The IDEFICS Community-Oriented Intervention Programme

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Henauw, Stefaan; Verbestel, Vera; Mårild, Staffan

2011-01-01

to develop new pathways for sustainable health-promoting communities. Against this background, the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study developed and implemented innovative community-oriented intervention programmes for obesity....... The sphere of action encompassed both children and their (grand) parents, schools, local public authorities and influential stakeholders in the community. All materials for the interventions were centrally developed and culturally adapted. Results: So far, the following has been achieved: focus group...... research, literature review and expert consultations were done in an early phase as a basis for the development of the intervention modules. The intervention mapping protocol was followed as guide for structuring the intervention research. The overall intervention programme's duration was 2 years...

Feasibility of an experiential community garden and nutrition programme for youth living in public housing.

Science.gov (United States)

Grier, Karissa; Hill, Jennie L; Reese, Felicia; Covington, Constance; Bennette, Franchennette; MacAuley, Lorien; Zoellner, Jamie

2015-10-01

Few published community garden studies have focused on low socio-economic youth living in public housing or used a community-based participatory research approach in conjunction with youth-focused community garden programmes. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility (i.e. demand, acceptability, implementation and limited-effectiveness testing) of a 10-week experiential theory-based gardening and nutrition education programme targeting youth living in public housing. In this mixed-methods feasibility study, demand and acceptability were measured using a combination of pre- and post-programme surveys and interviews. Implementation was measured via field notes and attendance. Limited-effectiveness was measured quantitatively using a pre-post design and repeated-measures ANOVA tests. Two public housing sites in the Dan River Region of south central Virginia, USA. Forty-three youth (primarily African American), twenty-five parents and two site leaders. The positive demand and acceptability findings indicate the high potential of the programme to be used and be suitable for the youth, parents and site leaders. Field notes revealed numerous implementation facilitators and barriers. Youth weekly attendance averaged 4·6 of 10 sessions. Significant improvements (Pgardening knowledge, knowledge of MyPlate recommendations), but not all limited-effectiveness measures (e.g. willingness to try fruits and vegetables, fruit and vegetable eating self-efficacy). This community-based participatory research study demonstrates numerous factors that supported and threatened the feasibility of a gardening and nutrition programme targeting youth in public housing. Lessons learned are being used to adapt and strengthen the programme for future efforts targeting fruit and vegetable behaviours.

The European Community programmes in the sector of wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamantaras, K.; Ferrero, G.L.

1992-01-01

The wind technology market has known a considerable evolution over the last decade. From the early eighties - when there were only a few kilowatts of the research prototype wind turbines installed - the total installed capacity within the European Community has reached nowadays more than 765 MW in commercial machines. This expansion has been brought about with the aid of important R and D energy technology programmes run by national governments, and by the Commission of European Communities with its research, development, demonstration and market development programmes, such as the JOULE, demonstration and THERMIE programmes. This paper presents the activities of the Community demonstration and THERMIE programmes in the wind energy sector from 1983 to 1992. Reference is also made to the Community programmes JOULE II and ALTENER. (au)

VirRAD - The virtual radiopharmacy - a virtual learning community in radiopharmacy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mather, S.J.

2002-01-01

VirRAD is a new research project funded by the Information Society Technologies programme of the Fifth RTD Framework Programme of the European Union. The aim of VirRAD is to develop an Internet-based virtual learning environment for Radiopharmacy which will facilitate learning and understanding in the speciality at all levels both within and outside the radiopharmaceutical community. The final structure of VirRAD is yet to be decided and will be determined by the needs and desires of its ultimate participants, however it is expected to include multimedia teaching modules for distance learning applications, 3-D simulations of specialised equipment and complex techniques used in radiopharmaceutical preparation and research as well as improved systems of peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor communication and information retrieval. To be as useful and effective as possible VirRAD needs ideas and suggestions from the Nuclear Medicine community. A mechanism for obtaining such input and feedback will be an integral part of the development process

581 influence of community development programmes

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Osondu

The study examined the socio-economic empowerment of rural women as a correlate of community development ... corporations did not follow the principle of community development in the intervention programmes because ..... In the third stage, quota sampling technique was .... Research Papers, Issue 07/07, European.

Forging Professional Learning Communities: The Role of External Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Sperandio, Jill; Kong, Peggy A.

2018-01-01

This article explored the effects of external agency on the establishment of professional learning communities (PLCs). The research was undertaken in the context of schools that have chosen to adopt the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB) worldwide. The study employed a two-stage qualitative sequential design…

How to develop students’ approaches to learning: Experiences from a programme based on co-regulated learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stančić Milan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Starting from the insight that during their education students do not manage to learn how to learn, we created the programme called Blooming with the intention of enabling the students to reconsider their own approaches to learning by developing collaborative activities and relations in the classroom. The programme was realised in a secondary school class, and research goals were to explore the contribution of the programme to the change in students’ approach to learning - regarding the learning motivation and strategies - and to obtain an insight into students’ perspective of the benefits of the programme. The changes in learning strategies and students’ motivation were investigated using the MSLQ before and after programme attendance. The data on the programme benefits were obtained via focus groups with students and analysed by the thematic content analysis. It has been established that the students achieved a significant improvement when it comes to the mastering of the learning strategies that refer to self-regulation, critical thinking, peer learning and help seeking. In addition, the students pointed out as benefits a different method of work and pleasant atmosphere, the feeling of autonomy in classes, as well as the development of a different understanding of the nature of knowledge, the learning process and instruction. The results indicate that the use of Bloom’s taxonomy as the tool for co-regulated learning and self-evaluation of students can contribute to the change in students’ learning approaches. This finding is relevant for further considering of the possibility for this method to grow from a special programme into everyday teaching practice.

Demand generation and social mobilisation for integrated community case management (iCCM) and child health: Lessons learned from successful programmes in Niger and Mozambique.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharkey, Alyssa B; Martin, Sandrine; Cerveau, Teresa; Wetzler, Erica; Berzal, Rocio

2014-12-01

We present the approaches used in and outcomes resulting from integrated community case management (iCCM) programmes in Niger and Mozambique with a strong focus on demand generation and social mobilisation. We use a case study approach to describe the programme and contextual elements of the Niger and Mozambique programmes. Awareness and utilisation of iCCM services and key family practices increased following the implementation of the Niger and Mozambique iCCM and child survival programmes, as did care-seeking within 24 hours and care-seeking from appropriate, trained providers in Mozambique. These approaches incorporated interpersonal communication activities and community empowerment/participation for collective change, partnerships and networks among key stakeholder groups within communities, media campaigns and advocacy efforts with local and national leaders. iCCM programmes that train and equip community health workers and successfully engage and empower community members to adopt new behaviours, have appropriate expectations and to trust community health workers' ability to assess and treat illnesses can lead to improved care-seeking and utilisation, and community ownership for iCCM.

Demand generation and social mobilisation for integrated community case management (iCCM and child health: Lessons learned from successful programmes in Niger and Mozambique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alyssa B Sharkey

2014-11-01

Full Text Available We present the approaches used in and outcomes resulting from integrated community case management (iCCM programmes in Niger and Mozambique with a strong focus on demand generation and social mobilisation. We use a case study approach to describe the programme and contextual elements of the Niger and Mozambique programmes. Awareness and utilisation of iCCM services and key family practices increased following the implementation of the Niger and Mozambique iCCM and child survival programmes, as did care–seeking within 24 hours and care–seeking from appropriate, trained providers in Mozambique. These approaches incorporated interpersonal communication activities and community empowerment/participation for collective change, partnerships and networks among key stakeholder groups within communities, media campaigns and advocacy efforts with local and national leaders. iCCM programmes that train and equip community health workers and successfully engage and empower community members to adopt new behaviours, have appropriate expectations and to trust community health workers’ ability to assess and treat illnesses can lead to improved care–seeking and utilisation, and community ownership for iCCM.

Community facilitation of problem structuring and decision making processes: Experiences from the EU LEADER+ programme

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vidal, Rene Victor Valqui

2009-01-01

This paper reports on the work carried out supporting a rural community in Denmark under the LEADER+ programme. This is a programme that supports development in particularly vulnerable rural regions of the European countries members of EU. It supports creative and innovative projects that can...... contribute to long-term and sustainable development in these regions. The main tasks have been the organisation and facilitation of conferences and workshops to structure the problematic situation of identifying and designing innovative projects for the development of the community and to support decision...... making processes related to the agreement on action plans. Learning to design, plan, manage and facilitate conferences and workshops have also being another central activity. The main purpose of these conferences and workshops was not only problem structuring and decision making in connection...

Student teachers' experiences of a learning programme based on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this article is to explore student teachers' experiences of the content dimension of the essential features of technology and Technology Education in an OBE related learning programme. To achieve this, a learning programme was developed using criteria derived from these essential features. In gauging ...

Establishing a pharmacotherapy induced ototoxicity programme within a service-learning approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie Schellack

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity is growing, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. This highlights the importance of ototoxicity monitoring and management of hearing loss. This article focuses on the establishment of an ototoxicity clinic as a site for the implementation of a service-learning module in the Audiology programme. The clinic offers a unique opportunity of collaboration between pharmacists and an audiologist where pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity is uniquely monitored. The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU provides training to both the disciplines audiology and pharmacy. The main aim of this article is to describe how ototoxicity monitoring is implemented in the curriculum within such an academic service-learning approach. Through service learning students develop a deeper understanding of course content, acquire new knowledge and engage in civic activity. It simultaneously provides a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines of audiology and pharmacy. The objectives for this programme are therefore to facilitate learning and to provide a service to the local community by identifying, preventing and monitoring medicine-induced hearing loss in in-hospital and out-patients; as well as to establish inter-disciplinary collaboration between the disciplines and stakeholders for more effective service delivery. The constant interdisciplinary teamwork between the audiologist, pharmacist, physician and nursing staff in the wards results in best practice and management of patients with ototoxic damage.

Does individual learning styles influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting?

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Mikael; Östergren, Jan; Fors, Uno; Rickenlund, Anette; Jorfeldt, Lennart; Caidahl, Kenneth; Bolinder, Gunilla

2012-01-16

The compressed curriculum in modern knowledge-intensive medicine demands useful tools to achieve approved learning aims in a limited space of time. Web-based learning can be used in different ways to enhance learning. Little is however known regarding its optimal utilisation. Our aim was to investigate if the individual learning styles of medical students influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting. The programme, with three types of modules (learning content, self-assessment questions and interactive ECG interpretation training), was offered on a voluntary basis during a face to face ECG learning course for undergraduate medical students. The Index of Learning Styles (ILS) and a general questionnaire including questions about computer and Internet usage, preferred future speciality and prior experience of E-learning were used to explore different factors related to the choice of using the programme or not. 93 (76%) out of 123 students answered the ILS instrument and 91 the general questionnaire. 55 students (59%) were defined as users of the web-based ECG-interpretation programme. Cronbach's alpha was analysed with coefficients above 0.7 in all of the four dimensions of ILS. There were no significant differences with regard to learning styles, as assessed by ILS, between the user and non-user groups; Active/Reflective; Visual/Verbal; Sensing/Intuitive; and Sequential/Global (p = 0.56-0.96). Neither did gender, prior experience of E-learning or preference for future speciality differ between groups. Among medical students, neither learning styles according to ILS, nor a number of other characteristics seem to influence the choice to use a web-based ECG programme. This finding was consistent also when the usage of the different modules in the programme were considered. Thus, the findings suggest that web-based learning may attract a broad variety of medical students.

Governance in community based health programmes in I.R of Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Falahat, Katayoun; Eftekhari, Monir Baradaran; Malekafzali, Hossein; Forouzan, Ameneh Setareh; Dejman, Masoumeh

2013-02-01

To assess the nature of community-based health programme experience in Iran, and use the results in order to advocate more friendly policies in community, academy and funding organisations. The qualitative study was done in 2010-11 at various locations in Iran using semi structural in-depth interviews with the principals and managers of programmes, and focus group discussions with volunteers and service users of 13 Community Based Health Programmes which were active for at least five years. A total of 21 in-depth interviews and 20 focus group discussions were conducted. Data analysis was based on deductive-inductive content analysis approach considering the pre-determined structure in accordance with the study questions. The participants' views were analysed within the main category of governance, including the three sub-categories of leadership, monitoring and evaluation, and resource mobilisation. According to the participants, governmental programmes have centralised decision-making and management processes and local volunteers have no role in selecting managers at different levels of a programme. Such programmes are funded by the governmental core resources. In non-government organisations, resources available for such purposes mainly come through charitable individuals, service delivery fees and profitable economical activities, financial participation of volunteers and by using other organisations' facilities. In most programmes, there were no systematic process for monitoring and evaluation. Community-based Health programmes in Iran need to be revised in line with the positive input.There is a need to have community-based units within the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and other relevant organisations.

Evaluation of different delivery modes of an interactive e-learning programme for teaching cultural diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawthorne, Kamila; Prout, Hayley; Kinnersley, Paul; Houston, Helen

2009-01-01

UK medical schools find it challenging to provide standardised teaching to expanding year intakes. In addition, developing and implementing diversity training can cause difficulties. This paper describes the evaluation of an interactive e-learning programme to raise awareness and understanding of communication difficulties in diversity consultations. The programme was part of an undergraduate portfolio-based community module. Three hundred and two students were assigned to one of three delivery methods--a large group setting, small groups with a facilitator, and as part of distance learning while on community placement. The evaluation included analysis of their coursework marks, a self-completed evaluation questionnaire, and small group discussions. Two hundred and twenty-three students took part in the evaluation. They were able to apply the concepts they learnt to clinical examples from their own experiences. Type of delivery did not affect coursework marks, but students tended to prefer the e-learning as part of a distance learning package. They offered helpful suggestions to improve its complexity and range. The acceptability and utility of this e-learning module both in face to face teaching and remote placement has been demonstrated, and evaluation by the students has provided valuable information for its further development. All medical schools should include some diversity training, and further research should concentrate on the effects of this type of learning on longer term outcomes such as attitude and performance tests. Such tools could reduce demands on staff time in facilitation of small groupwork, and their cost effectiveness could be increased by making them available to other medical schools.

Review of performance-based incentives in community-based family planning programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Bellows, Nicole M; Askew, Ian; Bellows, Benjamin

2015-01-01

Background One strategy for improving family planning (FP) uptake at the community level is the use of performance-based incentives (PBIs), which offer community distributors financial incentives to recruit more users of FP. This article examines the use of PBIs in community-based FP programmes via a literature search of the peer-reviewed and grey literature conducted in April 2013. Results A total of 28 community-based FP programmes in 21 countries were identified as having used PBIs. The most common approach was a sales commission model where distributors received commission for FP products sold, while a referral payment model for long-term methods was also used extensively. Six evaluations were identified that specifically examined the impact of the PBI in community-based FP programmes. Overall, the results of the evaluations are mixed and more research is needed; however, the findings suggest that easy-to-understand PBIs can be successful in increasing the use of FP at the community level. Conclusion For future use of PBIs in community-based FP programmes it is important to consider the ethics of incentivising FP and ensuring that PBIs are non-coercive and choice-enhancing. PMID:25037703

Social acceptability and perceived impact of a community-led cash transfer programme in Zimbabwe.

Science.gov (United States)

Skovdal, Morten; Mushati, Phyllis; Robertson, Laura; Munyati, Shungu; Sherr, Lorraine; Nyamukapa, Constance; Gregson, Simon

2013-04-15

Cash transfer programmes are increasingly recognised as promising and scalable interventions that can promote the health and development of children. However, concerns have been raised about the potential for cash transfers to contribute to social division, jealousy and conflict at a community level. Against this background, and in our interest to promote community participation in cash transfer programmes, we examine local perceptions of a community-led cash transfer programme in Eastern Zimbabwe. We collected and analysed data from 35 individual interviews and three focus group discussions, involving 24 key informants (community committee members and programme implementers), 24 cash transfer beneficiaries, of which four were youth, and 14 non-beneficiaries. Transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis and coding to generate concepts. Study participants described the programme as participatory, fair and transparent - reducing the likelihood of jealousy. The programme was perceived to have had a substantial impact on children's health and education, primarily through aiding parents and guardians to better cater for their children's needs. Moreover, participants alluded to the potential of the programme to facilitate more transformational change, for example by enabling families to invest money in assets and income generating activities and by promoting a community-wide sense of responsibility for the support of orphaned and vulnerable children. Community participation, combined with the perceived impact of the cash transfer programme, led community members to speak enthusiastically about the programme. We conclude that community-led cash transfer programmes have the potential to open up for possibilities of participation and community agency that enable social acceptability and limit social divisiveness.

TEACHING METHODS IN MBA AND LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMMES FOR MANAGERS

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Jarošová, Eva

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Teaching methods in MBA and Lifelong Learning Programmes (LLP for managers should be topically relevant in terms of content as well as the teaching methods used. In terms of the content, the integral part of MBA and Lifelong Learning Programmes for managers should be the development of participants’ leadership competencies and their understanding of current leadership concepts. The teaching methods in educational programmes for managers as adult learners should correspond to the strategy of learner-centred teaching that focuses on the participants’ learning process and their active involvement in class. The focus on the participants’ learning process also raises questions about whether the programme’s participants perceive the teaching methods used as useful and relevant for their development as leaders. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the responses to these questions in a sample of 54 Czech participants in the MBA programme and of lifelong learning programmes at the University of Economics, Prague. The data was acquired based on written or electronically submitted questionnaires. The data was analysed in relation to the usefulness of the teaching methods for understanding the concepts of leadership, leadership skills development as well as respondents’ personal growth. The results show that the respondents most valued the methods that enabled them to get feedback, activated them throughout the programme and got them involved in discussions with others in class. Implications for managerial education practices are discussed.

A Teaching System To Learn Programming: the Programmer's Learning Machine

OpenAIRE

Quinson , Martin; Oster , Gérald

2015-01-01

International audience; The Programmer's Learning Machine (PLM) is an interactive exerciser for learning programming and algorithms. Using an integrated and graphical environment that provides a short feedback loop, it allows students to learn in a (semi)-autonomous way. This generic platform also enables teachers to create specific programming microworlds that match their teaching goals. This paper discusses our design goals and motivations, introduces the existing material and the proposed ...

Does individual learning styles influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilsson Mikael

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The compressed curriculum in modern knowledge-intensive medicine demands useful tools to achieve approved learning aims in a limited space of time. Web-based learning can be used in different ways to enhance learning. Little is however known regarding its optimal utilisation. Our aim was to investigate if the individual learning styles of medical students influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting. Methods The programme, with three types of modules (learning content, self-assessment questions and interactive ECG interpretation training, was offered on a voluntary basis during a face to face ECG learning course for undergraduate medical students. The Index of Learning Styles (ILS and a general questionnaire including questions about computer and Internet usage, preferred future speciality and prior experience of E-learning were used to explore different factors related to the choice of using the programme or not. Results 93 (76% out of 123 students answered the ILS instrument and 91 the general questionnaire. 55 students (59% were defined as users of the web-based ECG-interpretation programme. Cronbach's alpha was analysed with coefficients above 0.7 in all of the four dimensions of ILS. There were no significant differences with regard to learning styles, as assessed by ILS, between the user and non-user groups; Active/Reflective; Visual/Verbal; Sensing/Intuitive; and Sequential/Global (p = 0.56-0.96. Neither did gender, prior experience of E-learning or preference for future speciality differ between groups. Conclusion Among medical students, neither learning styles according to ILS, nor a number of other characteristics seem to influence the choice to use a web-based ECG programme. This finding was consistent also when the usage of the different modules in the programme were considered. Thus, the findings suggest that web-based learning may attract a broad variety of medical

The Artificial Intelligence Applications to Learning Programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Noel

1992-01-01

Explains the Artificial Intelligence Applications to Learning Programme, which was developed in the United Kingdom to explore and accelerate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in learning in both the educational and industrial sectors. Highlights include program evaluation, marketing, ownership of information, consortia, and cost…

Does individual learning styles influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting?

OpenAIRE

Nilsson, Mikael; ?stergren, Jan; Fors, Uno; Rickenlund, Anette; Jorfeldt, Lennart; Caidahl, Kenneth; Bolinder, Gunilla

2012-01-01

Abstract Background The compressed curriculum in modern knowledge-intensive medicine demands useful tools to achieve approved learning aims in a limited space of time. Web-based learning can be used in different ways to enhance learning. Little is however known regarding its optimal utilisation. Our aim was to investigate if the individual learning styles of medical students influence the choice to use a web-based ECG learning programme in a blended learning setting. Methods The programme, wi...

How experiential learning in an informal setting promotes class equity and social and economic justice for children from "communities at promise": An Australian perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Zyngier, David

2017-02-01

Educational research often portrays culturally, linguistically and economically disenfranchised (CLED) children's disengagement from school learning as individual behaviour, ignoring the contribution of race, gender, socio-cultural, ethnic and social class factors. This paper analyses a specific community engagement programme in Australia which uses experiential learning in an informal setting. The programme, which has been running for seven years, partners pre-service teachers, volunteer high school students and volunteers from a national bank with primary schools where many pupils are experiencing learning difficulties and school engagement problems as a result of their socio-economic status, their poverty, and their ethnic and cultural diversity. Drawing on the perspectives of the children and volunteers participating in the pilot study, and privileging their voices, this paper illustrates how community partnerships may be developed and sustained. The programme's conceptual framework of Connecting-Owning-Responding-Empowering (CORE) pedagogy is explored for its potential to enhance student engagement, achievement and empowerment through focused community involvement. The findings show that when students feel connected to and involved in their community, all participants are empowered in their learning and teaching.

Transition to blended learning: experiences from the first year of our blended learning Bachelor of Nursing Studies programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Sweeney, Mary-Rose; Kirwan, Anne; Kelly, Mary; Corbally, Melissa; O Neill, Sandra; Kirwan, Mary; Hourican, Susan; Matthews, Anne; Hussey, Pamela

2016-10-01

The School of Nursing at Dublin City University offered a new blended learning Bachelor of Nursing Studies programme in the academic year 2011. To document the experiences of the academic team making the transition from a face-to-face classroom-delivered programme to the new blended learning format. Academics who delivered the programme were asked to describe their experiences of developing the new programme via two focus groups. Five dominant themes were identified: Staff Readiness; Student Readiness; Programme Delivery and Student Engagement; Assessment of Module Learning Outcomes and Feedback; and Reflecting on the First Year and Thinking of the Future. Face-to-face tutorials were identified as very important to both academics and students. Reservations about whether migrating the programme to an online format encouraged students to engage in additional practices of plagiarism were expressed by some. Student ability/readiness to engage with technology-enhanced learning was an important determinant of their own success academically. In the field of nursing blended learning is a relatively new and emerging field which will require huge cultural shifts for staff and students alike.

Students’ perception of the learning environment in a distributed medical programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kiran Veerapen

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Background : The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact on students’ achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented. Purpose : To study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004. Method : The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008 of the programme. The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students’ perceptions of learning, students’ perceptions of teachers, students’ academic self-perceptions, students’ perceptions of the atmosphere, and students’ social self-perceptions. Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite differences were calculated. Results : The perception of the global learning environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008 of the programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related to on-site support for students. Conclusions : Shared strengths and weaknesses in the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum. A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing

Students' perception of the learning environment in a distributed medical programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Veerapen, Kiran; McAleer, Sean

2010-09-24

The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact on students' achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented. To study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004. The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008) of the programme. The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students' perceptions of learning, students' perceptions of teachers, students' academic self-perceptions, students' perceptions of the atmosphere, and students' social self-perceptions. Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite differences were calculated. The perception of the global learning environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008) of the programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related to on-site support for students. Shared strengths and weaknesses in the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum. A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing comparative evaluation of the learning environment at the distributed sites and

Increasing health worker capacity through distance learning: a comprehensive review of programmes in Tanzania

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Kisimbo Daniel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tanzania, like many developing countries, faces a crisis in human resources for health. The government has looked for ways to increase the number and skills of health workers, including using distance learning in their training. In 2008, the authors reviewed and assessed the country's current distance learning programmes for health care workers, as well as those in countries with similar human resource challenges, to determine the feasibility of distance learning to meet the need of an increased and more skilled health workforce. Methods Data were collected from 25 distance learning programmes at health training institutions, universities, and non-governmental organizations throughout the country from May to August 2008. Methods included internet research; desk review; telephone, email and mail-in surveys; on-site observations; interviews with programme managers, instructors, students, information technology specialists, preceptors, health care workers and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare representatives; and a focus group with national HIV/AIDS care and treatment organizations. Results Challenges include lack of guidelines for administrators, instructors and preceptors of distance learning programmes regarding roles and responsibilities; absence of competencies for clinical components of curricula; and technological constraints such as lack of access to computers and to the internet. Insufficient funding resulted in personnel shortages, lack of appropriate training for personnel, and lack of materials for students. Nonetheless, current and prospective students expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for scale-up of distance learning because of the unique financial and social benefits offered by these programs. Participants were retained as employees in their health care facilities, and remained in their communities and supported their families while advancing their careers. Space in health training institutions was freed up

Creating an effective learning environment through an E-Learning Instructional Programme (ELIP

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Maria Jakovljevic

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Though numerous research reports have provided a body of information about benefits of e-learning there are barriers such as, asynchronous communication channels, lack of personalisation, which decrease the level of interaction between the learner and instructor [13].The aim of this paper is to discuss and outline a framework on e-learning pedagogical and technology issues which provide a basis for the creation of an e-learning instructional programme (ELIP. The Phase I of this research start with the creation of a framework for an e-learning environment and derivation of the e-learning instructional programme (ELIP; Phase II is aimed to implement a popular audio playback device (iPod and VoIP. In this phase 40 learners, one instructor and three tutors will be observed and their experiences will be evaluated through focus group interviews and documents analysis. This research was based on a qualitative research approach [78],[44].

E-learning Programmes and Courses Evaluation Report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Prag, Sidsel-Marie Winther; Monaco, Lucio

the development, testing, and evaluation of a series of applications for training and entrepreneurship in the field of sustainable energy (project work package 2, 3, and 4). This report describes the project outcomes related to this work stream with focus on E-learning programmes and courses. It represents...... the project deliverable “D3.4 E-learning Programmes and Courses Evaluation Report”. The applications developed for entrepreneurship will be described and evaluated in the project deliverable “D4.3 e-link evaluation report”. The second work stream (work package 5) covers the development of E......-infrastructure eduGAIN2. The access point is a web portal – the VCH Portal – which is used to manage users and groups. The E-infrastructure of VCH will be described and evaluated in the project deliverable “5.4 Virtual Campus Hub Technology Evaluation Report”. The E-learning applications described in this report...

Assessment Guiding Learning: Developing Graduate Qualities in an Experiential Learning Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Clements, Michael David; Cord, Bonnie Amelia

2013-01-01

As industry demands increase for a new type of graduate, there is more pressure than ever before for higher education (HE) to respond by cultivating and developing students who are prepared for these workplace challenges. This paper explores an innovative experiential learning programme built on the principles of work-related learning that…

What promotes sustainability in Safe Community programmes?

Science.gov (United States)

Nordqvist, Cecilia; Timpka, Toomas; Lindqvist, Kent

2009-01-08

The theory and practice of safety promotion has traditionally focused on the safety of individuals. This study also includes systems, environments, and organizations. Safety promotion programmes are designed to support community health initiatives taking a bottom-up approach. This is a long-term and complex process. The aim of this study was to try to empirically identify factors that promote sustainability in the structures of programmes that are managed and coordinated by the local government. Four focus group sessions with local government politicians and administrators in designated Safe Communities were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Collaboration was found to be the basis for sustainability. Networks, enabling municipalities to exchange ideas, were reported to positively influence the programmes. Personal contacts rather than organizations themselves, determine whether collaboration is sustained. Participants reported an increase in cross-disciplinary collaboration among staff categories. Administrators and politicians were reported to collaborate well, which was perceived to speed up decision-making and thus to facilitate the programme work. Support from the politicians and the county council was seen as a prerequisite. Participants reported an increased willingness to share information between units, which, in their view, supports sustainability. A structure in which all local authorities' offices were located in close proximity to one another was considered to support collaboration. Appointing a public health coordinator responsible for the programme was seen as a way to strengthen the relational resources of the programme. With a public health coordinator, the 'external' negotiating power was concentrated in one person. Also, the 'internal' programme strength increased when the coordination was based on a bureaucratic function rather than on one individual. Increased relational resources facilitated the transfer of information

What promotes sustainability in Safe Community programmes?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindqvist Kent

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The theory and practice of safety promotion has traditionally focused on the safety of individuals. This study also includes systems, environments, and organizations. Safety promotion programmes are designed to support community health initiatives taking a bottom-up approach. This is a long-term and complex process. The aim of this study was to try to empirically identify factors that promote sustainability in the structures of programmes that are managed and coordinated by the local government. Methods Four focus group sessions with local government politicians and administrators in designated Safe Communities were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Collaboration was found to be the basis for sustainability. Networks, enabling municipalities to exchange ideas, were reported to positively influence the programmes. Personal contacts rather than organizations themselves, determine whether collaboration is sustained. Participants reported an increase in cross-disciplinary collaboration among staff categories. Administrators and politicians were reported to collaborate well, which was perceived to speed up decision-making and thus to facilitate the programme work. Support from the politicians and the county council was seen as a prerequisite. Participants reported an increased willingness to share information between units, which, in their view, supports sustainability. A structure in which all local authorities' offices were located in close proximity to one another was considered to support collaboration. Appointing a public health coordinator responsible for the programme was seen as a way to strengthen the relational resources of the programme. Conclusion With a public health coordinator, the 'external' negotiating power was concentrated in one person. Also, the 'internal' programme strength increased when the coordination was based on a bureaucratic function rather than on one individual

The emergence of community health worker programmes in the late apartheid era in South Africa: An historical analysis.

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van Ginneken, Nadja; Lewin, Simon; Berridge, Virginia

2010-09-01

There is re-emerging interest in community health workers (CHWs) as part of wider policies regarding task-shifting within human resources for health. This paper examines the history of CHW programmes established in South Africa in the later apartheid years (1970s-1994) - a time of innovative initiatives. After 1994, the new democratic government embraced primary healthcare (PHC), however CHW initiatives were not included in their health plan and most of these programmes subsequently collapsed. Since then a wide array of disease-focused CHW projects have emerged, particularly within HIV care. Thirteen oral history interviews and eight witness seminars were conducted in South Africa in April 2008 with founders and CHWs from these earlier programmes. These data were triangulated with written primary sources and analysed using thematic content analysis. The study suggests that 1970s-1990s CHW programmes were seen as innovative, responsive, comprehensive and empowering for staff and communities, a focus which respondents felt was lost within current programmes. The growth of these earlier projects was underpinned by the struggle against apartheid. Respondents felt that the more technical focus of current CHW programmes under-utilise a valuable human resource which previously had a much wider social and health impact. These prior experiences and lessons learned could usefully inform policy-making frameworks for CHWs in South Africa today. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A process evaluation of the 'Aware' and 'Supportive Communities' gambling harm-minimisation programmes in New Zealand.

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Kolandai-Matchett, Komathi; Bellringer, Maria; Landon, Jason; Abbott, Max

2018-04-01

The Gambling Act 2003 mandated a public health strategy for preventing and minimising gambling harm in New Zealand. Aware Communities and Supportive Communities are two public health programmes subsequently implemented nationwide. These programmes differed from common health promotion initiatives such as media or education campaigns as they were community-action based (requiring community involvement in programme planning and delivery). We carried out a process evaluation to determine their implementation effectiveness and inform improvement and future programme planning. Our qualitative dominant mixed methods design comprised analysis of over a hundred implementer progress reports (submitted July 2010 - June 2013), a staff survey and a staff focus group interview. The programmes demonstrated capacity to not only achieve expected outcomes (e.g. enhanced community awareness about harmful gambling), but also to enhance social sustainability at the community level (e.g. established trustful relationships) and achieve some programme sustainability (e.g. community ownership over ongoing programme delivery). The evaluation noted the potential for a sustainable gambling harm-minimisation model. Community-action based harm-minimisation programmes offer programme sustainability potential which in turn offers funding cost-effectiveness when there are continual public health outcomes beyond initial funding. Although resource intensive, the community-action based approach enables culturally appropriate public health programmes suitable for societies where specific ethnic groups have higher gambling risk. Recognition of such harm-minimisation programmes' contribution to social sustainability is important considering the potential for broader public health outcomes (e.g. better life quality, lesser social problems) within socially sustainable societies.

Supporting the attainment of professional attributes in a work based learning programme

OpenAIRE

Perera, Noel; Penlington, Roger

2012-01-01

With the impending change in the higher education landscape within the UK there is a greater need for flexibility and innovation in the delivery of degree programmes. One flexible and innovative form of programme delivery is the work based learning platform. Additional academic guidance is imperative for students undertaking a work based learning programme due to the flexible nature of the programme. However in providing this academic guidance and support it places additional demands upon bot...

Learning from lives together: medical and social work students' experiences of learning from people with disabilities in the community.

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Anderson, E S; Smith, R; Thorpe, L N

2010-05-01

The study aims to evaluate an interprofessional community-based learning event, focussing on disability. The learning opportunity was based on the Leicester Model of Interprofessional Education, organised around the experiences and perceptions of service users and their carers. Programme participants were drawn from medicine and social work education in Leicester, UK, bringing together diverse traditions in the care of people with disabilities. Small student groups (3-4 students) worked from one of the eight community rehabilitation hospitals through a programme of contact with people with disabilities in hospital, at home or in other community settings. The evaluation, in March 2005, used a mixed methods approach, incorporating questionnaire surveys, focus group interviews with students and feedback from service users. Responses were collated and analysed using quantitative and qualitative measures. Fifty social work and 100 medical students completed the first combined delivery of the module. The findings indicated that the merging of social work and medical perspectives appear to create some tensions, although overall the student experience was found to be beneficial. Service users (16 responses) valued the process. They were not concerned at the prospect of meeting a number of students at home or elsewhere and were pleased to think of themselves as educators. Problems and obstacles still anticipated include changing the mindset of clinicians and practising social workers to enable them to support students from each other's disciplines in practice learning. The generally positive outcomes highlight that disability focussed joint learning offers a meaningful platform for interprofessional education in a practice environment.

InSPAL: A Novel Immersive Virtual Learning Programme.

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Byrne, Julia; Ip, Horace H S; Shuk-Ying Lau, Kate; Chen Li, Richard; Tso, Amy; Choi, Catherine

2015-01-01

In this paper we introduce The Interactive Sensory Program for Affective Learning (InSPAL) a pioneering virtual learning programme designed for the severely intellectually disabled (SID) students, who are having cognitive deficiencies and other sensory-motor handicaps, and thus need more help and attention in overcoming their learning difficulties. Through combining and integrating interactive media and virtual reality technology with the principles of art therapy and relevant pedagogical techniques, InSPAL aims to strengthen SID students' pre-learning abilities, promote their self-awareness, decrease behavioral interferences with learning as well as social interaction, enhance their communication and thus promote their quality of life. Results of our study show that students who went through our programme were more focused, and the ability to do things more independently increased by 15%. Moreover, 50% of the students showed a marked improvement in the ability to raise their hands in response, thus increasing their communication skills. The use of therapeutic interventions enabled a better control to the body, mind and emotions, resulting a greater performance and better participation.

Patient preferences for types of community-based cardiac rehabilitation programme.

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Chia, Shermain; Wong, Xin Yi; Toon, Min Li; Seah, Yi; Yap, Angela Frances; Lim, Cindy; Tay, Hung Yong; Fong, Warren; Low, Lian Leng; Kwan, Yu Heng

2018-01-01

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves mortality, morbidity and quality of life of cardiovascular patients. However, its uptake is poor especially in the hospitals due to long travel distances and office hours constraints. Community-based CR is a possible solution. To understand the type of community-based CR preferred and identify patient characteristics associated with certain programme combinations. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a randomised list of patients at risk for or with cardiovascular diseases at two community-based CR centres. Participants were presented with nine hypothetical choice sets and asked to choose only one of the two alternative programme combinations in each choice set. Attributes include support group presence, cash incentives, upfront deposit and out-of-pocket cost. The counts for each combination were tallied and corrected for repeats. Chi-square test and logistic regression were performed to understand the characteristics associated with the preferred CR combination. After correcting for repeats, patients most (85.2%) prefer CR programmes with new group activities, support group, cash rewards, deposit and out-of-pocket cost, and few exercise equipment with physiotherapist presence without the need for monitoring equipment. Patients with more than three bedrooms in their house are less likely (OR 0.367; CI 0.17 to 0.80; P=0.011) to choose the choice with no physiotherapist and few equipment available. This is the first study to explore patients' preferences for different types of community CR. Higher income patients prefer physiotherapist presence and are willing to settle for less equipment. Our study serves as a guide for designing future community-based CR programmes.

Community-level impact of the reproductive health vouchers programme on service utilization in Kenya.

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Obare, Francis; Warren, Charlotte; Njuki, Rebecca; Abuya, Timothy; Sunday, Joseph; Askew, Ian; Bellows, Ben

2013-03-01

This paper examines community-level association between exposure to the reproductive health vouchers programme in Kenya and utilization of services. The data are from a household survey conducted among 2527 women (15-49 years) from voucher and comparable non-voucher sites. Analysis entails cross-tabulations with Chi-square tests and significant tests of proportions as well as estimation of multi-level logit models to predict service utilization by exposure to the programme. The results show that for births occurring after the voucher programme began, women from communities that had been exposed to the programme since 2006 were significantly more likely to have delivered at a health facility and to have received skilled care during delivery compared with those from communities that had not been exposed to the programme at all. There were, however, no significant differences in the timing of first trimester utilization of antenatal care (ANC) and making four or more ANC visits by exposure to the programme. In addition, poor women were significantly less likely to have used safe motherhood services (health facility delivery, skilled delivery care and postnatal care) compared with their non-poor counterparts regardless of exposure to the programme. Nonetheless, a significantly higher proportion of poor women from communities that had been exposed to the programme since 2006 used the services compared with their poor counterparts from communities that had not been exposed to the programme at all. The findings suggest that the programme is associated with increased health facility deliveries and skilled delivery care especially among poor women. However, it has had limited community-level impact on the first trimester timing of antenatal care use and making four or more visits, which remain a challenge despite the high proportion of women in the country that make at least one antenatal care visit during pregnancy.

A new method for developing compassionate communities and cities movement-"Todos Contigo" Programme (We are All With You): experience in Spain and Latin America countries.

