Urban Knowledge Arena

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karel Schmeidler

2008-01-01

Full Text Available COST Action C20 – Urban Knowledge Arena is research programme supported by European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research. It is co-ordinated by COST Office and European Science Foundation. The main objective of this Action is to explore and develop a European Arena for cross boundary, integrated knowledge and Know-how on complex urban problems, which is termed Urban Knowledge Arena. The COST Domain Transport and Urban Development aims at fostering international research networking activities of scientist and experts dealing with transport systems and infrastructures, spatial planning, urban land use and development, urban design, architecture and design and civil engineering issues. The focus is on multi and interdisciplinary approaches and the aim is to cover both basic and applied research activities and their changeovers that are relevant to policy and decision making processes. A significant concern is devoted to activities exploring new research needs and developments.

How the biological children of foster parents accept their new foster siblings and fostering of their parents

OpenAIRE

Dvořáková, Kristýna

2015-01-01

The bachelor thesis discusses how the biological children of foster parents accept their new foster siblings and fostering of their parents from the view of the foster parents. The aim of this work is to find out if and how the biological children accept their new foster siblings, what are their relationships like, what are the problematic aspects of these relationships and how to prevent them.

Fostering Student Emotional Growth: Teacher Self-Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Strein, William; Murphy, James P.

1982-01-01

Analyzed 78 teachers' perceptions of their skills, knowledge, and attitudes about fostering students' emotional growth. Teachers rated themselves moderately skilled on most skill items and reported frequent use of skills designed to increase students' problem solving ability and self esteem. Results indicated much less curriculum use of affective…

Kinship foster care and foster care in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strijker, J.; Zandberg, Tj.; Van der Meulen, B.F.

2003-01-01

This study examines the similarities and differences between foster parents and kinship foster parents in the Netherlands. Both parents and caseworkers have filled out questionnaires for the purpose of this study. No evidence has been found to support the argument that kinship foster care holds

Predictors of foster parents' satisfaction and intent to continue to foster.

Science.gov (United States)

Denby, R; Rindfleisch, N; Bean, G

1999-03-01

The United States General Accounting Office (United States General Accounting Office [USGAO], 1989) report on out-of-home care affirmed that the foster care system is in crisis. To shed light on some factors that influence retention, the study reported here asked "What factors influence the satisfaction of foster parents?" and "What factors influence the intent of licensed foster parents to continue to foster?" A sample of 539 foster parents in eight urban counties in a large Midwestern state completed questionnaires aimed at addressing these questions. Some of the factors exerting the strongest influence on satisfaction were: feeling competent to handle the children who were placed; wanting to take in children who needed loving parents; no regrets about investment in foster children; foster mother's age; and agency social worker providing information and showing approval for a job well done. An example of factors exerting influence on intent to continue to foster include overall satisfaction, readiness to phone the social worker, number of foster boys in the home, being treated like one needed help oneself, and agency affiliation (private). Efforts to increase the supply of foster homes through recruitment is not enough. The support, training, and professional regard given to parents after they have begun the fostering task is of greater need. Based on analysis of the findings, implications for practice, programming, and policy are offered.

What is work? Insights from the evolution of state foster care

OpenAIRE

Kirton, Derek

2013-01-01

This article focuses on state foster care as a case study in the (re)configuration and negotiation of boundaries between work and non-work. Foster care can be seen as occupying a liminal position between the domains of ‘work’ and ‘family’, requiring management of the tensions presumed to exist between competing value systems. Through a review of research and policy developments, the relevant boundary issues are contextualized and explored, drawing examples from areas such as remuneration, tax...

Psychological impact of fostering on biological children of foster parents.

OpenAIRE

TÁBOROVÁ, Pavla

2013-01-01

Foster care is currently being discussed a great deal, in particular in connection with the planned shutdown of infant care centres. Currently it is preferred to place a child in foster care rather than in institutional care. However, attention should not only be paid to the children placed in foster families. The families that receive the children should also be given a lot of attention. Within a family, one cannot only consider the adults who will become foster parents for the placed childr...

