis of listening sections of two international English proficiency tests, i.e. IELTS and TOEFL tests, and one local English proficiency test, i.e. TOLIMO from pragmatic perspective. An attempt was made to explore the areas of pragmatic knowledge presented, and to assess test takers' pragmatic knowledge. For…

The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Roediger, Henry L; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2005-09-01

Multiple-choice tests are commonly used in educational settings but with unknown effects on students' knowledge. The authors examined the consequences of taking a multiple-choice test on a later general knowledge test in which students were warned not to guess. A large positive testing effect was obtained: Prior testing of facts aided final cued-recall performance. However, prior testing also had negative consequences. Prior reading of a greater number of multiple-choice lures decreased the positive testing effect and increased production of multiple-choice lures as incorrect answers on the final test. Multiple-choice testing may inadvertently lead to the creation of false knowledge.

Hospital employees' theoretical knowledge on what to do in an in-hospital cardiac arrest

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Herlitz Johan

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Guidelines recommend that all health care professionals should be able to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR, including the use of an automated external defibrillator. Theoretical knowledge of CPR is then necessary. The aim of this study was to investigate how much theoretical knowledge in CPR would increase among all categories of health care professionals lacking training in CPR, in an intervention hospital, after a systematic standardised training. Their results were compared with the staff at a control hospital with an ongoing annual CPR training programme. Methods Health care professionals at two hospitals, with a total of 3144 employees, answered a multiple-choice questionnaire before and after training in CPR. Bootstrapped chi-square tests and Fisher's exact test were used for the statistical analyses. Results In the intervention hospital, physicians had the highest knowledge pre-test, but other health care professionals including nurses and assistant nurses reached a relatively high level post-test. Improvement was inversely related to the level of previous knowledge and was thus most marked among other health care professionals and least marked among physicians. The staff at the control hospital had a significantly higher level of knowledge pre-test than the intervention hospital, whereas the opposite was found post-test. Conclusions Overall theoretical knowledge increased after systematic standardised training in CPR. The increase was more pronounced for those without previous training and for those staff categories with the least medical education.

Knowledge Acquisition Using Linguistic-Based Knowledge Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel L. Schmoldt

1998-01-01

Most knowledge-based system developmentefforts include acquiring knowledge from one or more sources. difficulties associated with this knowledge acquisition task are readily acknowledged by most researchers. While a variety of knowledge acquisition methods have been reported, little has been done to organize those different methods and to suggest how to apply them...

Identifikasi Informasi perguruan tinggi negeri dengan model knowledge management

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Abu Anwar

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In theory and practice, knowledge management (knowledge management is part of the strategy implementation process. Knowledge management is a systematic action to identify, document, and distribute all Solving. The involvement of administrative management knowledge, both top level, middle, or bottom becomes a very important thing. Well in detecting the problem, generating solutions, evaluating the decision to apply the knowledge that has been tested as a product and service in the implementation of strategy. This activity can be used to make the issues become clearer and under proper supervision. Despite the heavy dotted knowledge management to “technology“, in this case the role of “man“ needs to be taken into account in order to complete the process of knowledge management integrating various angles between technology, human strategies through four areas to view. However, the hypothesis of cause and effect of the method can be used as a basis for understanding knowledge management and implementation.

Engineering design knowledge recycling in near-real-time

Science.gov (United States)

Leifer, Larry; Baya, Vinod; Toye, George; Baudin, Catherine; Underwood, Jody Gevins

1994-01-01

It is hypothesized that the capture and reuse of machine readable design records is cost beneficial. This informal engineering notebook design knowledge can be used to model the artifact and the design process. Design rationale is, in part, preserved and available for examination. Redesign cycle time is significantly reduced (Baya et al, 1992). These factors contribute to making it less costly to capture and reuse knowledge than to recreate comparable knowledge (current practice). To test the hypothesis, we have focused on validation of the concept and tools in two 'real design' projects this past year: (1) a short (8 month) turnaround project for NASA life science bioreactor researchers was done by a team of three mechanical engineering graduate students at Stanford University (in a class, ME210abc 'Mechatronic Systems Design and Methodology' taught by one of the authors, Leifer); and (2) a long range (8 to 20 year) international consortium project for NASA's Space Science program (STEP: satellite test of the equivalence principle). Design knowledge capture was supported this year by assigning the use of a Team-Design PowerBook. Design records were cataloged in near-real time. These records were used to qualitatively model the artifact design as it evolved. Dedal, an 'intelligent librarian' developed at NASA-ARC, was used to navigate and retrieve captured knowledge for reuse.

Integrating knowledge seeking into knowledge management models and frameworks

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Francois Lottering

2012-09-01

Objectives: This article investigates the theoretical status of the knowledge-seeking process in extant KM models and frameworks. It also statistically describes knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Using this data, it proposes a KM model based on knowledge seeking. Method: Knowledge seeking is traced in a number of KM models and frameworks with a specific focus on Han Lai and Margaret Graham’s adapted KM cycle model, which separates knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. This empirical investigation used a questionnaire to examine knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Results: This article critiqued and elaborated on the adapted KM cycle model of Lai and Graham. It identified some of the key features of knowledge seeking practices in the workplace. It showed that knowledge seeking and sharing are human-centric actions and that seeking knowledge uses trust and loyalty as its basis. It also showed that one cannot separate knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. Conclusion: The knowledge seeking-based KM model elaborates on Lai and Graham’s model. It provides insight into how and where people seek and share knowledge in the workplace. The article concludes that it is necessary to cement the place of knowledge seeking in KM models as well as frameworks and suggests that organisations should apply its findings to improving their knowledge management strategies.