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Librada Flores, Silvia

2018-01-01

Todos Contigo (We are All With You) is a programme for social awareness, training, and implementation of care networks for citizens to support, accompany and care for those who face advanced chronic disease and end of life situations. From New Health Foundation this programme collaborates with the Public Health and Palliative Care International Charter of Compassionate Communities. It seeks to promote a new integrated palliative care model in the daily lives of individuals, to make families and health/social professionals the main promoters of compassionate communities and compassionate cities movement. This workshop aims to: (I) describe the methodology of the programme: required tools and steps for building and developing a compassionate city or community; (II) identify stakeholders and organizations to join the compassionate community as networking agents; (III) sharing experiences from the implementation of this project in various contexts while providing specific examples and lessons learned from the perspective of various roles; (IV) explain the process of becoming a part of the project and of getting the official recognition for being a compassionate city. This workshop aims to share a new methodology "Todos Contigo" (We are all with you) Programme for the development of compassionate communities and cities movement. We describe our experiences in Spain and Latin American countries. The method is based on creating community networks, carrying out social awareness and training programmes related to end of life care.

A Tutorial Programme to Enhance Psychiatry Learning Processes within a PBL-Based Course

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Hood, Sean; Chapman, Elaine

2011-01-01

This paper describes a tutorial programme developed at the University of Western Australia (UWA) to enhance medical students' learning processes within problem-based learning contexts. The programme encourages students to use more effective learning approaches by scaffolding the development of effective problem-solving strategies, and by reducing…

Developing a diabetes prevention education programme for community health-care workers in Thailand: formative findings.

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Sranacharoenpong, Kitti; Hanning, Rhona M

2011-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate barriers to and supports for implementing a diabetes prevention education programme for community health-care workers (CHCWs) in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The study also aimed to get preliminary input into the design of a tailored diabetes prevention education programme for CHCWs. Thailand has faced under-nutrition and yet, paradoxically, the prevalence of diseases of over-nutrition, such as obesity and diabetes, has escalated. As access to diabetes prevention programme is limited in Thailand, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, it becomes critical to develop a health information delivery system that is relevant, cost-effective, and sustainable. Health-care professionals (n = 12) selected from health centres within one district participated in in-depth interviews. In addition, screened people at risk for diabetes participated in interviews (n = 8) and focus groups (n = 4 groups, 23 participants). Coded transcripts from audio-taped interviews or focus groups were analysed by hand and using NVivo software. Concept mapping illustrated the findings. Health-care professionals identified potential barriers to programme success as a motivation for regular participation, and lack of health policy support for programme sustainability. Health-care professionals identified opportunities to integrate health promotion and disease prevention into CHCWs' duties. Health-care professionals recommended small-group workshops, hands-on learning activities, case studies, and video presentations that bring knowledge to practice within their cultural context. CHCWs should receive a credit for continuing study. People at risk for diabetes lacked knowledge of nutrition, diabetes risk factors, and resources to access health information. They desired two-way communication with CHCWs. Formative research supports the need for an effective, sustainable programme to support knowledge translation to CHCWs and at-risk populations in the

A peer evaluation of the community-based education programme for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A peer evaluation of the community-based education programme for medical ... The University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences (UZCHS), Harare, which ... of community-based activities and the availability of a large teaching platform, ...

Diffusion of an e-learning programme among Danish General Practitioners: A nation-wide prospective survey

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Nielsen Bente

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We were unable to identify studies that have considered the diffusion of an e-learning programme among a large population of general practitioners. The aim of this study was to investigate the uptake of an e-learning programme introduced to General Practitioners as part of a nation-wide disseminated dementia guideline. Methods A prospective study among all 3632 Danish GPs. The GPs were followed from the launching of the e-learning programme in November 2006 and 6 months forward. Main outcome measures: Use of the e-learning programme. A logistic regression model (GEE was used to identify predictors for use of the e-learning programme. Results In the study period, a total of 192 different GPs (5.3% were identified as users, and 17% (32 had at least one re-logon. Among responders at first login most have learnt about the e-learning programme from written material (41% or from the internet (44%. A total of 94% of the users described their ability of conducting a diagnostic evaluation as good or excellent. Most of the respondents used the e-learning programme due to general interest (90%. Predictors for using the e-learning programme were Males (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1; 2.0 and members of Danish College of General Practice (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.5; 3.1, whereas age, experience and working place did not seem to be influential. Conclusion Only few Danish GPs used the e-learning programme in the first 6 months after the launching. Those using it were more often males and members of Danish College of General Practice. Based on this study we conclude, that an active implementation is needed, also when considering electronic formats of CME like e-learning. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00392483.

Community Work Programme has positive and negative effects on ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

3 août 2016 ... Image. Report cover. Malose Langa, Themba Masuku, David Bruce and Hugo van der Merwe. IDRC-supported research has found that while South Africa's Community Work Programme (CWP) has reduced violence and poverty in some communities, in others it has exacerbated tensions and increased ...

Developing a digital learning version of a mentorship training programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Casey, Debbie; Clark, Liz; Gould, Kathryn

2018-01-25

This article describes the experience of one university team in developing, delivering and evaluating an online Nursing and Midwifery Council-approved mentorship programme for nurses and midwives who support pre-registration students in practice. Although the authors are confident of the quality of the educational provision, this article does not discuss this programme as an exemplar of best practice, but aims to share the learning gained from the experience of introducing a digital learning version of a mentorship course.

A prospective study to evaluate a new residential community reintegration programme for severe chronic brain injury: the Brain Integration Programme.

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Geurtsen, G J; Martina, J D; Van Heugten, C M; Geurts, A C H

2008-07-01

To assess the effectiveness of a residential community reintegration programme for participants with chronic sequelae of severe acquired brain injury that hamper community functioning. Prospective cohort study. Twenty-four participants with acquired brain injury (traumatic n = 18; stroke n = 3, tumour n = 2, encephalitis n = 1). Participants had impaired illness awareness, alcohol and drug problems and/or behavioural problems. A skills-oriented programme with modules related to independent living, work, social and emotional well-being. The Community Integration Questionnaire, CES-Depression, EuroQOL, Employability Rating Scale, living situation and work status were scored at the start (T0), end of treatment (T1) and 1-year follow-up (T2). Significant effects on the majority of outcome measures were present at T1. Employability significantly improved at T2 and living independently rose from 42% to over 70%. Participants working increased from 38% to 58% and the hours of work per week increased from 8 to 15. The Brain Integration Programme led to a sustained reduction in experienced problems and improved community integration. It is concluded that even participants with complex problems due to severe brain injury who got stuck in life could improve their social participation and emotional well-being through a residential community reintegration programme.

Building mathematics cellular phone learning communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wajeeh M. Daher

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Researchers emphasize the importance of maintaining learning communities and environments. This article describes the building and nourishment of a learning community, one comprised of middle school students who learned mathematics out-of-class using the cellular phone. The building of the learning community was led by three third year pre-service teachers majoring in mathematics and computers. The pre-service teachers selected thirty 8th grade students to learn mathematics with the cellular phone and be part of a learning community experimenting with this learning. To analyze the building and development stages of the cellular phone learning community, two models of community building stages were used; first the team development model developed by Tuckman (1965, second the life cycle model of a virtual learning community developed by Garber (2004. The research findings indicate that a learning community which is centered on a new technology has five 'life' phases of development: Pre-birth, birth, formation, performing, and maturity. Further, the research finding indicate that the norms that were encouraged by the preservice teachers who initiated the cellular phone learning community resulted in a community which developed, nourished and matured to be similar to a community of experienced applied mathematicians who use mathematical formulae to study everyday phenomena.

What's the VALUE of Information Literacy? Comparing Learning Community and Non-Learning Community Student Learning Outcomes

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Rapchak, Marcia E.; Brungard, Allison B.; Bergfelt, Theodore W.

2016-01-01

Using the Information Literacy VALUE Rubric provided by the AAC&U, this study compares thirty final capstone assignments in a research course in a learning community with thirty final assignments in from students not in learning communities. Results indicated higher performance of the non-learning community students; however, transfer skills…

A social action learning approach to community resilience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berliner, Peter; Larsen, Line Natascha; de Casas Soberón, María Elena

2011-01-01

In Paamiut in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) a community mobilisation programme has been launched as a response to a history of violence, suicides, drug abuse, and child neglect. The overall goal of the programme is to strengthen community resilience, psychosocial well-being and revitalisation...

Community Based Learning and Civic Engagement: Informal Learning among Adult Volunteers in Community Organizations

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Mundel, Karsten; Schugurensky, Daniel

2008-01-01

Many iterations of community based learning employ models, such as consciousness raising groups, cultural circles, and participatory action research. In all of them, learning is a deliberate part of an explicit educational activity. This article explores another realm of community learning: the informal learning that results from volunteering in…

Training a medical workforce to meet the needs of diverse minority communities.

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Sopoaga, Faafetai; Zaharic, Tony; Kokaua, Jesse; Covello, Sahra

2017-01-21

The growing demand for a competent health workforce to meet the needs of increasingly diverse societies has been widely acknowledged. One medical school in New Zealand explored the integration of the commonly used patient-centred model approach, with an intersectional framework in the development of a cultural competency training programme. In the Pacific Immersion Programme, medical students in their fourth year of training are given the opportunity to learn about different factors that influence the health and health care of a minority community through immersion in that community. The programme objectives include enabling students to learn through experience living within the local community context, and supporting them to re-evaluate their own personal beliefs, assumptions and/or prior prejudices. This study evaluates the usefulness of this programme in the training of medical students to work in diverse communities. Two analytical approaches were used for evaluation. Deductive and inductive analyses were conducted on 235 reflective essays completed by three cohorts of students from 2011 to 2013 to ascertain the value of the programme for student learning. In addition, one cohort was invited to complete a pre and post-programme questionnaire. Overall, the students found the programme to be a valued learning environment. They found living within a Pacific family environment to be an eye opening experience. It increased students comfort level in cross cultural engagement and emphasised the importance of patient's perspectives in health care provision. Students' self-reported knowledge about Pacific cultural values, protocols, traditional beliefs and the main health challenges increased significantly after the programme. They appreciated learning directly from community members, and through observations about how culture, beliefs and the socio-economic environment influence peoples' health and wellbeing. Medical schools are required to train a competent health

Mentoring, coaching and action learning: interventions in a national clinical leadership development programme.

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McNamara, Martin S; Fealy, Gerard M; Casey, Mary; O'Connor, Tom; Patton, Declan; Doyle, Louise; Quinlan, Christina

2014-09-01

To evaluate mentoring, coaching and action learning interventions used to develop nurses' and midwives' clinical leadership competencies and to describe the programme participants' experiences of the interventions. Mentoring, coaching and action learning are effective interventions in clinical leadership development and were used in a new national clinical leadership development programme, introduced in Ireland in 2011. An evaluation of the programme focused on how participants experienced the interventions. A qualitative design, using multiple data sources and multiple data collection methods. Methods used to generate data on participant experiences of individual interventions included focus groups, individual interviews and nonparticipant observation. Seventy participants, including 50 programme participants and those providing the interventions, contributed to the data collection. Mentoring, coaching and action learning were positively experienced by participants and contributed to the development of clinical leadership competencies, as attested to by the programme participants and intervention facilitators. The use of interventions that are action-oriented and focused on service development, such as mentoring, coaching and action learning, should be supported in clinical leadership development programmes. Being quite different to short attendance courses, these interventions require longer-term commitment on the part of both individuals and their organisations. In using mentoring, coaching and action learning interventions, the focus should be on each participant's current role and everyday practice and on helping the participant to develop and demonstrate clinical leadership skills in these contexts. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A blended-learning programme regarding professional ethics in physiotherapy students.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar-Rodríguez, Marta; Marques-Sule, Elena; Serra-Añó, Pilar; Espí-López, Gemma Victoria; Dueñas-Moscardó, Lirios; Pérez-Alenda, Sofía

2018-01-01

In the university context, assessing students' attitude, knowledge and opinions when applying an innovative methodological approach to teach professional ethics becomes fundamental to know if the used approach is enough motivating for students. To assess the effect of a blended-learning model, based on professional ethics and related to clinical practices, on physiotherapy students' attitude, knowledge and opinions towards learning professional ethics. Research design and participants: A simple-blind clinical trial was performed (NLM identifier NCT03241693) (control group, n = 64; experimental group, n = 65). Both groups followed clinical practices for 8 months. Control group performed a public exposition of a clinical case about professional ethics. By contrast, an 8-month blended-learning programme regarding professional ethics was worked out for experimental group. An online syllabus and online activities were elaborated, while face-to-face active participation techniques were performed to discuss ethical issues. Students' attitudes, knowledge and opinions towards learning professional ethics were assessed. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the University Ethic Committee of Human Research and followed the ethical principles according to the Declaration of Helsinki. After the programme, attitudes and knowledge towards learning professional ethics of experimental group students significantly improved, while no differences were observed in control group. Moreover, opinions reported an adequate extension of themes and temporization, importance of clinical practices and interest of topics. Case study method and role playing were considered as the most helpful techniques. The blended-learning programme proposed, based on professional ethics and related to clinical practices, improves physiotherapy students' attitudes, knowledge and opinions towards learning professional ethics.

'A bridge to the hospice': the impact of a Community Volunteer Programme in Uganda.

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Jack, Barbara A; Kirton, J; Birakurataki, J; Merriman, A

2011-10-01

In Africa, the need for palliative care provision is escalating with an increasing number of people living with HIV/AIDS, coupled with rising cancer and AIDS-related cancer diagnoses. In Uganda there is a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas. To address this Hospice Africa Uganda developed a Community Volunteer Programme to train volunteers to help by providing support to patients in their own homes. The aim of this qualitative study was to evaluate the impact of the Community Volunteer Programme. Sixty-four interviews, with patients (21), community volunteer workers (CVWs) (32), and the hospice clinical teams (11) were conducted, using semi-structured digitally recorded individual, group and focus group interviews, at the Hospice Africa Uganda sites. The results reported the value of the Community Volunteer Programme, including the impact on patients and families, and how the CVWs acted as a 'bridge to the hospice' in identifying patients. Developing financial challenges that are emerging which could potentially impact on the programme were reported. The Community Volunteer Programme appears to be having a positive impact on patients, families and the hospice team, and is a model worthy of consideration by other developing countries to allow the expansion of palliative care.

Community Environmental Education as a Model for Effective Environmental Programmes

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Blair, Morag

2008-01-01

The benefits of community environmental education outlined in environmental education literature are supported by the findings and implications of a research study undertaken in New Zealand. Evidence from a two-case case study suggests that environmental programmes guided by the key principles and practices of community environmental education,…

A Model for Discussing the Quality of Technology-Enhanced Learning in Blended Learning Programmes

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Casanova, Diogo; Moreira, António

2017-01-01

This paper presents a comprehensive model for supporting informed and critical discussions concerning the quality of Technology-Enhanced Learning in Blended Learning programmes. The model aims to support discussions around domains such as how institutions are prepared, the participants' background and expectations, the course design, and the…

Integrating national community-based health worker programmes into health systems: a systematic review identifying lessons learned from low-and middle-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Zulu, Joseph Mumba; Kinsman, John; Michelo, Charles; Hurtig, Anna-Karin

2014-09-22

Despite the development of national community-based health worker (CBHW) programmes in several low- and middle-income countries, their integration into health systems has not been optimal. Studies have been conducted to investigate the factors influencing the integration processes, but systematic reviews to provide a more comprehensive understanding are lacking. We conducted a systematic review of published research to understand factors that may influence the integration of national CBHW programmes into health systems in low- and middle-income countries. To be included in the study, CBHW programmes should have been developed by the government and have standardised training, supervision and incentive structures. A conceptual framework on the integration of health innovations into health systems guided the review. We identified 3410 records, of which 36 were finally selected, and on which an analysis was conducted concerning the themes and pathways associated with different factors that may influence the integration process. Four programmes from Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Pakistan met the inclusion criteria. Different aspects of each of these programmes were integrated in different ways into their respective health systems. Factors that facilitated the integration process included the magnitude of countries' human resources for health problems and the associated discourses about how to address these problems; the perceived relative advantage of national CBHWs with regard to delivering health services over training and retaining highly skilled health workers; and the participation of some politicians and community members in programme processes, with the result that they viewed the programmes as legitimate, credible and relevant. Finally, integration of programmes within the existing health systems enhanced programme compatibility with the health systems' governance, financing and training functions. Factors that inhibited the integration process included a rapid

Creating a blended learning module in an online master study programme in oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, Benjamin; Ring, Christina; Muche, Rainer; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Schmidt-Strassburger, Uta

2015-01-01

The medical faculty of Ulm University has launched the postgraduate master online study programme Advanced Oncology (AO) in 2010. We describe the challenges in developing an e-learning module using the example of a medical biometry course, focusing the implementation of the course material and our single-loop learning experience after the first students have finished and evaluated the lecture. Programme participants are qualified medical doctors and researchers in biomedical areas related to the field of oncology. The study programme provides the majority of lectures online via didactic videos accompanied by one-week attendance seminars. Supplementary learning materials include review articles, supportive reading material, multiple choice questions, and exercises for each unit. Lecture evaluations based on specific questions concerning learning environment and information learned, each measured on a five-point Likert scale. Lecture videos were implemented following the classical triad of the didactic process, using oncological examples from practice to teach. The online tutorial support offered to students was hardly used, thus we enhanced faculty presence during the face-to-face seminars. Lecture evaluations improved after revising the learning material on the basis of the first AO student cohort's comments. Developing and implementing an online study programme is challenging with respect of maximizing the information students learn due to limited opportunities for personal contact between lecturers and students. A more direct interaction of lecturers and students in a blended learning setting outperforms a mere web-based contact in terms of learning advantage and students' satisfaction, especially for complex methodological content.

Students' experiences of blended learning across a range of postgraduate programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Siobhan; Houghton, Catherine; Cooney, Adeline; Casey, Dympna

2012-05-01

The article describes the students' experiences of taking a blended learning postgraduate programme in a school of nursing and midwifery. The indications to date are that blended learning as a pedagogical tool has the potential to contribute and improve nursing and midwifery practice and enhance student learning. Little is reported about the students' experiences to date. Focus groups were conducted with students in the first year of introducing blended learning. The two main themes that were identified from the data were (1) the benefits of blended learning and (2) the challenges to blended learning. The blended learning experience was received positively by the students. A significant finding that was not reported in previous research was that the online component meant little time away from study for the students suggesting that it was more invasive on their everyday life. It is envisaged that the outcomes of the study will assist educators who are considering delivering programmes through blended learning. It should provide guidance for further developments and improvements in using Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and blended learning in nurse education. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distance learning: the future of continuing professional development.

Science.gov (United States)

Southernwood, Julie

2008-10-01

The recent development of a market economy in higher education has resulted in the need to tailor the product to the customers, namely students, employers and commissioning bodies. Distance learning is an opportunity for nurse educators and institutions to address marketing initiatives and develop a learning environment in order to enhance continuing professional development. It provides options for lifelong learning for healthcare professionals--including those working in community settings--that is effective and cost efficient. Development of continuing professional development programmes can contribute to widening the participation of community practitioners in lifelong learning, practice and role development. This paper considers the opportunities that web-based and online education programmes can provide community practitioners to promote professional skills while maintaining a work-life balance, and the role of the lecturer in successfully supporting professionals on web-based learning programmes.

Sellafield Decommissioning Programme - Update and Lessons Learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lutwyche, P. R.; Challinor, S. F.

2003-01-01

The Sellafield site in North West England has over 240 active facilities covering the full nuclear cycle from fuel manufacture through generation, reprocessing and waste treatment. The Sellafield decommissioning programme was formally initiated in the mid 1980s though several plants had been decommissioned prior to this primarily to create space for other plants. Since the initiation of the programme 7 plants have been completely decommissioned, significant progress has been made in a further 16 and a total of 56 major project phases have been completed. This programme update will explain the decommissioning arrangements and strategies and illustrate the progress made on a number of the plants including the Windscale Pile Chimneys, the first reprocessing plan and plutonium plants. These present a range of different challenges and requiring approaches from fully hands on to fully remote. Some of the key lessons learned will be highlighted

Collaborative distance learning: Developing an online learning community

Science.gov (United States)

Stoytcheva, Maria

2017-12-01

The method of collaborative distance learning has been applied for years in a number of distance learning courses, but they are relatively few in foreign language learning. The context of this research is a hybrid distance learning of French for specific purposes, delivered through the platform UNIV-RcT (Strasbourg University), which combines collaborative activities for the realization of a common problem-solving task online. The study focuses on a couple of aspects: on-line interactions carried out in small, tutored groups and the process of community building online. By analyzing the learner's perceptions of community and collaborative learning, we have tried to understand the process of building and maintenance of online learning community and to see to what extent the collaborative distance learning contribute to the development of the competence expectations at the end of the course. The analysis of the results allows us to distinguish the advantages and limitations of this type of e-learning and thus evaluate their pertinence.

Pre-Learning Low-Frequency Vocabulary in Second Language Television Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Stuart

2010-01-01

This study investigated the potential of pre-learning frequently occurring low-frequency vocabulary as a means to increase comprehension of television and incidental vocabulary learning through watching television. Eight television programmes, each representing different television genres, were analysed using the RANGE program to determine the 10…

Experience Learning and Community Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nena Mijoč

1996-12-01

Full Text Available Research in the field of education, carried out in living and working environment, which has undergone so profound changes recently, is of extreme importance. In schools, courses and seminars, one cannot prepare him/herself for the changes as these are often so rapid that it is impossible to foresee them. Therefore, one can only learn by experience. In defining the term 'experience learning', the teoreticians vary greatly. In this paper, experience learning is understood as a process of learning taking part mainly outside the planned educational process and including an active and participative attitude towards environment and people. Original and direct experience can thus serve as a basis for gaining new comprehensions, for planning future activities as well as for a reinterpretation of the past experiences. Let us first mention the basic factors of successful experience learning, such as an individual's character features, possibilities for learning, learning atmosphere and positive stimulations. It has been estimated that local community can increase or decrease the possibilities for experience learning. However, the relation is active in other direction too: the more experience learning bas been asserted in a community, the greater its influence on social and cultural development of the community. On has to bear in mind that well-planned education for local community and stimulating sociocultural animation can facilitate the development of local community.

The Communities' research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

This is the first progress report of the European Community's programme (1979-1983) of research on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. It shows the status of the programme on 31 December 1980. The programme seeks to promote a number of research and development projects as well as the identification of guiding principles. The projects concern the following subjects: long-term integrity of buildings and systems; decontamination for decommissioning purposes; dismantling techniques; treatment of specific waste materials: steel, concrete and graphite; large transport containers for radioactive was produced in the dismantling of nuclear power plants; estimation of the quantities of radioactive wastes arising from decommissioning of nuclear power plants in the Community; influence of nuclear power plant design features on decommissioning

Project-Based Learning in Programmable Logic Controller

Science.gov (United States)

Seke, F. R.; Sumilat, J. M.; Kembuan, D. R. E.; Kewas, J. C.; Muchtar, H.; Ibrahim, N.

2018-02-01

Project-based learning is a learning method that uses project activities as the core of learning and requires student creativity in completing the project. The aims of this study is to investigate the influence of project-based learning methods on students with a high level of creativity in learning the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). This study used experimental methods with experimental class and control class consisting of 24 students, with 12 students of high creativity and 12 students of low creativity. The application of project-based learning methods into the PLC courses combined with the level of student creativity enables the students to be directly involved in the work of the PLC project which gives them experience in utilizing PLCs for the benefit of the industry. Therefore, it’s concluded that project-based learning method is one of the superior learning methods to apply on highly creative students to PLC courses. This method can be used as an effort to improve student learning outcomes and student creativity as well as to educate prospective teachers to become reliable educators in theory and practice which will be tasked to create qualified human resources candidates in order to meet future industry needs.

Developing Civic Leaders through an Experiential Learning Programme for Holocaust Education

Science.gov (United States)

Clyde, Carol

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that involvement in an experiential learning programme for Holocaust education had on college and university participants' worldviews and civic leadership development. Results indicate that involvement in specific elements of the programme did have an impact. The student-focused, experiential…

Building global learning communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Averill Gordon

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning communities around a community of practice of learning researchers and practitioners. The results include the development of a framework for utilising mobile social media to support collaborative curriculum development across international boundaries. We conclude that this framework is potentially transferrable to a range of educational contexts where the focus is upon student-generated mobile social media projects.

Toward a Social Approach to Learning in Community Service Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Cooks, Leda; Scharrer, Erica; Paredes, Mari Castaneda

2004-01-01

The authors describe a social approach to learning in community service learning that extends the contributions of three theoretical bodies of scholarship on learning: social constructionism, critical pedagogy, and community service learning. Building on the assumptions about learning described in each of these areas, engagement, identity, and…

The female community health volunteer programme in Nepal: decision makers' perceptions of volunteerism, payment and other incentives.

Science.gov (United States)

Glenton, Claire; Scheel, Inger B; Pradhan, Sabina; Lewin, Simon; Hodgins, Stephen; Shrestha, Vijaya

2010-06-01

The Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) Programme in Nepal has existed since the late 1980s and includes almost 50,000 volunteers. Although volunteer programmes are widely thought to be characterised by high attrition levels, the FCHV Programme loses fewer than 5% of its volunteers annually. The degree to which decision makers understand community health worker motivations and match these with appropriate incentives is likely to influence programme sustainability. The purpose of this study was to explore the views of stakeholders who have participated in the design and implementation of the Female Community Health Volunteer regarding Volunteer motivation and appropriate incentives, and to compare these views with the views and expectations of Volunteers. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in 2009 with 19 purposively selected non-Volunteer stakeholders, including policy makers and programme managers. Results were compared with data from previous studies of Female Community Health Volunteers and from interviews with four Volunteers and two Volunteer activists. Stakeholders saw Volunteers as motivated primarily by social respect, religious and moral duty. The freedom to deliver services at their leisure was seen as central to the volunteer concept. While stakeholders also saw the need for extrinsic incentives such as micro-credit, regular wages were regarded not only as financially unfeasible, but as a potential threat to the Volunteers' social respect, and thereby to their motivation. These views were reflected in interviews with and previous studies of Female Community Health Volunteers, and appear to be influenced by a tradition of volunteering as moral behaviour, a lack of respect for paid government workers, and the Programme's community embeddedness. Our study suggests that it may not be useful to promote a generic range of incentives, such as wages, to improve community health worker programme sustainability. Instead, programmes should ensure that

The School-Community Integrated Learning Pathway: Exploring a New Way to Prepare and Induct Final-Year Preservice Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Suzanne; Hudson, Peter; Adie, Lenore

2015-01-01

Universities and teacher employment bodies seek new, cost-effective ways for graduating classroom-ready teachers. This study involved 32 final-year preservice teachers in an innovative school--university partnership teacher education programme titled, the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) pathway. Data were collected using a five-part…

The Learning Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Boo, Mary Richardson; Decker, Larry E.

This guide to community education offers strategies and suggestions for responding to the call for more community involvement in partnership efforts that will benefit education and society. First, a brief introduction summarizes the philosophy of community education, defining it as a belief that learning is lifelong and that self-help efforts…

E-Model for Online Learning Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

2015-10-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the students' perspectives on the phenomenon of online learning communities while enrolled in a graduate dental hygiene program. A qualitative case study method was designed to investigate the learners' experiences with communities in an online environment. A cross-sectional purposive sampling method was used. Interviews were the data collection method. As the original data were being analyzed, the researchers noted a pattern evolved indicating the phenomenon developed in stages. The data were re-analyzed and validated by 2 member checks. The participants' experiences revealed an e-model consisting of 3 stages of formal learning community development as core courses in the curriculum were completed and 1 stage related to transmuting the community to an informal entity as students experienced the independent coursework in the program. The development of the formal learning communities followed 3 stages: Building a Foundation for the Learning Community, Building a Supportive Network within the Learning Community and Investing in the Community to Enhance Learning. The last stage, Transforming the Learning Community, signaled a transition to an informal network of learners. The e-model was represented by 3 key elements: metamorphosis of relationships, metamorphosis through the affective domain and metamorphosis through the cognitive domain, with the most influential element being the affective development. The e-model describes a 4 stage process through which learners experience a metamorphosis in their affective, relationship and cognitive development. Synergistic learning was possible based on the interaction between synergistic relationships and affective actions. Copyright © 2015 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

The application of learning skills in an engineering programme

OpenAIRE

Shoemaker, Leslie

2006-01-01

At the Dublin Institute of Technology, an engineering programme in the School of Control Systems and Electrical Engineering has successfully incorporated a study skills module into the core curriculum. The module, titled Academic Development and Key Skills, is part of the first year of the programme and has a two-fold purpose. Primarily the goal is to assist the students with the transition from second level education to third level by teaching them a more competent learning style. This, in t...

A Cohort-based Learning Community Enhances Academic Success and Satisfaction with University Experience for First-Year Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corey A. Goldman

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Assessment of a successful cohort-based learning communities program for first-year undergraduate students shows that students in the program perform better academically and also report a higher level of satisfaction with their university experience than students who are not in the program. Students enrolled in arts and science at the University of Toronto, who take several large-enrolment courses in their first year, may optionally participate in the First-Year Learning Communities (FLC program, designed to assist with the academic and social transition from high school to university. In this Freshman Interest Group model of learning community, the curriculum across the clustered courses is not linked. The FLC program was assessed over a five-year period, using student academic records and self-reported survey data. This paper also provides details on program design and implementation.L’évaluation d’un programme de communautés d’apprentissage fondées sur les cohortes pour les étudiants de première année du premier cycle qui a obtenu du succès montre que ceux qui sont inscrits à ce programme ont de meilleurs résultats scolaires et sont plus satisfaits de leur expérience universitaire que les autres. Les étudiants inscrits en arts et sciences à l’Université de Toronto, qui suivent plusieurs cours de première année où il y a de nombreux inscrits, peuvent participer au programme de communautés d’apprentissage la première année (CAPA qui vise à les aider à effectuer la transition entre l’école secondaire et l’université sur le plan scolaire et social. Dans ce modèle de communautés d’apprentissage destiné au groupe d’intérêts particuliers des étudiants de première année, il n’y a pas de lien entre les programmes d’études des participants. Les chercheurs ont évalué le programme pendant cinq ans à partir des dossiers scolaires des étudiants et des données d’un sondage réalisé auprès d�

Material matters for learning in virtual networks: a case study of a professional learning programme hosted in a Google+ online community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aileen Ackland

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we draw on Actor–Network Theories (ANT to explore how material components functioned to create gateways and barriers to a virtual learning network in the context of a professional development module in higher education. Students were practitioners engaged in family learning in different professional roles and contexts. The data comprised postings in the Google+ community, email correspondence, meeting notes, feedback submitted at the final workshop and post-module evaluation forms. Our analysis revealed a complex set of interactions, and suggests multiple ways human actors story their encounters with non-human components and the effects these have on the learning experience. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of the components and dynamics of social learning networks in the virtual world and consider the implications for the design of online learning for continuous professional development (CPD.

The Community's R and D programme on the management and storage of radioactive waste. Shared-cost action programmes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McMenamin, T.

1993-01-01

Since 1975 the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) has been operating a series of shared-cost action programmes in the field of radioactive waste management with the primary objective of developing methods to protect the public and the environment against the potential hazards of radioactive waste. Member States with small, as well as sizeable, nuclear programmes have been taking part. The choice and type of topics for the programme have depended largely on the work being carried out nationally by these countries with the programmes acting as a support and extension to national projects. To this end they have acted as a catalyst in encouraging and promoting cross-border cooperation and have provided a unique opportunity to compare results and ideas leading to improved quality and efficiency. The list of publications covers reports, proceedings, communications and information leaflets produced and published in the framework of the cost-sharing research programmes of the Commission of the European Communities on radioactive waste management and disposal. The list, which is regularly updated, includes: reports of contractors on research supported by the Commission; reports on research in coordinated actions, assembled and edited by the Commission staff or on behalf of the Commission; proceedings of meetings, conferences and workshops organized and edited by the Commission staff; scientific reports, communications, annual progress reports and information leaflets produced and edited by the Commission staff. Not included are contributions of contractors and staff to national or international meetings, workshops, conferences and expert groups

Dental students' perception of their approaches to learning in a PBL programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Haghparast, H; Ghorbani, A; Rohlin, M

2017-08-01

To compare dental students' perceptions of their learning approaches between different years of a problem-based learning (PBL) programme. The hypothesis was that in a comparison between senior and junior students, the senior students would perceive themselves as having a higher level of deep learning approach and a lower level of surface learning approach than junior students would. This hypothesis was based on the fact that senior students have longer experience of a student-centred educational context, which is supposed to underpin student learning. Students of three cohorts (first year, third year and fifth year) of a PBL-based dental programme were asked to respond to a questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) developed to analyse students' learning approaches, that is deep approach and surface approach, using four subscales including deep strategy, surface strategy, deep motive and surface motive. The results of the three cohorts were compared using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A P-value was set at approach than the first-year students (P = 0.020). There was a significant decrease in surface strategy from the first to the fifth year (P = 0.003). No differences were found concerning deep approach or its subscales (deep strategy and deep motive) between the mean scores of the three cohorts. The results did not show the expected increased depth in learning approaches over the programme years. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of a national injury prevention/safe community programme in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Luau, H C; Svanström, L; Ekman, R; Duong, H L; Nguyen, O C; Dahlgren, G; Hoang, P

2001-03-01

The aim of this study is to describe the initiation of a national programme on injury prevention/safe community (IP/SC). Market economy, Doi Moi, was introduced in Vietnam in 1986, and since then the injury pattern has been reported to have changed. The number of traffic injury deaths has increased three-fold from 1980 to 1996 and traffic injuries more than four-fold. Injuries are now the leading cause of mortality in hospitals. There are difficulties in obtaining a comprehensive picture of the injury pattern from official statistics and, in conjunction with the work initiated by the Ministry of Health, a number of local reporting systems have already been developed. Remarkable results have been achieved within the IP/SC in a very short time, based on 20 years of experience. An organizational construction system has been built from province to local community areas. Management is based on administrative and legislative documents. IP/SC implementation is considered the duty of the whole community, local authorities and people committees, and should be incorporated into local action plans. The programme is a significant contribution towards creating a safe environment in which everybody may live and work, allowing the stability for society to develop. Implementation of the programme in schools is a special characteristic. The programme will be developed in 800 schools with a large number of pupils (25% of the population). This model for safer schools is considerably concerned and is a good experience to disseminate. The recommendations are that more pilot models of IP/SC should be conducted in other localities and that the programme should be expanded to a national scale. Furthermore, co-operation between sectors and mass organizations should be encouraged and professional skills of key SC members at all levels should be raised.

Professionals learning together with patients: An exploratory study of a collaborative learning Fellowship programme for healthcare improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Myron, Rowan; French, Catherine; Sullivan, Paul; Sathyamoorthy, Ganesh; Barlow, James; Pomeroy, Linda

2018-05-01

Improving the quality of healthcare involves collaboration between many different stakeholders. Collaborative learning theory suggests that teaching different professional groups alongside each other may enable them to develop skills in how to collaborate effectively, but there is little literature on how this works in practice. Further, though it is recognised that patients play a fundamental role in quality improvement, there are few examples of where they learn together with professionals. To contribute to addressing this gap, we review a collaborative fellowship in Northwest London, designed to build capacity to improve healthcare, which enabled patients and professionals to learn together. Using the lens of collaborative learning, we conducted an exploratory study of six cohorts of the year long programme (71 participants). Data were collected using open text responses from an online survey (n = 31) and semi-structured interviews (n = 34) and analysed using an inductive open coding approach. The collaborative design of the Fellowship, which included bringing multiple perspectives to discussions of real world problems, was valued by participants who reflected on the safe, egalitarian space created by the programme. Participants (healthcare professionals and patients) found this way of learning initially challenging yet ultimately productive. Despite the pedagogical and practical challenges of developing a collaborative programme, this study indicates that opening up previously restricted learning opportunities as widely as possible, to include patients and carers, is an effective mechanism to develop collaborative skills for quality improvement.

Cross-Cultural Delivery of e-Learning Programmes: Perspectives from Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Lap-sang Wong

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The growing popularity of e-learning may pose one of the greatest challenges currently facing traditional educational institutions. The questions often asked are how, rather than whether, to embrace this new form of instructional delivery and how to create an appropriate learning environment for the learners. Educational institutions in Hong Kong have the option of adopting programmes or learning materials developed in other parts of the world for local learners, or not. Such an approach of acquiring learning materials is not without risks in terms of the suitability of materials embedded with cultural contents ‘foreign’ to local learners, or in terms of the suitability of assumptions in the communication context. What are the issues involved in the globalization of education through e-learning? This paper explores – from a critical-dialectical perspective – the implications of globalization on educational policy through cross-border delivery of educational programmes by e-learning, with particular attention given to the threat of cultural imperialism. The paper concludes that Hong Kong seems to be coping with ‘cultural imperialism’ rather well because of its unique history of being a cross-road for East and West, and also with some recommendations to e-learning providers to mitigate the potential damage of cross-cultural delivery of e-learning.

A Professional Learning Community Journey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Maliszewski

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Four teachers (three classroom teachers and a teacher-librarian explain how their school applied a professional learning community framework to its operational practices. They discuss the process, the benefits, and the challenges of professional learning communities.

Brief Report: An Evaluation of an Australian Autism-Specific, Early Intervention Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Paynter, Jessica M.; Riley, Emma P.; Beamish, Wendi; Scott, James G.; Heussler, Helen S.

2015-01-01

There is a relative paucity of evidence examining the effectiveness of early intervention for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in particular those delivered through educationally-based programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the real world effectiveness of a community-based autism-specific early learning and intervention programme in…

Student perceptions and attitudes about Community Service ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Much of the international research on Community Service-Learning has investigated the benefits, outcomes, and learning experiences of students already engaged in service-learning projects and programmes. As there is scant research on students\\' attitudes to and perceptions of Service-Learning, before this learning ...

The Community's research and development programme on radioactive waste management and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orlowski, S.; Gandolfo, J.M.