Fostering Topic Knowledge: Essential for Academic Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Proske, Antje; Kapp, Felix

2013-01-01

Several researchers emphasize the role of the writer's topic knowledge for writing. In academic writing topic knowledge is often constructed by studying source texts. One possibility to support that essential phase of the writing process is to provide interactive learning questions which facilitate the construction of an adequate situation…

Fostering of Innovative Talents Based on Disciplinary Construction: HRD Strategy of Chinese Nuclear Power Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Yuanwei

2014-01-01

Workforce challenge to nuclear power industry: • We are facing the aging workforce and talent loss since the tough time of nuclear power industry. • Professional workforce fostering in nuclear power industry always needs a long period of time. • Professional workforce fostering in nuclear power industry is a systematic and interdisciplinary work. Talents fostering in nuclear power industry: Major measures → national overall planning; engineering practice; knowledge management; disciplinary construction; cooperation and communication

Underserved parents, underserved youth: Considering foster parent willingness to foster substance-using adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Meyers, Kathleen; Kaynak, Övgü; Clements, Irene; Bresani, Elena; White, Tammy

2014-01-01

Adolescents involved with foster care are five times more likely to receive a drug dependence diagnosis when compared to adolescents in the general population. Prior research has shown that substance use is often hidden from providers, negating any chance for treatment and almost guaranteeing poor post-foster care outcomes. There are virtually no studies that examine the willingness (and its determinants) to foster youth with substance abuse problems. The current study conducted a nationally-distributed survey of 752 currently licensed foster care parents that assessed willingness to foster youth overall and by type of drug used, and possible correlates of this decision (e.g., home factors, system factors, and individual foster parent factors such as ratings of perceived difficulty in fostering this population). Overall, willingness to foster a youth involved with alcohol and other drugs (AOD) was contingent upon the types of drugs used. The odds that a parent would foster an AOD-involved youth were significantly increased by being licensed as a treatment foster home, having fostered an AOD-involved youth in the past, having AOD-specific training and past agency-support when needed, and self-efficacy with respect to positive impact. Surprisingly, when religion played a large part in the decision to foster any child, the odds of willingness to foster an AOD-involved youth dropped significantly. These results suggest that a large proportion of AOD-involved youth who find themselves in the foster care system will not have foster families willing to parent them, thereby forcing placement into a variety of congregate care facilities (e.g., residential treatment facilities, group homes). Specific ways in which the system can address these issues to improve placement and permanency efforts is provided. PMID:25878368

the life experiences of foster parents who nurture foster children in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

this important caregiving role and enhance practice and policy imperatives. ... By contributing and making a positive change on the lives of needy children, foster ... depression. ... children including their physical, social, emotional, psychological, cultural and ..... evidence base of training for foster and treatment foster parents.

The needs of foster children and how to satisfy them : A systematic review of the literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenbakkers, Anne; van der Steen, Steffie; Grietens, Hans

Family foster care deeply influences the needs of children and how these are satisfied. To increase our knowledge of foster children’s needs and how these are conceptualized, this paper presents a systematic literature review. Sixty- four empirical articles from six databases were reviewed and

Examining elementary teachers' knowledge and instruction of scientific explanations for fostering children's explanations in science

Science.gov (United States)

Wiebke, Heidi Lynn

This study employed an embedded mixed methods multi-case study design (Creswell, 2014) with six early childhood (grades K-2) teachers to examine a) what changes occurred to their subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching scientific explanations while participating in a professional development program, b) how they planned for and implemented scientific explanation instruction within a teacher developed unit on properties of matter, and c) what affordances their instruction of scientific explanations had on fostering their students' abilities to generate explanations in science. Several quantitative and qualitative measures were collected and analyzed in accordance to this studies conceptual framework, which consisted of ten instructional practices teachers should consider assimilating or accommodating into their knowledge base (i.e., SMK & PCK) for teaching scientific explanations. Results of this study indicate there was little to no positive change in the teachers' substantive and syntactic SMK. However, all six teachers did make significant changes to all five components of their PCK for teaching explanations in science. While planning for scientific explanation instruction, all six teachers' contributed some ideas for how to incorporate seven of the ten instructional practices for scientific explanations within the properties of matter unit they co-developed. When enacting the unit, the six teachers' employed seven to nine of the instructional practices to varying levels of effectiveness, as measured by researcher developed rubrics. Given the six teachers' scientific explanation instruction, many students did show improvement in their ability to formulate a scientific explanation, particularly their ability to provide multiple pieces of evidence. Implications for professional developers, teacher educators, researchers, policy makers, and elementary teachers regarding how to prepare teachers for and support students

Challenges in the Transition to Higher Education for Foster Care Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Piel, Megan Hayes

2018-01-01

This chapter acknowledges the contextual considerations in preparation and success in higher education and establishes a foundation of knowledge for researchers, educators, and practitioners to support foster youth in community college settings.