Pressure ulcer prevention knowledge among Jordanian nurses: a cross- sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Pressure ulcer remains a significant problem in the healthcare system. In addition to the suffering it causes patients, it bears a growing financial burden. Although pressure ulcer prevention and care have improved in recent years, pressure ulcer still exists and occurs in both hospital and community settings. In Jordan, there are a handful of studies on pressure ulcer. This study aims to explore levels of knowledge and knowledge sources about pressure ulcer prevention, as well as barriers to implementing pressure ulcer prevention guidelines among Jordanian nurses. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design and a self-administered questionnaire, data was collected from 194 baccalaureate and master’s level staff nurses working in eight Jordanian hospitals. From September to October of 2011, their knowledge levels about pressure ulcer prevention and the sources of this knowledge were assessed, along with the barriers which reduce successful pressure ulcer care and prevention. ANOVA and t-test analysis were used to test the differences in nurses’ knowledge according to participants’ characteristics. Means, standard deviation, and frequencies were used to describe nurses’ knowledge levels, knowledge sources, and barriers to pressure ulcer prevention. Results The majority (73%, n = 141) of nurses had inadequate knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention. The mean scores of the test for all participants was 10.84 out of 26 (SD = 2.3, range = 5–17), with the lowest score in themes related to PU etiology, preventive measures to reduce amount of pressure/shear, and risk assessment. In-service training was the second source of education on pressure ulcer, coming after university training. Shortage of staff and lack of time were the most frequently cited barriers to carrying out pressure ulcer risk assessment, documentation, and prevention. Conclusions This study highlights concerns about Jordanian nurses’ knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention. The

Community Pharmacist-Provided Osteoporosis Screening and Education: Impact on Patient Knowledge

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Andrea L. Brookhart

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the impact pharmacist-provided screening and education had on patient knowledge of osteoporosis and preventive strategies. Methods: A prospective, randomized, controlled study was conducted at 16 locations of a national supermarket chain pharmacy in the Richmond, Virginia area. Women 30 years and older with no history of osteoporosis were enrolled in the study. Patients self-selected into the study by agreeing to the bone density screening, pharmacist-provided education, and completion of a knowledge survey. Subjects were randomized to complete the osteoporosis-related knowledge survey either before (Group A or after (Group B the screening and education session. The survey was developed after guideline and literature evaluation and was pretested with a group of patients for content and clarity. The survey evaluated knowledge of osteoporosis, risk factors for the disease, appropriate age for testing, and preventive strategies. Groups A and B were compared using t-tests. Results: A total of 110 women were enrolled in the study. The mean (±SD age was 52.5 ± 13.1 years in Group A (n=52 and 52.7 ± 11.5 years in Group B (n=58. Knowledge scores were higher in the group who received pharmacist-provided education prior to completing the survey in each category (knowledge of the disease, risk factors, preventive strategies, and appropriate age for testing and overall (p<0.001. Conclusions: Community pharmacist-provided osteoporosis screening and education increased patient knowledge about osteoporosis and preventive strategies. Community pharmacist involvement with increasing patient knowledge may empower patients to engage in prevention strategies to improve bone mass.   Type: Original Research

Nurses’ Knowledge Levels of Chest Drain Management: A Descriptive Study

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Merve Tarhan

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: The physician is responsible for inserting one or more chest tubes into the pleural space or the mediastinal space and connecting them to an appropriate drainage system. When the general principles about care of patients with chest drains were implemented correctly and effectively by nurses, nurse will contribute to accelerate the healing process of patients. In this context, the aim of this study was to determine the nurses’ level of knowledge regarding the care of patients with chest drains. Methods: The study was conducted with 153 nurses who worked in a chest diseases and thoracic surgery hospital in July 2014. Questionnaire form of 35 questions prepared by investigators was used to collect data. For the analysis of results, frequency tests, independent sample t-test and oneway ANOVA test were used. Results: 69.3% of nurses stated that they had obtained information from colleguages. 35.3% considered their knowledge about chest drain management to be inadequate. 55.6% scored 13 points and above from knowledge questionnaire about chest drain management. There were statistically significant difference between knowledge level and educational background, clinic work type, working unit, years of professional experience and institutional experience, frequency of contact patients with chest drain and perception of knowledge level (p<0.05. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that lack of evidence-based nursing care and insufficient training has resulted in uncertainty and knowledge deficit in important aspects of chest drain care. It can be concluded that nurses receive training needs and training protocols are about chest drain management.

Pharmacogenomic knowledge gaps and educational resource needs among physicians in selected specialties

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Johansen Taber KA

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Katherine A Johansen Taber, Barry D Dickinson Department of Science and Biotechnology, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL, USA Background: The use of pharmacogenomic testing in the clinical setting has the potential to improve the safety and effectiveness of drug therapy, yet studies have revealed that physicians lack knowledge about the topic of pharmacogenomics, and are not prepared to implement it in the clinical setting. This study further explores the pharmacogenomic knowledge deficit and educational resource needs among physicians. Materials and methods: Surveys of primary care physicians, cardiologists, and psychiatrists were conducted. Results: Few physicians reported familiarity with the topic of pharmacogenomics, but more reported confidence in their knowledge about the influence of genetics on drug therapy. Only a small minority had undergone formal training in pharmacogenomics, and a majority reported being unsure what type of pharmacogenomic tests were appropriate to order for the clinical situation. Respondents indicated that an ideal pharmacogenomic educational resource should be electronic and include such components as how to interpret pharmacogenomic test results, recommendations for prescribing, population subgroups most likely to be affected, and contact information for laboratories offering pharmacogenomic testing. Conclusion: Physicians continue to demonstrate pharmacogenomic knowledge gaps, and are unsure about how to use pharmacogenomic testing in clinical practice. Educational resources that are clinically oriented and easily accessible are preferred by physicians, and may best support appropriate clinical implementation of pharmacogenomics. Keywords: pharmacogenomics, knowledge gap, drug response, educational resource

Wild edible plant knowledge, distribution and transmission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turreira Garcia, Nerea; Theilade, Ida; Meilby, Henrik

2015-01-01

the distribution, transmission and loss of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) concerning WEPs used by a Mayan community of Guatemala and to enumerate such plants. Methods: The case study was carried out in a semi-isolated community where part of the population took refuge in the mountains in 1982...... key informants. Information about the theoretical dimension of knowledge was gathered through free listing and a questionnaire survey, while practical skills were assessed using a plant identification test with photographs. All villagers older than 7 years participated in the research (n = 62......% of the cases, which led to increased knowledge of plants and ability to recognise them. Conclusions: The WEP survey may serve as a reference point and as a useful compilation of knowledge for the community for their current and future generations. This study shows that the elder and the refugees living...