1988-01-01

This is the first annual progress report of the European Community's 1985-89 programme of research on radioactive waste management and disposal, carried out by public organizations and private firms in the Community under cost-sharing contracts with the Commission of the European Communities. The 1985-89 programme is aiming at perfecting and demonstrating a system for managing the radioactive waste produced by the nuclear industry, ensuring at the various stages the best possible protection of man and the environment. This first report describes the work to be carried out under the research contracts already concluded before end of 1986 as well as the initial work performed and the first results obtained. For each contract, paragraph C ''Progress of work and obtained results'' was prepared by the contractor under the responsibility of the project leader

Leading Change in Tissue Viability Best Practice: An Action Learning Programme for Link Nurse Practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

Kellie, Jean; Henderson, Eileen; Milsom, Brian; Crawley, Hayley

2010-01-01

This account of practice reports on an action learning initiative designed and implemented in partnership between a regional NHS Acute Trust and a UK Business School. The central initiative was the implementation of an action learning programme entitled "Leading change in tissue viability best practice: a development programme for Link Nurse…

The long-term effectiveness of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) implemented as a community-wide parenting programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim; von Tetzchner, Stephen; Clucas, Claudine; Sherr, Lorraine

2015-01-02

Short-term effectiveness of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) for parents in the general population has been studied. The aim of this paper was to investigate the longer term impact of the ICDP programme on parents looking for sustained changes 6-12 months after the programme. For this, a non-clinical caregiver group attending the ICDP programme ( N  = 79) and a non-attending comparison group ( N  = 62) completed questionnaires on parenting, psychosocial functioning, and child difficulties before, on completion and 6-12 months after the ICDP programme. Analyses compare changes in scores over time. The results revealed that the ICDP group showed significantly improved scores on parenting measures, less loneliness, and trends towards improved self-efficacy compared to the comparison group 6-12 months after programme completion. The ICDP group also reported that their children spent significantly less time on television and computer games and a trend towards fewer child difficulties. Key positive effects sustained over time but at a somewhat lower level, supporting community-wide implementation of ICDP as a general parenting programme. It is concluded that more intensive training with follow-up sessions should be considered to sustain and boost initial gains.

Community-based livestock breeding programmes: essentials and examples.

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, J P; Rischkowsky, B; Haile, A; Philipsson, J; Mwai, O; Besbes, B; Valle Zárate, A; Tibbo, M; Mirkena, T; Duguma, G; Sölkner, J; Wurzinger, M

2015-04-01

Breeding programmes described as community-based (CBBP) typically relate to low-input systems with farmers having a common interest to improve and share their genetic resources. CBBPs are more frequent with keepers of small ruminants, in particular smallholders of local breeds, than with cattle, pigs or chickens with which farmers may have easier access to alternative programmes. Constraints that limit the adoption of conventional breeding technologies in low-input systems cover a range of organizational and technical aspects. The analysis of 8 CBBPs located in countries of Latin-America, Africa and Asia highlights the importance of bottom-up approaches and involvement of local institutions in the planning and implementation stages. The analysis also reveals a high dependence of these programmes on organizational, technical and financial support. Completely self-sustained CBBPs seem to be difficult to realize. There is a need to implement and document formal socio-economic evaluations of CBBPs to provide governments and other development agencies with the information necessary for creating sustainable CBBPs at larger scales. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

A framework for evaluating community-based physical activity promotion programmes in Latin America.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Thomas L; Librett, John; Neiman, Andrea; Pratt, Michael; Salmon, Art

2006-01-01

A growing interest in promoting physical activity through multi-sectoral community-based programmes has highlighted the need for effective programme evaluation. Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, an international workgroup of behavioural, medical, public health and other scientists and practitioners endorsed the principle of careful evaluation of all programmes and in a consensus process developed the Rio de Janeiro Recommendations for Evaluation of Physical Activity Interventions". Among these recommendations and principles were that when possible, evaluation should 'built into' the programme from the beginning. The workgroup also called for adequate funding for evaluation, setting a goal of about 10% of programme resources for evaluation. The group also determined that evaluations should be developed in conjunction with and the results shared with all appropriate stakeholders in the programme; evaluations should be guided by ethical standards such as those proposed by the American Evaluation Association and should assess programme processes as well as outcomes; evaluation outcomes should be used to revise and refine ongoing programmes and guide decisions about programme continuation or expansion. It was also recognised that additional training in programme evaluation is needed and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook could be easily adapted for use in culturally diverse communities, especially in Latin America. This paper describes a 6-step evaluation process and provides the full set of recommendations from the Rio de Janeiro Workgroup. The handbook has been translated and additional case studies from Colombia and Brazil have been added. Spanish and Portuguese language editions of the Evaluation Handbook are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Physical Activity and Health Branch.

Men's health promotion interventions: what have we learned from previous programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Steve; Witty, Karl; Zwolinsky, Steve; Day, Rhiannon

2013-11-01

Concern persists in health-related literature about men's reduced life expectancy and higher premature death rates; this is often linked to difficulties in engaging with men as a client group. However, some innovative projects and programmes, often led by health visitors or other community based nurses, have developed successful health promotion work with men. This article collates existing tacit knowledge (previous learning) about men's health interventions by integrating interview data from nine practitioners who have established such initiatives with data from 35 men's health project reports to consider 'what works'. Five themes stood out as being significant across the data reviewed: using the right setting (often outside statutory services); ensuring the right approach (drawing on male-specific interests and language); actively listening to what local men say; appropriate training (initial and ongoing) for those involved in such work; and partnership working with local community groups, businesses and statutory service providers. While not a panacea for working with any and all men, these themes form a good basis for successful engagement with men and align well with what a recent review of health visitor interventions suggest works in helping bridge service provision-uptake gaps.

The use of a modified pairwise comparison method in evaluating critical success factors for community-based rural homestay programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Daud, Shahidah Md; Ramli, Razamin; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Kayat, Kalsom; Razak, Rafidah Abd

2014-12-01

Tourism industry has become the highlighted sector which has amazingly increased the national income level. Despite the tourism industry being one of the highest income generating sectors, Homestay Programme as a Community-Based Tourism (CBT) product in Malaysia does not absorbed much of the incoming wealth. Homestay Programme refers to a programme in a community where a tourist stays together with a host family and experiences the everyday way of life of the family in both direct and indirect manner. There are over 100 Homestay Programme currently being registered with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Malaysia which mostly are located in rural areas, but only a few excel and enjoying the fruit of the booming industry. Hence, this article seeks to identify the critical success factors for a Community-Based Rural Homestay Programme in Malaysia. A modified pairwise method is utilized to further evaluate the identified success factors in a more meaningful way. The findings will help Homestay Programme function as a community development tool that manages tourism resources. Thus, help the community in improving local economy and creating job opportunities.

Diffusion of an e-learning programme among Danish General Practitioners: a nation-wide prospective survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waldorff, Frans Boch; Steenstrup, Annette Plesner; Nielsen, Bente

2008-01-01

predictors for use of the e-learning programme. RESULTS: In the study period, a total of 192 different GPs (5.3%) were identified as users, and 17% (32) had at least one re-logon. Among responders at first login most have learnt about the e-learning programme from written material (41%) or from the internet...

Small Answers to the Big Question: Learning from Language Programme Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Kiely, Richard

2009-01-01

This paper explores why the learning posited as an intrinsic dimension of evaluation practice and use has been difficult to achieve, and how it might be more effectively realized. In recent decades language programme evaluation has evolved from focused studies of teaching methods inspired by language learning theories to a curriculum management…

Evaluating the Effectiveness Roles of Variables in the Novice Programmers Learning

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Shi, Nianfeng; Cui, Wen; Zhang, Ping; Sun, Ximing

2018-01-01

This research applies the roles of variables to the novice programmers in the C language programming. The results are evaluated using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The participants were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The students from the control group learned programming in the traditional…

Evaluation of the Community's nuclear reactor safety research programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandstetter, A.; Goedkoop, J.A.; Jaumotte, A.; Malhouitre, G.; Tomkins, B.; Zorzoli, G.B.

1986-01-01

This report describes an evaluation of the 1980-85 CEC reactor safety programme prepared, at the invitation of the Commission, by a panel of six independent experts by means of examining the relevant document and by holding hearings with the responsible CEC staff. It contains the recommendations made by the panel on the following topics: the need for the JRC to continue to make its competence in the reactor safety field available to the Community; the importance of continuity in the JRC and shared-cost action programmes; the difficulty of developing reactor safety research programmes which satisfy the needs of users with diverse needs; the monitoring of the utilization of the research results; the maintenance of the JRC computer codes used by the Member States; the spin-off from research results being made available to other industrial sectors; the continued contact between the JRC researchers and the national experts; the coordination of LWR safety research with that of the Member States; and, the JRC work on fast breeders to be planned with regard to the R and D programmes of the Fast Reactor European Consortium

Critical Service-Learning: Promoting Values Orientation and Enterprise Skills in Pre-Service Teacher Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Iyer, Radha; Carrington, Suzanne; Mercer, Louise; Selva, Gitta

2018-01-01

Experiential learning pathways within education programmes such as Service-learning are a means to enrich the learning of pre-service teachers. As a pathway, Service-learning provides value-oriented learning focused on inclusion, diversity, and difference. This paper adopts critical social theory to examine how, along with these values, critical…

Training, supervision and quality of care in selected integrated community case management (iCCM) programmes: A scoping review of programmatic evidence.

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Bosch-Capblanch, Xavier; Marceau, Claudine

2014-12-01

To describe the training, supervision and quality of care components of integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programmes and to draw lessons learned from existing evaluations of those programmes. Scoping review of reports from 29 selected iCCM programmes purposively provided by stakeholders containing any information relevant to understand quality of care issues. The number of people reached by iCCM programmes varied from the tens of thousands to more than a million. All programmes aimed at improving access of vulnerable populations to health care, focusing on the main childhood illnesses, managed by Community Health Workers (CHW), often selected bycommunities. Training and supervision were widely implemented, in different ways and intensities, and often complemented with tools (eg, guides, job aids), supplies, equipment and incentives. Quality of care was measured using many outcomes (eg, access or appropriate treatment). Overall, there seemed to be positive effects for those strategies that involved policy change, organisational change, standardisation of clinical practices and alignment with other programmes. Positive effects were mostly achieved in large multi-component programmes. Mild or no effects have been described on mortality reduction amongst the few programmes for which data on this outcome was available to us. Promising strategies included teaming-up of CHW, micro-franchising or social franchising. On-site training and supervision of CHW have been shown to improve clinical practices. Effects on caregivers seemed positive, with increases in knowledge, care seeking behaviour, or caregivers' basic disease management. Evidence on iCCM is often of low quality, cannot relate specific interventions or the ways they are implemented with outcomes and lacks standardisation; this limits the capacity to identify promising strategies to improve quality of care. Large, multi-faceted, iCCM programmes, with strong components of training, supervision, which

Training, supervision and quality of care in selected integrated community case management (iCCM) programmes: A scoping review of programmatic evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Bosch–Capblanch, Xavier; Marceau, Claudine

2014-01-01

Aim To describe the training, supervision and quality of care components of integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programmes and to draw lessons learned from existing evaluations of those programmes. Methods Scoping review of reports from 29 selected iCCM programmes purposively provided by stakeholders containing any information relevant to understand quality of care issues. Results The number of people reached by iCCM programmes varied from the tens of thousands to more than a million. All programmes aimed at improving access of vulnerable populations to health care, focusing on the main childhood illnesses, managed by Community Health Workers (CHW), often selected bycommunities. Training and supervision were widely implemented, in different ways and intensities, and often complemented with tools (eg, guides, job aids), supplies, equipment and incentives. Quality of care was measured using many outcomes (eg, access or appropriate treatment). Overall, there seemed to be positive effects for those strategies that involved policy change, organisational change, standardisation of clinical practices and alignment with other programmes. Positive effects were mostly achieved in large multi–component programmes. Mild or no effects have been described on mortality reduction amongst the few programmes for which data on this outcome was available to us. Promising strategies included teaming–up of CHW, micro–franchising or social franchising. On–site training and supervision of CHW have been shown to improve clinical practices. Effects on caregivers seemed positive, with increases in knowledge, care seeking behaviour, or caregivers’ basic disease management. Evidence on iCCM is often of low quality, cannot relate specific interventions or the ways they are implemented with outcomes and lacks standardisation; this limits the capacity to identify promising strategies to improve quality of care. Conclusion Large, multi–faceted, iCCM programmes, with strong

Key principles to improve programmes and interventions in complementary feeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Lutter, Chessa K; Iannotti, Lora; Creed-Kanashiro, Hilary; Guyon, Agnes; Daelmans, Bernadette; Robert, Rebecca; Haider, Rukhsana

2013-09-01

Although there are some examples of successful complementary feeding programmes to promote healthy growth and prevent stunting at the community level, to date there are few, if any, examples of successful programmes at scale. A lack of systematic process and impact evaluations on pilot projects to generate lessons learned has precluded scaling up of effective programmes. Programmes to effect positive change in nutrition rarely follow systematic planning, implementation, and evaluation (PIE) processes to enhance effectiveness over the long term. As a result a set of programme-oriented key principles to promote healthy growth remains elusive. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by proposing a set of principles to improve programmes and interventions to promote healthy growth and development. Identifying such principles for programme success has three requirements: rethinking traditional paradigms used to promote improved infant and young child feeding; ensuring better linkages to delivery platforms; and, improving programming. Following the PIE model for programmes and learning from experiences from four relatively large-scale programmes described in this paper, 10 key principles are identified in the areas of programme planning, programme implementation, programme evaluation, and dissemination, replication, and scaling up. Nonetheless, numerous operational research questions remain, some of which are highlighted in this paper. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The impact of an adventure based experiential learning programme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an adventure based experiential learning programme (AEP) in developing the life effectiveness of black high school learners. “Life Effectiveness” reflects the psychological and behavioural aspects of human functioning which determine the proficiency of a person in society.

Restoring State Control Over Forest Resources Through Administrative Procedures: Evidence From a Community Forestry Programme in Central Java, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Maryudi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, community forestry has emerged as a means to reform power constellations with regard to forest governance. Through community forestry, the central state promised to devolve several forest rights to local communities and encouraged them to get involved in decision making processes and the implementation of forest activities. However, experience in some countries indicates that the implementation of community forestry programmes is rarely followed by genuine power devolution to local forest users. Instead, these programmes may even serve as a means to retain or restore the central state’s control over forests. Using a case study of a community forestry programme implemented in Java, Indonesia, by a state forest company, this paper argues that the implementation of community forestry is also driven by the state’s interests to regain control over the forests. Research in eight villages in Central Java province reveals that the community forestry programmes are carefully structured according to numerous administrative procedures and estab- lish a mode of control through a bureaucratic design. ----- In den letzten Jahren hat sich community forestry als Mittel zur Reform von Machtkonstellationen in Bezug auf die Verwaltung von Wäldern herausgebildet. Der Zentralstaat versprach durch community forestry bestimmte Waldrechte an lokale Communities abzugeben und ermutigte sie, sich an Entscheidungsprozessen und der Implementierung von Forstaktivitäten zu beteiligen. Erfahrungen in einigen Ländern zeigen jedoch, dass die Implementierung von community forestry-Programmen selten mit einem tatsächlichen Machttransfer an lokale ForstnutzerInnen einhergeht, sondern diese Programme sogar als Mittel zur Rückgewinnung von zentralstaatlicher Kontrolle über Wälder dienen können. Anhand eines Fallbeispiels eines community forestry-Programms, das in Java, Indonesien, von einem staatlichen Forstunternehmen implementiert wird, argumentiere ich

Evaluating a virtual learning environment in the context of its community of practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Ellaway

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The evaluation of virtual learning environments (VLEs and similar applications has, to date, largely consisted of checklists of system features, phenomenological studies or measures of specific forms of educational efficacy. Although these approaches offer some value, they are unable to capture the complex and holistic nature of a group of individuals using a common system to support the wide range of activities that make up a course or programme of study over time. This paper employs Wenger's theories of ‘communities of practice' to provide a formal structure for looking at how a VLE supports a pre-existing course community. Wenger proposes a Learning Architecture Framework for a learning community of practice, which the authors have taken to provide an evaluation framework. This approach is complementary to both the holistic and complex natures of course environments, in that particular VLE affordances are less important than the activities of the course community in respect of the system. Thus, the VLE's efficacy in its context of use is the prime area of investigation rather than a reductionist analysis of its tools and components. An example of this approach in use is presented, evaluating the VLE that supports the undergraduate medical course at the University of Edinburgh. The paper provides a theoretical grounding, derives an evaluation instrument, analyses the efficacy and validity of the instrument in practice and draws conclusions as to how and where it may best be used.

Learning and Best Practices for Learning in Open-Source Software Communities

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Singh, Vandana; Holt, Lila

2013-01-01

This research is about participants who use open-source software (OSS) discussion forums for learning. Learning in online communities of education as well as non-education-related online communities has been studied under the lens of social learning theory and situated learning for a long time. In this research, we draw parallels among these two…

THE SCHOOL AS A LEARNING COMMUNITY

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Cintya Arely Hernández-López

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In the present study is to weight the learning communities, starting to know the approach that has a school in the Chihuahua state to become a learning community, expecting describe how the school gathers the elements to operate as such. The method that was in use was the study of case, resting on the technologies of observation, interview and survey, same that complemented each other with the information that came from the survey and from the analysis of the “portafolio”. The case of study though it presents characteristics that demonstrate inside a community of learning as quality, collaborative work however the institution does not possess the opening and the participation of the involved ones, being an obstacle for the consolidation and benefit of the educational community; ith what there meets distant the possibility that this politics to turn to the school in a community of learning could be consolidate.

Making Distance Visible: Assembling Nearness in an Online Distance Learning Programme

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Jen Ross

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Online distance learners are in a particularly complex relationship with the educational institutions they belong to (Bayne, Gallagher, & Lamb, 2012. For part-time distance students, arrivals and departures can be multiple and invisible as students take courses, take breaks, move into independent study phases of a programme, find work or family commitments overtaking their study time, experience personal upheaval or loss, and find alignments between their professional and academic work. These comings and goings indicate a fluid and temporary assemblage of engagement, not a permanent or stable state of either “presence” or “distance”. This paper draws from interview data from the “New Geographies of Learning” project, a research project exploring the notions of space and institution for the MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, and from literature on distance learning and online community. The concept of nearness emerged from the data analyzing the comings and goings of students on a fully online programme. It proposes that “nearness” to a distance programme is a temporary assemblage of people, circumstances, and technologies. This state is difficult to establish and impossible to sustain in an uninterrupted way over the long period of time that many are engaged in part-time study. Interruptions and subsequent returns should therefore be seen as normal in the practice of studying as an online distance learner, and teachers and institutions should work to help students develop resilience in negotiating various states of nearness. Four strategies for increasing this resilience are proposed: recognising nearness as effortful; identifying affinities; valuing perspective shifts; and designing openings.

Students' Experiences of Clinic-Based Learning during a Final Year Veterinary Internship Programme

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Matthew, Susan M.; Taylor, Rosanne M.; Ellis, Robert A.

2010-01-01

This study investigated veterinary students' experiences of clinic-based learning (CBL) during a comprehensive final year internship programme. Open-ended surveys (n = 93) were used to gather qualitative data about students' conceptions of what is learned during CBL and their approaches to learning in clinics. Phenomenography was used for detailed…

Perceived learned skills and professional development of graduates from a master in dental public health programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Aslam, S; Delgado-Angulo, E K; Bernabé, E

2017-02-01

Assessing the impact of a training programme is important for quality assurance and further development. It also can helps with accountability and marketing purposes. This study evaluated the impact of King's College London (KCL) Master of Science programme in Dental Public Health in terms of graduates' perceived learned skills and professional development. An online questionnaire was sent to individuals who completed successfully the KCL Master of Science programme in Dental Public Health and had a valid email address. Participants provided information on demographic characteristics, perceived learned skills (intellectual, practical and generic) and professional development (type of organisation, position in the organisation and functions performed at work before and after the programme). Learned skills' scores were compared by demographic factors in multiple linear regression models, and the distribution of responses on career development was compared using nonparametric tests for paired groups. Although all scores on learned skills were on the favourable side of the Likert scale, graduates reported higher scores for practical skills, followed by intellectual and generic skills. No differences in scores were found by sex, age, nationality or time since graduation. In terms of career development, there were significantly higher proportions of graduates working in higher education institutions and taking leadership/managerial roles in organisations as well as greater number and variety of functions at work after than before the programme. This online survey shows that the programme has had a positive impact on graduates in terms of perceived learned skills and professional development. © 2015 The Authors. European Journal of Dental Education Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Communities R and D Programme: radioactive waste management and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-01-01

The European Community's programme is the first and to this date the only joint international action dealing with those issues, which might well become decisive for the future of nuclear energy -the management and storage of radioactive waste. The first Annual Progress Report describes the scope and the state of advancement of this indirect action programme. At present 24 research contracts with research institutes in almost every member country of the EC are either signed or in the final stages of negociation. The objective of the R and D actions to be achieved by 1980 is the demonstration of either the technical potential or, for further advanced projects, the feasibility and even the industrial availability of methods for treating and stoping radwaste. The following aspects are investigated: processing of solid waste from reactors, reprocessing plants and the plutonium manufacture; intermediate and terminal storage of high activity and alpha wastes; advanced waste management methods as the storage of gaseous waste and the separation and transmutation of actinides. In addition to the scientific-technical R and D actions, a survey of the legal, administrative and financial problems encountered in radwaste management and storage is an essential part of the Communities' programme

Great Expectations: Teacher Learning in a National Professional Development Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Kathleen M.; Makopoulou, Kyriaki

2012-01-01

This paper reports findings from an evaluation of a national continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers in England. Data showed that the localised implementation, opportunities for interactive learning, and "collective participation" were positive factors. Research participants reported difficulties, however, in…

Australian Primary Students' Motivation and Learning Intentions for Extra-Curricular Music Programmes

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Ng, Clarence

2017-01-01

What are the motivational differences between students who intend to continue their learning in instrumental and choral music programmes and those who intend to discontinue? Using an achievement-goal perspective, this study investigated motivation and learning intentions of Australian students who had engaged in these extra-curricular music…

Insider Research as Part of a Master's Programme: Opportunities Lost and Found within Action Learning Sets

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Milano, Chloe; Lawless, Aileen; Eades, Elaine

2015-01-01

This account explores the role of action learning during and after an educational programme. We focus on the final stage of a master's programme and the insider research that is a key feature in many UK universities. Researching within one's own organization should lead to individual and organizational learning. However, there is relatively little…

Present status of the European Community's Fusion Materials Programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nihoul, J.; Boutard, J.L.

1990-01-01

The Fusion Materials Programme of the European Communities is largely focused on the next step in the European strategy towards fusion energy development, i.e. on NET, the Next European Torus. The main objectives and operating conditions of NET are therefore first briefly presented. A review is then given of the present status of our knowledge regarding the main metallic structural materials envisaged for the first wall/blanket and for the divertor plates. Attention is paid to the need for longer term research and development towards low activation structural materials to be used in a post-NET Demonstration Reactor. Finally, a survey is presented of the current European Fusion Technology Programme devoted to the various candidate structural and protection materials for fusion devices. (author)

Developing mental health services in Nigeria : the impact of a community-based mental health awareness programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, Julian; Agomoh, Ahamefula O

2008-07-01

This grass-roots level mental health awareness programme considerably increased use of community-based mental health services in a part of Nigeria where knowledge about treatability of mental illness was limited. The benefits of the programme were sustained for a significant period after the initial awareness programme. In order for attitude changes to be reinforced, similar awareness programmes must be repeated at regular intervals.

Postgraduate Work-Based Learning Programmes in English Higher Education: Exploring Case Studies of Organizational Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Paul; Preece, David

2009-01-01

The first part of the paper outlines and discusses the nature of work-based learning (WBL) and WBL programmes, and the overall direction of government strategy towards WBL programmes in Higher Education (HE) in England, with particular reference to postgraduate programmes, policy documents, and the WBL literature. Drawing upon case study research,…

Promotion of breast feeding in the community: impact of health education programme in rural communities in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies-Adetugbo, A A

1996-03-01

Breast feeding has been recognized as a child survival strategy, while breast feeding programmes have been increasingly implemented in many communities. This study assesses the effectiveness of a breast feeding education programme launched through the primary health care programme in the rural communities of Nigeria. Late trimester pregnant women were enrolled into the study and given a questionnaire on knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about breast feeding. Women in the study group (n = 126) received breast feeding counselling before and after delivery, while those in control group (n = 130) did not receive any counselling. Both groups were monitored after delivery and followed with the KAP questionnaire. The results of the study showed marked improvements in the intervention group for colostrum feeding (p = 0.0000). Moreover, 31.6% of the mothers in the intervention group practised timely initiation of breast feeding compared to 5.6% of the controls, and the prevalence of exclusive breast feeding at 4 months was 39.8% in the intervention group compared to 13.9% for the controls. Multivariate analysis showed that the intervention was a powerful and the only significant predictor of the increase in breast feeding behaviours (p = 0.0000), and that an early initiation of breast feeding is a strong predictor of exclusive breast feeding at 4 months of age. It is concluded that breast feeding promotion in rural communities is feasible and can lead to behavioural changes.

Mental illness in Bwindi, Uganda: Understanding stakeholder perceptions of benefits and barriers to developing a community-based mental health programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen L. Sessions

2017-11-01

Results: Stakeholders perceived benefits to a community-based compared to a hospital-based programme, including improved patient care, lower costs to patients and improved community understanding of mental illness. They also cited barriers including cost, insufficient workforce and a lack of community readiness.Conclusions: Stakeholders express interest in developing community-based mental health programmes, as they feel that it will address mental health needs in the community and improve community awareness of mental illness. However, they also report that cost is a significant barrier to programme development that will have to be addressed prior to being able to successfully establish such programming. Additionally, many community members expressed unique sociocultural beliefs regarding the nature of mental illness and those suffering from a psychiatric disease.

A novel Internet-based blended learning programme providing core competency in clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsugihashi, Yukio; Kakudate, Naoki; Yokoyama, Yoko; Yamamoto, Yosuke; Mishina, Hiroki; Fukumori, Norio; Nakamura, Fumiaki; Takegami, Misa; Ohno, Shinya; Wakita, Takafumi; Watanabe, Kazuhiro; Yamaguchi, Takuhiro; Fukuhara, Shunichi

2013-04-01

We developed a novel Internet-based blended learning programme that allows busy health care professionals to attain core competency in clinical research. This study details the educational strategies and learning outcomes of the programme. This study was conducted at Kyoto University and seven satellite campuses from September 2009 to March 2010. A total of 176 health care professionals who had never attempted to attain core competency in clinical research were enrolled. The participants were supplied with a novel programme comprising the following four strategies: online live lectures at seven satellite campuses, short examinations after each lecture, an Internet-based feedback system and an end-of-course examination. We assessed the proportion of attendance at the lectures as the main outcome. In addition, we evaluated interaction via the feedback system and scores for end-of-course examination. Of the 176 participants, 134 (76%) reported working more than 40 hours per week. The mean proportion of attendance over all 23 lectures was 82%. A total of 156 (89%) participants attended more than 60% of all lectures and were eligible for the end-of-course examination. A total of the participants accessed the feedback system 3564 times and asked 284 questions. No statistically significant differences were noted in the end-of-course scores among medical doctors, pharmacists, registered nurses and other occupations. We developed an Internet-based blended learning programme providing core competency in clinical research. Most busy health care professionals completed the programme successfully. In addition, the participants could attain the core competency effectively, regardless of their occupation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Assessment of learning needs and the development of an educational programme for registered nurses in advanced midwifery and neonatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AE Fichardt

2000-09-01

Full Text Available A key step in the development of any educational programme is learning needs assessment. This is however often neglected. The purpose of this research was to identify learning needs of potential students in order to develop a relevant educational programme for registered nurses in advanced midwifery and neonatology. A survey design was used, and the population of the study was the registered nurses in the Free State. Two thousand questionnaires were mailed to respondents, selected by means of simple random sampling. Advanced educational programmes emphasize the teaching of advanced knowledge and skills and accept that the students entering these programmes already have specific knowledge and skills included in the curricula for basic programmes. This is contrary to the findings of this study. The results underline the importance of learning needs assessment in the development of relevant educational programmes.

Analyzing Learning in Professional Learning Communities: A Conceptual Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Van Lare, Michelle D.; Brazer, S. David

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to build a conceptual framework that informs current understanding of how professional learning communities (PLCs) function in conjunction with organizational learning. The combination of sociocultural learning theories and organizational learning theories presents a more complete picture of PLC processes that has…

Generic learning skills in academically-at-risk medical students: a development programme bridges the gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Burch, Vanessa C; Sikakana, Cynthia N T; Gunston, Geney D; Shamley, Delva R; Murdoch-Eaton, Deborah

2013-08-01

Widening access to medical students from diverse educational backgrounds is a global educational mandate. The impact, on students' generic learning skills profiles, of development programmes designed for students at risk of attrition is unknown. This study investigated the impact of a 12-month Intervention Programme (IP) on the generic learning skills profile of academically-at-risk students who, after failing at the end of the first semester, completed the IP before entering the second semester of a conventional medical training programme. This prospective study surveyed medical students admitted in 2009 and 2010, on entry and on completion of first year, on their reported practice and confidence in information handling, managing own learning, technical and numeracy, computer, organisational and presentation skills. Of 414 first year students, 80 (19%) entered the IP. Levels of practice and confidence for five of the six skills categories were significantly poorer at entry for IP students compared to conventional stream students. In four categories these differences were no longer statistically significant after students had completed the IP; 62 IP students (77.5%) progressed to second year. A 12-month development programme, the IP, effectively addressed generic learning skills deficiencies present in academically-at-risk students entering medical school.

Evaluation of cardiovascular risk-lowering health benefits accruing from laboratory-based, community-based and exercise-referral exercise programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, R; Thompson, J E S; Ruffino, J-S; Davies, N A; Watkeys, L; Hooper, S; Jones, P M; Walters, G; Clayton, D; Thomas, A W; Morris, K; Llewellyn, D H; Ward, M; Wyatt-Williams, J; McDonnell, B J

2016-01-01

To evaluate the ability of community-based exercise programmes to facilitate public participation in exercise and hence improved cardiovascular health, we assessed the respective impacts of: a continuously monitored exercise programme based within our university (study 1); a Valleys Regional Park-facilitated community-based outdoor exercise programme (study 2); a Wales National Exercise Referral Scheme-delivered exercise-referral programme (study 3). Biomolecular (monocytic PPARγ target gene expression), vascular haemodynamic (central/peripheral blood pressure, arterial stiffness), clinical (insulin sensitivity, blood lipids) and anthropometric (body mass index, waist circumference, heart rate) parameters were investigated using RT-PCR, applanation tonometry, chemical analysis and standard anthropometric techniques. In studies 1-3, 22/28, 32/65 and 11/14 participants adhered to their respective exercise programmes, and underwent significant increases in physical activity levels. Importantly, beneficial effects similar to those seen in our previous studies (eg, modulations in expression of monocytic PPARγ target genes, decreases in blood pressure/arterial stiffness, improvements in blood lipids/insulin sensitivity) were observed (albeit to slightly differing extents) only in participants who adhered to their respective exercise programmes. While study 1 achieved more intense exercise and more pronounced beneficial effects, significant cardiovascular risk-lowering health benefits related to biomolecular markers, blood pressure, arterial stiffness and blood lipids were achieved via community/referral-based delivery modes in studies 2 and 3. Because cardiovascular health benefits were observed in all 3 studies, we conclude that the majority of benefits previously reported in laboratory-based studies can also be achieved in community-based/exercise-referral settings. These findings may be of use in guiding policymakers with regard to introduction and/or continued

E-learning in an undergraduate radiography programme: Example of an interactive website

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Peter; Cheung, Alice K.Y.

2006-01-01

Purpose: To demonstrate how e-learning can be integrated into an undergraduate radiography programme, using an academic subject dealing with ethico-legal issues as an example. Information provided could be applied to any form of online learning. Methods: One academic subject from an undergraduate radiography programme, Case-Based Learning for Professional Studies, which had previously been taught using traditional face-to-face methods, was transformed into an e-learning format. Students who experienced the new e-learning format were evaluated by means of an online evaluation questionnaire. Results: Eighty-three percentage of respondents felt confident/semi-confident about participating in online Chat sessions. Around 34% of respondents thought that the Discussion Board was useful for communicating with fellow students. Nearly 70% of respondents believed that access to online materials enabled them to prepare for lectures and tutorials. However, 34% of students preferred more face-to-face lectures/tutorials. Overall, feedback was positive. Conclusion: Course providers and other relevant stakeholders need to be proactive in determining ways to facilitate undergraduate and post-registration development and learning. E-learning can be utilized to benefit learners who wish to work at their own pace and who cannot attend courses at remote sites. Individuals can reap the benefits of an online learning format and affording learners more flexibility and providing guidance for them, by means of a website, may help to promote a positive attitude to lifelong learning

E-learning in an undergraduate radiography programme: Example of an interactive website

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Peter [Department of Optometry and Radiography, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China)]. E-mail: orpwhite@polyu.edu.hk; Cheung, Alice K.Y. [Department of Optometry and Radiography, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China)]. E-mail: alice.cheung@iee.org

2006-08-15

Purpose: To demonstrate how e-learning can be integrated into an undergraduate radiography programme, using an academic subject dealing with ethico-legal issues as an example. Information provided could be applied to any form of online learning. Methods: One academic subject from an undergraduate radiography programme, Case-Based Learning for Professional Studies, which had previously been taught using traditional face-to-face methods, was transformed into an e-learning format. Students who experienced the new e-learning format were evaluated by means of an online evaluation questionnaire. Results: Eighty-three percentage of respondents felt confident/semi-confident about participating in online Chat sessions. Around 34% of respondents thought that the Discussion Board was useful for communicating with fellow students. Nearly 70% of respondents believed that access to online materials enabled them to prepare for lectures and tutorials. However, 34% of students preferred more face-to-face lectures/tutorials. Overall, feedback was positive. Conclusion: Course providers and other relevant stakeholders need to be proactive in determining ways to facilitate undergraduate and post-registration development and learning. E-learning can be utilized to benefit learners who wish to work at their own pace and who cannot attend courses at remote sites. Individuals can reap the benefits of an online learning format and affording learners more flexibility and providing guidance for them, by means of a website, may help to promote a positive attitude to lifelong learning.

Addressing the social determinants of health: a case study from the Mitanin (community health worker) programme in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Nandi, Sulakshana; Schneider, Helen

2014-09-01

The Mitanin Programme, a government community health worker (CHW) programme, was started in Chhattisgarh State of India in 2002. The CHWs (Mitanins) have consistently adopted roles that go beyond health programme-specific interventions to embrace community mobilization and action on local priorities. The aim of this research was to document how and why the Mitanins have been able to act on the social determinants of health, describing the catalysts and processes involved and the enabling programmatic and organizational factors. A qualitative comparative case study of successful action by Mitanin was conducted in two 'blocks', purposefully selected as positive exemplars in two districts of Chhattisgarh. One case focused on malnutrition and the other on gender-based violence. Data collection involved 17 in-depth interviews and 10 group interviews with the full range of stakeholders in both blocks, including community members and programme team. Thematic analysis was done using a broad conceptual framework that was further refined. Action on social determinants involved raising awareness on rights, mobilizing women's collectives, revitalizing local political structures and social action targeting both the community and government service providers. Through these processes, the Mitanins developed identities as agents of change and advocates for the community, both with respect to local cultural and gender norms and in ensuring accountability of service providers. The factors underpinning successful action on social determinants were identified as the significance of the original intent and vision of the programme, and how this was carried through into all aspects of programme design, the role of the Mitanins and their identification with village women, ongoing training and support, and the relative autonomy of the programme. Although the results are not narrowly generalizable and do not necessarily represent the situation of the Mitanin Programme as a whole, the

Peer-Assisted Learning Programme: Supporting Students in High-Risk Subjects at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Walter Sisulu University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makala Qonda

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The majority of the students who enroll at the Walter Sisulu University (WSU in South Africa are not equipped with the necessary academic/learning skills to cope with the university environment, especially in Mechanical Engineering. The Department of Higher Education and Training (2013, p. 17, further states that “students’ support is crucial to ensure that students adapt to the demands of college life and that they can meet the demands of college programmes”. Particularly in South Africa, the school environment might also contribute to poor student performance as a result of insufficient student support, and a lack of facilities and resources. In order to address this gap, a Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL programme was implemented to provide support targeting high-risk subjects for at-risk students in Mechanical Engineering at WSU. The programme therefore is pro-active and student-driven in that senior students assist junior students with their academic work and learning processes. The programme is designed to encourage collaborative and cooperative learning approaches during group sessions and active student engagement to support student learning (Laal & Laal, 2012. The programme requires substantial resources and time commitments. It is important from an operational, learning, and student perspective to understand in what ways the PAL programme assists students (if at all. Eliciting the experiences of students also helps the department to design interventions from a student-centred perspective using the lens of learning theories.  This qualitative case study explores the student experience of the Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL programme. Open-ended questionnaires/survey from 20 first-year students elicited their perceptions and experiences of the PAL programme. Responses were analysed thematically. Findings indicated that the students had useful insights that may contribute to revising the programme. Aspects mentioned were improved study

Learning Global Citizenship?: Exploring Connections between the Local and the Global

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Mayo, Marjorie; Gaventa, John; Rooke, Alison

2009-01-01

This article identifies historical connections between adult learning, popular education and the emergence of the public sphere in Europe, exploring potential implications for adult learning and community development, drawing upon research evaluating programmes to promote community-based learning "for" active citizenship in UK. The…

Teachers' perceptions about children's movement and learning in early childhood education programmes.