Integración de saberes para el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa Integrating knowledge to foster communicative competence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lourdes de la Caridad Cabrera Reyes

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the findings of a research intended to foster the communicative competence of first year students of bachelors in Education and Language Teaching. The study of the bibliography allows the construction of a framework related to the integration of knowledge, by examining documents it was possible to establish the integrative nucleus, and modeling allows the design of the proposal, whereas the procedures of the action-research approach lead the practical introduction of the proposal and controlling its results. The paper offers the integrative nucleus for communicative competence training, the definition and proposition of comprehensive lesson needed to pursue it and the impact of the proposal on a sample of students with low levels of communicative competence. Keywords:verbal communication, language instruction, language skills, language enrichment.

Fostering Collaborations towards Integrative Research Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonie Valentine

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The complex problems associated with global change processes calls for close collaboration between science disciplines to create new, integrated knowledge. In the wake of global change processes, forests and other natural environments have been rapidly changing, highlighting the need for collaboration and integrative research development. Few tools are available to explore the potential for collaborations in research ventures that are just starting up. This study presents a useful approach for exploring and fostering collaborations between academics working in research teams and organizations comprising multiple science disciplines (i.e., multi-disciplinary. The research aim was to reveal potential barriers, common ground, and research strengths between academics working in a new centre focused on forest and climate change research. This aim was based on the premise that raising awareness and working with this acquired knowledge fosters collaborations and integrative research development. An email survey was deployed amongst the academics to obtain: (i their understanding of common themes (e.g., climate change, scale of investigation, woodland/forest health/decline; (ii descriptions of the spatial and temporal scales of their research; and (iii their approach and perceived contributions to climate change research. These data were analysed using a semi-quantitative content analysis approach. We found that the main potential barriers were likely to be related to differences in understanding of the common research themes, whilst similarities and disciplinary strengths provided critical elements to foster collaborations. These findings were presented and discussed amongst the centre academics to raise awareness and create a dialogue around these issues. This process resulted in the development of four additional research projects involving multiple disciplines. The approach used in this study provides a useful methodology of broader benefit to

THE RELEVANCE OF LEARNING APPLIED ENGLISH FOR ACADEMICS TO FOSTER PROFESSIONALISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lubna Algadrie

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Academics who are not competent in communication skills, particularly language skills, will develop less compared to those who are. Communication skills in general and language skills in particular will foster professionalism since professionals will spend less time doing and more time managing as experience grows. Professionalism grows from qualities that can be learned and developed as well as information learned and acquired. Negotiating skills will enable them to win deals more readily. Moreover, internet based realms of communications are mostly English speaking creations, which vary in terms of level of formality and choice of words. In this paper the writer shares her experience in materials preparations and a classroom-centered research done on a group of academics of non-English majors who came to ITS Language Centre to improve their English language competence for career development and further studies.

Student teachers' pedagogical content knowledge for teaching systems thinking: effects of different interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenkränzer, Frank; Hörsch, Christian; Schuler, Stephan; Riess, Werner

2017-09-01

Systems' thinking has become increasingly relevant not only in education for sustainable development but also in everyday life. Even if teachers know the dynamics and complexity of living systems in biology and geography, they might not be able to effectively explain it to students. Teachers need an understanding of systems and their behaviour (content knowledge), and they also need to know how systems thinking can be fostered in students (pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)). But the effective development of teachers' professional knowledge in teaching systems thinking is empirically uncertain. From a larger study (SysThema) that investigated teaching systems thinking, this article reports the effects of the three different interventions (technical course, didactic course and mixed course) in student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results show that student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking can be promoted in teacher education. The conclusion to be drawn from our findings is that a technically orientated course without didactical aspects seems to be less effective in fostering student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results inform educators in enhancing curricula of future academic track and non-academic track teacher education.

Planned and unplanned terminations of foster care placements in the Netherlands: Relationships with characteristics of foster children and foster placements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rooij, F.; Maaskant, A.; Weijers, I.; Weijers, D.; Hermanns, J.