Reducing mental health stigma: the relationship between knowledge and attitude change

OpenAIRE

Simmons, Laura; Jones, Tim; Bradley, Eleanor

2017-01-01

The impact of how knowledge can effect attitude change is important in order to understand the consequences for stigma. The relationship between increasing subject knowledge of mental health and attitude change was explored. The sample comprised 39 students (18 male and 21 female) from a university in the West Midlands. Participants’ level of knowledge and stigma were recorded through pre- and post-tests using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), Community Attitudes toward the Mentall...

Integrating knowledge seeking into knowledge management models and frameworks

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Francois Lottering

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Background: A striking feature of the knowledge management (KM literature is that the standard list of KM processes either subsumes or overlooks the process of knowledge seeking. Knowledge seeking is manifestly under-theorised, making the need to address this gap in KM theory and practice clear and urgent.Objectives: This article investigates the theoretical status of the knowledge-seeking process in extant KM models and frameworks. It also statistically describes knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Using this data, it proposes a KM model based on knowledge seeking.Method: Knowledge seeking is traced in a number of KM models and frameworks with a specific focus on Han Lai and Margaret Graham’s adapted KM cycle model, which separates knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. This empirical investigation used a questionnaire to examine knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies.Results: This article critiqued and elaborated on the adapted KM cycle model of Lai and Graham. It identified some of the key features of knowledge seeking practices in the workplace. It showed that knowledge seeking and sharing are human-centric actions and that seeking knowledge uses trust and loyalty as its basis. It also showed that one cannot separate knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing.Conclusion: The knowledge seeking-based KM model elaborates on Lai and Graham’s model. It provides insight into how and where people seek and share knowledge in the workplace. The article concludes that it is necessary to cement the place of knowledge seeking in KM models as well as frameworks and suggests that organisations should apply its findings to improving their knowledge management strategies. 

Safety and Mission Assurance Knowledge Management Retention: Managing Knowledge for Successful Mission Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Teresa A.

2006-01-01

Knowledge Management is a proactive pursuit for the future success of any large organization faced with the imminent possibility that their senior managers/engineers with gained experiences and lessons learned plan to retire in the near term. Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) is proactively pursuing unique mechanism to ensure knowledge learned is retained and lessons learned captured and documented. Knowledge Capture Event/Activities/Management helps to provide a gateway between future retirees and our next generation of managers/engineers. S&MA hosted two Knowledge Capture Events during 2005 featuring three of its retiring fellows (Axel Larsen, Dave Whittle and Gary Johnson). The first Knowledge Capture Event February 24, 2005 focused on two Safety and Mission Assurance Safety Panels (Space Shuttle System Safety Review Panel (SSRP); Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP) and the latter event December 15, 2005 featured lessons learned during Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle which could be applicable in the newly created Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)/Constellation development program. Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and the Space Shuttle promised and delivered exciting human advances in space and benefits of space in people s everyday lives on earth. Johnson Space Center's Safety & Mission Assurance team work over the last 20 years has been mostly focused on operations we are now beginning the Exploration development program. S&MA will promote an atmosphere of knowledge sharing in its formal and informal cultures and work processes, and reward the open dissemination and sharing of information; we are asking "Why embrace relearning the "lessons learned" in the past?" On the Exploration program the focus will be on Design, Development, Test, & Evaluation (DDT&E); therefore, it is critical to understand the lessons from these past programs during the DDT&E phase.

KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY, GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY

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Dragos CRISTEA

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to present the existent relation between knowledge society and knowledge based economy. We will identify the main pillars of knowledge society and present their importance for the development of knowledge societies. Further, we will present two perspectives over knowledge societies, respectively science and learning perspectives, that directly affects knowledge based economies. At the end, we will conclude by identifying some important questions that must be answered regarding this new social paradigm.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices toward Post Exposure ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices toward Post Exposure Prophylaxis for Human Immunodeficiency ... Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research ... Data related to HIV PEP was collected by pre‑designed, pre‑tested, self‑administered ...

Role of Knowledge Based Communities in Knowledge Process

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Sebastian Ion CEPTUREANU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In the new economy, knowledge is an essential component of economic and social systems. The organizational focus has to be on building knowledge-based management, development of human resource and building intellectual capital capabilities. Knowledge-based management is defined, at company level, by economic processes that emphasize creation, selling, buying, learning, storing, developing, sharing and protection of knowledge as a decisive condition for profit and long-term sustainability of the company. Hence, knowledge is, concurently, according to a majoritiy of specialists, raw material, capital, product and an essential input. Knowledge-based communities are one of the main constituent elements of a framework for knowledge based management. These are peer networks consisting of practitioners within an organization, supporting each other to perform better through the exchange and sharing of knowledge. Some large companies have contributed or supported the establishment of numerous communities of practice, some of which may have several thousand members. They operate in different ways, are of different sizes, have different areas of interest and addresses knowledge at different levels of its maturity. This article examines the role of knowledge-based communities from the perspective of knowledge based management, given that the arrangements for organizational learning, creating, sharing, use of knowledge within organizations become more heterogeneous and take forms more difficult to predict by managers and specialists.