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Gehris, J S; Gooze, R A; Whitaker, R C

2015-01-01

Efforts to improve the academic skills of preschool-aged children have resulted in approaches that tend to limit children's movement. However, movement experiences have long been considered important to children's learning and have received increased attention because of the obesity epidemic. Early childhood educators are important sources of information about if and how to promote learning and school readiness through movement, but little effort has been made to understand teachers' views on this topic. We conducted six focus groups with 37 teachers from a Head Start programme with centres in three cities in eastern Pennsylvania. We inquired about: (1) how movement influences children's learning; (2) what types of movement experiences are most beneficial for children; (3) what settings best support children's movement; and (4) challenges related to children's movement. To identify key themes from the focus groups, transcripts were analysed using an inductive method of coding. Teachers' views were expressed in four major themes. First, young children have an innate need to move, and teachers respond to this need by using movement experiences to prepare children to learn and to teach academic concepts and spatial awareness. However, teachers wanted more training in these areas. Second, movement prepares children for school and for life by building children's confidence and social skills. Third, teachers and children benefit from moving together because it motivates children and promotes teacher-child relationships. Finally, moving outdoors promotes learning by engaging children's senses and promoting community interaction. More training may be required to help early childhood educators use movement experiences to teach academic concepts and improve children's spatial awareness. Future interventions could examine the impacts on children's movement and learning of having teachers move with children during outdoor free play and including more natural features in the

Twenty-First Century Learning: Communities, Interaction and Ubiquitous Computing

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Leh, Amy S.C.; Kouba, Barbara; Davis, Dirk

2005-01-01

Advanced technology makes 21st century learning, communities and interactions unique and leads people to an era of ubiquitous computing. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the discussion of learning in the 21st century. The paper will review literature on learning community, community learning, interaction, 21st century learning and…

Learning to Learn: A Hidden Dimension within Community Dance Practice

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Barr, Sherrie

2013-01-01

This article explores ways of learning experienced by university dance students participating in a community dance project. The students were unfamiliar with community-based practices and found themselves needing to remediate held attitudes about dance. How the students came to approach their learning within the dance-making process drew on…

Individual, household, programme and community effects on childhood malnutrition in rural India.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaram, S; Zottarelli, Lisa K; Sunil, T S

2007-04-01

The children living in rural areas of India disproportionately suffer from malnutrition compared with their urban counterparts. The present article analyses the individual, household, community and programme factors on nutritional status of children in rural India. Additionally, we consider the random variances at village and state levels after introducing various observed individual-, household- and programme-level characteristics in the model. A multilevel model is conducted using data from the National Family and Health Survey 2. The results show that maternal characteristics, such as socio-economic and behavioural factors, are more influential in determining childhood nutritional status than the prevalence of programme factors. Also, it was found that individual factors show evidence of state- and village-level clustering of malnutrition.

Reflective learning in community-based dental education.

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Deogade, Suryakant C; Naitam, Dinesh

2016-01-01

Community-based dental education (CBDE) is the implementation of dental education in a specific social context, which shifts a substantial part of dental clinical education from dental teaching institutional clinics to mainly public health settings. Dental students gain additional value from CBDE when they are guided through a reflective process of learning. We propose some key elements to the existing CBDE program that support meaningful personal learning experiences. Dental rotations of 'externships' in community-based clinical settings (CBCS) are year-long community-based placements and have proven to be strong learning environments where students develop good communication skills and better clinical reasoning and management skills. We look at the characteristics of CBDE and how the social and personal context provided in communities enhances dental education. Meaningfulness is created by the authentic context, which develops over a period of time. Structured reflection assignments and methods are suggested as key elements in the existing CBDE program. Strategies to enrich community-based learning experiences for dental students include: Photographic documentation; written narratives; critical incident reports; and mentored post-experiential small group discussions. A directed process of reflection is suggested as a way to increase the impact of the community learning experiences. We suggest key elements to the existing CBDE module so that the context-rich environment of CBDE allows for meaningful relations and experiences for dental students and enhanced learning.

Mobile phone short message service messaging for behaviour modification in a community-based weight control programme in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Nam-Seok; Kim, Bom-Taeck

2007-01-01

We conducted a community-based anti-obesity programme using mobile phone short message service (SMS) messaging. A total of 927 participants were recruited and visited a public health centre for initial assessment. Mobile phones were used to deliver short messages about diet, exercise and behaviour modification once a week. After a 12-week anti-obesity programme they visited the public health centre again. Four hundred and thirty-three subjects (47%) successfully completed their weight control programme. There were mean reductions of weight, waist circumference and body mass index of 1.6 kg (P behaviour modification in weight control and anti-obesity health education programmes when promoted by community health centres.

Teaching & Learning for International Students in a 'Learning Community': Creating, Sharing and Building Knowledge

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Linzi Kemp, PhD

2010-08-01

Full Text Available This article considers the culture of learning communities for effective teaching. A learning community is defined here as an environment where learners are brought together to share information, to learn from each other, and to create new knowledge. The individual student develops her/his own learning by building on learning from others. In a learning community approach to teaching, educators can ensure that students gain workplace skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving. In this case study, it is shown how an active learning community, introduced into a blended teaching environment (face-to-face and virtual, effectively supported international undergraduates in the building of knowledge and workplace skills.

The Anatomy of a Successful Caribbean Substance Abuse Training Programme

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SD Reid

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This paper describes the components of the Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems (CARIAD, a long-standing substance abuse training programme. It seeks to explain how certain strategies and pedagogic techniques may be contributing to its success. Methods: Authors deconstruct the core elements of CARIAD to demonstrate how the programme effectively meets the characteristics of a community of practice. The processes used to develop the learning community and the specific pedagogic strategies and techniques that foster collaborative knowledge construction and sharing are described. Results: Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems brings together a multi-disciplinary, multi-national group of individuals with interest in substance abuse. The programme provides a range of formal and informal learning activities which focus on sharing best practices and creating new sociocultural relevant knowledge to advance the domain of professional practice in substance abuse. The components of CARIAD promote interactivity, rapid bonding and a sense of identity. Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems provides a unique platform for cultural sharing that gives participants an opportunity to reveal insights into local and regional expressions of substance abuse challenges. Participants, however, recognize the absence of structured continuity and the diminution of what could be accomplished by graduates over time. Conclusion: The success of CARIAD as a regional learning platform may be related to its success as a Caribbean community of practice for substance abuse. Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems would do well to sustain the community of practice, generating and maintaining ongoing participation and collaboration among graduates. This can potentially serve to create new strategies for advancing the region in the area of substance abuse.

Family Learning Programmes: an investigation of parental perceptions, social capital and social inclusion

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Viv Moriarty

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This paper reports on interview data collected as part of an evaluation of a Family Learning Programme operating in an inner London Borough that is determined to be multiply deprived (DETR, 2000. The programme aims to build social inclusion and break cycles of disadvantage by developing the way nursery and primary schools engage in partnerships with parents, by developing parents’ mathematics and literacy skills and encouraging parents to be more involved in their children’s education. The study was therefore concerned to investigate the effects of this on parents in order to understand more about how social inclusion might be promoted. Through particular consideration of this programme, the study begins to explore the relationship between social capital and the promotion of social inclusion. A general theoretical framework for this is presented, with an analysis of the interviews conducted with parents who participated in the programme. Post-programme interviews indicated that parents had an increased sense of efficacy in their parenting abilities and felt more competent in participating in learning activities with their children. There was also more familiarity with the school and parents felt more confident about being in school and talking to teachers about their children. Whilst it is difficult to conclude whether or not the programme achieved their over-arching aim of facilitating social inclusion, parents interviewed for this study did feel more able to support their children and some considered the possibility of further education for themselves.

Level of Soft Skill in the Implementation of Work-Based Learning among Community College Students

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Ali Azita Binti

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The issue of graduate unemployment often crops up in the mass media; and more often than not, the discussions have centred on the failure of tertiary educational institutions to churn out quality graduates. Thus, the method of work-based learning (WBL is seen as a way to improve the soft skills of the graduates. The study was conducted using quantitative research survey; the design of the study used an adapted questionnaire as an instrument. Data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS version 20. The respondents consisted of 97 students who attended WBL programmes at a community college. Descriptive statistics was used to extract data from the questionnaires for the calculation of mean. The findings reveal that the level of soft skills among community college students was high, and they include these abilities: communication skills, problem-solving skills, learning and information management, professional ethics skills and leadership skills.

Improving the quality of learning in science through optimization of lesson study for learning community

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Setyaningsih, S.

2018-03-01

Lesson Study for Learning Community is one of lecturer profession building system through collaborative and continuous learning study based on the principles of openness, collegiality, and mutual learning to build learning community in order to form professional learning community. To achieve the above, we need a strategy and learning method with specific subscription technique. This paper provides a description of how the quality of learning in the field of science can be improved by implementing strategies and methods accordingly, namely by applying lesson study for learning community optimally. Initially this research was focused on the study of instructional techniques. Learning method used is learning model Contextual teaching and Learning (CTL) and model of Problem Based Learning (PBL). The results showed that there was a significant increase in competence, attitudes, and psychomotor in the four study programs that were modelled. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of learning strategies in Lesson study for Learning Community is needed to be used to improve the competence, attitude and psychomotor of science students.

Mental illness in Bwindi, Uganda: Understanding stakeholder perceptions of benefits and barriers to developing a community-based mental health programme.

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Sessions, Kristen L; Wheeler, Lydia; Shah, Arya; Farrell, Deenah; Agaba, Edwin; Kuule, Yusufu; Merry, Stephen P

2017-11-30

Mental illness has been increasingly recognised as a source of morbidity in low- and middle-income countries and significant treatment gaps exist worldwide. Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of task sharing through community-based treatment models for addressing international mental health issues. This paper aims to evaluate the perceptions of a wide range of mental health stakeholders in a Ugandan community regarding the benefits and barriers to developing a community-based mental health programme. Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH) in south-west Uganda provides services through a team of community health workers to people in the Kanungu District. Thematic analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews and 6 focus group discussions involving 54 community members and 13 mental health stakeholders within the BCH catchment area. Stakeholders perceived benefits to a community-based compared to a hospital-based programme, including improved patient care, lower costs to patients and improved community understanding of mental illness. They also cited barriers including cost, insufficient workforce and a lack of community readiness. Stakeholders express interest in developing community-based mental health programmes, as they feel that it will address mental health needs in the community and improve community awareness of mental illness. However, they also report that cost is a significant barrier to programme development that will have to be addressed prior to being able to successfully establish such programming. Additionally, many community members expressed unique sociocultural beliefs regarding the nature of mental illness and those suffering from a psychiatric disease.

Reflect before you act: providing structure to the evaluation of rehabilitation programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Velema, Johan P; Cornielje, Huib

2003-11-18

This paper is concerned with understanding and evaluating potentially diverse rehabilitation programmes. It helps evaluators and programme managers to focus attention on specific aspects of the rehabilitation process and select evaluation questions relevant to each. Distinction is made between the rehabilitation programme itself, the programme environment and the relationships between the two. For each of these areas, evaluation questions have been formulated. For services offered to individual clients, questions address whether the status of clients has improved, what interventions are offered and who benefit from them, the relationships between the service providers and the clients, and who may be involved in the rehabilitation process besides the client. To assess the programme environment, questions address the epidemiology of disability, the resources available to persons with disabilities, the inclusiveness of education and employment and a number of eco-social variables. Relationships between the programme and its environment concern the support of the community for the programme, the way the programme seeks to influence the community, the referral of clients to other services available in the community and the extent to which the programme is a learning organization. Lists of evaluation questions are presented from which the evaluator can select those most relevant to the programme to be evaluated. This provides a framework for the evaluation and for the information to be gathered. Rather than providing a blue print, this framework permits flexibility to adapt to the specific situation of the programme to be evaluated. This paper presents a useful guideline that stimulates the thinking of those preparing for the evaluation of rehabilitation programmes.

Virtual Communities of Collaborative Learning for Higher Education

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Gilda E. Sotomayor

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This article aims to outline and project three new learning scenarios for Higher Education that, after the emergence of ICT and communication through the Network-lnternet, have come under the generic name of virtual communities. To that end, we start from a previous conceptual analysis on collaborative learning, cooperative learning and related concepts taking place in these communities and serving as a basis for sorting them into three types in particular: communities of educational work of professional practice and scientific knowledge. Virtual communities where the activities undertaken and skills acquired are set as important parts of our personal learning development, wich are necessary to build the Knowledge Society.

The community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations. Fourth annual progress report 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1989-01-01

This is the fourth annual progress report on the European Community's programme (1984-88) of research on the decommissioning of nuclear installations. It shows the status of the programme at 31 December 1988. The fourth progress report describes the objectives, scope and work programme of the 72 research contracts concluded, as well as the progress of work achieved and the results obtained in 1988

The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations. Third annual progress report 1987

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

This is the third annual progress report of the European Community's programme (1984-88) of research on the decommissioning of nuclear installations. It shows the status of the programme on 31 December 1987. The third progress report describes the objectives, scope and work programme of the 69 research contracts concluded, as well as the progress of work achieved and the results obtained in 1987

The European Community's research and development programme on the decommissioning of nuclear installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skupinski, E.

1988-01-01

The Commission of the European Communities (CEC) continued with a second research programme on the decommissioning of nuclear installations (1984-88), after having completed a first programme on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants (1979-83). The programme, which has about 70 research contracts with organisations or private firms in the member states, includes the development and testing of advanced techniques, such as decontamination and dismantling, and the consideration of the radioactive waste arising therefrom. Work is done at laboratory scale or in the context of large-scale decommissioning operations. The paper will give an overview on the technical content and on some selected results. (author)

Using an academic-community partnership model and blended learning to advance community health nursing pedagogy.

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Ezeonwu, Mabel; Berkowitz, Bobbie; Vlasses, Frances R

2014-01-01

This article describes a model of teaching community health nursing that evolved from a long-term partnership with a community with limited existing health programs. The partnership supported RN-BSN students' integration in the community and resulted in reciprocal gains for faculty, students and community members. Community clients accessed public health services as a result of the partnership. A blended learning approach that combines face-to-face interactions, service learning and online activities was utilized to enhance students' learning. Following classroom sessions, students actively participated in community-based educational process through comprehensive health needs assessments, planning and implementation of disease prevention and health promotion activities for community clients. Such active involvement in an underserved community deepened students' awareness of the fundamentals of community health practice. Students were challenged to view public health from a broader perspective while analyzing the impacts of social determinants of health on underserved populations. Through asynchronous online interactions, students synthesized classroom and community activities through critical thinking. This paper describes a model for teaching community health nursing that informs students' learning through blended learning, and meets the demands for community health nursing services delivery. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Why STEM Learning Communities Work: The Development of Psychosocial Learning Factors through Social Interaction

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Carrino, Stephanie Sedberry; Gerace, William J.

2016-01-01

STEM learning communities facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. This prompted us to explore the underlying factors that make learning communities successful. In this paper, we report findings from an illustrative case study of a 2-year STEM-based learning community designed to identify and describe these…

Exploring competing experiences and expectations of the revitalized community health worker programme in Mozambique: an equity analysis.

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Give, Celso Soares; Sidat, Mohsin; Ormel, Hermen; Ndima, Sozinho; McCollum, Rosalind; Taegtmeyer, Miriam

2015-09-01

Mozambique launched its revitalized community health programme in 2010 in response to inequitable coverage and quality of health services. The programme is focused on health promotion and disease prevention, with 20 % of community health workers' (known in Mozambique as Agentes Polivalentes Elementares (APEs)) time spent on curative services and 80 % on activities promoting health and preventing illness. We set out to conduct a health system and equity analysis, exploring experiences and expectations of APEs, community members and healthcare workers supervising APEs. This exploratory qualitative study captured the perspectives of a range of participants including women caring for children under 5 years (service clients), community leaders, service providers (APEs) and their supervisors. Participants in the Moamba and Manhiça districts, located in Maputo Province (Mozambique), were selected purposively. In total, 29 in-depth interviews and 9 focus group discussions were conducted in the local language and/or Portuguese. A framework approach was used for analysis, assisted by NVivo10 software. Our analysis revealed that health equity is viewed as linked to the quality and coverage of the APE programme. Demand and supply factors interplay to shape health equity. The availability of responsive and appropriate services led to tensions between community expectations for curative services (and APEs' willingness to perform them) and official policy focusing APE efforts mainly on preventive services and health promotion. The demand for more curative services by community members is a result of having limited access to healthcare services other than those offered by APEs. This study highlights the need to pay attention to the determinants of demand and supply of community interventions in health, to understand the opportunities and challenges of the difficult interface role played by APEs and to create communication among stakeholders in order to build a stronger, more

Designing Professional Learning Communities through Understanding the Beliefs of Learning

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Ke, Jie; Kang, Rui; Liu, Di

2016-01-01

This study was designed to initiate the process of building professional development learning communities for pre-service math teachers through revealing those teachers' conceptions/beliefs of students' learning and their own learning in China. It examines Chinese pre-service math teachers' conceptions of student learning and their related…

75 FR 35881 - Smaller Learning Communities Program

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-23

... Part II Department of Education Smaller Learning Communities Program; Notice #0;#0;Federal... EDUCATION Smaller Learning Communities Program Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.215L. AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of final...

Integrating Community into the Classroom: Community Gardening, Community Involvement, and Project-Based Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Langhout, Regina Day; Rappaport, Julian; Simmons, Doretha

2002-01-01

Culturally relevant, ongoing project-based learning was facilitated in a predominantly African American urban elementary school via a community garden project. The project involved teachers, students, university members, and community members. This article evaluates the project through two classroom-community collaboration models, noting common…

Service-learning and learning communities: two innovative school projects that are mutually enriched

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Carmen ÁLVAREZ ÁLVAREZ

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article reflects on the interrelationships that exist between two educational projects of today: service-learning (ApS and learning communities (CdA. The ApS is an educational methodology applied worldwide where a single project combines a learning based on experience with the implementation of a service to the community. CdA is a school transformation project to achieve that the information society does not exclude any person, constituting a reality in more than one hundred and ninety schools in Spain and Latin America. Between the two, it is possible to show differences, especially in what refers to its theoretical substrates, but in actual teaching practice in schools there is some harmony, particularly in the so closely that they cultivate both projects with the school community. Therefore, we conclude that service-learning and learning communities can occur as two innovative and relevant today projects which can be mutually enriching: because for both the approach school-community-environment and volunteering is essential.

Preparing palliative home care nurses to act as facilitators for physicians' learning: Evaluation of a training programme.

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Pype, Peter; Mertens, Fien; Wens, Johan; Stes, Ann; Van den Eynden, Bart; Deveugele, Myriam

2015-05-01

Palliative care requires a multidisciplinary care team. General practitioners often ask specialised palliative home care teams for support. Working with specialised nurses offers learning opportunities, also called workplace learning. This can be enhanced by the presence of a learning facilitator. To describe the development and evaluation of a training programme for nurses in primary care. The programme aimed to prepare palliative home care team nurses to act as facilitators for general practitioners' workplace learning. A one-group post-test only design (quantitative) and semi-structured interviews (qualitative) were used. A multifaceted train-the-trainer programme was designed. Evaluation was done through assignments with individual feedback, summative assessment through videotaped encounters with simulation-physicians and individual interviews after a period of practice implementation. A total of 35 nurses followed the programme. The overall satisfaction was high. Homework assignments interfered with the practice workload but showed to be fundamental in translating theory into practice. Median score on the summative assessment was 7 out of 14 with range 1-13. Interviews revealed some aspects of the training (e.g. incident analysis) to be too difficult for implementation or to be in conflict with personal preferences (focus on patient care instead of facilitating general practitioners' learning). Training palliative home care team nurses as facilitator of general practitioners' workplace learning is a feasible but complex intervention. Personal characteristics, interpersonal relationships and contextual variables have to be taken into account. Training expert palliative care nurses to facilitate general practitioners' workplace learning requires careful and individualised mentoring. © The Author(s) 2014.

Epistemic Communities, Situated Learning and Open Source Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edwards, Kasper

2001-01-01

This paper analyses open source software (OSS) development as an epistemic community where each individual project is perceived as a single epistemic community. OSS development is a learning process where the involved parties contribute to, and learn from the community. It is discovered that theory...... of epistemic communities does indeed contribute to the understanding of open source software development. But, the important learning process of open source software development is not readily explained. The paper then introduces situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation as theoretical...

International learning communities for global and localcitizenship

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Hana Cervinkova

2011-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I describe our ongoing international project in engaged educationalethnography and participatory action research with young adults and consider itsrelevance for a discussion on the community-building role of adult education in aglobalized context. I use the example of our case study to suggest that adult educatorscan generate viable communities by creating learning spaces that nurture criticalconsciousness, a sense of agency, participation and social solidarity amonginternationally and culturally diverse young adult learners. Furthermore, I argue thatparticipation in international learning communities formed through this educationalprocess can potentially help young adults become locally and globally engaged citizens.International learning communities for global citizenship thus present a proposition forconceptualizing the vital role of adult community education in supporting democraticglobal and local citizenship in a world defined in terms of cross-cultural and longdistanceencounters in the formation of culture.

Conversation as Academic Practice: Tutors' Strategies in Integrating Student Learning in a Professional Training Degree Programme

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Matt Bowden

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Tutors are generally considered to be an additional resource in teaching and learning, as a means of augmenting that of the lecturer. This article explores tutors as academic staff with responsibilities for developing practice competencies and integrating student learning in a social care professional training degree programme. The research is small-scale, based upon data from a purposive sample of five interviews; and upon insider-participant observation notes and reflections in one single setting. The author deployed a situated ethnographic methodology alongside a frame analytic approach. The research found that in their academic practice, tutors reveal how their student contact is oriented to developing a reflective practitioner and they discuss how programme inputs impact on the student’s professional self. Simultaneously, tutors seek to create cross programme integration through finding overlaps with academic programme strands.

Contextualising Learning through the Participatory Construction of an Environmental Education Programme

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Ruiz-Mallen, Isabel; Barraza, Laura; Bodenhorn, Barbara; Ceja-Adame, Maria de la Paz; Reyes-Garcia, Victoria

2010-01-01

Strengthening links between school and community is critical for improving people's participation in environmental issues. However, Mexican education programmes are generally unrelated to rural students' life experience and are planned without considering either teachers' or students' opinions. This article describes the participatory construction…

The Cultural Missions Programme: An Early Attempt at Community Development in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubio, Alfredo

1978-01-01

The author reviews the "Cultural Missions Programme" of Mexico's educational reform after 1920, in which groups of teachers using Catholic missionary methods fought poverty and ignorance in rural Mexico. These mission programs embody most of the community development principles and are still needed. (MF)

Learnings and challenges to deploy an interprofessional and independent medical education programme to a new audience

Science.gov (United States)

Van Driel, Mieke L.; McGuire, Treasure M.; Stark, Richard; Lazure, Patrice; Garcia, Tina; Sullivan, Lisa

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The importance of interprofessional education (IPE) in continuing medical education and professional development has long been recognised by health organisations and academic societies, benefiting not only patient outcomes and interprofessional relationships but also overall health systems and workforce shortage. We report on the outcomes of an Australian IPE activity on medication-overuse headache (MOH) with general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists as learners. The design of the activity, which followed the predisposing–enabling–reinforcing instructional framework by Green and Kreuter, aimed to: (1) improve knowledge and foster a willingness in GPs and pharmacists to work collaboratively to enhance the prevention, diagnosis and management of MOH; and (2) address their educational gap by demonstrating the utility of a blended learning IPE strategy on MOH. Integrated into the activity was an assessment of its effectiveness and impact to instil change in the participants’ knowledge of MOH, attitude and willingness to treat, and clinical practice behaviours of GPs and pharmacists to work together. The learners gained knowledge and confidence in diagnosing and managing MOH and in their ability to educate patients. The IPE approach suited the activity and was valued by the participating GPs and pharmacists, who seldom experience such learning formats. However, for educational providers in Australia, developing and deploying an independent medical education (IME) programme can be challenging. Providers of IMEs need to be aware of the potential pitfalls when competing with pharmaceutical-company-sponsored and delivered programmes. PMID:29644141

Bullying in Virtual Learning Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikiforos, Stefanos; Tzanavaris, Spyros; Kermanidis, Katia Lida

2017-01-01

Bullying through the internet has been investigated and analyzed mainly in the field of social media. In this paper, it is attempted to analyze bullying in the Virtual Learning Communities using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, mainly in the context of sociocultural learning theories. Therefore four case studies took place. We aim to apply NLP techniques to speech analysis on communication data of online communities. Emphasis is given on qualitative data, taking into account the subjectivity of the collaborative activity. Finally, this is the first time such type of analysis is attempted on Greek data.

The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989-1993). Annual progress report 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This is the second annual progress report of the European Community's programme (1989-93) of research on decommissioning of nuclear installations. It shows the status of the programme on 31 December 1991. This second progress report summarizes the objectives, scope and work programme of the 76 research contracts concluded, as well as the progress of work achieved and the results obtained in 1991

Transitioning from learning healthcare systems to learning health care communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullins, C Daniel; Wingate, La'Marcus T; Edwards, Hillary A; Tofade, Toyin; Wutoh, Anthony

2018-02-26

The learning healthcare system (LHS) model framework has three core, foundational components. These include an infrastructure for health-related data capture, care improvement targets and a supportive policy environment. Despite progress in advancing and implementing LHS approaches, low levels of participation from patients and the public have hampered the transformational potential of the LHS model. An enhanced vision of a community-engaged LHS redesign would focus on the provision of health care from the patient and community perspective to complement the healthcare system as the entity that provides the environment for care. Addressing the LHS framework implementation challenges and utilizing community levers are requisite components of a learning health care community model, version two of the LHS archetype.

Computer-facilitated community building for E-learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Petrushin, V.; Kommers, Petrus A.M.; Kinshuk, X.; Galeev, I.

2002-01-01

This is a short survey of tools and ideas that are helpful for community building for E-learning. The underlying assumption in the survey is that community building for students and teachers in a joint learning and teaching situation is useful. Especially student-student interaction in student life

Proposing Community-Based Learning in the Marketing Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Cadwallader, Susan; Atwong, Catherine; Lebard, Aubrey

2013-01-01

Community service and service learning (CS&SL) exposes students to the business practice of giving back to society while reinforcing classroom learning in an applied real-world setting. However, does the CS&SL format provide a better means of instilling the benefits of community service among marketing students than community-based…

Holding the Reins of the Professional Learning Community: Eight Themes from Research on Principals' Perceptions of Professional Learning Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Cranston, Jerome

2009-01-01

Using a naturalistic inquiry approach and thematic analysis, this paper outlines the findings of a research study that examined 12 Manitoba principals' conceptions of professional learning communities. The study found that these principals consider the development of professional learning communities to be a normative imperative within the…

Radioactive waste: from national programmes to community co-operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sousselier, Yves

1981-01-01

An important community programme for the management and storage of waste was introduced 5 years ago although research and development has been carried out on a wide basis for 20 years. There is in fact no contradiction in this, but knowledge of the composition of waste has evolved with the development of nuclear energy, requirements have become stricter while the number of possible handling methods tends to result in postponement of decisions. According to the author, a thorough community co-operation in this field should make it easier to easier to known what to choose and also to decide on the course to be taken. It should also facilitate the obtaining of a consensus of opinion -acceptable to every-one- in relation to the management of radioactive waste [fr

Integrative and Deep Learning through a Learning Community: A Process View of Self

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, Sandra; Schamber, Jon

2011-01-01

This study investigated deep learning produced in a community of general education courses. Student speeches on liberal education were analyzed for discovering a grounded theory of ideas about self. The study found that learning communities cultivate deep, integrative learning that makes the value of a liberal education relevant to students.…

The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

The programme, adopted by the Council of the European Communities, seeks to promote a number of research and development projects as well as the identification of guiding principles. The projects concern the following subjects: long-term integrity of buildings and systems; decontaminations for decommissioning purposes; dismantling techniques; treatment of specific waste materials (steel, concrete and graphite); large transport containers for radioactive waste arising from decommissioning of nuclear power plants in the Community; and influence of nuclear power plant design features on decommissioning

Integrated Programme Control Systems: Lessons Learned

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, C. W. [Babcock International Group PLC (formerly UKAEA Ltd) B21 Forss, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2013-08-15

Dounreay was the UK's centre of fast reactor research and development from 1955 until 1994 and is now Scotland's largest nuclear clean up and demolition project. After four decades of research, Dounreay is now a site of construction, demolition and waste management, designed to return the site to as near as practicable to its original condition. Dounreay has a turnover in the region of Pounds 150 million a year and employs approximately 900 people. It subcontracts work to 50 or so companies in the supply chain and this provides employment for a similar number of people. The plan for decommissioning the site anticipates all redundant buildings will be cleared in the short term. The target date to achieve interim end state by 2039 is being reviewed in light of Government funding constraints, and will be subject to change through the NDA led site management competition. In the longer term, controls will be put in place on the use of contaminated land until 2300. In supporting the planning, management and organisational aspects for this complex decommissioning programme an integrated programme controls system has been developed and deployed. This consists of a combination of commercial and bespoke tools integrated to support all aspects of programme management, namely scope, schedule, cost, estimating and risk in order to provide baseline and performance management data based upon the application of earned value management principles. Through system evolution and lessons learned, the main benefits of this approach are management data consistency, rapid communication of live information, and increased granularity of data providing summary and detailed reports which identify performance trends that lead to corrective actions. The challenges of such approach are effective use of the information to realise positive changes, balancing the annual system support and development costs against the business needs, and maximising system performance. (author)

COMPUTER-ASSISTED CONTROL OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGINEERING GRAPHICS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMMES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tel'noy Viktor Ivanovich

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Development of computer-assisted computer technologies and their integration into the academic activity with a view to the control of the academic performance within the framework of distance learning programmes represent the subject matter of the article. The article is a brief overview of the software programme designated for the monitoring of the academic performance of students enrolled in distance learning programmes. The software is developed on Delphi 7.0 for Windows operating system. The strength of the proposed software consists in the availability of the two modes of its operation that differ in the principle of the problem selection and timing parameters. Interim academic performance assessment is to be performed through the employment of computerized testing procedures that contemplate the use of a data base of testing assignments implemented in the eLearning Server media. Identification of students is to be performed through the installation of video cameras at workplaces of students.

A community-based Falls Management Exercise Programme (FaME) improves balance, walking speed and reduced fear of falling.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Pui Yee; Chan, Wayne; Woo, Jean

2015-04-01

Although effective community falls prevention programmes for the older persons have been described, challenges remain in translating proven interventions into daily practice. To evaluate the efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of a falls prevention programme that can be integrated into daily activities in a group of community-dwelling older adults with risk of falling. A cohort study with intervention and comparison groups was designed to evaluate a 36-week group-based falls prevention exercise programme (FaME) in the community setting. Participants were aged 60 years or older, had fallen in the past 12 months, had fear of falling with avoidance of activities or had deficits in balance control. Primary outcome measures included assessment of balance control and mobility; secondary outcome measures included level of physical activity, assessment of fear of falling and health-related quality of life. There were 48 and 51 participants in the intervention and comparison groups, respectively. There were improvements in measurements of balance, walking speed and self-efficacy. The drop out rate was low (14.6% and 3.9% from the intervention and comparison groups, respectively). Overall compliance in the intervention group was 79%. Factors that motivated continued participation include the regular and long-term nature of the programme helping to reinforce their exercise habits, the simplicity of movements and friendliness of the group. The FaME programme improves balance, walking speed and reduces fear of falling. It could be widely promoted and integrated into regular health and social activities in community settings.

Affordability of comprehensive community health worker programmes in rural sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Celia; Griffiths, Frances; Lilford, Richard

2017-01-01

Community health worker (CHW) programmes have low costs per person served and are central to achieving universal healthcare. However, their total cost is high and the target of one million CHWs for sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 was not met. We consider the affordability of rural CHW programmes by estimating total programme costs relative to national healthcare expenditure at different CHW salaries and resources available for healthcare. We combine an existing source of rural CHW programme costs with World Bank data to estimate relative CHW programme costs in 37 countries. We consider three 'salaries' (CHWs as volunteers, paid the local equivalent of US$80 per month and paid the national minimum wage) and four potential healthcare budgets (both actual and Abuja declaration allocations alone and increased by external funding received and potential foreign aid, respectively). Costs are shown in 2012 nominal US$. With CHWs paid the local equivalent of US$80 per month and financed from existing central government healthcare budgets, the median relative cost of a CHW programme would be 27% of the healthcare budget. While less than 2.5% in five countries (Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Namibia and South Africa), this relative cost would exceed 100% in three (Chad, Eritrea and Niger). There is a strong negative linear relationship (R 2 =0.83, psub-Saharan Africa. In many countries, such programmes are not yet affordable unless significant foreign aid is received.

A quasi-experimental study on a community-based stroke prevention programme for clients with minor stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Sit, Janet W H; Yip, Vera Y B; Ko, Stanley K K; Gun, Amy P C; Lee, Judy S H

2007-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a community-based stroke prevention programme in (1) improving knowledge about stroke; (2) improving self-health-monitoring practice; (3) maintaining behavioural changes when adopting a healthy lifestyle for stroke prevention. People with minor stroke (or transient ischaemic attack) tend to under-estimate the long-term impact of this on their health. The challenge for nurses is to prevent subsequent strokes by finding ways to promote and sustain appropriate behaviours. Educational intervention is of paramount importance in equipping those at risk with relevant knowledge and self-care strategies for secondary stroke prevention. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design. One hundred and ninety subjects were recruited, of whom 147 (77 in the intervention group and 70 in the control group) completed the study. Data were obtained at three time points: baseline (T0); one week after (T1) and three months after (T2) the intervention. The intervention programme consisted of eight weekly two-hour sessions, with the aims of improving the participants' awareness of their own health signals and of actively involving them in self-care management of their own health for secondary stroke prevention. Significant positive changes were found among participants of the intervention group in the knowledge on stroke warning signs (P lifestyle modification of dietary habits (reduction in salted food intake, P = 0.004). No significant improvement was found in walking exercise participation in the intervention group, yet a significant decrease was detected among the control group. This study found a three-month-sustained effect of positive changes in knowledge and skill from participants who undertook a nurse-led community-based stroke prevention programme. Effective educational intervention by professional nurses helped clients integrate their learned knowledge into their real-life practice. This empowering, that is, the

The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations. Second annual progress report (year 1986)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

This is the second annual progress report of the European Community's programme (1984-88) of research on the decommissioning of nuclear installations. It shows the status of the programme on 31 December 1986. This second progress report describes the objectives, scope and work programme of the 58 research contracts concluded, as well as the progress of work achieved and the results obtained in 1986

Healthcare Learning Community and Student Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Sherryl W.

2014-01-01

Teaching, learning, and retention processes have evolved historically to include multifaceted techniques beyond the traditional lecture. This article presents related results of a study using a healthcare learning community in a southwest Georgia university. The value of novel techniques and tools in promoting student learning and retention…

A Professional Learning Community Approach

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper provides insights into how Life Sciences teachers in the Eastern Cape can be supported through professional learning communities (PLCs) as a potential approach to enhancing their biodiversity knowledge. PLCs are communities that provide the setting and necessary support for groups of classroom teachers to ...

Ward based community road safety performance benchmarking, monitoring and intervention programmes in the City of Johannesburg

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ribbens, H

2008-07-01

Full Text Available benchmarking, monitoring and intervention programme. Community road safety needs in the respective wards are articulated through the ward councillor. The rationale is that the community exactly knows where these problem areas are, because they suffer as a...

Competency-based education: programme design and challenges to implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruppen, Larry D; Burkhardt, John C; Fitzgerald, James T; Funnell, Martha; Haftel, Hilary M; Lypson, Monica L; Mullan, Patricia B; Santen, Sally A; Sheets, Kent J; Stalburg, Caren M; Vasquez, John A

2016-05-01

Competency-based education (CBE) has been widely cited as an educational framework for medical students and residents, and provides a framework for designing educational programmes that reflect four critical features: a focus on outcomes, an emphasis on abilities, a reduction of emphasis on time-based training, and promotion of learner centredness. Each of these features has implications and potential challenges for implementing CBE. As an experiment in CBE programme design and implementation, the University of Michigan Master of Health Professions Education (UM-MHPE) degree programme was examined for lessons to be learned when putting CBE into practice. The UM-MHPE identifies 12 educational competencies and 20 educational entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that serve as the vehicle for both learning and assessment. The programme also defines distinct roles of faculty members as assessors, mentors and subject-matter experts focused on highly individualised learning plans adapted to each learner. Early experience with implementing the UM-MHPE indicates that EPAs and competencies can provide a viable alternative to traditional courses and a vehicle for rigorous assessment. A high level of individualisation is feasible but carries with it significant costs and makes intentional community building essential. Most significantly, abandoning a time-based framework is a difficult innovation to implement in a university structure that is predicated on time-based education. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality of assessment of prior learning in university programmes : Perceptions of candidates, tutors and assessors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Desirée Joosten-ten Brinke; W. Jochems; Dominique Sluijsmans

2009-01-01

Formal diplomas and certificates have been accepted as proof that students may receive exemption for parts of their educational programme. Nowadays, though, it is socially desirable that informal and non-formal learning experiences are also recognised. Assessment of prior learning (APL) addresses

A professional learning community model: a case study of primary teachers community in west Bandung

Science.gov (United States)

Sari, A.; Suryadi, D.; Syaodih, E.

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative model of professional learning community for primary school teachers in improving the knowledge and professional skills. This study is a qualitative research with case study method with data collection is an interview, observation and document and triangulation technique for validation data that focuses on thirteen people 5th grade elementary school teacher. The results showed that by joining a professional learning community, teachers can share both experience and knowledge to other colleagues so that they can be able to continue to improve and enhance the quality of their learning. This happens because of the reflection done together before, during and after the learning activities. It was also revealed that by learning in a professional learning community, teachers can learn in their own way, according to need, and can collaborate with their colleagues in improving the effectiveness of learning. Based on the implementation of professional learning community primary school teachers can be concluded that teachers can develop the curriculum, the students understand the development, overcome learning difficulties faced by students and can make learning design more effective and efficient.

The design of a community lifestyle programme to improve the physical and psychological well-being of pregnant women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more

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Chmiel Catherine

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity is a global public health issue. Having a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more (classifying a person as obese at the start of pregnancy is a significant risk factor for maternal and fetal morbidity. There is a dearth of evidence to inform suitable inteventions to support pregnant women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more. Here we describe a study protocol to test the feasibility of a variety of potential healthy lifestyle interventions for pregnant women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more in a community based programme. Methods/Design Four hundred women will be approached to attend a 10-week community lifestyle programme. The programme will be provided as a supplement to standard antenatal care. The programme is multi-faceted, aimed at equipping participants with the skills and knowledge needed to adopt healthy behaviours. The social (cognitive learning theory will be used as a tool to encourage behaviour change, the behaviour change techniques are underpinned by five theoretical components; self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, goal setting, feedback and positive reinforcement. The main outcomes are pregnancy weight gain and caesarean section rate. Other important outcomes include clinical outcomes (e.g., birth weight and psychological outcomes (e.g., well-being. Secondary outcomes include women's experience of pregnancy and health care services, amount of physical activity, food intake and the suitability of the intervention components. A prospective study using quantitative and qualitative methods will inform the feasibility of implementing the community lifestyle programme with pregnant women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more. Mixed methods of data collection will be used, including diaries, focus groups/interviews, pedometers, validated and specifically designed questionnaires, a programme register, weight gain during pregnancy and perinatal outcome data. Discussion Findings from this current feasibility study will inform future

Learning to walk the community of practice tightrope

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Denise Edgar

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: The Community of Practice Research was established as a new local health district service initiative. The community comprises novice and experienced multidisciplinary health researchers. Aims: This paper reflects our experience of being Community of Practice Research members and aims to explore the practice development principles aligned to the purpose, progress and outcomes of this community. Conclusions: The journey is compared to walking a tightrope from the beginning to the end. Success in moving forward is attributed to positive leadership and group dynamics enabling a supportive environment. This environment allowed for different types of learning: new research skills and new understandings about oneself. Competing demands such as fluctuating membership and leadership, and the selection of a large initial project were identified as barriers to the Community of Practice Research. Implications for practice: As well as contributing to communities’ shared goals members should identify and make explicit their own learning goals to themselves, the community and their managers Community of practice meetings should include regular facilitated reflection about the learning that is occurring, the challenges and assumptions being made by the group, and the way forward A community of practice uses social processes to aid learning and collaboration across disciplines and organisations and therefore has potential to promote local culture change

Organization and startup of The Gambia's new community-based medical programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Chávez, José A; Suárez, Lázaro V; Del Rosario, Odalis; Hechavarría, Suiberto; Quiñones, Judith

2012-01-01

The shortage of health professionals in developing countries and especially in their poorest regions imperils the vision of health for all. New training policies and strategies are needed urgently to address these shortages. The Gambia's new Community-Based Medical Programme is one such strategy. KEYWORDS Medical education, access to health care, healthcare disparities, health manpower, rural health, developing countries, The Gambia.

Community health workers for ART in sub-Saharan Africa: learning from experience – capitalizing on new opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schouten Erik

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Low-income countries with high HIV/AIDS burdens in sub-Saharan Africa must deal with severe shortages of qualified human resources for health. This situation has triggered the renewed interest in community health workers, as they may play an important role in scaling-up antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS by taking over a number of tasks from the professional health workers. Currently, a wide variety of community health workers are active in many antiretroviral treatment delivery sites. This article investigates whether present community health worker programmes for antiretroviral treatment are taking into account the lessons learnt from past experiences with community health worker programmes in primary health care and to what extent they are seizing the new antiretroviral treatment-specific opportunities. Based on a desk review of multi-purpose community health worker programmes for primary health care and of recent experiences with antiretroviral treatment-related community health workers, we developed an analytic framework of 10 criteria: eight conditions for successful large-scale antiretroviral treatment-related community health worker programmes and two antiretroviral treatment-specific opportunities. Our appraisal of six community health worker programmes, which we identified during field work in Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda in 2007, shows that while some lessons from the past have been learnt, others are not being sufficiently considered and antiretroviral treatment-specific opportunities are not being sufficiently seized. In particular, all programmes have learnt the lesson that without adequate remuneration, community health workers cannot be retained in the long term. Yet we contend that the apparently insufficient attention to issues such as quality supervision and continuous training will lead to decreasing quality of the programmes over time. The life experience of people living with HIV/AIDS is still a relatively

Horizontal schools-based health programme in rural Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogie, James; Eder, Ben; Magnus, Dan; Amonje, Onguko David; Gant, Martina

2017-09-01

Primary school children in low-income countries are at risk of many diseases and poor health affects attendance, cognition and ability to learn. Developing school health and nutrition strategies has been extensively highlighted as a global priority, with a particular focus on complex programme design. However, such programmes are relatively untested in low-income settings. We implemented a complex school health and nutrition programme in two schools in Western Kenya over 3 years. There were numerous elements covering health policy, skills-based health education, infrastructure and disease prevention. A local non-governmental organisation, with involvement from local government and the community, performed programme implementation. Height-for-age, weight-for-age,height-for-weight, anaemia prevalence, academic performance and school attendance were the primary outcome measures. The programme improved nutrition, academic performance and anaemia prevalence. The number of underweight children fell from 20% to 11% (OR 0.51 95% CI 0.39 to 0.68 p=effect on school attendance, the reasons for which are unclear. These results are encouraging and demonstrate that complex schools health programmes can lead to positive gains in health, nutrition and importantly academic performance. There is a need for further evaluation of comprehensive school health interventions in poor communities. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Health-seeking behaviour and community perceptions of childhood undernutrition and a community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programme in rural Bihar, India: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Burtscher, Doris; Burza, Sakib

2015-12-01

Since 2009, Médecins Sans Frontières has implemented a community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programme in rural Biraul block, Bihar State, India that has admitted over 10 000 severely malnourished children but has struggled with poor coverage and default rates. With the aim of improving programme outcomes we undertook a qualitative study to understand community perceptions of childhood undernutrition, the CMAM programme and how these affected health-seeking behaviour. Semi-structured and narrative interviews were undertaken with families of severely malnourished children, non-undernourished children and traditional and allopathic health-care workers. Analysis of transcripts was by qualitative content analysis. Biraul, Bihar State, India, 2010. One hundred and fifty people were interviewed in individual or group discussions during fifty-eight interviews. Undernutrition was not viewed as a disease; instead, local disease concepts were identified that described the clinical spectrum of undernutrition. These concepts informed perception, so caregivers were unlikely to consult health workers if children were 'only skinny'. Hindu and Muslim priests and other traditional health practitioners were more regularly consulted and perceived as easier to access than allopathic health facilities. Senior family members and village elders had significant influence on the health-seeking behaviour of parents of severely malnourished children. The results reaffirm how health education and CMAM programmes should encompass local disease concepts, beliefs and motivations to improve awareness that undernutrition is a disease and one that can be treated. CMAM is well accepted by the community; however, programmes must do better to engage communities, including traditional healers, to enable development of a holistic approach within existing social structures.

Developing compassion through a relationship centred appreciative leadership programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Dewar, Belinda; Cook, Fiona

2014-09-01

Recent attention in health care focuses on how to develop effective leaders for the future. Effective leadership is embodied in relationships and should be developed in and with staff and patients. This paper describes development, implementation and evaluation of an appreciative and relationship centred leadership programme carried out with 86 nursing staff covering 24 in-patient areas within one acute NHS Board in Scotland. The aim of the programme was to support staff to work together to develop a culture of inquiry that would enhance delivery of compassionate care. The 12 month Leadership Programme used the principles of appreciative relationship centred leadership. Within this framework participants were supported to explore relationships with self, patients and families, and with teams and the wider organisation using caring conversations. Participants worked within communities of practice and action learning sets. They were supported to use a range of structured tools to learn about the experience of others and to identify caring practices that worked well and then explore ways in which these could happen more of the time. A range of methods were used to evaluate impact of the programme including a culture questionnaire and semi structured interviews. Immersion crystallisation technique and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Key themes included; enhanced self-awareness, better relationships, greater ability to reflect on practice, different conversations in the workplace that were more compassionate and respectful, and an ethos of continuing learning and improvement. The programme supported participants to think in different ways and to be reflective and engaged participants rather than passive actors in shaping the cultural climate in which compassionate relationship centred care can flourish. Multidisciplinary programmes where the process and outcomes are explicitly linked to organisational objectives need to be considered in future

Empowering communities and strengthening systems to improve transgender health: outcomes from the Pehchan programme in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, Simran; Mburu, Gitau; Arumugam, Viswanathan; Mattipalli, Naveen; Aher, Abhina; Mehta, Sonal; Robertson, James

2016-01-01

Transgender populations face inequalities in access to HIV, health and social services. In addition, there is limited documentation of models for providing appropriately tailored services and social support for transgender populations in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents outcomes of the Global Fund-supported Pehchan programme, which aimed to strengthen community systems and provide HIV, health, legal and social services to transgender communities across 18 Indian states through a rights-based empowerment approach. We used a pre- and post-intervention cross-sectional survey design with retrospective analysis of programmatic data. Using stratified sampling, we identified 268 transgender participants in six Indian states from a total of 48,280 transgender people served by Pehchan through 186 community-based organizations. We quantified the impact of interventions by comparing baseline and end line indicators of accessed health social and legal services. We also assessed end line self-efficacy and collective action with regard to social support networks. There were significant increases in community-based demand and use of tailored health, legal, social and psychological services over the time of the Pehchan programme. We report significant increases in access to condoms (12.5%, pgender-affirming approaches significantly improved both demand and access to tailored HIV, health and social services for transgender individuals across India. Furthermore, the Pehchan programme successfully fostered both self-efficacy and collective identity and served as a model for addressing the unique health needs of transgender communities. Continued strengthening of health, social and community systems to better respond to the unique needs of transgender communities is needed in order to sustain these gains.

Empowering communities and strengthening systems to improve transgender health: outcomes from the Pehchan programme in India

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, Simran; Mburu, Gitau; Arumugam, Viswanathan; Mattipalli, Naveen; Aher, Abhina; Mehta, Sonal; Robertson, James

2016-01-01

Introduction Transgender populations face inequalities in access to HIV, health and social services. In addition, there is limited documentation of models for providing appropriately tailored services and social support for transgender populations in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents outcomes of the Global Fund-supported Pehchan programme, which aimed to strengthen community systems and provide HIV, health, legal and social services to transgender communities across 18 Indian states through a rights-based empowerment approach. Methods We used a pre- and post-intervention cross-sectional survey design with retrospective analysis of programmatic data. Using stratified sampling, we identified 268 transgender participants in six Indian states from a total of 48,280 transgender people served by Pehchan through 186 community-based organizations. We quantified the impact of interventions by comparing baseline and end line indicators of accessed health social and legal services. We also assessed end line self-efficacy and collective action with regard to social support networks. Results There were significant increases in community-based demand and use of tailored health, legal, social and psychological services over the time of the Pehchan programme. We report significant increases in access to condoms (12.5%, pgender-affirming approaches significantly improved both demand and access to tailored HIV, health and social services for transgender individuals across India. Furthermore, the Pehchan programme successfully fostered both self-efficacy and collective identity and served as a model for addressing the unique health needs of transgender communities. Continued strengthening of health, social and community systems to better respond to the unique needs of transgender communities is needed in order to sustain these gains. PMID:27431474

Distance Learning for Community Education

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Anthony A.

2010-01-01

This article takes a look at the influence of technology on curriculum and teaching. It specifically examines the new wave of available technology and the opportunity for schools to make inroads into community outreach by engaging new, technological learning methods. The relationship among community education, public school relations, and distance…

Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudioso, Jennifer A.

2017-01-01

Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning Jennifer Gaudioso Principal Professional Learning Communities (PPLCs) have emerged as a vehicle for professional development of principals, but there is little research on how principals experience PPLCs or how districts can support…

Patients' experiences of a multidisciplinary team-led community case management programme: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gowing, Alice; Dickinson, Claire; Gorman, Tom; Robinson, Louise; Duncan, Rachel

2016-09-09

To explore the views and experiences of patients on the care they have received while enrolled on the Northumberland High Risk Patient Programme (NHRPP). This programme involved case finding of frail patients using a multidisciplinary team (MDT)-led community case management programme, and support of patients through care planning and regular reviews using primary, community, secondary and social care professionals. A qualitative study using semistructured interviews, which were digitally recorded, transcribed and subject to thematic analysis. Community patients receiving primary care in the county of Northumberland, England. 23 participants took part, of which 16 were patients enrolled on the NHRPP, and 7 carers. GP practices were selected purposively by size, deprivation and location, and patients identified and invited by General Practitioners to participate. 4 main themes emerged from the data: awareness and understanding of the NHRPP, confidence in the primary healthcare team, limitations of home care and the active role of being a patient. Despite having a low level of awareness of the details of the NHRPP, participants did think that its broad aim made sense. Participants discussed their high level of satisfaction with their care and access to team members. However, some limitations of alternatives to hospital care were identified, including the need to consider psychological as well as medical needs, the importance of overnight care and the needs of those without informal carers. Finally, participants discussed the active nature of being a patient under the NHRPP if they were to contribute fully to planning and managing their own care. This study has identified that a programme of MDT-led case management was generally very well received by patients and their families. However, a number of factors were identified that could improve the implementation of the programme and further research needs to be undertaken to address these. Published by the BMJ

The Transition Year: A Unique Programme in Irish Education Bridging The Gap Between School and The Workplace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph A. MOYNIHAN

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Transition Year is a unique and exciting programme situated in the middle of the six year second level education system in Ireland. Since its introduction in 1974, the programme has experienced unprecedented growth now being offered in over 80% of schools on the island. Transition Year seeks to emphasize alternative learning methodologies including self-directed learning and experiential learning; intellectual, social and personal development; community and inter-school communications; exposure to careers education and the world of work. The latter occurs predominantly through actual work experience. This paper situates and explains the Transition Year Programme in Irish education as well as outlining the significance of the essential work experience component. Transition Year work experience is the bridge that connects young people in the classroom with adult life and the world of work.

Making Sense of Learning: Insights from an Experientially-Based Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Blackwood, Tony; Round, Anna; Pugalis, Lee; Hatt, Lucy

2015-01-01

Entrepreneurial learning is complex, reflecting the distinctive dispositions of entrepreneurs (including nascent entrepreneurs at an early stage in their entrepreneurial life course). The surge in entrepreneurship education programmes over recent decades and the attendant increase in scholarship have often contributed to this convoluted field.…

E-learning based distance education programme on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Science - An initiative of IIRS

Science.gov (United States)

Karnatak, H.; Raju, P. L. N.; Krishna Murthy, Y. V. N.; Srivastav, S. K.; Gupta, P. K.

2014-11-01

IIRS has initiated its interactive distance education based capacity building under IIRS outreach programme in year 2007 where more than 15000+ students were trained in the field of geospatial technology using Satellite based interactive terminals and internet based learning using A-View software. During last decade the utilization of Internet technology by different user groups in the society is emerged as a technological revaluation which has directly affect the life of human being. The Internet is used extensively in India for various purposes right from entrainment to critical decision making in government machinery. The role of internet technology is very important for capacity building in any discipline which can satisfy the needs of maximum users in minimum time. Further to enhance the outreach of geospatial science and technology, IIRS has initiated e-learning based certificate courses of different durations. The contents for e-learning based capacity building programme are developed for various target user groups including mid-career professionals, researchers, academia, fresh graduates, and user department professionals from different States and Central Government ministries. The official website of IIRS e-learning is hosted at elearning.iirs.gov.in" target="_blank">http://elearning.iirs.gov.in. The contents of IIRS e-learning programme are flexible for anytime, anywhere learning keeping in mind the demands of geographically dispersed audience and their requirements. The program is comprehensive with variety of online delivery modes with interactive, easy to learn and having a proper blend of concepts and practical to elicit students' full potential. The course content of this programme includes Image Statistics, Basics of Remote Sensing, Photogrammetry and Cartography, Digital Image Processing, Geographical Information System, Global Positioning System, Customization of Geospatial tools and Applications of Geospatial Technologies. The syllabus of the

A School-Based Movement Programme for Children with Motor Learning Difficulty

Science.gov (United States)

Mannisto, Juha-Pekka; Cantell, Marja; Huovinen, Tommi; Kooistra, Libbe; Larkin, Dawne

2006-01-01

The study investigated the effectiveness of a school-based movement programme for a population of 5 to 7 year old children. Performance profiles on the Movement ABC were used to classify the children and to assess skill changes over time. Children were assigned to four different groups: motor learning difficulty (n = 10), borderline motor learning…

An Examination of the Impact of Learning Communities on Job

Science.gov (United States)

Wilmes, David M.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between learning community participation and job/major congruence. Previous research has demonstrated that learning communities are effective vehicles for promoting student and institutional outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact of learning communities on alumni or career…

Engaging students in a community of learning: Renegotiating the learning environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Theobald, Karen A; Windsor, Carol A; Forster, Elizabeth M

2018-03-01

Promoting student engagement in a student led environment can be challenging. This article reports on the process of design, implementation and evaluation of a student led learning approach in a small group tutorial environment in a three year Bachelor of Nursing program at an Australian university. The research employed three phases of data collection. The first phase explored student perceptions of learning and engagement in tutorials. The results informed the development of a web based learning resource. Phase two centred on implementation of a community of learning approach where students were supported to lead tutorial learning with peers. The final phase constituted an evaluation of the new approach. Findings suggest that students have the capacity to lead and engage in a community of learning and to assume greater ownership and responsibility where scaffolding is provided. Nonetheless, an ongoing whole of course approach to pedagogical change would better support this form of teaching and learning innovation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of community-based exercise intervention programme in obese adults with metabolic syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Shu-Hung; Chen, Miao-Chuan; Chien, Nai-Hui; Lin, Hsih-Fong

2016-09-01

The objective of this study was to change the anthropometric, clinical, biochemical indicators and the rate of metabolic syndrome among obese adults in community. Obesity is an indicator of metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic diseases. Obesity increases national health care expenditure in Taiwan. The high prevalence of obesity is not only a public health issue but also an economic problem. Changes in lifestyle can help to prevent metabolic syndrome for individuals with obesity. A randomised controlled trial was applied. In this randomised controlled trial by location, 136 metabolically abnormal obese individuals were included. The related indicators with metabolic syndrome were measured at baseline and after six months. The experimental group participated in a six-month community-based programme including provided exercise environments, exercise skills and volunteers' reminding. The control group was only provided environment and skills. One hundred and thirty-one participants completed this trail. In comparison with the baseline, the intervention group showed a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (2·34 mg/dl), and decrease in body weight (1·09 kg), waist circumference (3·63 cm), systolic blood pressure (10·52 mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (5·21 mmHg), fasting blood glucose (5·84 mg/dl) and body mass index (0·74 kg/m(2) ). In the control group, significant decrease in body mass index and waist circumference were discovered. Compared to the changes between the two groups, the results showed there were significant differences in waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The community-based intervention could help to improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, reduce body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose in metabolically abnormal obese. This community-based programme helped metabolically abnormal

Learning Analytics for Communities of Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Kovanovic, Vitomir; Gaševic, Dragan; Hatala, Marek

2014-01-01

This paper describes doctoral research that focuses on the development of a learning analytics framework for inquiry-based digital learning. Building on the Community of Inquiry model (CoI)--a foundation commonly used in the research and practice of digital learning and teaching--this research builds on the existing body of knowledge in two…

Community action research track: Community-based participatory research and service-learning experiences for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Gimpel, Nora; Kindratt, Tiffany; Dawson, Alvin; Pagels, Patti

2018-04-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning are unique experiential approaches designed to train medical students how to provide individualized patient care from a population perspective. Medical schools in the US are required to provide support for service-learning and community projects. Despite this requirement, few medical schools offer structured service-learning. We developed the Community Action Research Track (CART) to integrate population medicine, health promotion/disease prevention and the social determinants of health into the medical school curriculum through CBPR and service-learning experiences. This article provides an overview of CART and reports the program impact based on students' participation, preliminary evaluations and accomplishments. CART is an optional 4‑year service-learning experience for medical students interested in community health. The curriculum includes a coordinated longitudinal program of electives, community service-learning and lecture-based instruction. From 2009-2015, 146 CART students participated. Interests in public health (93%), community service (73%), primary care (73%), CBPR (60%) and community medicine (60%) were the top reasons for enrolment. Significant improvements in mean knowledge were found when measuring the principles of CBPR, levels of prevention, determining health literacy and patient communication strategies (all p's Projects were disseminated by at least 65 posters and four oral presentations at local, national and international professional meetings. Six manuscripts were published in peer-reviewed journals. CART is an innovative curriculum for training future physicians to be community-responsive physicians. CART can be replicated by other medical schools interested in offering a longitudinal CBPR and service-learning track in an urban metropolitan setting.

Business English: An Individualised Learning Programme -- An Effective but Defective ESP Program

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Gui-min

2008-01-01

Business English is the core course for ESP (English for Specific Purposes) programs which empathizes the effectiveness and pragmatism. Feasibility is the crucial element for business English programs especially for in-services business people. Business English-An individualised learning programme is an effective and radical business English…

The challenge of EDL (Employee Development Learning) programme : A new possibility of adult education in the U.K. (No.5)

OpenAIRE

Anezaki, Yoichi; Saguchi, Masaaki; Tamura, Keiko

1994-01-01

The aim of this paper is to analyze the current provision of Adult Continuing Education in the U.K., which is an EDL(Employee Development Learning) Programme. The EDL programme, whose US precedent was a UAW-Ford L/EPP(United Automobile Workers-Ford Life/Education Planning Programme) to promote and help workers' personal development, started a s an experimental provision in workforce and workplace learning. In the past, U.K.government and enterprises did not think it so important to invest the...

Solving Business Problems Together Case: A Master's Degree Programme in Finland

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Maria Jakubik

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This descriptive, single, intrinsic case study seeks to answer the following questions: Why should business practitioners and educators work together in solving business problems? How are the business problems of companies handled in a master's degree programme in Finland? The case study is based on multiple sources of documents collected and developed during the ten years of the programme. It demonstrates that solving authentic business problems in a learning community of business practitioners, i.e. students, as well as educators, i.e. teachers and thesis advisors, leads to solutions that satisfy practitioners, educators, and the business community. This case is an example of how solving business problems together contributes to the better performance of businesses and a better society in Finland.

21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Afterschool and Summer Learning Support to Communities Nationwide

Science.gov (United States)

Afterschool Alliance, 2014

2014-01-01

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to before-school, afterschool, and summer learning programs. Each state education agency receives funds based on its share of Title I funding for low-income students at high-poverty, low performing schools. Funds are also…

Impact of community-based support services on antiretroviral treatment programme delivery and outcomes in resource-limited countries: a synthetic review

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Wouters Edwin

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Task-shifting to lay community health providers is increasingly suggested as a potential strategy to overcome the barriers to sustainable antiretroviral treatment (ART scale-up in high-HIV-prevalence, resource-limited settings. The dearth of systematic scientific evidence on the contributory role and function of these forms of community mobilisation has rendered a formal evaluation of the published results of existing community support programmes a research priority. Methods We reviewed the relevant published work for the period from November 2003 to December 2011 in accordance with the guidelines for a synthetic review. ISI Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, BioMed Central, OVID Medline, PubMed, Social Services Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts and a number of relevant websites were searched. Results The reviewed literature reported an unambiguous positive impact of community support on a wide range of aspects, including access, coverage, adherence, virological and immunological outcomes, patient retention and survival. Looking at the mechanisms through which community support can impact ART programmes, the review indicates that community support initiatives are a promising strategy to address five often cited challenges to ART scale-up, namely (1 the lack of integration of ART services into the general health system; (2 the growing need for comprehensive care, (3 patient empowerment, (4 and defaulter tracing; and (5 the crippling shortage in human resources for health. The literature indicates that by linking HIV/AIDS-care to other primary health care programmes, by providing psychosocial care in addition to the technical-medical care from nurses and doctors, by empowering patients towards self-management and by tracing defaulters, well-organised community support initiatives are a vital part of any sustainable public-sector ART programme. Conclusions The review demonstrates that community support initiatives are a

TELEMAN - an European community research and development programme on robotics in the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolley, B.; Robertson, B.

1991-01-01

The TELEMAN Programme is a five year cost-shared research programme covering remote handling in hazardous and disordered nuclear environments. It is supported within the current research and development of the European Communities. TELEMAN's strategic objective is to develop advanced teleoperators that respond to the needs of the nuclear industry. Its technical objective is to strengthen the scientific and engineering bases upon which the design of teleoperators for use throughout the nuclear industry rests. This will be done by providing new solutions to problems of manipulation, material transport and mobile surveillance in nuclear environments and by demonstrating their feasibility. Motivation for such a programme lies in the potential teleoperators have to improve the separation of workers from radioactive equipment. This technology will also enable plant operators and public authorities to deal more effectively with nuclear abnormal incidents and increase gains in productivity, mainly in the repair and maintenance area. Community support is justified by the cost of the reliability and autonomy required for the nuclear teleoperator, the need to rationalise R and D investment in an area of increasing industrial potential and a common interest in coherent responses to emergencies. (author)

Improving Maternal and Child Healthcare Programme Using Community-Participatory Interventions in Ebonyi State Nigeria

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Chigozie Jesse Uneke

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In Nigeria, the government is implementing the Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme (FMCHCP. The policy is premised on the notion that financial barriers are one of the most important constraints to equitable access and use of skilled maternal and child healthcare. In Ebonyi State, Southeastern Nigeria the FMCHCP is experiencing implementation challenges including: inadequate human resource for health, inadequate funding, out of stock syndrome, inadequate infrastructure, and poor staff remuneration. Furthermore, there is less emphasis on community involvement in the programme implementation. In this policy brief, we recommend policy options that emphasize the implementation of community-based participatory interventions to strengthen the government’s FMCHCP as follows: Option 1: Training community women on prenatal care, life-saving skills in case of emergency, reproductive health, care of the newborn and family planning. Option 2: Sensitizing the community women towards behavioural change, to understand what quality services that respond to their needs are but also to seek and demand for such. Option 3: Implementation packages that provide technical skills to women of childbearing age as well as mothers’ groups, and traditional birth attendants for better home-based maternal and child healthcare. The effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated in a number of community-based participatory interventions, building on the idea that if community members take part in decision-making and bring local knowledge, experiences and problems to the fore, they are more likely to own and sustain solutions to improve their communities’ health.

Changing the restaurant food environment to improve cardiovascular health in a rural community: implementation and evaluation of the Heart of New Ulm restaurant programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindberg, Rebecca; Sidebottom, Abbey C; McCool, Brigitte; Pereira, Raquel F; Sillah, Arthur; Boucher, Jackie L

2018-04-01

The goals of the present study were to: (i) describe the implementation of a programme to improve the restaurant food environment in a rural community; and (ii) describe how practices changed in community restaurants. The intervention included a baseline assessment of all community restaurants (n 32) and a report on how they could increase the availability and promotion of healthful options. The assessment focused on sixteen healthy practices (HP) derived from the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants. Restaurants were invited to participate at gold, silver or bronze levels based on the number of HP attained. Participating restaurants received dietitian consultation, staff training and promotion of the restaurant. All community restaurants were reassessed 1·5 years after baseline. The restaurant programme was part of the Heart of New Ulm Project, a community-based CVD prevention programme in a rural community. All community restaurants (n 32) were included in the study. Over one-third (38 %) of community restaurants participated in the programme. At baseline, 22 % achieved at least a bronze level. This increased to 38 % at follow-up with most of the improvement among participating restaurants that were independently owned. Across all restaurants in the community, the HP showing the most improvement included availability of non-fried vegetables (63-84 %), fruits (41-53 %), smaller portions and whole grains. Findings demonstrate successes and challenges of improving healthful food availability and promotion in a community-wide restaurant programme.

Nursing students' spiritual talks with patients - evaluation of a partnership learning programme in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Strand, Kari; Carlsen, Liv B; Tveit, Bodil

2017-07-01

To evaluate the impact of a partnership learning programme designed to support undergraduate nursing students' competence in speaking with patients about spiritual issues. Spiritual care is an oft-neglected and underexposed area of nursing practice. Despite the increasing amount of research on spiritual care in educational programmes, little is known about nursing students' experiences with existential/spiritual talks and the process of learning about spiritual care in the clinical placement. The project used a qualitative evaluation design to evaluate the impact of a partnership-initiated intervention focusing on student learning of spiritual care in a hospital ward. Data were collected through three focus group interviews with bachelor of nursing students from one Norwegian university college and supplemented with notes. Data were analysed by means of qualitative interpretative content analysis. The intervention was found to enhance students' competence in spiritual talks. The students developed an extended understanding of spirituality, became more confident in speaking with patients about spiritual issues and more active in grasping opportunities to provide spiritual care. Participating nurses significantly contributed to the students' learning process by being role models, mentoring the students and challenging them to overcome barriers in speaking with patients about spiritual issues. The partnership learning programme proved to be a useful model in terms of enhancing students' confidence in speaking with patients about spiritual concerns. Collaboration between nursing university colleges and clinical placements could help nursing students and clinical nurses to develop competencies in spiritual care and bridge the gap between academic education and clinical education, to the benefit of both. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Programme Implementation in Social and Emotional Learning: Basic Issues and Research Findings

Science.gov (United States)

Durlak, Joseph A.

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the fundamental importance of achieving quality implementation when assessing the impact of social and emotional learning interventions. Recent findings in implementation science are reviewed that include a definition of implementation, its relation to programme outcomes, current research on the factors that affect…

Beyond Student Learning Outcomes: Developing Comprehensive, Strategic Assessment Plans for Advising Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

McClellan, Jeffrey L.

2011-01-01

This article argues that while the importance of assessment in academic advising is clear and the current emphasis on defining and measuring student learning outcomes represents an essential component of any comprehensive advising assessment plan, an even more comprehensive understanding of programme assessment is needed. Drawing upon business…

Community garden: A bridging program between formal and informal learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ranjan Datta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community action.

Developing clinical leaders: the impact of an action learning mentoring programme for advanced practice nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Leggat, Sandra G; Balding, Cathy; Schiftan, Dan

2015-06-01

To determine whether a formal mentoring programme assists nurse practitioner candidates to develop competence in the clinical leadership competencies required in their advanced practice roles. Nurse practitioner candidates are required to show evidence of defined clinical leadership competencies when they apply for endorsement within the Australian health care system. Aiming to assist the candidates with the development or enhancement of these leadership skills, 18 nurse practitioner candidates participated in a mentoring programme that matched them with senior nurse mentors. A pre-postlongitudinal intervention study. Eighteen nurse practitioner candidates and 17 senior nurses participated in a voluntary mentoring programme that incorporated coaching and action learning over 18 months in 2012 and 2013. Participants completed a pen and paper questionnaire to document baseline measures of self-reported leadership practices prior to commencement of the programme and again at the end of the programme. The mentors and the nurse practitioner candidates qualitatively evaluated the programme as successful and quantitative data illustrated significant improvement in self-reported leadership practices among the nurse practitioner candidates. In particular, the nurse practitioner candidates reported greater competence in the transformational aspects of leadership, which is directly related to the nurse practitioner candidate clinical leadership standard. A formal, structured mentoring programme based on principles of action learning was successful in assisting Australian advanced practice nurses enhance their clinical leadership skills in preparation for formal endorsement as a nurse practitioner and for success in their advanced practice role. Mentoring can assist nurses to transition to new roles and develop knowledge and skills in clinical leadership essential for advanced practice roles. Nurse managers should make greater use of mentoring programmes to support nurses in

Effective Strategies for Sustaining Professional Learning Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Patricia R.

2010-01-01

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), in which educators work collaboratively to improve learning for students, need effective strategies to sustain them. PLCs promote continuous improvement in student learning and build academic success with increased teacher expertise. Grounded in organizational systems theory, participative leadership…

Guidelines for Lifelong Education Management to Mobilize Learning Community

Science.gov (United States)

Charungkaittikul, Suwithida

2018-01-01

This article is a study of the guidelines for lifelong education management to mobilize learning communities in the social-cultural context of Thailand is intended to 1) analyze and synthesize the management of lifelong learning to mobilize learning community in the social-cultural context of Thailand; and 2) propose guidelines for lifelong…

The ELIXIR-EXCELERATE Train-the-Trainer pilot programme: empower researchers to deliver high-quality training.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Sarah L; Palagi, Patricia M; Fernandes, Pedro L; Koperlainen, Eija; Dimec, Jure; Marek, Diana; Larcombe, Lee; Rustici, Gabriella; Attwood, Teresa K; Via, Allegra

2017-01-01

One of the main goals of the ELIXIR-EXCELERATE project from the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme is to support a pan-European training programme to increase bioinformatics capacity and competency across ELIXIR Nodes. To this end, a Train-the-Trainer (TtT) programme has been developed by the TtT subtask of EXCELERATE's Training Platform, to try to expose bioinformatics instructors to aspects of pedagogy and evidence-based learning principles, to help them better design, develop and deliver high-quality training in future. As a first step towards such a programme, an ELIXIR-EXCELERATE TtT (EE-TtT) pilot was developed, drawing on existing 'instructor training' models, using input both from experienced instructors and from experts in bioinformatics, the cognitive sciences and educational psychology. This manuscript describes the process of defining the pilot programme, illustrates its goals, structure and contents, and discusses its outcomes. From Jan 2016 to Jan 2017, we carried out seven pilot EE-TtT courses (training more than sixty new instructors), collaboratively drafted the training materials, and started establishing a network of trainers and instructors within the ELIXIR community. The EE-TtT pilot represents an essential step towards the development of a sustainable and scalable ELIXIR TtT programme. Indeed, the lessons learned from the pilot, the experience gained, the materials developed, and the analysis of the feedback collected throughout the seven pilot courses have both positioned us to consolidate the programme in the coming years, and contributed to the development of an enthusiastic and expanding ELIXIR community of instructors and trainers.

Social networks and performance in distributed learning communities

OpenAIRE

Cadima, Rita; Ojeda Rodríguez, Jordi; Monguet Fierro, José María

2012-01-01

Social networks play an essential role in learning environments as a key channel for knowledge sharing and students' support. In distributed learning communities, knowledge sharing does not occur as spontaneously as when a working group shares the same physical space; knowledge sharing depends even more on student informal connections. In this study we analyse two distributed learning communities' social networks in order to understand how characteristics of the social structure can enhance s...

Innovation in learning and development in multilingual and multicultural contexts: Principles learned from a higher educational study programme in Luxembourg

Science.gov (United States)

Ziegler, Gudrun

2011-12-01

Multilingualism in education is a conceptual as well as a pedagogical challenge of the 21st century. Luxembourg, with its three statutory official languages (Luxembourgish, French and German), is an especially complex setting. The gap between traditional principles of language education on the one hand and the challenging impacts of today's multilingualisms on the other led the University of Luxembourg (founded in 2003) to set up a developmentally-driven Master's programme in 2007, entitled "Learning and Development in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts". After a presentation of the general multilingual settings in Luxembourg, this paper discusses the constellation of the multilingual University's staff and students and provides an analysis of the concept of the course by outlining its innovative approach, its principles and lessons learned with regard to running a trilingual higher education programme.

Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): A community-driven research programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, L.; Bell, J.N.B.; Bone, J.; Head, M.; Hill, L.; Howard, C.; Hobbs, S.J.; Jones, D.T.; Power, S.A.; Rose, N.; Ryder, C.; Seed, L.; Stevens, G.; Toumi, R.; Voulvoulis, N.; White, P.C.L.

2011-01-01

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public. - Highlights: → Environmental research conducted jointly by the public and scientists. → Over 200,000 people involved, 8000 sites surveyed, uncertainty minimised. → New insights into urban pollution. → A more engaged and informed society. - Research is enriched where the public and scientists work together.

Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): A community-driven research programme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davies, L., E-mail: l.davies@imperial.ac.uk [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Bell, J.N.B.; Bone, J.; Head, M.; Hill, L. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Howard, C. [Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Hobbs, S.J. [Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Jones, D.T. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Power, S.A. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Rose, N. [Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Ryder, C.; Seed, L. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Stevens, G. [Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Toumi, R.; Voulvoulis, N. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); White, P.C.L. [Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)

2011-08-15

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public. - Highlights: > Environmental research conducted jointly by the public and scientists. > Over 200,000 people involved, 8000 sites surveyed, uncertainty minimised. > New insights into urban pollution. > A more engaged and informed society. - Research is enriched where the public and scientists work together.

A general picture of the learning communities: characteristics, similarities and differences.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verkleij, K.A.M.; Francke, A.L.; Voordouw, I.; Albers, M.; Gobbens, R.J.J.

2016-01-01

Background: Because learning communities of community care nurses and nursing lectures are a new phenomenon, it is of interest to evaluate en monitor the learning communities. the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, was commissioned to monitor the realization of the learning

Mentoring: A Natural Role for Learning Community Faculty

Science.gov (United States)

Hessenauer, Sarah L.; Law, Kristi

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to highlight mentoring as an important piece of leading a learning community. The authors will share a definition of mentoring which is applicable to the learning community experience. Characteristics of mentoring will be described, including types of mentoring and mentor-mentee relationships. The authors will apply…

Reaching out: medical students leading in local communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bannon, Aidan; O'Hare, Niamh; Corr, Michael; Sterling, Margaret; Gormley, Gerard J

2015-06-01

Queen's University Red Cross is a medical student-led volunteer group with a key aim of promoting social change within local communities and empowering young people to aspire to higher education. We describe 'The Personal Development Certificate', a 12-week community development programme devised by third-year medical students at Queen's University Belfast to target young people who are lacking educational motivation, are disengaged at home or are marginalised through social circumstances. Community-based education is of increasing importance within undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the UK, and further afield. We evaluated the perceived improvements in key skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, and problem solving in students following participation in this programme, and the extent to which their attitude and appreciation of community-based medicine changed. [Students] appreciated the opportunity to translate a series of classroom-learned skills to real-life environments Following facilitation of this community-based initiative, all students reported a perceived improvement in the acquired skill sets. Students made strong links from this programme to previous clinical experiences and appreciated the opportunity to translate a series of classroom-learned skills to real-life environments and interactions. The students' appreciation and understanding of community-based medicine was the single most improved area of our evaluation. We have demonstrated that medical students possess the skills to develop and facilitate their own educational projects. Non-clinical, student-led community projects have the potential to be reproduced using recognised frameworks and guidelines to complement the current undergraduate medical curriculum. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Learning communities and overcoming poverty in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Santos Pitanga

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Object: Brazil has implemented social programs to meet the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and inequality. Despite the good results still there are ghettos and educational and social inequalities. Moreover Learning Communities are responding to these needs by promoting education based on successful actions scientifically proven of which promote educational change and social inclusion. The aim of this article is to highlight the characteristics of Learning Communities that allow overcoming poverty, and in this perspective, explain the implementation of the Learning Communities in Brazil and how, in this way, it is creating the conditions for effective overcoming give poverty and inequality in this country.Design / methodology: This article is based on documentary analysis of reports of the INCLUD-ED - the project on school education more scientific resources has been funded by the European Union, United Nations / ECLAC, Brazilian public agencies and websites of official institutions that promote Learning Communities in Brazil. Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics are also collected.Contributions and results: It highlights successful actions that contribute to overcoming poverty and social exclusion. Such actions are based on dialogic learning, democratic management and the formation of heterogeneous groups. It is observed that in Brazil are carrying out such actions and the ongoing expansion of the project in the country is creating the conditions for effective poverty reduction.Added value: This article reveals specific elements of overcoming poverty through education.

 e-Learning in Virtual Communities of Practice - And Beyond?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Karen Bjerg

2007-01-01

The work of Lave and Wenger on learning in 'communities of practice' has evoked a considerable response in e-learning environments through-out the world including Denmark in the last few decades. Within the development of web-based second language learning, the ideas of learning in communities...... interaction and case studies of e-learning language platforms within the area of teaching Danish as a second language for adult foreigners. The concepts of communities of practice are also discussed and developed....... individual process. The aim of this paper is to investigate aspects of the Danish development of e-learning platforms and, especially students' and teachers' very differing perceptions of e-learning and the concepts behind it. The analysis is based on student and teacher interviews, research on language...