Testing controlled productive knowledge of adverb-verb collocations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A controlled productive test of adverb-verb collocations ..... The third approach to studying collocations, corpus analysis, ..... The collocation web model is thought to match Nation's (2001) psychological .... Theory, analysis, and applications. .... Canadian Modern ... Focus on vocabulary: Mastering the Academic Word List.

Test-driven development with Mockito

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Acharya, Sujoy

2013-01-01

This book is a hands-on guide, full of practical examples to illustrate the concepts of Test Driven Development.If you are a developer who wants to develop software following Test Driven Development using Mockito and leveraging various Mockito features, this book is ideal for you. You don't need prior knowledge of TDD, Mockito, or JUnit.It is ideal for developers, who have some experience in Java application development as well as a basic knowledge of unit testing, but it covers the basic fundamentals of TDD and JUnit testing to get you acquainted with these concepts before delving into them.

Experimental Evidence of the Knowledge Gap: Message Arousal, Motivation, and Time Delay

Science.gov (United States)

Grabe, Maria Elizabeth; Yegiyan, Narine; Kamhawi, Rasha

2008-01-01

This study experimentally tested the knowledge gap from an information processing perspective. Specifically, knowledge acquisition was investigated under conditions of medium and low news message arousal, with time delay. Results show the persistence of a knowledge gap, particularly for low arousing messages. In fact, at low levels of message…

Management Of Knowledge And System - Evolution Of Knowledge

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Avishek Choudhury

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The study of knowledge is one of the most fundamental and necessary components in todays world. A claim to knowledge should be evaluated to determine whether or not it is knowledge in its real sense. To conduct this sort of evaluation understanding of what knowledge is and how much knowledge is possible is required. This paper provides an overview of the important aspects of knowledge and with the help of epistemology tries to answer the most fundamental questions of what is knowledge Moreover how do we know what we know The paper attempts to show the effect of culture on organizations and how foundational knowledge can help us develop logical decisions in a fluctuating environment. To manage an organization within evolving paradigm knowledge of variation acts as a necessary requirement. As Deming defined management as a prediction a leader must have skills to predict and adapt to its external environment. Most of the time organizations fail to observe the paradigm shift and couldnt adjust to the changing environment. The paper also discusses the effect of diverse culture and their respective interpretation of language. Thus the paper highlights the necessity of understanding human psychology attaining foundational knowledge and ability to validate the knowledge to establish a successful organization.

Knowledge Management, Codification and Tacit Knowledge

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Kimble, Chris

2013-01-01

Introduction: This article returns to a theme addressed in Vol. 8(1) October 2002 of the journal: knowledge management and the problem of managing tacit knowledge. Method: The article is primarily a review and analysis of the literature associated with the management of knowledge. In particular, it focuses on the works of a group of economists who…

Empirical Research on Spatial Diffusion Process of Knowledge Spillovers

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Xuehui

2018-02-01

Firstly, this paper gave a brief review of the core issues of previous studies on spatial distribution of knowledge spillovers. That laid the theoretical foundation for further research. Secondly, this paper roughly described the diffusion process of solar patents in Bejing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Pearl River Delta regions by means of correlation analysis based on patent information of the application date and address of patentee. After that, this paper introduced the variables of spatial distance, knowledge absorptive capacity, knowledge gap and pollution control and built the empirical model of patent, and then collecting data to test them. The results showed that knowledge absorptive capacity was the most significant factor than the other three, followed by the knowledge gap. The influence of spatial distance on knowledge spillovers was limited and the most weak influence factor was pollution control.

farmers' knowledge and perceptions of cotton insect pests and their

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prince Acheampong

A survey of 337 cotton farmers in the three northern regions of Ghana was ... five applications were made during the season. ... Keywords: cotton, farmer knowledge and perception, insect pest control, Ghana. .... bordered on tests of farmers' knowledge of cotton insect pests, their damage ..... Agricultural Experiment Station.

Assessing roles of vocabulary knowledge predominating in contextual clues

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Patcharawadee Promduang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and the use of contextual clues and whether EFL learners who are well-equipped with reading skills are able to comprehend the text despite a low level of vocabulary knowledge. Therefore, the study focused on which vocabulary dimensions help students guess unfamiliar words. The study was carried out at Hatyai University in Thailand. The population of this study consisted of 34 undergraduates who were studying International Business English and had taken a course in reading techniques. The present study was conducted to conceptually validate the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to improve skills by contextual clue. Vocabulary Depth was specially employed to evaluate two dimensions namely Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic. The Schmitt and Clapham Vocabulary Level Test was used to test vocabulary breadth, while the vocabulary depth was implemented by Read’s Vocabulary Depth Test. Reading parts of the TOEFL were adopted for contextual clue items. There were two statistical analysis tools also implemented in this study: paired-sample t-test and bivariate correlation. First, in an attempt to find which vocabulary dimension predominates in guessing word meaning from the text, a paired-sample t-test was utilized to compare the difference of two vocabulary dimensions in reading part: vocabulary depth and contextual clues, and vocabulary breadth and contextual clues. Second, a bivariate correlation was used to find the degree of relationship between vocabulary knowledge and contextual clues. The consequences of this study identified empirical results that 1 there was a positive relationship between contextual clues and vocabulary depth, the reverse is true in vocabulary breadth. Moreover, vocabulary depth is more significantly crucial than breadth to enhance student’s ability to guess words’ meaning from the context.