On-line Professional Learning Communities: Increasing Teacher Learning and Productivity in Isolated Rural Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dora Salazar

2010-08-01

Full Text Available On-line and distance professional learning communities provides teachers with increased access and flexibility as well as the combination of work and education. It also provides a more learner-centered approach, enrichment and new ways of interacting with teachers in isolated rural areas. For educational administrators, on-line learning offers high quality and usually cost-effective professional development for teachers. It allows upgrading of skills, increased productivity and development of a new learning culture. At the same time, it means sharing of costs, of training time, increased portability of training, and the exchange of creativity, information, and dialogue.

The community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Third annual progress report (year 1982)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

This is the third progress report of the European Community's programme (1979-83) of research on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. It covers the year 1982 and follows the 1980 and 1981 reports (EUR 7440, EUR 8343). Since 1982 was a very active year of research under the programme, this report contains a large amount of results. Besides, the work programmes of some additional research contracts, awarded through 1982, are described

A community health programme in rural Tamil Nadu, India: the need for gender justice for women.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacob, Mini Elizabeth; Abraham, Sulochana; Surya, Susila; Minz, Shantidani; Singh, Daisy; Abraham, Vinod Joseph; Prasad, Jasmin; George, Kuryan; Kuruvilla, Anju; Jacob, K S

2006-05-01

This article highlights the efforts of the Community Health and Development (CHAD) Programme of Christian Medical College to address the issues of gender discrimination and improve the status of women in the Kaniyambadi Block, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. The many schemes that are specifically for women and general projects for the community from which women can also benefit represent a multi-pronged approach whose aim is the improvement of women's health, education and employment in the context of community development. However, despite five decades of work with a clear bias in favour of women, the improvement in health and the empowerment of women has lagged behind that achieved by men. We believe this is because the community, with its strong male bias, utilises the health facilities and education and employment programmes more for the benefit of men and boys than women and girls. The article argues for a change of approach, in which gender and women's issues are openly discussed and debated with the community. It would appear that nothing short of social change will bring about an improvement in the health of women and a semblance of gender equality in the region.

A History of Learning Communities within American Higher Education

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Fink, John E.; Inkelas, Karen Kurotsuchi

2015-01-01

This chapter describes the historical development of learning communities within American higher education. We examine the forces both internal and external to higher education that contributed to and stalled the emergence of learning communities in their contemporary form.

Note On Research Design For The Study Of Community Participation In Health Care Programmes

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Rifkin Susan B

1986-01-01

Full Text Available After describing types of research designs for the study of community participation in health care programmes, this paper examines one methodology, the quantitative methodology, the quantitative methodology, in detail. It presents some of the major attractions and limitations of this approach. The attractions include the need for evaluation of success and failure and of cost effectiveness of programmes. The limitations include the inability of the approach to deal with definitions and interventions that cannot be quantitified and the difficulty of identifying casual relationship between interventions and outcomes. These characteristics are illustrated by a case by a medical school in Asia. Research design, research developments and research outcomes are described and analysed. The paper concludes that an alternative analysis which examines the linkages between participation and health improvements would be more useful as it would allow the political, social and economic dimensions of community participation to be examined.

Integration of the information problem-solving skill in an educational programme: The effects of learning with authentic tasks.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Wopereis, Iwan

2008-01-01

Brand-Gruwel, S., & Wopereis, I. (2006). Integration of the information problem-solving skill in an educational programme: The effects of learning with authentic tasks. Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning, 4, 243-263.

Learning to learn self-regulation in practice: a 2 cohort evaluation.

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Sharples, Kath; Moseley, Laurence G

2011-11-01

The transfer of nurse training into higher education following 'Project 2000' dramatically changed the status of student nurses. While the majority received a grant or bursary, students were no longer regarded as belonging to the hospital staffing complement. Elcock et al. (2007), argue that the intended advantage of supernumerary status following the move of nurse education into higher education has not been reflected in the student learning experience. Students have reported difficulties in being accepted into the community of practice, as they are no longer viewed as belonging in the professional sense to the practice environment (Cope et al., 2000). Students must therefore be prepared for their supernumerary role through the development of appropriate skills for learning in practice (Elcock et al., 2007). The Thames Valley University pre-registration nursing curriculum promotes the effective socialisation of students into the professional role (Fitzpatrick et al., 1996) through a 35-day practice orientation programme in the Common Foundation Programme. The results of a 2 cohort evaluation of a 35-day programme facilitated in the Brent and Harrow learning community indicate that novice pre-registration students will not always possess the self-directed ability to spontaneously engage with nursing care in practice. Students must be provided the opportunity to develop the skills that define the self-regulated learner (Langendyk, 2006). Students must be empowered to self-assess what they know and what they do not know. It is argued that in order to learn during practice experiences, the student nurse of today must first learn how to be self-regulated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dyslexia and early intervention: what did we learn from the Dutch Dyslexia Programme?

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van der Leij, A.

2013-01-01

Part of the Dutch Dyslexia Programme has been dedicated to early intervention. The question of whether the genetically affected learning mechanism of children who are at familial risk (FR) of developing dyslexia could be influenced by training phoneme awareness and letter-sound associations in the

The Community's R and D Programme on radioactive waste management and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

The objective of the R and D actions to be achieved by 1980 is the demonstration of either the technical potential or, for further advanced projects, the feasibility and even the industrial availability of methods for treating and storing radwaste. The following aspects are investigated: - processing of solid waste from reactors, reprocessing plants and the plutonium fuel fabrication; - intermediate and terminal storage of high activity and alpha wastes; - advanced waste management methods as the storage of gaseous wastes. This report presents the most important results achieved under the programme. In addition to the scientific-technical R and D actions, a survey of the legal, administrative and financial problems encountered in radwaste management and storage is an essential part of the Communities' programme

Learning through Participatory Action Research for Community Ecotourism Planning.

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Guevara, Jose Roberto Q.

1996-01-01

Ecologically sound tourism planning and policy require an empowering community participation. The participatory action research model helps a community gain understanding of its social reality, learn how to learn, initiate dialog, and discover new possibilities for addressing its situation. (SK)

A Community of Singing: Motivation, Identity, and Communitas in a Mennonite School Choir Programme

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Dabback, William

2018-01-01

This qualitative study sought to identify and define aspects of the educational and community culture that underlie a Mennonite School music programme, facilitate students' motivation to continue participation, and contribute to individual and group identity. Four interrelated institutions provided context for student music participation:…

Extending the role of technology enhanced learning within an undergraduate radiography programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John-Matthews, Janice St.; Gibbs, Vivien; Messer, Simon

2013-01-01

This study was undertaken in 2011, set against a background of increasing pressures to integrate Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), both in higher education and the NHS. The primary aim of the study was to produce a user-friendly guide for academics in order to encourage greater use of technology to enhance learning within a Radiography programme. By working with information technology (IT) staff, a Flash presentation was developed and made available for students. The presentation was evaluated by students, and many constructive points were suggested, such as a requirement for a slower pace of voiceover delivery, and the need for more interactive prompts. Student feedback was used to inform development of a second presentation. The researchers' experiences of this development process were then incorporated into the production of a user-friendly guide for academic colleagues. Further work is planned to investigate the experiences of colleagues in utilising this guide, and to review whether it has succeeded in increasing the extent to which Flash presentations are used within the Radiography programme, and in enhancing the student experience.

Aligning Needs, Expectations, and Learning Outcomes to Sustain Self-Efficacy through Transfer Learning Community Programs

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Leptien, Jennifer R.

2015-01-01

This chapter addresses strengths and difficulties encountered in implementing transfer learning community models and how efficacy is supported through transfer learning community programming. Transfer programming best practices and recommendations for program improvements are presented.

Teacher Collaboration and Student Learning in a Professional Learning Community

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Vaughan, Mary Elaine

2013-01-01

Researchers have endorsed teacher collaboration within a professional learning community (PLC) that is focused on student learning. Despite these research-based endorsements, several Algebra 1 teachers in a southeastern high school implemented components of a PLC with little or no results in student achievement. The purpose of this study was to…

Community-based learning in a challenging context: the development and evaluation of an outreach dental public health programme in Damascus University, Syria.

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Joury, E

2016-02-01

This study aimed to describe the development and evaluation of an outreach dental public health (DPH) programme in Damascus University, in terms of developing undergraduates' required knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA), improving the quality aspects of training and assessment (T&A), and achieving the satisfaction of served children and their social network. The outreach DPH programme offered opportunities to undergraduates to carry out outreach health-promotion activities, conduct and communicate the results of applied DPH research, and build partnership with students in other higher education sectors. A cross-sectional evaluation collected mixed qualitative and quantitative data, by a means of a short-essay and a self-completed questionnaire, from 400 third-year dental undergraduates, on KSA gained from outreach activities and quality aspects of T&A. The latter were compared with corresponding figures of other traditional dental programmes (TDP). Satisfaction with the outreach activities were collected from 215 children with special needs and 130 parents and school staff, by questionnaires. The response rates were 74.8%, 100% and 100% for undergraduates, children and parents/school staff, respectively. The derived categories of students' gained KSA included the following: unique clinical skills, social responsibility, voluntarism, communication, team working, personal growth, reflection on career aspirations and self-satisfaction with the contribution to needy groups. Their satisfaction with quality aspects of T&A was significantly higher than TDP (P < 0.001). Children's and parents/school staff's satisfaction was high. The outreach DPH programme in Damascus University is a successful example of developing undergraduates' required KSA, improving the quality aspects of T&A, and achieving the satisfaction of served community. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moving Into Communities: Developing Cultural Competence with Pre-service Educators through Community Service-Learning Experiences

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Heather Coffey

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Research in teacher education suggests that field experiences in community settings can offer pre-service teachers a context for understanding the link between theory and practice. This paper documents the experiences of pre-service educators who participated in service-learning partnerships for thirty hours in multiple community settings in the southeast United States. Pre-service teachers not only volunteered in the community, but they also engaged in critically reflective journal writing and participated in evaluative class discussions. Students praised the benefits of a service experience in both school and community placements and discussed how interactions with the community agencies gave them the insight into how community organizations often play a significant role in the lives of the underserved students they will eventually teach. The author argues that the inclusion of a service-learning component in early pre-service teacher education field experiences has the potential to facilitate the examination of the relationships between community organizations and schools and encourage development of cultural competence among pre-service teachers. KEYWORDSservice-learning, pre-service teacher preparation, community partnerships

Building Global Learning Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Thomas; Buchem, Ilona; Camacho, Mar; Cronin, Catherine; Gordon, Averill; Keegan, Helen

2013-01-01

Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC) for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning…

Evaluation of the third community programme 'Radioactive waste management and storage' (1985-1989)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillaumont, G.; Cottenie, A.; Harrisson, J.; Schmitt-Tegge, J.D.; Schuettenhelm, R.T.E.; Wright, J.K.

1989-01-01

This evaluation report fits into the general framework of the Commission's evaluation policy (submitted in the form of a plan of action to the Council. O.J.C14 20.01.87). For the production of evaluation reports of Community research programmes, this plan envisages the use of independent external experts. The report consists of the following six chapters: - A general introduction covering the basis and procedure of the work, - An executive summary, available in each of the Community official languages, - A general review of the problems of radioactive waste, - The main reports, representing the actual evaluation of the programme, - The conclusion, which summarizes the main points, - Finally, policy action recommendations, followed by a recapitulation of the more specific recommendation from chapter IV and by a special note on the problem of public acceptance. At the end of the volume, annexes are added that provide the terms of reference given to the panel, list several more detailed documents which were used by the panel during the evaluation, and list people visited or interviewed by the evaluators

Reflection on key competencies for lifelong learning: A structural analysis of teachers' study programmes in the Republic of Croatia

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Matilda Karamatić Brčić

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Educating teachers on the initial level of the teachers' studies programmes' compulsory and elective courses allows these educators to acquire the competencies they need to transmit and teach the same information to children. In the realm of contemporary educational practices, acquiring competency in teaching work is part of a process of lifelong learning. This paper will analyse the structure of Croatian teachers' studies programmes, focusing on the name of the course and the teaching workload of the same, with an emphasis on the concept of key competencies for lifelong learning according to the European Framework of Reference. In this paper, compulsory and elective courses were classified according to the following competencies for lifelong learning: communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competencies, basic competencies in science and technology, and digital competency. The results reveal that there are no statistically significant differences among Croatian teachers' studies programmes in terms of teaching workload, taking into account how competent the teacher is considered to be; there are statistically significant differences among the Croatian teachers' studies programmes in the possible teaching workload for elective courses because of teacher's perceived competency level. Despite the fact that all of the teachers' studies programmes bestow the same title upon graduates, the analysis of access to teacher studies in the  Republic of Croatia shows that the screening criteria are different in study programmes at different universities.

The value of the pre-hospital learning environment as part of the emergency nursing programme

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Sonett van Wyk

2015-06-01

Conclusion: The research findings support the value and continuation of utilising the pre-hospital clinical learning environment for placing post-basic emergency nursing students when enrolled in the emergency nursing programme.

Monitoring community mobilisation and organisational capacity among high-risk groups in a large-scale HIV prevention programme in India: selected findings using a Community Ownership and Preparedness Index.

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Narayanan, Pradeep; Moulasha, K; Wheeler, Tisha; Baer, James; Bharadwaj, Sowmyaa; Ramanathan, T V; Thomas, Tom

2012-10-01

In a participatory approach to health and development interventions, defining and measuring community mobilisation is important, but it is challenging to do this effectively, especially at scale. A cross-sectional, participatory monitoring tool was administered in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 across a representative sample of 25 community-based groups (CBGs) formed under the Avahan India AIDS Initiative, to assess their progress in mobilisation, and to inform efforts to strengthen the groups and make them sustainable. The survey used a weighted index to capture both qualitative and quantitative data in numeric form. The index permitted broad, as well as highly detailed, analysis of community mobilisation, relevant at the level of individual groups, as well as state-wide and across the whole programme. The survey demonstrated that leadership and programme management were the strongest areas among the CBGs, confirming the programme's investment in these areas. Discussion of the Round 1 results led to efforts to strengthen governance and democratic decision making in the groups, and progress was reflected in the Round 2 survey results. CBG engagement with state authorities to gain rights and entitlements and securing the long-term financial stability of groups remain a challenge. The survey has proven useful for informing the managers of programmes about what is happening on the ground, and it has opened spaces for discussion within community groups about the nature of leadership, decision making and their goals, which is leading to accelerated progress. The tool provided useful data to manage community mobilisation in Avahan.

Community-based research in action: tales from the Ktunaxa community learning centres project.

Science.gov (United States)

Stacy, Elizabeth; Wisener, Katherine; Liman, Yolanda; Beznosova, Olga; Lauscher, Helen Novak; Ho, Kendall; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra

2014-01-01

Rural communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, often have limited access to health information, a situation that can have significant negative consequences. To address the lack of culturally and geographically relevant health information, a community-university partnership was formed to develop, implement, and evaluate Aboriginal Community Learning Centres (CLCs). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the community-based research process used in the development of the CLCs. It focuses on the process of building relationships among partners and the CLC's value and sustainability. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including principal investigators, community research leads, and supervisors. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an open-coding process to identify themes. Key challenges included enacting shared project governance, negotiating different working styles, and hiring practices based on commitment to project objectives rather than skill set. Technological access provided by the CLCs increased capacity for learning and collective community initiatives, as well as building community leads' skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy. An important lesson was to meet all partners "where they are" in building trusting relationships and adapting research methods to fit the project's context and strengths. Successful results were dependent upon persistence and patience in working through differences, and breaking the project into achievable goals, which collectively contributed to trust and capacity building. The process of building these partnerships resulted in increased capacity of communities to facilitate learning and change initiatives, and the capacity of the university to engage in successful research partnerships with Aboriginal communities in the future.

Pragmatism, Pedagogy, and Community Service Learning

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Yoder, Scot D.

2016-01-01

In this paper I explore Goodwin Liu's proposal to ground the pedagogy of service-learning in the epistemology of pragmatism from the perspective of a reflective practitioner. I review Liu's epistemology and his claim that from within it three features common to service-learning--community, diversity, and engagement--become pedagogical virtues. I…

Development of Health Education Learning Module in Bac.TSE-LDPE Programme in TTI: Needs Analysis Study

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Ujang, Alijah; Alias, Norlidah; Siraj, Saedah

2015-01-01

This study is to explore the need to develop learning modules of health education for trainee teachers in the Bachelor Of Teaching (Hons)(Special Education-Learning Disabilities For Primary Education) Programme (Bac.TSE-LDPE) in the Teacher Training Institute (TTI). The questionnaire uses the Likert scale with the close ended questions analysed by…

Learning in a Physics Classroom Community: Physics Learning Identity Construct Development, Measurement and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sissi L.

At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning environment demands not only conceptual understanding but also learning to be a scientist. However, the success of student learning is typically measured in test performance and course grades while assessment of student development as science learners is largely ignored. This dissertation addresses this issue with the development of an instrument towards a measure of physics learning identity (PLI) which is used to guide and complement case studies through student interviews and in class observations. Using the conceptual framework based on Etienne Wenger's communities of practice (1998), I examine the relationship between science learning and learning identity from a situated perspective in the context of a large enrollment science class as a community of practice. This conceptual framework emphasizes the central role of identity in the practices negotiated in the classroom community and in the way students figure out their trajectory as members. Using this framework, I seek to understand how the changes in student learning identity are supported by active engagement based instruction. In turn, this understanding can better facilitate the building of a productive learning community and provide a measure for achievement of the curricular learning goals in active engagement strategies. Based on the conceptual framework, I developed and validated an instrument for measuring physics learning identity in terms of student learning preferences, self-efficacy for learning physics, and self-image as a physics learner. The instrument was pilot tested with a population of Oregon State University students taking calculus based

Cultural Narratives: Developing a Three-Dimensional Learning Community through Braided Understanding

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Heck, Marsha L.

2004-01-01

Paula Underwood's "Learning Stories" braid together body, mind, and spirit to enable understanding that does not easily unravel. They tell of relationships among individual and community learning that parallel other ancient and contemporary ideas about learning in caring communities. Underwood's tradition considers learning sacred; everyone's…

A Review of the Instructional Practices for Promoting Online Learning Communities

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Hung, Woei; Flom, Elicia; Manu, Jacob; Mahmoud, Enaz

2015-01-01

An effective learning community helps foster positive student learning experiences and outcomes. However, in distance learning environments, the communication barriers inevitably hinder the interaction among the students because of the lower levels of social presence. These barriers present challenges in building learning communities in an online…

Bridging Learning Communities Through Experiential Learning with GIST: 2Y College Experience

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Sorey, N.; Phillips, C. D.

2017-12-01

This study reviews successes of community engagement through experiential learning with GIST across academic disciplines that leverage topics with technology and community relationships throughout a two-year campus and the community at large. This approach allowed for a diversification of populations reached through college student engagement and community outreach efforts. Technological frameworks and development of best practice resources to support students and faculty were shown to increase the capacity for undergraduate research experiences, K12 short course offerings during the summer, and the formation of a STEM-focused student organization. The RSO has participated in activities that include educational technology development, participating in the growth and development of the area's maker movement community, and geoscience outreach and education. Development of the program thus far and lessons learned have resulted in a proposal for an areal-based informal pathway linking the K12 community to area colleges by integrating geoscience outreach with GIST through the maker movement.

Increasing Student Metacognition and Learning through Classroom-Based Learning Communities and Self-Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Siegesmund

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Student overconfidence challenges success in introductory biology. This study examined the impact of classroom learning communities and self-assessment on student metacognition and subsequent impact on student epistemological beliefs, behaviors, and learning. Students wrote weekly self-assessments reflecting on the process of learning and received individual feedback. Students completed a learning strategies inventory focused on metacognition and study behaviors at the beginning and end of the semester and a Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG at the end of the semester. Results indicated significant changes in both metacognition and study behaviors over the course of the semester, with a positive impact on learning as determined by broad and singular measures. Self-assessments and SALG data demonstrated a change in student beliefs and behaviors. Taken together, these findings argue that classroom learning communities and self-assessment can increase student metacognition and change student epistemological beliefs and behaviors.

The reach and adoption of a coach-led exercise training programme in community football.

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Finch, Caroline F; Diamantopoulou, Kathy; Twomey, Dara M; Doyle, Tim L A; Lloyd, David G; Young, Warren; Elliott, Bruce C

2014-04-01

To determine the reach and adoption of a coach-led exercise training programme for lower limb injury prevention. Secondary analysis of data from a group-clustered randomised controlled trial. A periodised exercise training warm-up programme was delivered to players during training sessions over an 8-week preseason (weeks 1-8) and 18-week playing season. 1564 community Australian football players. Reach, measured weekly, was the number of players who attended training sessions. Adoption was the number of attending players who completed the programme in full, partially or not at all. Reasons for partial or non-participation were recorded. In week 1, 599 players entered the programme; 55% attended 1 training session and 45% attended > 1 session. By week 12, 1540 players were recruited but training attendance (reach) decreased to <50%. When players attended training, the majority adopted the full programme-ranging from 96% (week 1) to above 80% until week 20. The most common reasons for low adoption were players being injured, too sore, being late for training or choosing their own warm-up. The training programme's reach was highest preseason and halved at the playing season's end. However, when players attended training sessions, their adoption was high and remained close to 70% by season end. For sports injury prevention programmes to be fully effective across a season, attention also needs to be given to (1) encouraging players to attend formal training sessions and (2) considering the possibility of some form of programme delivery outside of formal training.

Planning for Technology Integration in a Professional Learning Community

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Thoma, Jennifer; Hutchison, Amy; Johnson, Debra; Johnson, Kurt; Stromer, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Barriers to technology integration in instruction include a lack of time, resources, and professional development. One potential approach to overcoming these barriers is through collaborative work, or professional learning communities. This article focuses on one group of teachers who leveraged their professional learning community to focus on…

Stakeholder views of rural community-based medical education: a narrative review of the international literature.

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Somporn, Praphun; Ash, Julie; Walters, Lucie

2018-03-30

Rural community-based medical education (RCBME), in which medical student learning activities take place within a rural community, requires students, clinical teachers, patients, community members and representatives of health and government sectors to actively contribute to the educational process. Therefore, academics seeking to develop RCBME need to understand the rural context, and the views and needs of local stakeholders. The aim of this review is to examine stakeholder experiences of RCBME programmes internationally. This narrative literature review of original research articles published after 1970 utilises Worley's symbiosis model of medical education as an analysis framework. This model proposes that students experience RCBME through their intersection with multiple clinical, social and institutional relationships. This model seeks to provide a framework for considering the intersecting relationships in which RCBME programmes are situated. Thirty RCBME programmes are described in 52 articles, representing a wide range of rural clinical placements. One-year longitudinal integrated clerkships for penultimate-year students in Anglosphere countries were most common. Such RCBME enables students to engage in work-integrated learning in a feasible manner that is acceptable to many rural clinicians and patients. Academic results are not compromised, and a few papers demonstrate quality improvement for rural health services engaged in RCBME. These programmes have delivered some rural medical workforce outcomes to communities and governments. Medical students also provide social capital to rural communities. However, these programmes have significant financial cost and risk student social and educational isolation. Rural community-based medical education programmes are seen as academically acceptable and can facilitate symbiotic relationships among students, rural clinicians, patients and community stakeholders. These relationships can influence students' clinical

The learning experiences of mentees and mentors in a nursing school's mentoring programme.

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Joubert, Annemarie; de Villiers, Johanna

2015-03-24

A School of Nursing supports third-year undergraduate students (mentees) by means of a mentoring programme in which critical-care nursing students (mentors) are involved. However, the programme designers needed to find out what gaps were evident in the programme. The objectives of the study were to explore and describe the learning experiences of the mentees and mentors and to obtain recommendations for improving the programme. An action-research method was used to develop and to refine the student-mentoring programme and to identify student needs. However, for the purposes of this article a descriptive design was selected and data were gathered by means of a nominal-group technique. Fourteen mentees and five mentors participated in the research. The findings indicated that attention should be paid to the allocation and orientation of both mentors and mentees. Amongst the positive experiences was the fact that the mentees were reassured by the mentor's presence and that a relationship of trust developed between them. In consequence, the mentees developed critical thinking skills, were able to apply their knowledge and improved their ability to integrate theory and practice. Not only did the mentees gain respect for the mentors' knowledge and competence, but they also lauded the mentoring programme as a memorable and vital experience. The findings indicated that several changes would be needed to improve the structure of the mentoring programme before a new group of mentees could be placed in critical-care units.

Coffee, Cake & Culture: Evaluation of an art for health programme for older people in the community.

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Roe, Brenda; McCormick, Sheila; Lucas, Terri; Gallagher, Wendy; Winn, Andrea; Elkin, Sophie

2016-07-01

Arts for health initiatives and networks are being developed in a number of countries and an international literature is emerging on the evidence of their benefits to people's health, wellbeing and quality of life. Engagement in cultural and creative arts by older people can increase their morale and self-confidence and provides opportunities for social connection. Museums and galleries are increasingly required to justify their expenditure, reach and impact and some are working in partnership with local councils, hospitals, schools and communities to improve access to their collections. There is a body of literature emerging that describes such initiatives but empirical evidence of their benefits is less developed. This article reports an evaluation of an art for health initiative - Coffee, Cake & Culture organised and delivered by Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum in 2012 for older people living in a care home and a supported living facility. The study has identified the benefits and impacts of the arts for health programme and its feasibility for older people, with or without diagnosed memory loss - dementia, living in a care home or supported living facility and their care staff. The findings demonstrate there were benefits to the older people and their care staff in terms of wellbeing, social engagement, learning, social inclusion and creativity. These benefits were immediate and continued in the short term on their return home. The majority of older people and care staff had not previously been to the art gallery or museum and the programme encouraged creative arts and cultural appreciation which promoted social inclusion, wellbeing and quality of life. The programme is feasible and important lessons were identified for future planning. Further research involving partnerships of researchers, arts for health curators, artists, care staff, older people and their families is warranted. © The Author(s) 2014.

The impact of learning communities on interpersonal relationships among medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Champaloux, Eve Privman; Keeley, Meg G

2016-01-01

Medical students at the University of Virginia (UVA) are mentored and learn within the framework of a four college learning community. Uniquely, these learning communities are used to organize the third-year clerkship rotations. Students were surveyed after their first pre-clinical year and after their clerkship year to determine what the effect of the learning community was on their social and educational interpersonal relationships. Students knew a higher percentage of their college mates after completing their third-year clerkships within the framework of the college system. Students chose peers from within the college system for social and educational interpersonal scenarios statistically more often than what would be expected at random. Small group learning environments that were not formed within the framework of the college system at UVA did not have the same effect on interpersonal relationships, indicating that learning communities are uniquely able to provide a context for relationship building. Students felt more positively about the social and educational effects of the college system after the clerkship year, with a corresponding increase in the strength of their interpersonal bonds with their college peers. This work is the first to investigate the effects of learning communities on interpersonal relationships among medical students and finds that learning communities positively impact both social and educational medical student bonds.

Analysing institutional influences on teaching–learning practices of English as second language programme in a Pakistani university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfan Ahmed Rind

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the institutional influences on the teaching–learning practices within English as Second Language (ESL programme in the University of Sindh (UoS, Pakistan. The study uses qualitative case study approach, basing its findings on documentary review, observations, and responses of teachers and students. The analysis of the data is informed by Bourdieusian notions of habitus, field and capital. The study found that UoS’s institutional policies and practices are shaped by its position in the field of higher education, which shape ESL teaching–learning practices. Specifically, UoS defines its capital as “higher education for all”, which in practice translates as admitting students from disadvantage groups. To meet English language needs of these students, UoS offers the ESL programme. However, teaching–learning practices of ESL are significantly influenced by UoS’s policies related to faculty hiring and development, ESL teachers and administration relationships, teacher-student ratio, assessment, quality assurance, and learning support resources.

The value of the pre-hospital learning environment as part of the emergency nursing programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonett van Wyk

2015-10-01

Objective: The study explored the views of the emergency nurse students regarding the value of rotating through the pre-hospital learning environment during an emergency nursing programme. Methods: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design using an Appreciative Inquiry approach was used to collect the data. Through purposive sampling a total of 45 emergency nursing students participated. Data was collected by means of selfreported Appreciative Inquiry interview guides and individual Appreciative Inquiry interviews.The data was analysed using content analysis. Results: Four major themes were identified: an unpredictable environment, role players in emergency medical services, team work, and competencies. Conclusion: The research findings support the value and continuation of utilising the prehospital clinical learning environment for placing post-basic emergency nursing students when enrolled in the emergency nursing programme.

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. Volume 13, Number 1, Fall 2006

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Jeffrey, Ed.

2006-01-01

The "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning" ("MJCSL") is a national, peer-reviewed journal consisting of articles written by faculty and service-learning educators on research, theory, pedagogy, and issues pertinent to the service-learning community. The "MJCSL" aims to: (1) widen the community of…

Results of the European Community's beta intercomparison programme of individual dosemeters in 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigard, T.; Sequin, H.; Chartier, J.L.; Christensen, P.; Francis, T.M.; Lembo, L.

1988-01-01

For over 20 years, the Commission of the European Communities, in collaboration with competent laboratories in the member states, has been conducting intercomparisons of individual dosemeters with the objective of improving technique for monitoring ionizing radiation and establishing a common basis for dose assessment within the Community. These programmes not only serve the participants with an opportunity to validate their calibration and measuring procedures but also help to create a forum in which to exchange information and discuss experience with other participants. The performance and results of such an intercomparison exercise conducted in 1986 are reported here

Community Agency Voice and Benefit in Service-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Miron, Devi; Moely, Barbara E.

2006-01-01

Supervisors from 40 community agencies working with a university-based service-learning program were interviewed regarding the extent of their input in service-learning program planning and implementation "(Agency Voice), Interpersonal Relations" with service-learning students, "Perceived Benefit" of the service-learning…

Accelerated Schools as Professional Learning Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Biddle, Julie K.

The goal of the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) is to develop schools in which all children achieve at high levels and all members of the school community engage in developing and fulfilling the school's vision. But to fully implement the ASP model, a school must become a learning community that stresses relationships, shared values, and a…

Resource-stratified implementation of a community-based breast cancer management programme in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Duggan, Catherine; Dvaladze, Allison L; Tsu, Vivien; Jeronimo, Jose; Constant, Tara K Hayes; Romanoff, Anya; Scheel, John R; Patel, Shilpen; Gralow, Julie R; Anderson, Benjamin O

2017-10-01

Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to rise in Peru, with related deaths projected to increase from 1208 in 2012, to 2054 in 2030. Despite improvements in national cancer control plans, various barriers to positive breast cancer outcomes remain. Multiorganisational stakeholder collaboration is needed for the development of functional, sustainable early diagnosis, treatment and supportive care programmes with the potential to achieve measurable outcomes. In 2011, PATH, the Peruvian Ministry of Health, the National Cancer Institute in Lima, and the Regional Cancer Institute in Trujillo collaborated to establish the Community-based Program for Breast Health, the aim of which was to improve breast health-care delivery in Peru. A four-step, resource-stratified implementation strategy was used to establish an effective community-based triage programme and a practical early diagnosis scheme within existing multilevel health-care infrastructure. The phased implementation model was initially developed by the Breast Cancer Initiative 2·5: a group of health and non-governmental organisations who collaborate to improve breast cancer outcomes. To date, the Community-based Program for Breast Health has successfully implemented steps 1, 2, and 3 of the Breast Cancer Initiative 2·5 model in Peru, with reports of increased awareness of breast cancer among women, improved capacity for early diagnosis among health workers, and the creation of stronger and more functional linkages between the primary levels (ie, local or community) and higher levels (ie, district, region, and national) of health care. The Community-based Program for Breast Health is a successful example of stakeholder and collaborator involvement-both internal and external to Peru-in the design and implementation of resource-appropriate interventions to increase breast health-care capacity in a middle-income Latin American country. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Initial community perspectives on the Health Service Extension Programme in Welkait, Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McAuliffe Eilish

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Health Service Extension Programme (HSEP is an innovative approach to addressing the shortfall in health human resources in Ethiopia. It has developed a new cadre of Health Extension Workers (HEWs, who are charged with providing the health and hygiene promotion and some treatment services, which together constitute the bedrock of Ethiopia's community health system. Methods This study seeks to explore the experience of the HSEP from the perspective of the community who received the service. A random sample of 60 female heads-of-household in a remote area of Tigray participated in a structured interview survey. Results Although Health Extension Workers (HEWs had visited them less frequently than planned, participants generally found the programme to be helpful. Despite this, their basic health knowledge was still quite poor regarding the major communicable diseases and their vectors. Participants felt the new HESP represented an improvement on previous health provision. HEWs were preferred over Traditional Birth Attendants for assistance with labour Conclusion While the introduction of HEWs has been a positive experience for women living at the study site, the frequency of visits, extent of effectively imparted health knowledge and affects of HEWs on other health providers needs to be further explored.

Recommendations from the Field: Creating an LGBTQ Learning Community

Science.gov (United States)

Jaekel, Kathryn S.

2015-01-01

This article details the creation of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) learning community. Created because of research that indicates chilly campus climates (Rankin, 2005), as well as particular needs of LGBTQ students in the classroom, this learning community focused upon LGBTQ topics in and out of the classroom. While…

`Risky fun' or `Authentic science'? How teachers' beliefs influence their practice during a professional development programme on outdoor learning

Science.gov (United States)

Glackin, Melissa

2016-02-01

Teaching outdoors has been established as an important pedagogical strategy; however, science classes rarely take place outside. Previous research has identified characteristics of teachers who have integrated out-of-classroom opportunities into their teaching repertoire; yet little is understood as to why teachers make these different pedagogical decisions. This paper explores the relationship between secondary science teachers' beliefs and their pedagogical practice during a two-year professional development programme associated with the 'Thinking Beyond the Classroom' project. Using data from lesson observations, interviews, session questionnaires and field notes, six teacher case studies were developed from participants completing the programme. Data analysis reveals that teachers who successfully taught outside generally held social constructivist beliefs about learning and valued 'authentic' science opportunities. Conversely, teachers who were less successful in teaching outside generally held traditional learning beliefs and simply valued the outdoors for the novelty and potential for fun. All the case study teachers were concerned about managing student learning outside, and for the majority, their concerns influenced their subsequent pedagogical practice. The findings are discussed in detail, as are the implications for pre-service and in-service professional development programmes related to outdoor science learning.

The effectiveness of using WebCT in distance learning programmes in MACE, the University of Manchester

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Rosman

The World Wide Web impacted the educational model and became part of distance education early in this century. There were many changes taking place in higher education for political, economic and educational reasons." New goals and educational objectives were being set within educational institutions. There were particular emphases to produce a more effective delivery of learning methods for distance learning students. The use of Internet was seen as an important issue in the development of an understanding of the complex process of instilling knowledge to post graduates students. Well-established universities were re-examining their missions and looking for different ways of providing lifelong education. The School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE) was particularly keen to increase the use of web-based learning in its courses, which will increase the amount of students enrolled into these programmes and help them learn in a flexible and workable manner. This approach was reinforced by responses from a survey of MSc. degree students which suggested that the current distance learning programme were not being operated efficiently and did not develop adequate personal skills in relation to the requirements of prospective employers. One way of improving these programmes was to make use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A study was made and WebCT was found to be suitable. Five WebCT units were initially produced. The experience of designing and running the units was very useful in determining the effective use of the WebCT. From the analysis of students and staff surveys it has been demonstrated that these WebCT units are much more effective in achieving the project objectives in a wide number of areas which relate to students satisfaction, skills development and enhancing their interest into learning experience. The success of the WebCT units has stimulated interest in overseas establishments. It is hope that the success will follow in the

Informal Learning in Online Knowledge Communities: Predicting Community Response to Visitor Inquiries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nistor, Nicolae; Dascalu, Mihai; Stavarache, Lucia Larise; Serafin, Yvonne; Trausan-Matu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Nistor, N., Dascalu, M., Stavarache, L.L., Serafin, Y., & Trausan-Matu, S. (2015). Informal Learning in Online Knowledge Communities: Predicting Community Response to Visitor Inquiries. In G. Conole, T. Klobucar, C. Rensing, J. Konert & É. Lavoué (Eds.), 10th European Conf. on Technology Enhanced

Effects of a dietary self-management programme for community-dwelling older adults: a quasi-experimental design.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Su-Hui; Huang, Yu-Ping; Shao, Jung-Hua

2017-09-01

Nutritional health plays a crucial role in determining successful ageing and differs by different living area. Although nutritional interventions have long been advocated, little research has directly assessed the effectiveness of nutritional interventions on community-dwelling older adults in urban and rural areas and compared intervention effects on these two populations. To examine the effectiveness of a 12-week dietary self-management programme for salt-, fluid-, fat- and cholesterol-intake behaviours of community-dwelling older adults and to compare these effects in rural- and urban-dwelling older adults. For this quasi-experimental two-group study, older adults (≥65 years old) were recruited from two randomly selected public health centres in a rural north-eastern county and a northern city of Taiwan from January through December 2011. Outcomes included nutritional status, nutritional self-efficacy and health locus of control. Data were collected at baseline and 12 weeks later. To compare changes in outcome variables over time between the control (usual care) and intervention (nutritional programme) groups and between the urban- and rural-dwelling participants in the experimental group, we used generalised estimating equation analysis. Of the 129 participants, 120 completed this study (58 in the intervention group and 62 in the control group). After 12 weeks, the intervention group had significantly better nutritional status and higher internal health locus of control than the control group. Moreover, older rural participants who received the intervention tended towards higher nutritional self-efficacy and internal health locus of control than their urban counterparts. Our research findings support the positive effect of our nutritional self-management programme for community-dwelling older adults. The knowledge gained from this study can help stakeholders recognise the need for healthcare policy to establish effective strategies and sustainable

Learning for autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Rivero, Jose

1989-12-01

There is a need for a new concept of post-literacy which goes beyond the learning of codes. The target population is defined on the basis of their need to be given the capacity to take decisions on essential economic, civic, political and day-to-day aspects of their lives. The main arena of post-literacy lies in the countries of the Third World, where the economic crisis has serious effects on the quality of life and impairs the motivation to learn. Particular reference is made to the concept of participation and to the ability to determine four types of basic educational need: fundamental needs, productivity needs, social service needs and community organization needs. Four Latin American programmes linked to these four types of need are presented and discussed in terms of their particular features: popular participation in decision making; the search for methods and techniques which give the population a certain degree of autonomy; and respect for the cultures and world visions of the communities in the conduct of post-literacy, educational innovation and other activities. The programmes are: post-literacy in Nicaragua (fundamental education needs); research on post-literacy and employment in 13 countries (productivity needs); the CIPCA project for peasants in Piura, on the northern coast of Peru (social service needs); and the `Talking Maps' project developed with the Paez community in Cauca, Colombia (community organization needs).

Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons from the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities about "What Works" in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Felner, Robert D.; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy; Bolton, Natalie

2007-01-01

Personalizing the school environment is a central goal of efforts to transform America's schools. Three decades of work by the Project on High Performance Learning Communities are considered that demonstrate the potential impact and importance of the creation of "small learning environments" on student motivation, adjustment, and well-being.…

Commitment to an Entrepreneurship Training Programme for Self-Employed Entrepreneurs, and Learning from Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Nieminen, Lenita; Hytti, Ulla

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how self-employed entrepreneurs commit themselves to an entrepreneurship training programme and how such commitment relates to their perceptions of learning. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected through qualitative, inductive methods by interviewing and observing six entrepreneurs…

Supporting Pre-Service Teachers' Technology-Enabled Learning Design Thinking through Whole of Programme Transformation

Science.gov (United States)

Bower, Matt; Highfield, Kate; Furney, Pam; Mowbray, Lee

2013-01-01

This paper explains a development and evaluation project aimed at transforming two pre-service teacher education programmes at Macquarie University to more effectively cultivate students' technology-enabled learning design thinking. The process of transformation was based upon an explicit and sustained focus on developing university academics'…

[Community assistance programme for children and adolescents with severe mental illness].

Science.gov (United States)

Barcala, Alejandra; Torricelli, Flavia; Alvarez Zunino, Patricia; Marotta, Julio

2009-01-01

The purpose of the following paper is to present an experience which links the production of knowledge resulting from academic research, with the transmission of said knowledge to the health system -with specific reference to mental health- by means of the implementation of the Community Assistance Programme for Children and/or Adolescents within the City of Buenos Aires. This programme is aimed at children and adolescents afflicted with severe psychological suffering, who consult the Mental Health Services in the public subsector of the City of Buenos Aires. It is the product of clinical institutional experience and of diverse investigations in health systems and services which showed a significant increase in the amount of consultations of children with severe and or complex mental health problems and which brought to light the lack of adequate sanitary response for these children by said sector. Based on the analysis and evaluation of the difficulties and obstacles in the functioning of the system a scheme was devised and implemented which aimed -from its beginning- to favour the possibilities of subjective constitution and integration into the community of these children and adolescents with severe mental deficiencies. By means of an interdisciplinary work consisting in the permanent training of human resources and the setup of intra and intersectional networks, it aims at facilitating accessibility and improving equality of opportunity, thus attempting to guarantee the right to a full protection of the health of children and adolescents.

Designing a Community-Based Dance Programme for North Korean Female Refugees in South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Kyung-Ah; Park, Hyun-Jung; Han, Seok Jin

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a community-based dance programme designed for North Korean female defectors in South Korea, with the aim of promoting their physical, psychological, and interpersonal aspects. We set up four research objectives: to look into social contexts of North Korean female refugees in South Korea, to identify the women's desire…

Local stakeholders' perceptions of community sensitization for school-based deworming programme in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Njomo, D W; Masaku, J; Mwende, F; Odhiambo, G; Musuva, R; Matey, E; Thuita, I G; Kihara, J H

2017-01-01

In Kenya, the National School-Based Deworming Programme (NSBDP) for soil-transmitted helminthes and schistosomiasis in prioritized areas has been going on since the year 2012. By the year 2013 over 6 million School Age Children (SAC) had been treated. A community sensitization supplement containing key messages and answers to frequently asked questions was developed as a guiding tool. Awareness creation methods used include county sensitization meetings, stakeholder forums, town criers and posters. To assess the local stakeholders' perceptions of community sensitization for programme implementation, a qualitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in four-sub-counties of coastal region. In-depth interviews (IDIs) were administered to 40 purposively selected opinion leaders so as to explore their perceptions of awareness creation sources, adequacy of information given, length of period of awareness creation and period between which information is given and drugs are administered. Separate IDIs were administered to pre-school teachers (41), community health extension workers (34) and primary school teachers (38). To elicit more information, 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) categorized by gender and age were conducted among parents of school-age children. Data was audio recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed manually by study themes. The most commonly reported source of information was school pupils. Due to low literacy levels, use of posters was regarded as ineffective and religious institutions, town criers and vernacular radio stations considered more effective. The information given during programme implementation was considered inadequate and use of complementary methods to reach all targeted children including the non-enrolled, and relay adequate information reported as important. Use of school and chief's meetings with health personnel being present was mentioned as a useful method that would allow for interaction with participants indicating that they

Community Garden: A Bridging Program between Formal and Informal Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Ranjan

2016-01-01

Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children's science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and…

Community Screening for Preschool Child Inhibition to Offer the "Cool Little Kids" Anxiety Prevention Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Beatson, Ruth M.; Bayer, Jordana K.; Perry, Alexandra; Mathers, Megan; Hiscock, Harriet; Wake, Melissa; Beesley, Kate; Rapee, Ronald M.

2014-01-01

Temperamental inhibition has been identified as a key risk factor for childhood anxiety and internalizing problems. An efficacious early prevention programme for shy/inhibited children has been developed; however, accurate, efficient and acceptable screening is needed to support wider implementation. We explore community screening options in the…

Virtual Communities of Collaborative Learning for Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sotomayor, Gilda E.

2014-01-01

This article aims to outline and project three new learning scenarios for Higher Education that, after the emergence of ICT and communication through the Network-lnternet, have appeared under the generic name of virtual communities. To that end, we start from a previous conceptual analysis on collaborative learning, cooperative learning and…

Service-Learning from the Perspective of Community Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Petri, Alexis

2015-01-01

As a central construct in the theory of service-learning, reciprocity for community partners is not often the subject of scholarship, especially scholarship that seeks to understand the benefits and opportunity costs of service-learning. This article explores how reciprocity works in higher education service-learning from the perspective of…

Effects of a six-session introductory psychology programme on Year 9 pupils' interest in psychology and approaches to learning

OpenAIRE

Norris, E.; De Aguiar Chaves, T.; Dunsmuir, S.

2015-01-01

Psychology is a popular UK A-level, despite many pupils having no previous taught experience of it. Prior introduction to psychology teaching could help pupils make more informed choices to study it. This study evaluates a six-session introduction to psychology programme for 20 Year 9 pupils called ‘Myth-Busting the Brain’. A pre-/post-programme questionnaire investigated pupil interest towards future psychology study, interest in the programme and approaches to learning. There wa...

Leadership and governance of community health worker programmes at scale: a cross case analysis of provincial implementation in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Helen; Nxumalo, Nonhlanhla

2017-09-15

National community health worker (CHW) programmes are returning to favour as an integral part of primary health care systems, often on the back of pre-existing community based initiatives. There are significant challenges to the integration and support of such programmes, and they require coordination and stewardship at all levels of the health system. This paper explores the leadership and governance tasks of large-scale CHW programmes at sub-national level, through the case of national reforms to South Africa's community based sector, referred to as the Ward Based Outreach Team (WBOT) strategy. A cross case analysis of leadership and governance roles, drawing on three case studies of adoption and implementation of the WBOTs strategy at provincial level (Western Cape, North West and Gauteng) was conducted. The primary case studies mapped system components and assessed implementation processes and contexts. They involved teams of researchers and over 200 interviews with stakeholders from senior to frontline, document reviews and analyses of routine data. The secondary, cross case analysis specifically focused on the issues and challenges facing, and strategies adopted by provincial and district policy makers and managers, as they engaged with the new national mandate. From this key sub-national leadership and governance roles were formulated. Four key roles are identified and discussed: 1. Negotiating a fit between national mandates and provincial and district histories and strategies of community based services 2. Defining new organisational and accountability relationships between CHWs, local health services, communities and NGOs 3. Revising and developing new aligned and integrated planning, human resource, financing and information systems 4. Leading change by building new collective visions, mobilising political, including budgetary, support and designing implementation strategies. This analysis, from real-life systems, adds to understanding of the processes

Home-School Links: Networking the Learning Community.

Science.gov (United States)

1996

The topic of networking the learning community with home-school links is addressed in four papers: "Internet Access via School: Expectations of Students and Parents" (Roy Crotty); "The School Library as Community Information Gateway" (Megan Perry); "Rural Access to the Internet" (Ken Eustace); and "NetDay '96:…

The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations: First annual progress report (year 1985)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

This is the first Annual Progress Report of the European Community's 1984-88 programme of research on the decommissioning of nuclear installations. It shows the status of implementation reached on 31 December 1985. The 1984-88 programme has the following contents: A. Research and development projects concerning the following subjects: Project No 1: Long-term integrity of building and systems; Project No 2: Decontamination for decommissioning purposes; Project No 3: Dismantling techniques; Project No 4: Treatment of specific waste materials: steel, concrete and graphite; Project No 5: Large containers for radioactive waste produced in the dismantling of nuclear installations; Project No 6: Estimation of the quantities of radioactive wastes arising from the decommissioning of nuclear installations in the Community; Project No 7: Influence of installation design features on decommissioning. B. Identification of guiding principles, namely: - certain guiding principles in the design and operation of nuclear installations with a view to simplifying their subsequent decommissioning, - guiding principles in the decommissioning of nuclear installations which could form the initial elements of a Community policy in this field. C. Testing of new techniques under real conditions, within the framework of large-scale decommissioning operations undertaken in Member States. This first progress report, covering the period of putting the programme into action, describes the work to be carried out under the 27 research contracts concluded, as well as initial work performed and first results obtained

Teacher learning about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faaiz Gierdien

2008-02-01

Full Text Available I report on what teachers in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE in-service programme learned about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it. I worked 'on the inside' using my practice as a site for studying teaching and learning. The teachers were from three different towns in the Northern Cape province and had limited teaching contact time, as is the nature of ACE programmes. Findings revealed a complicated picture, where some teachers were prepared to consider influences of their intuitive probabilistic reasoning on formal probabilistic reasoning when it came to teaching. It was, however, the 'genuineness' of teacher learning which was the issue that the findings have to address. Therefore a speculative, hopeful strategy for affecting teacher learning in mathematics teacher education practice is to sustain disequilibrium between dichotomies such as formal and intuitive probabilistic reasoning, which has analogies in content and pedagogy, and subject matter and method.

Distributed Collaborative Learning Communities Enabled by Information Communication Technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.L. Alvarez (Heidi Lee)

2006-01-01

textabstractHow and why can Information Communication Technology (ICT) contribute to enhancing learning in distributed Collaborative Learning Communities (CLCs)? Drawing from relevant theories concerned with phenomenon of ICT enabled distributed collaborative learning, this book identifies gaps in

Community of Practice: A Path to Strategic Learning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nancy M. Carlson

2003-04-01

To explore the concept of community of practice, the research initially concentrates on a strategic business process in a research and applied engineering laboratory discovering essential communication tools and processes needed to cultivate a high functioning cross-disciplinary team engaged in proposal preparation. Qualitative research in the human ecology of the proposal process blends topic-oriented ethnography and grounded theory and includes an innovative addition to qualitative interviewing, called meta-inquiry. Meta-inquiry uses an initial interview protocol with a homogeneous pool of informants to enhance the researcher's sensitivity to the unique cultures involved in the proposal process before developing a formal interview protocol. In this study the preanalysis process uses data from editors, graphic artists, text processors, and production coordinators to assess, modify, enhance, and focus the formal interview protocol with scientists, engineers, and technical managers-the heterogeneous informants. Thus this human ecology-based interview protocol values homogeneous and heterogeneous informant data and acquires data from which concepts, categories, properties, and both substantive and formal theory emerges. The research discovers the five essential processes of owning, visioning, reviewing, producing, and contributing for strategic learning to occur in a proposal community of practice. The apprenticeship, developmental, and nurturing perspectives of adult learning provide the proposal community of practice with cohesion, interdependence, and caring, while core and boundary practices provide insight into the tacit and explicit dimensions of the proposal process. By making these dimensions explicit, the necessary competencies, absorptive capacity, and capabilities needed for strategic learning are discovered. Substantive theory emerges and provides insight into the ability of the proposal community of practice to evolve, flourish, and adapt to the

A Study on College EFL Learning Community Based on QQ International

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WEI Li

2013-03-01

Full Text Available An EFL Learning Community has been set up online via a free messaging tool QQ International to consolidate and apply the knowledge learnt in class. One sub-community aims at developing multicultural awareness while the other focuses on expertise training in English for the undergraduates in several universities. Our innovative approach is that the trainees interact with other participants with virtual icons, virtual roles and specific achievement goals according to curriculum-related scenarios. The project team utilized surveys and observations to analyze the advantages and disadvantages from different perspectives and gain further insight into the nature of member participation, knowledge application and learning interests. Results revealed that EFL Learning Community promoted learning interests and training efficiency, contributed to interprofessional collaboration and interpersonal cooperation, with the implication that levels of moderate anonymity are the most optimal for role-plays in a learning community both online and in real life.

Building online learning communities in a graduate dental hygiene program.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

2014-08-01

The literature abounds with research related to building online communities in a single course; however, limited evidence is available on this phenomenon from a program perspective. The intent of this qualitative case study inquiry was to explore student experiences in a graduate dental hygiene program contributing or impeding the development and sustainability of online learning communities. Approval from the IRB was received. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants from a stratification of students and graduates. A total of 17 participants completed semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was completed through 2 rounds - 1 for coding responses and 1 to construct categories of experiences. The participants' collective definition of an online learning community was a complex synergistic network of interconnected people who create positive energy. The findings indicated the development of this network began during the program orientation and was beneficial for building a foundation for the community. Students felt socially connected and supported by the network. Course design was another important category for participation in weekly discussions and group activities. Instructors were viewed as active participants in the community, offering helpful feedback and being a facilitator in discussions. Experiences impeding the development of online learning communities related to the poor performance of peers and instructors. Specific categories of experiences supported and impeded the development of online learning communities related to the program itself, course design, students and faculty. These factors are important to consider in order to maximize student learning potential in this environment. Copyright © 2014 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Coordinating the undergraduate medical (MBBS basic sciences programme in a Nepalese medical school

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Shankar PR

2011-06-01

Full Text Available KIST Medical College follows the curriculum of the Institute ofMedicine, Tribhuvan University. The programme aims toproduce socially responsible and competent physicians whoare willing and able to meet the existing and emergingchallenges of the national and international healthcaresystem. The first cohort of undergraduate medical students(MBBS students was admitted in November 2008 and threecohorts including the one admitted in 2008 have beenadmitted at the time of writing. The basic science subjects aretaught in an integrated, organ-system-based manner withcommunity medicine during the first two years. I wasappointed as the MBBS Phase I programme coordinator inSeptember 2008 and in this article I share my experiences ofrunning the basic sciences programme and also offersuggestions for running an efficient academic programme. Themanuscript will be of special interest to readers runningundergraduate medical programmes. The reader canunderstand our experiences in running the programme inadverse circumstances, learning to achieve greater integrationamong basic science, community medicine and clinicaldepartments, obtain information about a communitydiagnosis programme and know about running specialmodules on the medical humanities and pharmaceuticalpromotion.

Impact of a community-based integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI) programme in Gegharkunik, Armenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Michael E; Harutyunyan, Tsovinar L

2009-03-01

Maternal and child health status in the Martuni region of Gegharkunik marz, Armenia, precipitously declined following Armenia's independence in 1991. In response, the American Red Cross (ARC) and the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) implemented the WHO community-level Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) strategy, complementing recent clinical IMCI training in the region in which 387 community health volunteers from 16 villages were trained as peer educators, and approximately 5000 caretakers of children under age 5 were counselled on key nutrition and health practices. A pre-post independent sample design was used to assess the programme's impact. The evaluation instrument collected respondent demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes and practices consistent with 10 health indicators typical of child survival interventions. At baseline and at follow-up, 300 mothers were interviewed using a stratified simple random sampling of households with at least one child less than age 2. The assessment confirmed the population's poor health status and limited knowledge and application of recommended child care practices. The campaign reached its target: at follow-up, 67% had seen media messages within the past month, 82% had received the IMCI informational booklet, and 30% had seen other materials. Evidence of the success of the programme included the following: exclusive breastfeeding increased 31.4%, maternal knowledge of child illness signs increased 30%, knowledge of HIV increased 28.5%, and physician attended deliveries increased 15%. This evaluation documented the significant and substantial impact of the community IMCI programme on both knowledge and practice in rural areas of Armenia. Consideration should be given to continuing and expanding this project as a complement to health sector development activities in this region.

The Impact of a Psychology Learning Community on Academic Success, Retention, and Student Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Buch, Kim; Spaulding, Sue

2011-01-01

Learning communities have become an integral part of the educational reform movement of the past two decades and have been heralded as a promising strategy for restructuring undergraduate education. This study used a matched control group design to examine the impact of participation in a psychology learning community (PLC) on a range of student…

Internet Relationships: Building Learning Communities through Friendship

Science.gov (United States)

Bikowski, Dawn

2007-01-01

The experiences of students in an online learning community were explored in this qualitative case study using social presence theory as an interpretive lens. Participants included five undergraduate students in a certificate program at a large Midwestern university. Students who felt a sense of community online most highly valued the friendship…

Learning in later life: Universities, teaching, intergenerational learning and community cohesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Percy

2013-07-01

Full Text Available There are no settled concepts in the field of learning in later life. The paper begins by suggesting that generalised statements about older people’s learning are suspect and that the way in which we talk about it shifts over time. In particular, there is a range of claims about methods of learning and teaching appropriate to older people but most have little support from empirical research. The paper then focuses on the evaluation of a small innovation project, funded by national government, at Lancaster University, 2009-10. The project sought to involve members of a local University of the Third age group in learning activity on the nearby university campus, partly using undergraduate teaching provision. It aimed to test ideological reservations within the U3A group about association with a public institution of higher education and about mixing the ‘purity’ of self-help learning for older adults, in the British U3A tradition, with more formal methods of learning. The outcomes of the project evaluation suggested that most older learners participating valued their opportunity to use university learning resources and that the British U3A ideology did not inhibit them from doing so. It also suggests that the University benefited from the presence of the older learners and that the surrounding community potentially might have done. A brief discussion of implications for intergenerational learning, community cohesion and marginalised older people follows. The paper concludes that British universities should and, perhaps, could relate more dynamically and emphatically with the provision of opportunities for learning in later life.

Community as classroom: teaching and learning public health in rural Appalachia.

Science.gov (United States)

Florence, James; Behringer, Bruce

2011-01-01

Traditional models for public health professional education tend to be didactic, with brief, discrete practica appended. National reports of both practitioners and academicians have called for more competency-driven, interdisciplinary-focused, community-based, service-oriented, and experientially-guided learning for students across the curriculum. East Tennessee State University began its own curricular revisioning in health professions education nearly 2 decades ago with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, emphasizing competencies development through community-based learning in community-academic partnerships. This article describes 3 examples that grew from that initiative. In the first example, students in multiple classes delivered a longitudinal community-based employee wellness intervention for a rural county school district. BS public health students conducted needs assessments and prepared health education materials; MPH students conducted health assessments and worked with school wellness councils to deliver client-centered interventions; DrPH students supervised the project and provided feedback to the schools using participatory methods. In the second example, MPH students in a social-behavioral foundations course used experiential learning to investigate the region's elevated cancer mortality ranking. Following meetings with multiple community groups, students employed theoretical constructs to frame regional beliefs about cancer and presented findings to community leaders. One outcome was a 5-year community-based participatory research study of cancer in rural Appalachia. In the third example, MPH students in a health-consulting course assessed local African Americans' awareness of the university's health and education programs and perceptions of their community health issues. Students learned consultation methods by assisting at multiple regional African American community meetings to discover issues and interest that resulted in the

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT OF INTENDING TEACHERS BY MEANS OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Evgenyevna Krasilova

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In the information society the role of learning communities in professional training of an individual specialist is growing. Ideas of social constructivism determine the development of the Internet, on which the modern information and learning environment is mainly based.  The article contains definitions of a university learning community and learning community means; a model of communicative competence development of intending teachers of foreign languages by means of a learning community (informational and educational, technical, organizational and methodological; criteria for evaluating the level of communicative competence development. The author considers the communicative competence of intending teachers a part of their professional competence. The model has been tested at a teacher training university. The article presents some results of the experiment and the main conclusions that allow experts to judge the effectiveness of the model and its applicability in vocational education.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2014-3-8

Learning Nursing in the Workplace Community: The Generation of Professional Capital

Science.gov (United States)

Gobbi, Mary

This chapter explores the connections between learning, working and professional communities in nursing. It draws on experiences and research in nursing practice and education, where not only do isolated professionals learn as a result of their actions for patients and others, but those professionals are part of a community whose associated networks enable learning to occur. Several characteristics of this professional community are shared with those found in Communities of Practice (CoPs) (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), but the balance and importance of many elements can differ. For instance, whilst Lave and Wenger (1991) describe many aspects of situated learning in CoPs that apply to nurses, their model is of little help in understanding the ways in which other professions as well as patients/clients and carers influence the development of nursing practice. Therefore, I shall argue that it is not just the Community of Practice that we need to consider

Integrating Assessment for Learning in the Teacher Education Programme at the University of Oslo

Science.gov (United States)

Brevik, Lisbeth M.; Blikstad-Balas, Marte; Engelien, Kirsti Lyngvaer

2017-01-01

This article provides an analysis of the integration of assessment for learning principles in the newly revised five-year Master of Education programme at the University of Oslo, Norway, across didactic subjects, pedagogy and school practice. The analysis draws on lecture notes, student videos and student exam papers among 143 student teachers,…

Cancer survivors' experiences of a community-based cancer-specific exercise programme: results of an exploratory survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Catt, Susan; Sheward, J; Sheward, E; Harder, H

2018-04-05

Exercise levels often decline following cancer diagnosis despite growing evidence of its benefits. Treatment side effects, older age, lack of confidence and opportunity to exercise with others in similar circumstances influence this. Our study explored the experiences of people attending a cancer-specific community-based exercise programme (CU Fitter™). A survey distributed to those attending the programme gathered demographic/clinical information, self-reported exercise levels, information provision and barriers to/benefits of exercise. Sixty surveys were evaluable from 65/100 returned (62% female, 68% > 60 years, 66% breast/prostate cancer). Most (68%) were receiving treatment. Sixty-eight percent attended classes once or twice weekly. Fifty-five percent received exercise advice after diagnosis, usually from their hospital doctor/nurse. More (73%) had read about exercising, but less used the Internet to source information (32%). Self-reported exercise levels were higher currently than before diagnosis (p = 0.05). Forty-eight percent said their primary barrier to exercising was the physical impact of cancer/treatment. Improving fitness/health (40%) and social support (16%) were the most important gains from the programme. Many (67%) had made other lifestyle changes and intented to keep (50%) or increase (30%) exercising. This community-based cancer-specific exercise approach engaged people with cancer and showed physical, psychological, and social benefits. Community-grown exercise initiatives bring cancer survivors together creating their own supportive environment. Combining this with instructors familiar with the population and providing an open-ended service may prove particularly motivating and beneficial. Further work is required to provide evidence for this.

45 CFR 2517.600 - How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How are funds for community-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2517.600 How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed? All...

Part-Time Community College Instructors Teaching in Learning Communities: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Paterson, John W.

2017-01-01

Community colleges have a greater portion of students at-risk for college completion than four-year schools and faculty at these institutions are overwhelmingly and increasingly part-time. Learning communities have been identified as a high-impact practice with numerous benefits documented for community college instructors and students: a primary…

An activity-based cost analysis of the Honduras community-based, integrated child care (AIN-C) programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiedler, John L; Villalobos, Carlos A; De Mattos, Annette C

2008-11-01

The Honduras AIN-C programme is a preventive health and nutrition programme of the Honduras Ministry of Health (MOH) that relies on volunteers to help mothers monitor and maintain the adequate growth of young children. A quasi-experimental, design-based evaluation found that the programme achieved near-universal coverage and was effective in improving mothers' child-rearing knowledge, attitudes and practices, including feeding and appropriate care-giving and care-seeking practices for children with diarrhoea and acute respiratory illness. The programme is widely regarded as a model. This study was undertaken to provide the first comprehensive estimates of the cost of the AIN-C programme, with the goal of providing a programme and financial planning tool for Honduras. An additional comparison of study findings was also undertaken to determine the cost of the AIN-C programme's community-based services relative to a similar facility-based service. Expressed in mid-2005 US dollars, the study found that after the programme is phased-in: (1) the annual, recurrent cost per child under 2 years participating in the programme is $6.43; (2) the annual, incremental budget requirements per child under 2 years participating in the programme are $3.90; (3) the cost of an AIN-C monthly growth monitoring and counselling session per child is 11% of the cost of a traditional MOH, facility-based growth and development consultation per child; and (4) the effect of mothers substituting AIN-C monitor care for MOH facility-based care 'saves' 203 000 outpatient visits a year, with a potential cost saving of $1.66 million, the equivalent of 60% of the recurrent cost of the programme and roughly equal to the annual incremental budget requirements of the programme. Sensitivity analysis of the cost estimates is performed to provide insight, for countries considering introducing a similar programme, into how modifications of key characteristics of the programme affect its costs.

Costs of a community-based glaucoma detection programme: analysis of the Philadelphia Glaucoma Detection and Treatment Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Pizzi, Laura T; Waisbourd, Michael; Hark, Lisa; Sembhi, Harjeet; Lee, Paul; Crews, John E; Saaddine, Jinan B; Steele, Deon; Katz, L Jay

2018-02-01

Glaucoma is the foremost cause of irreversible blindness, and more than 50% of cases remain undiagnosed. Our objective was to report the costs of a glaucoma detection programme operationalised through Philadelphia community centres. The analysis was performed using a healthcare system perspective in 2013 US dollars. Costs of examination and educational workshops were captured. Measures were total programme costs, cost/case of glaucoma detected and cost/case of any ocular disease detected (including glaucoma). Diagnoses are reported at the individual level (therefore representing a diagnosis made in one or both eyes). Staff time was captured during site visits to 15 of 43 sites and included time to deliver examinations and workshops, supervision, training and travel. Staff time was converted to costs by applying wage and fringe benefit costs from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Non-staff costs (equipment and mileage) were collected using study logs. Participants with previously diagnosed glaucoma were excluded. 1649 participants were examined. Mean total per-participant examination time was 56 min (SD 4). Mean total examination cost/participant was $139. The cost/case of glaucoma newly identified (open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma, glaucoma suspect, or primary angle closure) was $420 and cost/case for any ocular disease identified was $273. Glaucoma examinations delivered through this programme provided significant health benefit to hard-to-reach communities. On a per-person basis, examinations were fairly low cost, though opportunities exist to improve efficiency. Findings serve as an important benchmark for planning future community-based glaucoma examination programmes. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Creating a Learning Environment to Promote Food Sustainability Issues in Primary Schools? Staff Perceptions of Implementing the Food for Life Partnership Programme

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Judy Orme

2013-03-01

Full Text Available There is increasing interest in the role that schools can play in promoting education for sustainable development (ESD, and evidence is emerging that schools can be influential in the emerging agenda around the ecological, ethical and social aspects of food, diet and nutrition. With regard to such food sustainability issues, this paper analyses the role of the Food for Life Partnership national programme in supporting garden and farm-based learning activities in 55 primary schools in England, UK. Using a mixed methods approach, the study examined the programme’s implementation through staff perceptions and a range of school change indicators. The study found that the programme delivery was associated with widespread institutional reforms. According to staff, implementation of the programme provided a range of opportunities for pupils to learn about food production and sustainability, but addressing these issues was challenging for teachers and raised a number of questions concerned with effective, equitable and on-going implementation. At a pedagogical level, teachers also reflected on conceptually challenging aspects of food sustainability as a topic for primary school education. The study identified ways that ESD programmes could support schools to think about and implement learning opportunities as well as identifying significant barriers related to resourcing such programmes.

The Implementation and Evaluation of a Project-Oriented Problem-Based Learning Module in a First Year Engineering Programme

Science.gov (United States)

McLoone, Seamus C.; Lawlor, Bob J.; Meehan, Andrew R.

2016-01-01

This paper describes how a circuits-based project-oriented problem-based learning educational model was integrated into the first year of a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering programme at Maynooth University, Ireland. While many variations of problem based learning exist, the presented model is closely aligned with the model used in…

Building missional leadership and spiritual formation: Practical theological perspectives on a Masters Programme

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Nell, Ian A

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A MTh programme with the focus on building missional leadership capacity has recently been developed at the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University. The programme is a joint effort of the discipline groups of practical theology and missiology and Ekklesia, an ecumenical centre linked to the Faculty of Theology. The focus of the programme is to serve as a learning community for pastors and congregational leaders who want to build their missional and ministerial leadership capacity. Research done in congregations of the Partnership for South African Missional Churches (SAPMC shapes the focus and content of the different modules in this programme. The purpose of the paper is to do a practical theological analysisinto the background and development of the programme. After giving some insight into the rationale and motivation for starting the programme, the hermeneutical-rhetorical framework of the programme is explained. The paper goes on to give a brief exposition of the content covered in each of the modules, probes into three frames of interpretation (pedagogical, theological and strategic and ends by reflecting on feedback from some of the first students that recently finished the programme.

Community R and D programme on radioactive waste management and storage (Shared Cost Action). List of scientific reports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hebel, W.; Falke, W.

1984-11-01

The scientific reports listed herein have been brought out in the scope of the Research and Development programme sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities in the field of Radioactive Waste Management and Storage. The list systematically contains the references of all final R and D reports and equivalent scientific publications drawn up since 1975 on the various contractual research works sponsored by the Commission in its programme on shared cost terms (Shared Cost Action). It states the autor of the work, the title, the EUR report number (where applicable), the way of publication and the contractor's reference (CEC contract number). The content headings are: conditioning of fuel cladding and dissolution residues, immobilization and storage of gaseous waste, treatment of Low and Medium Level waste, processing of alpha contaminated waste, characterization of conditioned Low and Medium Level waste forms, testing of solidified High Level waste forms, shallow land burial of solid Low Level waste, waste disposal in geological formations, safety of radioactive waste disposal, and annual progress reports of the Community programme

The Community Based Rehabilitation Programme of the University of the Philippines Manila, College of Allied Medical Professions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey Pe-Benito Datangel

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper reports the process of development of a CBR programme by UP Manila College of Allied Medical Professions, and its impact on the stakeholders: persons with disabilities, students and alumni, CBR workers, local leaders and the agencies involved in the programme.Method: The impact of the programme was assessed through interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and review of secondary data and records.Results: The programme results show that the condition of persons with disabilities has improved and there has been a remarkable change in their knowledge, attitudes and skills. The positive attitudes, skills and values of students were enhanced, and the CBR programme was a “character builder” for them as rehabilitation professionals. The CBR workers who participated in the programme learnt to appreciate the potential of persons with disabilities and to accept their limitations. Another key result was the pledge by local leaders to sustain CBR in their own villages.Conclusions: The students and alumni reported that the CBR programme should be replicated for nation-building. The different stakeholders reported that it helped improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and contributed to community development.DOI: 10.5463/dcid.v22i3.110

Community Opinion and Satisfaction with the Leadership at an Urban Community Educational Learning Center during an Organizational Transformation Process: A Frontline Perspective from Community Stakeholders

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Joseph Lee

2013-01-01

This study examined selected community stakeholders' perception of the current leadership at their local community educational learning center during an organizational transformation and cultural change process. The transition from a community college to an educational learning center, mandated in 2006 by the Accredition Commission and agreed on…

Familia and Comunidad-Based Saberes: Learning in an Indigenous Heritage Community

Science.gov (United States)

Urrieta, Luis, Jr.

2013-01-01

This article explores how children and youth learned indigenous heritage "saberes" (knowings) through intent community participation in Nocutzepo, Mexico. The "familia" (family) and "comunidad" (community)-based saberes were valuable for skills acquisition, but most important for learning indigenous forms of…

"Learning" in a Transgressive Professional Community

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Carsten Juul; Drachmann, Merete; Jeppesen, Lise Kofoed

2015-01-01

to deal with overwhelming experiences concerning the naked bodies of patients and death, useful application of theoretical knowledge, the path from novice to advanced beginner, and adjusting to the workplace community. The conclusion is that the learning of nursing students during their first clinical in......This material is a part of a longitudinal development project which seeks to comprehend learning experiences of nursing students during their first clinical in-service placement. The study has a qualitative methodology, inspired by Michael Eraut’s thoughts on learning in the workplace. When...... the workplace perspective is applied, learning seems to be concentrated on actual situations which the learner is in, in contrast to employing constructed concepts. The nursing students’ learning seems to be oriented towards socialization in the clinic as a workplace. This means that the nursing students seek...

Musicians working in community contexts : perspectives of learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smilde, Rineke

2012-01-01

This paper will explore types of learning, which takes place when musicians work in situations where they have to connect to community contexts. It will first address musicians’ changing professional roles in the changing sociocultural landscape and the need for lifelong learning and emergence of

Understanding on-line community: the affordances of virtual space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Ruhleder

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing numbers of on-line venues for learning are emerging as virtual communities become more accessible and commonplace. This paper looks at one particular virtual community, an on-line degree programme at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which offers an M.S. in Library and Information Science (called LEEP. It draws on a framework presented by Mynatt, et al. (1998, which provides a lens for talking about on-line community as a set of affordances. This framework is applied to illustrate the interactions, artefacts, and expectations that shape this community.

Reciprocal Exchange: Understanding the Community Partner Perspective in Higher Education Service-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Petri, Alexis Nicolle

2012-01-01

This study investigates service-learning from the community partners' perspective, especially in terms of reciprocity. As a central construct in the theory of service-learning, reciprocity for community partners is virtually unknown. Little scholarship exists that explains or explores the benefits and opportunity costs of service-learning. One…

Community-based medical education: is success a result of meaningful personal learning experiences?

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Len; Walters, Lucie; Rosenthal, David

2014-01-01

Community-based medical education (CBME) is the delivery of medical education in a specific social context. Learners become a part of social and medical communities where their learning occurs. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) are year-long community-based placements where the curriculum and clinical experience is typically delivered by primary care physicians. These programs have proven to be robust learning environments, where learners develop strong communication skills and excellent clinical reasoning. To date, no learning model has been offered to describe CBME. The characteristics of CBME are explored by the authors who suggest that the social and professional context provided in small communities enhances medical education. The authors postulate that meaningfulness is engendered by the authentic context, which develops over time. These relationships with preceptors, patients and the community provide meaningfulness, which in turn enhances learning. The authors develop a novel learning model. They propose that the context-rich environment of CBME allows for meaningful relationships and experiences for students and that such meaningfulness enhances learning.

The development of socially responsible life-sciences teachers through community service learning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.J. Rian de Villiers

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In South Africa, polices in higher education are urging tertiary institutions to produce graduates who are socially responsible citizens. One method of achieving this is through service-learning initiatives. Zoos as community partners can provide exciting educational opportunities for students to do animal behaviour studies and to develop their social responsibility. A sample of 58 preservice life-sciences teachers from a South African university completed a questionnaire on their animal behaviour studies. This study sought to determine how animal behaviour studies could successfully be incorporated as a community service-learning project in a zoo setting, what the educational value of these studies was and what the benefits were of incorporating this community service-learning component in the life-sciences course. The incorporation of the service-learning component into the zoology course led to the students’ personal and professional development, knowledge about themselves, sensitivity to cultural diversity, civic responsibility and insights into the ways in which communities operate. For a successful service-learning project, lectures, students and community partners should all have a sense of engagement. A number of suggestions are made to improve the incorporation of this service-learning component into the existing zoology course.

45 CFR 2517.300 - Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-learning program? 2517.300 Section 2517.300 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility To Participate § 2517.300 Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program...

School to community: service learning in hospitaliy and tourism

Science.gov (United States)

Kimberly Monk; Jessica Bourdeau; Michele Capra

2007-01-01

In the effort to augment hospitality and tourism education beyond classroom instruction and internships, the added instructional methodology of community service learning is suggested. Service learning is an instructional method where students learn and develop through active participation in organized experiences that meet actual needs, increasing their sense of...

Beyond the ivory tower: service-learning for sustainable community ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teaching, research and community service have since earliest times been regarded as the three core functions of the university. The concept and practice of service-learning has succeeded in uniting these core functions. Whereas the quality of student learning resulting from service-learning experiences is of crucial ...

Implementing community-based education in basic nursing education programs in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Mtshali, N G

2009-03-01

Education of health professionals using principles of community-based education is the recommended national policy in South Africa. A paradigm shift to community-based education is reported in a number of nursing education institutions in South Africa. Reviewed literature however revealed that in some educational institutions planning, implementation and evaluation of Community-based Educational (CBE) programmes tended to be haphazard, uncoordinated and ineffective, resulting in poor student motivation. Therefore the purpose of this study was to analyse the implementation of community-based education in basic nursing education programmes in South Africa. Strauss and Corbin's (1990) grounded theory approach guided the research process. Data were collected by means of observation, interviews and document analysis. The findings revealed that collaborative decision-making involving all stakeholders was crucial especially during the curriculum planning phase. Furthermore, special criteria should be used when selecting community learning sites to ensure that the selected sites are able to facilitate the development of required graduate competencies. Collaborative effort, true partnership between academic institutions and communities, as well as government support and involvement emerged as necessary conditions for the successful implementation of community-based education programmes.