Validation of a questionnaire of knowledge about asthma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez Martinez, Carlos; Sossa, Monica Patricia

2004-01-01

An educative intervention destined to increase the knowledge in asthma allows the children and/or its parents to acquire abilities that allow to prevent and/or to handle the asthmatic attacks, decreasing the morbidity produced by the disease, nevertheless we do not account with a validated instrument that allows us to quantify the level of asthma knowledge. The objective is to develop and to validate a questionnaire of knowledge about asthma to be filled out by the parents and/or people in charge of the care of the asthmatic pediatric patients. The 17 items that conform the questionnaire were obtained alter literature review, realization of focal groups the professional experience of the investigators and the realization of pilot studies. The face content and concurrent validity of the instrument was evaluated; we also determined the factor structure, test-retest reproducibility, and sensitivity to change of the questionnaire. We included 120 patients with average age of 4.5 %3.7 years the factor analysis demonstrated a probable structure of three factors that altogether explain 85% of the total variance of the results the face and content validity was based on the concept of a multi-disciplinary group of experts in the field the concurrent validity was demonstrated by the ability of the questionnaire to distinguish low from high knowledge parents. Test-retest reproducibility and sensitivity to change were demonstrated comparing scores of the questionnaire filled out in two different occasions. The questionnaire of knowledge of asthma developed in the study is a useful and reliable tool to quantify the basal level of asthma knowledge in parents of asthmatic children and to determine the effectiveness of an educative intervention destined to increase the knowledge and understanding of the disease

Relating Knowledge about Reading to Teaching Practice: An Exploratory Validity Study of a Teacher Knowledge Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Phelps, Geoffrey; Johnson, David; Carlisle, Joanne

2009-01-01

The research reported in this paper is focused directly on assessing the validity of the "Teaching Knowledge about Reading and Reading Practices" (TKRRP) assessment. Following the recommendations of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (APA/AERA, 1999), the authors see validation as a process of constructing an…

Dilemmatic Spaces: High-Stakes Testing and the Possibilities of Collaborative Knowledge Work to Generate Learning Innovations

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Parlo; Märtsin, Mariann; Glasswell, Kathryn

2015-01-01

This paper examines collaborative researcher-practitioner knowledge work around assessment data in culturally diverse, low socio-economic school communities in Queensland, Australia. Specifically, the paper draws on interview accounts about the work of a cohort of school-based researchers who acted as mediators bridging knowledge flows between a…

Knowledge model of trainee for training support system of plant operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furuhama, Yutaka; Furuta, Kazuo; Kondo, Shunsuke [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1996-10-01

We have already proposed a knowledge model of a trainee, which model consists of two layers: hierarchical function and qualitative structure. We developed a method to generate normative operator knowledge based on this knowledge model structure, and to identify trainee`s intention by means of truth maintenance. The methods were tested by cognitive experiment using a prototype of training support system. (author)

Immunology teaching by incorporating knowledge from theater and music

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Martha Elisa Ferreira Almeida

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The Immunology knowledge is important to therapeutic prevention of several diseases. The aim of this study was present a teaching methodology of Immunology and verify its efficacy as the knowledge acquisition by the participants of an event. To assess the progress of knowledge by the participants as well the use of the play and sung music, each participant fill a questionnaire, containing ten questions, before and after the presentation. The results were evaluated by paired T test at 5%. In both types there was knowledge incorporation after the play activity because the notes after the event were statistically higher. The participants remained attentive and praised the event. The knowledge showed by most of participants was considered lower and regular before the event and after the ludic activities they showed higher grades which categorized knowledge as regular and high. It was concluded that the methodology used contributed with knowledge acquisition and could contribute with the cultural and social education of the participants.

Ultrasonic weld testing.

Science.gov (United States)

1970-12-01

The study was broken down into two phases. Phase I consisted of a laboratory investigation of test specimens to determine the reliability of the ultrasonic equipment and testing procedure. Phase II was a field study where the knowledge, skills and ab...

Evaluating the Knowledge Assets of Innovative Companies

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Maen Al-Hawari

2002-11-01

organisation. It is suggested that the measure be verified by testing the outcomes against established indicators of innovation. The purpose of this research is to determine a practical way by which managers can determine the value of their knowledge assets and track the growth or decline of knowledge in their companies.

Enhancing students’ vocabulary knowledge using the Facebook environment

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan; Tuti Zalina Mohamed Ernes Zahar

2016-01-01

This study investigates the effectiveness of using Facebook in enhancing vocabulary knowledge among Community College students. Thirty-three (33) Community College students are exposed to the use of Facebook as an environment of learning and enhancing their English vocabulary. They are given a pre-test and a post-test and the findings indicate that students perform significantly better in the post-test compared to the pre-test. It appears that Facebook could be considered as a supplementary l...

Productive knowledge of collocations may predict academic literacy

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Van Dyk, Tobie

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present study examines the relationship between productive knowledge of collocations and academic literacy among first year students at North-West University. Participants were administered a collocation test, the items of which were selected from Nation’s (2006 word frequency bands, i.e. the 2000-word, 3000-word, 5000-word bands; and the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000. The scores from the collocation test were compared to those from the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (version administered in 2012. The results of this study indicate that, overall, knowledge of collocations is significantly correlated with academic literacy, which is also observed at each of the frequency bands from which the items were selected. These results support Nizonkiza’s (2014 findings that a significant correlation between mastery of collocations of words from the Academic Word List and academic literacy exists; which is extended here to words from other frequency bands. They also confirm previous findings that productive knowledge of collocations increases alongside overall proficiency (cf. Gitsaki, 1999; Bonk, 2001; Eyckmans et al., 2004; Boers et al., 2006; Nizonkiza, 2011; among others. This study therefore concludes that growth in productive knowledge of collocations may entail growth in academic literacy; suggesting that productive use of collocations is linked to academic literacy to a considerable extent. In light of these findings, teaching strategies aimed to assist first year students meet academic demands posed by higher education and avenues to explore for further research are discussed. Especially, we suggest adopting a productive oriented approach to teaching collocations, which we believe may prove useful.

Do knowledge, knowledge sources and reasoning skills affect the accuracy of nursing diagnoses? a randomised study.

Science.gov (United States)

Paans, Wolter; Sermeus, Walter; Nieweg, Roos Mb; Krijnen, Wim P; van der Schans, Cees P

2012-08-01

This paper reports a study about the effect of knowledge sources, such as handbooks, an assessment format and a predefined record structure for diagnostic documentation, as well as the influence of knowledge, disposition toward critical thinking and reasoning skills, on the accuracy of nursing diagnoses.Knowledge sources can support nurses in deriving diagnoses. A nurse's disposition toward critical thinking and reasoning skills is also thought to influence the accuracy of his or her nursing diagnoses. A randomised factorial design was used in 2008-2009 to determine the effect of knowledge sources. We used the following instruments to assess the influence of ready knowledge, disposition, and reasoning skills on the accuracy of diagnoses: (1) a knowledge inventory, (2) the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, and (3) the Health Science Reasoning Test. Nurses (n = 249) were randomly assigned to one of four factorial groups, and were instructed to derive diagnoses based on an assessment interview with a simulated patient/actor. The use of a predefined record structure resulted in a significantly higher accuracy of nursing diagnoses. A regression analysis reveals that almost half of the variance in the accuracy of diagnoses is explained by the use of a predefined record structure, a nurse's age and the reasoning skills of `deduction' and `analysis'. Improving nurses' dispositions toward critical thinking and reasoning skills, and the use of a predefined record structure, improves accuracy of nursing diagnoses.

Do knowledge, knowledge sources and reasoning skills affect the accuracy of nursing diagnoses? a randomised study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paans Wolter

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper reports a study about the effect of knowledge sources, such as handbooks, an assessment format and a predefined record structure for diagnostic documentation, as well as the influence of knowledge, disposition toward critical thinking and reasoning skills, on the accuracy of nursing diagnoses. Knowledge sources can support nurses in deriving diagnoses. A nurse’s disposition toward critical thinking and reasoning skills is also thought to influence the accuracy of his or her nursing diagnoses. Method A randomised factorial design was used in 2008–2009 to determine the effect of knowledge sources. We used the following instruments to assess the influence of ready knowledge, disposition, and reasoning skills on the accuracy of diagnoses: (1 a knowledge inventory, (2 the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, and (3 the Health Science Reasoning Test. Nurses (n = 249 were randomly assigned to one of four factorial groups, and were instructed to derive diagnoses based on an assessment interview with a simulated patient/actor. Results The use of a predefined record structure resulted in a significantly higher accuracy of nursing diagnoses. A regression analysis reveals that almost half of the variance in the accuracy of diagnoses is explained by the use of a predefined record structure, a nurse’s age and the reasoning skills of `deduction’ and `analysis’. Conclusions Improving nurses’ dispositions toward critical thinking and reasoning skills, and the use of a predefined record structure, improves accuracy of nursing diagnoses.

Metaphors for Knowledge in Knowledge Intensive Groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Linda

We live in a knowledge society. This fact places certain demands on education, cooperation, knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, knowledge workers, knowledge communication and on management. However it also places demands on our perception of knowledge. Theory would suggest a number of different....... The dataset of the dissertation consists of six conversations of six creative startups. In addition one case from a large Danish food production company was studied. All seven groups were taken through the same process. First they built three buildings in toy bricks of the brand LEGO Serious Play...... cognitive process rather than a number of individual processes. The dissertation is a compilation of four contributions in addition to an introductory part on theory and methodology and a concluding part. The four contributions are: 1. A book chapter for Handbook of Language and Metaphor to be published...

Knowledge Sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holdt Christensen, Peter

The concept of knowledge management has, indeed, become a buzzword that every single organization is expected to practice and live by. Knowledge management is about managing the organization's knowledge for the common good of the organization -but practicing knowledge management is not as simple...... as that. This article focuses on knowledge sharing as the process seeking to reduce the resources spent on reinventing the wheel.The article introduces the concept of time sensitiveness; i.e. that knowledge is either urgently needed, or not that urgently needed. Furthermore, knowledge sharing...... is considered as either a push or pull system. Four strategies for sharing knowledge - help, post-it, manuals and meeting, and advice are introduced. Each strategy requires different channels for sharing knowledge. An empirical analysis in a production facility highlights how the strategies can be practiced....

Exploring the Associations Among Nutrition, Science, and Mathematics Knowledge for an Integrative, Food-Based Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Stage, Virginia C; Kolasa, Kathryn M; Díaz, Sebastián R; Duffrin, Melani W

2018-01-01

Explore associations between nutrition, science, and mathematics knowledge to provide evidence that integrating food/nutrition education in the fourth-grade curriculum may support gains in academic knowledge. Secondary analysis of a quasi-experimental study. Sample included 438 students in 34 fourth-grade classrooms across North Carolina and Ohio; mean age 10 years old; gender (I = 53.2% female; C = 51.6% female). Dependent variable = post-test-nutrition knowledge; independent variables = baseline-nutrition knowledge, and post-test science and mathematics knowledge. Analyses included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. The hypothesized model predicted post-nutrition knowledge (F(437) = 149.4, p mathematics knowledge were predictive of nutrition knowledge indicating use of an integrative science and mathematics curriculum to improve academic knowledge may also simultaneously improve nutrition knowledge among fourth-grade students. Teachers can benefit from integration by meeting multiple academic standards, efficiently using limited classroom time, and increasing nutrition education provided in the classroom. © 2018, American School Health Association.