Implementing community-based education in basic nursing education programs in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.G. Mtshali

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Education of health professionals using principles of community-based education is the recommended national policy in South Africa. A paradigm shift to community based education is reported in a number of nursing education institutions in South Africa. Reviewed literature however revealed that in some educational institutions planning, implementation and evaluation of Community-based Educational (CBE programmes tended to be haphazard, uncoordinated and ineffective, resulting in poor student motivation. Therefore the purpose of this study was to analyse the implementation of community-based education in basic nursing education programmes in South Africa. Strauss and Corbin’s (1990 grounded theory approach guided the research process. Data were collected by means of observation, interviews and document analysis. The findings revealed that collaborative decision-making involving all stakeholders was crucial especially during the curriculum planning phase. Furthermore, special criteria should be used when selecting community learning sites to ensure that the selected sites are able to facilitate the development of required graduate competencies. Collaborative effort, true partnership between academic institutions and communities, as well as government support and involvement emerged as necessary conditions for the successful implementation of community-based education programmes.

Community and Social Network Sites as Technology Enhanced Learning Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Thomas; Christiansen, Ellen

2008-01-01

This paper examines the affordance of the Danish social networking site Mingler.dk for peer-to-peer learning and development. With inspiration from different theoretical frameworks, the authors argue how learning and development in such social online systems can be conceptualised and analysed....... Theoretically the paper defines development in accordance with Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development, and learning in accordance with Wenger's concept of communities of practice. The authors suggest analysing the learning and development taking place on Mingler.dk by using these concepts...... supplemented by the notion of horizontal learning adopted from Engestrm and Wenger. Their analysis shows how horizontal learning happens by crossing boundaries between several sites of engagement, and how the actors' multiple membership enables the community members to draw on a vast amount of resources from...

An evaluation of a public health practitioner registration programme: lessons learned for workforce development.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Em; Wills, Jane

2014-09-01

This article explores the lessons learned for workforce development from an evaluation of a regional programme to support the assessment and registration of public health practitioners to the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) in England. A summative and process evaluation of the public health practitioner programme in Wessex was adopted. Data collection was by an online survey of 32 public health practitioners in the Wessex area and semi-structured interviews with 53 practitioners, programme support, employers and system leaders. All survey respondents perceived regulation of the public health workforce as very important or important. Managers and system leaders saw a register of those fit to practise and able to define themselves as a public health practitioner as a necessary assurance of quality for the public. Yet, because registration is voluntary for practitioners, less value was currently placed on this than on completing a master's qualification. The local programme supports practitioners in the compilation of a retrospective portfolio of evidence that demonstrates fitness to practise; practitioners and managers stated that this does not support current and future learning needs or the needs of those working at a senior level. One of the main purposes of statutory regulation of professionals is to protect the public by an assurance of fitness to practise where there is a potential for harm. The widening role for public health practitioners without any regulation means that there is the risk of inappropriate interventions or erroneous advice. Regulators, policy makers and system leaders need to consider how they can support the development of the public health workforce to gain professional recognition at all levels of public health, including practitioners alongside specialists, and support a professional career framework for the public health system. © Royal Society for Public Health 2014.

Teaching and learning community work online: can e-learning promote competences for future practice?

OpenAIRE

Larsen, Anne Karin; Visser-Rotgans, Rina; Hole, Grete Oline

2011-01-01

This article presents a case study of an online course in Community Work and the learning outcomes for an international group of students participating in the course. Examples from the process of, and results from the development of virtual-learning material are presented. Finally, the students' learning experience and competences achieved by the use of innovative learning material and ICT communication tools are presented.

Professional Learning in Unlikely Spaces: Social Media and Virtual Communities as Professional Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen P. King

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In this case study, results demonstrate that an individual’s use of social media as professional learning spans understanding, networking, professional identity development, and transformative learning. Specifically, virtual online communities facilitated through social media provide professional networks, social relationships and learning beyond the scope of the individual’s usual experience. Case study method reveals strategies, extent, and impact of learning providing insight into this phenomenon. The significance of the research includes purposefully facilitating professional learning through informal learning contexts, including social media and online communities beyond technology-centric fields. Discussion and recommendations include using social media and virtual communities as instructional strategies for graduate studies and continued learning beyond formal education.

POST GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN DIETETICS &FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT (MSCDFSM PROGRAMME of IGNOU: Access through the Lucknow Regional Centre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. S. DOROTHY

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU which was established initially as a Single mode Distance Teaching Institution (DTI in the year 1985 opened its campus to face-to-face education in the year 2008 and thus now is a Dual mode Distance Teaching Institution (DTI. The Post Graduate Programme (Master of Science in Dietetics and Food Service Management (MScDFSM Programme of IGNOU offered through the Distance Learning Mode from the year 2005 has been the boon in developing human resources involved in Nutrition and Dietetics services and also serves as a mode for continuing education among the professionals on-the-job. Accessibility to the programme is independent of the qualification earned at the Bachelor’s level as at IGNOU flexibility of the qualification is ensured for fulfilling the eligibility criteria into the MScDFSM Programme so that the diverse needs of the aspirants are accommodated at entry level itself. The Programme is unique in that it has compulsory Dissertation and Internship besides the Theory and Practical Courses. The Self-Study is enriched by the Teacher inbuilt Self-instructional Study Materials coupled with compulsory submission of the Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA which phase learning and initiate the didactic communication between the Academic Counsellor (who facilitate the Academic Transactions at the field level functionary - the Learner Support Centre and the Learner. The MSc DFSM Programme of IGNOU, as the distance learning programme offered by the School of Continuing Education (SOCE of IGNOU in the Indian Sub-Continent only. This paper discusses how the MScDFSM Programme of IGNOU is contributing to the staff development of in-service Nutritionists and Dietitians through the distance education/learning mode in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh, North India Regional Centre. This paper also highlights the Institutions, which served as the Learner Support Centres from the year 2005 (when the programme was launched till 2011

Preparing engineers for the challenges of community engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Harsh, Matthew; Bernstein, Michael J.; Wetmore, Jameson; Cozzens, Susan; Woodson, Thomas; Castillo, Rafael

2017-11-01

Despite calls to address global challenges through community engagement, engineers are not formally prepared to engage with communities. Little research has been done on means to address this 'engagement gap' in engineering education. We examine the efficacy of an intensive, two-day Community Engagement Workshop for engineers, designed to help engineers better look beyond technology, listen to and learn from people, and empower communities. We assessed the efficacy of the workshop in a non-experimental pre-post design using a questionnaire and a concept map. Questionnaire results indicate participants came away better able to ask questions more broadly inclusive of non-technological dimensions of engineering projects. Concept map results indicate participants have a greater understanding of ways social factors shape complex material systems after completing the programme. Based on the workshop's strengths and weaknesses, we discuss the potential of expanding and supplementing the programme to help engineers account for social aspects central to engineered systems.

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Math: Impact Studies at Queensborough and Houston Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Weissman, Evan; Butcher, Kristin F.; Schneider, Emily; Teres, Jedediah; Collado, Herbert; Greenberg, David

2011-01-01

Queensborough Community College and Houston Community College are two large, urban institutions that offer learning communities for their developmental math students, with the goals of accelerating students' progress through the math sequence and of helping them to perform better in college and ultimately earn degrees or certificates. They are…

LearnSafe. Learning organisations for nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahlstroem, B.; Kettunen, J.; Reiman, T.

2005-03-01

The nuclear power industry is currently undergoing a period of major change, which has brought with it a number of challenges. These changes have forced the nuclear power plants to initiate their own processes of change in order to adapt to the new situation. This adaptation must not compromise safety at any time, but during a rapid process of change there is a danger that minor problems may trigger a chain of events leading to a degraded safety. Organisational learning has been identified as an important component in ensuring the continued safety and efficiency of nuclear organisations. In response to these challenges a project LearnSafe 'Learning organisations for nuclear safety' was set up and funded by the European Community under the 5th Euratom Framework Programme. The present report gives an account of the LearnSafe project and its major results. (orig.)

Improving Marking Reliability of Scientific Writing with the Developing Understanding of Assessment for Learning Programme

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Bird, Fiona L.; Yucel, Robyn

2013-01-01

The Developing Understanding of Assessment for Learning (DUAL) programme was developed with the dual aims of improving both the quality and consistency of feedback students receive and the students' ability to use that feedback to improve. DUAL comprises a range of processes (including marking rubrics, sample reports, moderation discussions and…

Developing an Understanding of Higher Education Science and Engineering Learning Communities

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Coll, Richard K.; Eames, Chris

2008-01-01

This article sets the scene for this special issue of "Research in Science & Technological Education", dedicated to understanding higher education science and engineering learning communities. We examine what the literature has to say about the nature of, and factors influencing, higher education learning communities. A discussion of…

“Learning together, growing with family”: The implementation and evaluation of a family support programme

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Pere Amorós-Martí

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The "Learning together, growing with family" programme is targeted to at-risk parents and children from 6 to 11 years old, with a preventive focus on promoting positive parent-child relationships. In this study, we examined the quality of the programme implementation and its influence on the programme results in a sample of 425 parents and 138 facilitators drawn from the first trial. Mixed methods were used, consisting of: parental self-reports on parenting dimensions, professionals´ records on parental attendance and appraisals on six topics of the implementation process, and focus group discussions in which facilitators reported on the initial steps of the implementation. Results showed a high quality of implementation with respect to the group facilitator and the programme organization factors, followed by the coordination with services and the support facilities offered to participants and, finally, by the factors of fidelity and prior organization steps. Results of the focus groups confirmed that the prior steps were challenging and offered the more effective strategies. Better quality in the implementation factors predicted better parenting styles and parental competencies after the programme, as well as a higher attendance rate. In sum, this study demonstrates the importance of good implementation in at-risk contexts and provides some clues as to the key elements that moderate programme effectiveness.

Multimedia Scenario Based Learning Programme for Enhancing the English Language Efficiency among Primary School Students

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Navnath Tupe

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This research was undertaken with a view to assess the deficiencies in English language among Primary School Children and to develop Multimedia Scenario Based Learning Programme (MSBLP for mastery of English language which required special attention and effective treatment. The experimental study with pretest, post-test control group design was employed to carry out the experiment of MSBLP in a sample school and to determine its efficacy for enhancing English Language skills among Primary School Students. In India, the Central and State Government has made great efforts to Education for All (EFA and initiated several programs to provide universal access to education, to reduce the drop-out rates and ensure achievement of minimum levels of learning. To our surprise the scenario had not much changed inside the classroom even implementing several programmes. However, it was still unclear how effective was the delivery of the course content in the classroom. An intensive training for teachers on a regular basis on a state-wide scale may not be feasible again and again. Hence, multimedia offers pragmatic solutions So that this research paper devoted to explore the issues of learning English and describes the creation of MSBLP as a solution in scientific manner.

Engineering Hybrid Learning Communities: The Case of a Regional Parent Community

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Sven Strickroth

2014-09-01

Full Text Available We present an approach (and a corresponding system design for supporting regionally bound hybrid learning communities (i.e., communities which combine traditional face-to-face elements with web based media such as online community platforms, e-mail and SMS newsletters. The goal of the example community used to illustrate the approach was to support and motivate (especially hard-to-reach underprivileged parents in the education of their young children. The article describes the design process used and the challenges faced during the socio-technical system design. An analysis of the community over more than one year indicates that the hybrid approach works better than the two separated “traditional” approaches separately. Synergy effects like advertising effects from the offline trainings for the online platform and vice versa occurred and regular newsletters turned out to have a noticeable effect on the community.

A community-based health education programme for bio-environmental control of malaria through folk theatre (Kalajatha in rural India

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Tiwari Satyanarayan

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health education is an important component in disease control programme. Kalajatha is a popular, traditional art form of folk theatre depicting various life processes of a local socio-cultural setting. It is an effective medium of mass communication in the Indian sub-continent especially in rural areas. Using this medium, an operational feasibility health education programme was carried out for malaria control. Methods In December 2001, the Kalajatha events were performed in the evening hours for two weeks in a malaria-affected district in Karnataka State, south India. Thirty local artists including ten governmental and non-governmental organizations actively participated. Impact of this programme was assessed after two months on exposed vs. non-exposed respondents. Results The exposed respondents had significant increase in knowledge and change in attitude about malaria and its control strategies, especially on bio-environmental measures (p Conclusion This study was carried out under the primary health care system involving the local community and various potential partners. Kalajatha conveyed the important messages on malaria control and prevention to the rural community. Similar methods of communication in the health education programme should be intensified with suitable modifications to reach all sectors, if malaria needs to be controlled.

The ELIXIR-EXCELERATE Train-the-Trainer pilot programme: empower researchers to deliver high-quality training [version 1; referees: 2 approved

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Sarah L Morgan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available One of the main goals of the ELIXIR-EXCELERATE project from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme is to support a pan-European training programme to increase bioinformatics capacity and competency across ELIXIR Nodes. To this end, a Train-the-Trainer (TtT programme has been developed by the TtT subtask of EXCELERATE’s Training Platform, to try to expose bioinformatics instructors to aspects of pedagogy and evidence-based learning principles, to help them better design, develop and deliver high-quality training in future. As a first step towards such a programme, an ELIXIR-EXCELERATE TtT (EE-TtT pilot was developed, drawing on existing ‘instructor training’ models, using input both from experienced instructors and from experts in bioinformatics, the cognitive sciences and educational psychology. This manuscript describes the process of defining the pilot programme, illustrates its goals, structure and contents, and discusses its outcomes. From Jan 2016 to Jan 2017, we carried out seven pilot EE-TtT courses (training more than sixty new instructors, collaboratively drafted the training materials, and started establishing a network of trainers and instructors within the ELIXIR community. The EE-TtT pilot represents an essential step towards the development of a sustainable and scalable ELIXIR TtT programme. Indeed, the lessons learned from the pilot, the experience gained, the materials developed, and the analysis of the feedback collected throughout the seven pilot courses have both positioned us to consolidate the programme in the coming years, and contributed to the development of an enthusiastic and expanding ELIXIR community of instructors and trainers.

The Impact of Trial Stage, Developer Involvement and International Transferability on Universal Social and Emotional Learning Programme Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

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Wigelsworth, M.; Lendrum, A.; Oldfield, J.; Scott, A.; ten Bokkel, I.; Tate, K.; Emery, C.

2016-01-01

This study expands upon the extant prior meta-analytic literature by exploring previously theorised reasons for the failure of school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes to produce expected results. Eighty-nine studies reporting the effects of school-based, universal SEL programmes were examined for differential effects…

Network Analysis of a Virtual Community of Learning of Economics Educators

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Fontainha, Elsa; Martins, Jorge Tiago; Vasconcelos, Ana Cristina

2015-01-01

Introduction: This paper aims at understanding virtual communities of learning in terms of dynamics, types of knowledge shared by participants, and network characteristics such as size, relationships, density, and centrality of participants. It looks at the relationships between these aspects and the evolution of communities of learning. It…

Social Networks and Performance in Distributed Learning Communities

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Cadima, Rita; Ojeda, Jordi; Monguet, Josep M.

2012-01-01

Social networks play an essential role in learning environments as a key channel for knowledge sharing and students' support. In distributed learning communities, knowledge sharing does not occur as spontaneously as when a working group shares the same physical space; knowledge sharing depends even more on student informal connections. In this…

Power and Privilege: Community Service Learning in Tijuana

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Camacho, Michelle Madsen

2004-01-01

As social scientists engage their own subjectivity, there is greater awareness of their own touristic "gaze," or at least the power relations that are evoked in the researcher-subject interaction. In teaching students involved in community service learning, the challenge is to provide a learning experience that addresses power inequities…

Roles, responsibilities and characteristics of lay community health workers involved in diabetes prevention programmes: A systematic review

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Oldenburg, Brian

2017-01-01

Aim To examine the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) involved in diabetes prevention programmes (DPPs) and their contributions to expected outcomes. Methods Electronic databases including PubMed-MEDLINE, EBSCOHost, and SCOPUS/EMBASE were searched for studies published between January 2000 and March 2016. All studies that used CHWs to implement DPP in ≥18-year-old participants without diabetes but at high risk for developing the condition, irrespective of the study design, setting or outcomes measured, were included. Results were synthesized narratively. Results Forty papers of 30 studies were identified. Studies were mainly community-based and conducted in minority populations in USA. Sample sizes ranged from 20 participants in a single community to 2369 participants in 46 communities. Although CHWs were generally from the local community, their qualifications, work experience and training received differed across studies. Overall the training was culturally sensitive and/or appropriate, covering topics such as the importance of good nutrition and the benefits of increased physical activity, communication and leadership. CHWs delivered a variety of interventions and also screened or recruited participants. The shared culture and language between CHWs and participants likely contributed to better programme implementation and successful outcomes. Conclusions The complexity of DPPs and the diverse CHW roles preclude attributing specific outcomes to CHW involvement. Nevertheless, documenting potential CHW roles and the relevant training required may optimise CHW contributions and facilitate their involvement in DPPs in the future. PMID:29216263

Roles, responsibilities and characteristics of lay community health workers involved in diabetes prevention programmes: A systematic review.

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Jillian Hill

Full Text Available To examine the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs involved in diabetes prevention programmes (DPPs and their contributions to expected outcomes.Electronic databases including PubMed-MEDLINE, EBSCOHost, and SCOPUS/EMBASE were searched for studies published between January 2000 and March 2016. All studies that used CHWs to implement DPP in ≥18-year-old participants without diabetes but at high risk for developing the condition, irrespective of the study design, setting or outcomes measured, were included. Results were synthesized narratively.Forty papers of 30 studies were identified. Studies were mainly community-based and conducted in minority populations in USA. Sample sizes ranged from 20 participants in a single community to 2369 participants in 46 communities. Although CHWs were generally from the local community, their qualifications, work experience and training received differed across studies. Overall the training was culturally sensitive and/or appropriate, covering topics such as the importance of good nutrition and the benefits of increased physical activity, communication and leadership. CHWs delivered a variety of interventions and also screened or recruited participants. The shared culture and language between CHWs and participants likely contributed to better programme implementation and successful outcomes.The complexity of DPPs and the diverse CHW roles preclude attributing specific outcomes to CHW involvement. Nevertheless, documenting potential CHW roles and the relevant training required may optimise CHW contributions and facilitate their involvement in DPPs in the future.

The Readiness Level of Using e-Learning Among Teacher Graduate Programme (TGP

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Abd Samad Noorazman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Using e-Learning among Teacher Graduate Programme (TGP to students who are newly exposed in Teaching and Learning (T&L proses. The major problem among student’s TGP is the readiness level in knowledge, attitude and skills using e-Learning during Teaching and Learning (T&L . This study is to identify any significant differences of the knowledge level between male and female TGP students. The design of this study is to survey research using instruments of questionnaire which are distributed to respondents among TGP students at the Faculty of Technical and Vocational, UTHM. The sample is given to 248 respondents and analysis using version SPSS 21.0. Data presented using descriptive method such as, Mean, Standard Deviation(SD, inferens statistic using Mann-Whitney U to identify the knowledge difference between male and female TGP students. The result showed that the level of application of e-Learning among TGP students in terms of knowledge, attitude and skill at moderate level. The study also showed that there are no significant knowledge difference among male and female TGP students because the result of p= 0.044 value is less <0.05 can be stated that Ha failed rejected. The results of this study is important to provide awareness especially to the TGP students, lecturers and also UTHM in providing new T&L using e-Learning.

Design of environmental education module towards the needs of aboriginal community learning

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Dasman, Siti Mariam; Yasin, Ruhizan Mohammad

2017-05-01

Non-formal education (NFE) refers to a program that is designed for personal and social education for learners to improve the level of skills and competencies outside formal educational curriculum. Issues related to geography and environment of different Aboriginal communities with other communities play an important role in determining the types and methods that should be made available to the minority community groups. Thus, this concept paper is intended to cater for educational environment through the design and development of learning modules based on non-formal education to the learning of Aboriginal community. Methods and techniques in the design and construction of the modules is based on the Design and Development Research (DDR) that was based on instructional design model of Morrison, Kemp and Ross which is more flexible and prioritizes the needs and characteristics of learners who were involved in the learning modules of the future. The discussion is related to the module development which is suitable to the learning needs of the community and there are several recommendations which may be applied in the implementation of this approach. In conclusion, the community of Orang Asli should be offered the same education as other communities but it is important to distinguish acceptance of learning techniques or approaches used in the education system to meet their standards. The implications of this concept paper is to meet the educational needs of the environment which includes a few aspects of science and some learning activities using effective approaches such as playing and building their own knowledge of meaning.

Skills development programme: The UNISA/CSIR model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Sparrow, RW

2010-09-01

Full Text Available development programmes and industry. A key component will be the use of Information Learning Technology. The skills development programmes are vocational and centred on research and industrial requirements. This programme is modelled on vocational...

Community-based osteoporosis prevention: Physical activity in relation to bone density, fall prevention, and the effect of training programmes : The Vadstena Osteoporosis Prevention Project

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Grahn Kronhed, Ann-Charlotte

2003-01-01

This thesis is based on studies of the ten-year community-based intervention programme entitled, the Vadstena Osteoporosis Prevention Project (VOPP). The specific aims of the research were to describe the effects of physical activity and training programmes on bone mass and balance performance in adults, to determine whether a fall risk prevention programme could motivate personal actions among the elderly, to ascertain whether the intervention programme could reduce the incidence of forearm ...

A comparison of the provision of the My Choice Weight Management Programme via general practitioner practices and community pharmacies in the United Kingdom.

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Bush, J; Langley, C; Mills, S; Hindle, L

2014-04-01

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel, community-based weight management programme delivered through general practitioner (GP) practices and community pharmacies in one city in the United Kingdom. This study used a non-randomized, retrospective, observational comparison of clinical data collected by participating GP practices and community pharmacies. Subjects were 451 overweight or obese men and women resident in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation (82% from black and minority ethnic groups, 86% women, mean age: 41.1 years, mean body mass index [BMI]: 34.5 kg m(-2)). Weight, waist circumference and BMI at baseline, after 12 weeks and after 9 months were measured. Costs of delivery were also analysed. Sixty-four per cent of participants lost weight after the first 12 weeks of the My Choice Weight Management Programme. There was considerable dropout. Mean percentage weight loss (last observation carried forward) was 1.9% at 12 weeks and 1.9% at final follow-up (9 months). There was no significant difference in weight loss between participants attending GP practices and those attending pharmacies at both 12 weeks and at final follow-up. Costs per participant were higher via community pharmacy which was attributable to better attendance at sessions among community pharmacy participants than among GP participants. The My Choice Weight Management Programme produced modest reductions in weight at 12 weeks and 9 months. Such programmes may not be sufficient to tackle the obesity epidemic. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical Obesity © 2014 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Implementing Quality Service-Learning Programs in Community Colleges

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Vaknin, Lauren Weiner; Bresciani, Marilee J.

2013-01-01

This cross-case comparative study at Western Community College and the University of the Coast explored through a constructive lens the characteristics that lead to sustainable, high quality service-learning programs and how they are implemented at institutions of higher education. The researchers determined that both Western Community College and…

Radioactive waste management: outline of the research programme of the Commission of the European Communities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bresesti, M.

1980-01-01

The lines of activity, the main achievements and the perspectives of the research programme of the Commission of the European Communities on radioactive waste management, are presented. In particular an overall view of the activity on chemical separation and nuclear transmutation of actinides is given, as introduction to the various presentations of the JRC staff on specific aspects of this waste management strategy

Meeting Teacher Expectations in a DL Professional Development Programme--A Case Study for Sustained Applied Competence as Programme Outcome

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Kruger, Cornè Gerda; Van Rensburg, Ona Janse; De Witt, Marike W.

2016-01-01

Meeting teacher expectations for a professional development programme (PDP) is expected to strengthen sustainable applied competence as programme outcome since teachers will be more motivated to apply the programme content in practice. A revised distance learning (DL) programme was augmented by a practical component comprising a work-integrated…

Relaunch of the official community health worker programme in Mozambique: is there a sustainable basis for iCCM policy?

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Chilundo, Baltazar Gm; Cliff, Julie L; Mariano, Alda Re; Rodríguez, Daniela C; George, Asha

2015-12-01

In Mozambique, integrated community case management (iCCM) of diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia is embedded in the national community health worker (CHW) programme, mainstreaming it into government policy and service delivery. Since its inception in 1978, the CHW programme has functioned unevenly, was suspended in 1989, but relaunched in 2010. To assess the long-term success of iCCM in Mozambique, this article addresses whether the current CHW programme exhibits characteristics that facilitate or impede its sustainability. We undertook a qualitative case study based on document review (n = 54) and key informant interviews (n = 21) with respondents from the Ministry of Health (MOH), multilateral and bilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Maputo in 2012. Interviews were mostly undertaken in Portuguese and all were coded using NVivo. A sustainability framework guided thematic analysis according to nine domains: strategic planning, organizational capacity, programme adaptation, programme monitoring and evaluation, communications, funding stability, political support, partnerships and public health impact. Government commitment was high, with the MOH leading a consultative process in Maputo and facilitating successful technical coordination. The MOH made strategic decisions to pay CHWs, authorize their prescribing abilities, foster guidance development, support operational planning and incorporate previously excluded 'old' CHWs. Nonetheless, policy negotiations excluded certain key actors and uncertainty remains about CHW integration into the civil service and their long-term retention. In addition, reliance on NGOs and donor funding has led to geographic distortions in scaling up, alongside challenges in harmonization. Finally, dependence on external funding, when both external and government funding are declining, may hamper sustainability. Our analysis represents a nuanced assessment of the various domains that influence CHW programme

Collaborative Learning with Sustainability-driven Projects: A Summary of the EPS@ISEP Programme

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Manuel Fernando Silva

2018-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the collaborative learning environment, aligned with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, provided by the European Project Semester (EPS. EPS is a one semester capstone project programme offered by eighteen European engineering schools as part of their student ex-change programme portfolio. In this international programme, students are organized in teams, grouping individuals from diverse academic backgrounds and nationalities. The teams, after choosing a project proposal, become fully responsible for the conduction of their projects. By default, project proposals refer to open multidisciplinary real problems. The purpose of the project is to expose students to problems of a greater dimension and complexity than those faced throughout the degree programme as well as to put them in con-tact with the so-called real world, in opposition to the academic world. EPS provides an integrated framework for undertaking capstone projects, which is focused on multicultural and multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning and global contextual analysis. Specifically, the design and development of sustainable systems for growing food allow students not only to reach the described objectives, but to foster sustainable development practices. As a re-sult, we recommend the adoption of this category of projects within EPS for the benefit of engineering students and of the society as a whole.

Building A Drought Science Learning Community: Education and Engagement in an NSF CAREER Grant

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Quiring, S. M.

2011-12-01

This paper describes the education and engagement plan of the NSF CAREER award that I received in 2011 (Role of Soil Moisture in Seasonal to Interannual Climate Variability in the U.S. Great Plains; NSF Award #1056796). A key component of this plan is the development of a Drought Science Learning Community. A learning community is a program of courses and activities, which may include social and academic activities outside the classroom, that form a single program of instruction. Learning communities serve to increase faculty-student and student-student interaction, improve active and collaborative learning, and develop curricular coherence. The goal of a learning community is to encourage integration of learning across courses and to involve students with one of the grand challenges facing society. Students will be recruited from a Freshman Year Seminar (FYS) that I teach every Fall. Students who belong to the learning community will participate in the Water Management and Hydrological Sciences Seminar Series, relevant field trips, and monthly brown bag lunch meetings where students and faculty will discuss their current research projects and recently published scientific articles. Students who participate in learning community activities will benefit from a common intellectual experience that will help them to develop linkages between courses, regular interactions with faculty mentors, and the opportunity to contribute to faculty research. All students will be encouraged to complete an undergraduate thesis as the capstone experience of their participation in the learning community. In addition to describing the organization of the education and engagement plan, I will also discuss expected outcomes, best practices and lessons learned.

Pedagogical innovation from the perspective of professional learning communities

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Sánchez-Cortés, Ana María

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to verify the relationship between the participation of teachers in professional learning communities and the teaching practices related to the socio-constructivist model. For this purpose, a quantitative non-experimental model with a cross-sectional design was implemented, using the results of the survey entitled "Teaching and learning international survey", which was applied by the OECD in 2008 in 24 countries. The results of the conducted study determined that the dimensions of professional learning communities have a weak positive relationship with the categories of teaching practices. Additionally, the investigation addressed the differences in the responses of teachers according to variables, such as age, gender, teaching experience, and level of education.

Impact of a District-Wide Diabetes Prevention Programme Involving Health Education for Children and the Community

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Sheeladevi, Sethu; Sagar, Jayanthi; Pujari, Siddharth; Rani, Padmaja Kumari

2014-01-01

Objective: To present results from a district-wide diabetes prevention programme involving health education for school children and the local community. Method: The model of health education that was utilized aimed to secure lifestyle changes and the identification of diabetes risk by school children (aged 9-12 years). The children acted as health…

Evaluation of a Core Team Centred Professional Development Programme for Building a Whole-School Cooperative Problem Solving Approach to Conflict

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White, Andrew Jonathan; Wertheim, Eleanor H.; Freeman, Elizabeth; Trinder, Margot

2013-01-01

This study evaluated a professional learning approach using a core team (CT) model to assist primary (elementary) schools to develop whole-school collaborative conflict resolution processes. Thirteen schools were matched and randomly assigned to the enhancing relationships in school communities programme ("n"?=?10) or a non-programme…

Developing a Professional Learning Community among Preservice Teachers

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Bond, Nathan

2013-01-01

This action research study examined the development of a professional learning community (PLC) among 20 preservice secondary teachers as they met regularly during a semester-long, field-based education course to share artifacts of learning from their professional portfolios. The PLC model described by Hord and Tobia (2012) served as a framework…

Best practices in community-oriented health professions education: international exemplars.

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Richards, R W

2001-01-01

During 1998-2000, an international team of five researchers described nine innovative health professions education programmes as selected by The Network: Community Partnerships for Health through Innovative Education, Service, and Research. Each researcher visited one or two schools. Criteria for selection of these nine schools included commitment to multidisciplinary and community-based education, longitudinal community placements, formal linkages with government entities and a structured approach to community participation. The purpose of these descriptions was to identify key issues in designing and implementing community-based education. Programmes in Chile, Cuba, Egypt, India, the Philippines, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden and the United States were visited. Before site visits were conducted, the researchers as a group agreed upon the elements to be described. Elements included overall institutional characteristics, curriculum, admissions practices, evaluation systems, research, service, community involvement, faculty development, postgraduate programmes and the school's relationship with government entities. Here I describe the common features of each of the nine programmes, their shared dilemmas and how each went about balancing the teaching of clinical competence and population perspectives. Based upon an analysis of the cases, I present seven "lessons learned" as well as a discussion of programme development, institutionalization of reform and long-term implications for health professions education. The seven lessons are: (1) PBL and CBE are not seen as independent curricular reforms; (2) student activities are determined based upon sensitivity to locale; (3) health professionals need to work collaboratively; (4) there is a connection between personal health and population health issues; (5) population health interventions and treatment strategies need to be appropriate to local conditions; (6) graduates need to advocate for patients and the community in the

Community of inquiry model: advancing distance learning in nurse anesthesia education.

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Pecka, Shannon L; Kotcherlakota, Suhasini; Berger, Ann M

2014-06-01

The number of distance education courses offered by nurse anesthesia programs has increased substantially. Emerging distance learning trends must be researched to ensure high-quality education for student registered nurse anesthetists. However, research to examine distance learning has been hampered by a lack of theoretical models. This article introduces the Community of Inquiry model for use in nurse anesthesia education. This model has been used for more than a decade to guide and research distance learning in higher education. A major strength of this model learning. However, it lacks applicability to the development of higher order thinking for student registered nurse anesthetists. Thus, a new derived Community of Inquiry model was designed to improve these students' higher order thinking in distance learning. The derived model integrates Bloom's revised taxonomy into the original Community of Inquiry model and provides a means to design, evaluate, and research higher order thinking in nurse anesthesia distance education courses.

'20 days protected learning' - students' experiences of an overseas nurses programme - 4 years on: a retrospective survey.

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Jordan, Gill; Brown, Petra

2011-04-19

From September 2005 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) introduced new arrangements for the registration of non-EU overseas nurses which requires all applicants to undertake '20 days of protected learning' time in the UK and for some, a period of supervised practice. A survey was undertaken at Bournemouth University, which offers a '20 days protected learning only' programme, to elicit overseas nurses' demographic details, experiences in completing the programme and their 'final destinations' once registered. An online survey was devised which contained a mixture of tick box and open ended questions which covered demographic details, views on the programme and final destinations This was uploaded to http://www.surveymonkey.com/ and sent out to nurses who had completed the Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP) with Bournemouth University (n = 1050). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were coded and analysed using content analysis. There were 251 respondents (27.7% response rate). The typical 'profile' of a nurse who responded to the survey was female, aged 25-40 years and had been qualified for more than 5 years with a bachelors degree. The majority came from Australia on a 2 year working holiday visa and the key final destination in the UK, on registration with the NMC, was working for an agency.There were five key findings regarding experience of the programme. Of those surveyed 61.2% did not feel it necessary to undergo an ONP; 71.6% felt that they should be able to complete the programme on-line in their own country; 64.2% that the ONP should only contain information about delivery of healthcare in UK and Legal and professional (NMC) issues; 57% that European nurses should also undergo the same programme and sit an IELTS test; and 68.2% that the programme was too theory orientated; and should have links to practice (21%). The NMC set the admissions criteria for entry to the register and Standards for an ONP. The

'20 days protected learning' - students' experiences of an overseas nurses programme - 4 years on: a retrospective survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brown Petra

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background From September 2005 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC introduced new arrangements for the registration of non-EU overseas nurses which requires all applicants to undertake '20 days of protected learning' time in the UK and for some, a period of supervised practice. A survey was undertaken at Bournemouth University, which offers a '20 days protected learning only' programme, to elicit overseas nurses' demographic details, experiences in completing the programme and their 'final destinations' once registered. Methods An online survey was devised which contained a mixture of tick box and open ended questions which covered demographic details, views on the programme and final destinations This was uploaded to http://www.surveymonkey.com/ and sent out to nurses who had completed the Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP with Bournemouth University (n = 1050. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were coded and analysed using content analysis. Results There were 251 respondents (27.7% response rate. The typical 'profile' of a nurse who responded to the survey was female, aged 25-40 years and had been qualified for more than 5 years with a bachelors degree. The majority came from Australia on a 2 year working holiday visa and the key final destination in the UK, on registration with the NMC, was working for an agency. There were five key findings regarding experience of the programme. Of those surveyed 61.2% did not feel it necessary to undergo an ONP; 71.6% felt that they should be able to complete the programme on-line in their own country; 64.2% that the ONP should only contain information about delivery of healthcare in UK and Legal and professional (NMC issues; 57% that European nurses should also undergo the same programme and sit an IELTS test; and 68.2% that the programme was too theory orientated; and should have links to practice (21%. Conclusions The NMC set the admissions

University Lawyers: A Study of Legal Risk, Risk Management and Role in Work Integrated Learning Programmes

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Cameron, Craig; Klopper, Christopher

2015-01-01

Work integrated learning (WIL) is in growing demand by multiple stakeholders within the higher education sector in Australia. There are significant and distinct legal risks to universities associated with WIL programmes. University lawyers, along with WIL administrators and university management, are responsible for managing legal risk. This…

Is the Learning Community of Economics and Accounting Effective? Empirical Assessment of Class Achievements

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Stumph, Carolyn Fabian; Kim, Myeong Hwan; Han, Yongseung; Minke, Susan

2017-01-01

Learning communities are increasingly used at colleges and universities, as one of the goals of a learning community is to increase interaction among students and teach them how to apply knowledge. The goal of this research is to assess the learning community of the economics and accounting students in their class performance measured by class…

Technology Integration through Professional Learning Community

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Cifuentes, Lauren; Maxwell, Gerri; Bulu, Sanser

2011-01-01

We describe efforts to build a learning community to support technology integration in three rural school districts and the contributions of various program strategies toward teacher growth. The Stages of Adoption Inventory, classroom observations, the Questionnaire for Technology Integration, interviews, STAR evaluation surveys, a survey of…

Sustainable school development: professional learning communities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prof.Dr. E. Verbiest

2008-01-01

In this contribution we report about a project about Professional Learning Communities.This project combines development and research. In this contribution we pay attention to the effect of the organisational capacity of a school on the personal and interpersonal capacity and to the impact of a

The European Communities' research programme on management of low and intermediate level wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, R.; Cecille, L.

1989-01-01

In the European Communities' third R and D programme on Management and Disposal of Radioactive Wastes a large number of projects have been commissioned to develop treatment and conditioning processes for low and intermediate level wastes and to qualify the conditioned waste forms. The paper presents the main objectives of this research and summarizes some of the more important studies. In liquid waste treatment, the research includes processes to separate actinides by new extractive methods and application of selective inorganic ion exchangers as well as electrochemically controlled ion exchange processes and a series of purification methods involving membrane techniques. The most important issue of solid waste management in the programme is the treatment and conditioning of plutonium containing wastes, for which a strategic study had been commissioned to optimize the choice between different treatment and conditioning options. Processes being studied include two advanced decontamination techniques and a variety of conditioning methods for incinerator ash and fuel element hulls. Another task of the programme is devoted to the qualification of waste forms. This comprises the characterization of the most common low and intermediate level waste products with respect to leaching, waste form stability, radiation resistance and compatibility with the respective disposal environments. In the course of the programme, the development of methods for quality assurance and in particular quality control has become an important issue: the control of the nuclide inventory, of the chemical composition of the wastes and of the correct operation of treatment and conditioning processes is being investigated in special laboratories. (author). 21 refs, 4 tabs

Risk management and lessons learned solutions for satellite product assurance

Science.gov (United States)

Larrère, Jean-Luc

2004-08-01

The historic trend of the space industry towards lower cost programmes and more generally a better economic efficiency raises a difficult question to the quality assurance community: how to achieve the same—or better—mission success rate while drastically reducing the cost of programmes, hence the cost and level of quality assurance activities. EADS Astrium Earth Observation and Science (France) Business Unit have experimented Risk Management and Lessons Learned on their satellite programmes to achieve this goal. Risk analysis and management are deployed from the programme proposal phase through the development and operations phases. Results of the analysis and the corresponding risk mitigation actions are used to tailor the product assurance programme and activities. Lessons learned have been deployed as a systematic process to collect positive and negative experience from past and on-going programmes and feed them into new programmes. Monitoring and justification of their implementation in programmes is done under supervision from the BU quality assurance function. Control of the system is ensured by the company internal review system. Deployment of these methods has shown that the quality assurance function becomes more integrated in the programme team and development process and that its tasks gain focus and efficiency while minimising the risks associated with new space programmes.

A community-based multilevel intervention for smoking, physical activity and diet: short-term findings from the Community Interventions for Health programme in Hangzhou, China.