The relationship between chiropractor required and current level of business knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciolfi, Michael Anthony; Kasen, Patsy Anne

2017-01-01

Chiropractors frequently practice within health care systems requiring the business acumen of an entrepreneur. However, some chiropractors do not know the relationship between the level of business knowledge required for practice success and their current level of business knowledge. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between chiropractors' perceived level of business knowledge required and their perceived level of current business knowledge. Two hundred and seventy-four participants completed an online survey (Health Care Training and Education Needs Survey) which included eight key business items. Participants rated the level of perceived business knowledge required (Part I) and their current perceived level of knowledge (Part II) for the same eight items. Data was collected from November 27, 2013 to December 18, 2013. Data were analyzed using Spearman's ranked correlation to determine the statistically significant relationships for the perceived level of knowledge required and the perceived current level of knowledge for each of the paired eight items from Parts I and II of the survey. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests were performed to determine the statistical difference between the paired items. The results of Spearman's correlation testing indicated a statistically significant ( p business items (6 of 8) however a statistically difference was demonstrated in only three of the paired business items. The implications of this study for social change include the potential to improve chiropractors' business knowledge and skills, enable practice success, enhance health services delivery and positively influence the profession as a viable career.

Knowledge Repository for Fmea Related Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Cândea, Gabriela Simona; Kifor, Claudiu Vasile; Cândea, Ciprian

2014-11-01

This paper presents innovative usage of knowledge system into Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) process using the ontology to represent the knowledge. Knowledge system is built to serve multi-projects work that nowadays are in place in any manufacturing or services provider, and knowledge must be retained and reused at the company level and not only at project level. The system is following the FMEA methodology and the validation of the concept is compliant with the automotive industry standards published by Automotive Industry Action Group, and not only. Collaboration is assured trough web-based GUI that supports multiple users access at any time

Developing measures for information ergonomics in knowledge work.

Science.gov (United States)

Franssila, Heljä; Okkonen, Jussi; Savolainen, Reijo

2016-03-01

Information ergonomics is an evolving application domain of ergonomics focusing on the management of workload in the real-world contexts of information-intensive tasks. This study introduces a method for the evaluation of information ergonomics in knowledge work. To this end, five key dimensions of information ergonomics were identified: contextual factors of knowledge work, multitasking, interruptions at work, practices for managing information load, and perceived job control and productivity. In total, 24 measures focusing on the above dimensions were constructed. The measures include, for example, the number of fragmented work tasks per work day. The measures were preliminarily tested in two Finnish organisations, making use of empirical data gathered by interviews, electronic questionnaires and log data applications tracking work processes on personal computers. The measures are applicable to the evaluation of information ergonomics, even though individual measures vary with regard to the amount of work and time needed for data analysis. Practitioner Summary: The study introduces a method for the evaluation of information ergonomics in knowledge work. To this end, 24 measures were constructed and tested empirically. The measures focus on contextual factors of knowledge work, multitasking, interruptions at work, practices for managing information load, and perceived job control and productivity.

An approach to knowledge management for EUROSAFE projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldschmidt, F.; Gelder, P. De; Beraha, D.

2005-01-01

The objective of a knowledge management system (KMS) in the field of Nuclear Safety Assessment is to keep competence in expertise and research at the best level. This contribution proposes a diagram of KM organization associated with the Eurosafe Safety Assessment Guide project proposal. The aim of the KM action is to test and bring forward a generic and perennial method of knowledge management adapted to the safety culture. It will be interested to support the access to information useful for the practices of expertise by organizing a knowledge mapping, supporting the exchanges of know-how by the consolidation of a competence network and the externalization of expert knowledge. This article presents the actions in progress at AVN, GRS and IRSN, and suggests some principles based on experience feedbacks drawn from the literature. It is not supposed to be exhaustive but rather to encourage other Technical Support Organizations to take part in this KM action associated with the technical project. We suggest to organize the KM action in three phases: (1) definition of a KM Strategy adapted to the technical project; (2) implementation of KM selected actions (actors sensitization, tests of KM methods, etc); (3) choice and fulfillment of effective and perennial KM solutions. (authors)

Competence in the musculoskeletal system: assessing the progression of knowledge through an undergraduate medical course.

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, Subhashis; Roberts, Chris; Newble, David I; Snaith, Michael

2004-12-01

Professional bodies have expressed concerns that medical students lack appropriate knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine despite its high prevalence of use within the community. Changes in curriculum and teaching strategies may be contributing factors to this. There is little evidence to evaluate the degree to which these concerns are justified. To design and evaluate an assessment procedure that tests the progress of medical students in achieving a core level of knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine during the course. A stratified sample of 136 volunteer students from all 5 years of the medical course at Sheffield University. The progress test concept was adapted to provide a cross-sectional view of student knowledge gain during each year of the course. A test was devised which aimed to provide an assessment of competence set at the standard required of the newly qualified doctor in understanding basic and clinical sciences relevant to musculoskeletal medicine. The test was blueprinted against internal and external guidelines. It comprised 40 multiple-choice and extended matching questions administered by computer. Six musculoskeletal practitioners set the standard using a modified Angoff procedure. Test reliability was 0.6 (Cronbach's alpha). Mean scores of students increased from 41% in Year 1 to 84% by the final year. Data suggest that, from a baseline score in Year 1, there is a disparate experience of learning in Year 2 that evens out in Year 3, with knowledge progression becoming more consistent thereafter. All final year participants scored above the standard predicted by the Angoff procedure. This short computer-based test was a feasible method of estimating student knowledge acquisition in musculoskeletal medicine across the undergraduate curriculum. Tested students appear to have acquired a satisfactory knowledge base by the end of the course. Knowledge gain seemed relatively independent of specialty-specific clinical training. Proposals from specialty

An Object-oriented Knowledge Link Model for General Knowledge Management

OpenAIRE

Xiao-hong, CHEN; Bang-chuan, LAI

2005-01-01

The knowledge link is the basic on knowledge share and the indispensable part in knowledge standardization management. In this paper, a object-oriented knowledge link model is proposed for general knowledge management by using objectoriented representation based on knowledge levels system. In the model, knowledge link is divided into general knowledge link and integrated knowledge with corresponding link properties and methods. What’s more, its BNF syntax is described and designed.

Organisation of biotechnological information into knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Boh, B

1996-09-01

The success of biotechnological research, development and marketing depends to a large extent on the international transfer of information and on the ability to organise biotechnology information into knowledge. To increase the efficiency of information-based approaches, an information strategy has been developed and consists of the following stages: definition of the problem, its structure and sub-problems; acquisition of data by targeted processing of computer-supported bibliographic, numeric, textual and graphic databases; analysis of data and building of specialized in-house information systems; information processing for structuring data into systems, recognition of trends and patterns of knowledge, particularly by information synthesis using the concept of information density; design of research hypotheses; testing hypotheses in the laboratory and/or pilot plant; repeated evaluation and optimization of hypotheses by information methods and testing them by further laboratory work. The information approaches are illustrated by examples from the university-industry joint projects in biotechnology, biochemistry and agriculture.

Effectiveness of a short-course in improving knowledge and skills on evidence-based practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiménez-Villa Josep

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To assess the effectiveness (change in knowledge and skills measured by the Fresno test of a short course in Evidence Based Practice (EBP carried out in a group of family medicine residents Methods Before-after study. Participants' were 152 Family Medicine residents in their second year of the training programme. Settings were Primary Care Teaching Units in Catalonia. Intervention was comprised of a four half-day training course designed to develop the knowledge and skills required to practice evidence-based care. The main outcome measure was change in EBP knowledge and skills, measured using the Spanish version of the Fresno test (score range, 0-212 Results The mean difference between pre-test and post-test was 47.7, a statistically significant result with 95% CI of 42.8-52.5 (p Conclusions The study provides evidence for responsiveness to changes in knowledge and skills in EBP after an educational intervention.

Paradigms of knowledge management with systems modelling case studies

CERN Document Server

Pandey, Krishna Nath

2016-01-01

This book has been written by studying the knowledge management implementation at POWERGRID India, one of the largest power distribution companies in the world. The patterns which have led to models, both hypothesized and data-enabled, have been provided. The book suggests ways and means to follow for knowledge management implementation, especially for organizations with multiple business verticals to follow. The book underlines that knowledge is both an entity and organizational asset which can be managed. A holistic view of knowledge management implementation has been provided. It also emphasizes the phenomenological importance of human resource parameters as compared to that of technological parameters. Various hypotheses have been tested to validate the significant models hypothesized. This work will prove useful to corporations, researchers, and independent professionals working to study or implement knowledge management paradigms.

Socioscientific Argumentation: The effects of content knowledge and morality

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Troy D.; Donnelly, Lisa A.

2006-10-01

Broad support exists within the science education community for the incorporation of socioscientific issues (SSI) and argumentation in the science curriculum. This study investigates how content knowledge and morality contribute to the quality of SSI argumentation among high school students. We employed a mixed-methods approach: 56 participants completed tests of content knowledge and moral reasoning as well as interviews, related to SSI topics, which were scored based on a rubric for argumentation quality. Multiple regression analyses revealed no statistically significant relationships among content knowledge, moral reasoning, and argumentation quality. Qualitative analyses of the interview transcripts supported the quantitative results in that participants very infrequently revealed patterns of content knowledge application. However, most of the participants did perceive the SSI as moral problems. We propose a “Threshold Model of Knowledge Transfer” to account for the relationship between content knowledge and argumentation quality. Implications for science education are discussed.

One knowledge base or many knowledge pools?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundvall, Bengt-Åke

It is increasingly realized that knowledge is the most important resource and that learning is the most important process in the economy. Sometimes this is expressed by coining the current era as characterised by a ‘knowledge based economy'. But this concept might be misleading by indicating...... that there is one common knowledge base on which economic activities can be built. In this paper we argue that it is more appropriate to see the economy as connecting to different ‘pools of knowledge'. The argument is built upon a conceptual framework where we make distinctions between private/public, local....../global, individual/collective and tacit/codified knowledge. The purpose is both ‘academic' and practical. Our analysis demonstrates the limits of a narrowly economic perspective on knowledge and we show that these distinctions have important implications both for innovation policy and for management of innovation....

A Structural Knowledge Representation Approach in Emergency Knowledge Reorganization

OpenAIRE

Wang, Qingquan; Rong, Lili

2007-01-01

Facing complicate problems in emergency responses, decision makers should acquire sufficient background knowledge for efficient decision-making. Emergency knowledge acquired can be a kind of special product that is transferred among emergency decision makers and functional departments. The processing of knowledge product motivates the emergency knowledge decomposition and event-oriented knowledge integration, i.e. knowledge reorganization. Supported by the semantic power of category theory, t...

Knowledge regarding noncytotoxic medication extravasation among registered nurses working in western Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sisan, Mo'men; Rayan, Ahmad; Elmorsy, Soha; Elyan, Hamza; Salahat, Mosab

2018-03-01

Extravasation and infiltration are among the most common intravenous therapy complications. For noncytotoxic agents, the incidence of extravasation remains unknown. There has been little research into extravasation due to ethical considerations limiting controlled research; most evidences are based on small, uncontrolled trials or case reports. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge level regarding noncytotoxic medications extravasation and its associated factors among staff nurses.A descriptive correlational design using self-administered questionnaire was employed. A convenience sample of 387 nurses completed a questionnaire about noncytotoxic medication extravasation. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 was used to analyze data by applying the chi-square test, t test, and the Mann-Whitney test to assess the knowledge difference between open and closed units' nurses.The results indicate that only 19.6% of nurses have a good knowledge about noncytotoxic medications extravasation. There was consistently poor staff knowledge regarding noncytotoxic medications extravasation. Although the closed units' nurses reported relatively higher level of knowledge than open units' nurses, their level of knowledge still inadequate. Health care organizations must consider developing specific policies regarding extravasation. Closed and open units' nurses should be enrolled in special education programs to improve their level of knowledge regarding noncytotoxic medication extravasation. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.