2015-01-01

This study examined the role of placement and child characteristics in the unplanned termination of foster placements. Data were used from 169 foster children aged 0 to 20. Results showed that 35% of all foster placement terminations were unplanned. Outcomes of logistic regression analyses

Fostering Scientific Literacy: Establishing Social Relevance via the Grand Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Lyford, M. E.; Myers, J. D.; Buss, A.

2010-12-01

Numerous studies and polls suggest the general public’s understanding of science and scientific literacy remain woefully inadequate despite repeated calls for improvement over the last 150 years. This inability to improve scientific literacy significantly is a complex problem likely driven by a number of factors. However, we argue that past calls and efforts for improving scientific literacy have failed to: 1) articulate a truly meaningful justification for society to foster a scientifically literate public; 2) provide a rationale that motivates individuals of diverse backgrounds to become scientifically literate; 3) consider the impact of personal perspective, e.g. values, beliefs, attitudes, etc., on learning; and 4) offer a relevant and manageable framework in which to define scientific literacy. For instance, past calls for improving scientific literacy, e.g. the U.S. is behind the Soviets in the space race, U.S students rank below country X in math and science, etc., have lacked justification, personal motivation and a comprehensive framework for defining scientific literacy. In these cases, the primary justification for improving science education and scientific literacy was to regain international dominance in the space race or to advance global standing according to test results. These types of calls also articulate short-term goals that are rendered moot once they have been achieved. At the same time, teaching practices have commonly failed to consider the perspectives students bring to the classroom. Many STEM faculty do not address issues of personal perspective through ignorance or the desire to avoid controversial subjects, e g. evolution, climate change. We propose that the ‘grand challenges’ (e.g., energy, climate change, antibacterial resistance, water, etc.) humankind currently faces provides a compelling framework for developing courses and curricula well-suited for improving scientific literacy. A grand challenge paradigm offers four

Career mentoring needs of youths in foster care: voices for change.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Angela L

2013-05-01

Adolescents with a history of foster care placement are more likely to become homeless, have mental illness, become parents too early in life, or become incarcerated within the juvenile justice/prison system. In addition, a low percentage of young adults, who formerly were in foster care, complete vocational training or higher education. This was a qualitative study, using focus group methodology. Four focus group sessions were conducted with youth living in foster care. The purpose was to obtain their perceptions about mentoring. Focus groups comprised six to eight youths per group and were guided by a semi-structured interview guide. A total of 27 youth in foster care participated in focus group interviews. Mean age was 16.4 (SD = 0.68) years. Youth participants were very knowledgeable about mentoring programs for at-risk youth, along with negative psychosocial outcomes experienced by former foster youth. However, they remarked that they are given few opportunities for career mentoring. The overall themes that emerged from narrative data were needing and finding authority figures, hooking up with a career mentor, and deserving the good life. Career mentoring is an affordable and feasible intervention for child welfare agencies. This could lead to more motivated and prepared youth living in foster care for vocational training or higher education. Learning opportunities from a career mentor may be a lifeline for preventing negative psychosocial outcomes for foster youth, reward achievement goals, and improve overall quality of life in emerging adulthood. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fostering the culture of knowledge sharing in higher education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... to recognise and value the knowledge created within and to encourage the sharing of best practices, lessons learned and knowledge among academic staff. The article examines the dynamics of knowledge sharing, and also how trust and organisational culture inhibits the sharing of knowledge within higher education.

Self-Explanation, An Instructional Strategy to Foster Clinical Reasoning in Medical Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martine Chamberland

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Clinical reasoning is a critical and complex skill that medical students have to develop in the course of their training. Although research on medical expertise has successfully examined the different components of that skill, designing educational interventions that support the development of clinical reasoning in students remains a challenge for medical educators. The theory of medical expertise describes how students׳ medical knowledge develops and is progressively restructured during their training and in particular through clinical exposure to patient problems. Instructional strategies to foster students’ learning from practice with clinical cases are scarce. This article describes the use of self-explanation as such a strategy. Self-explanation is an active learning technique of proven effectiveness in other domains which consists of having students explaining to themselves information on to-be-learned materials. The mechanisms through which self-explanation fosters learning are described. Self-explanation promotes knowledge development and revision of mental representations through elaboration on new information, organisation and integration of new knowledge into existing cognitive structures and monitoring of the learning process. Subsequently, the article shows how self-explanation has recently been investigated in medicine as an instructional strategy to support students׳ clinical reasoning. Available studies have demonstrated that students׳ diagnostic performance improves when they use self-explanation while solving clinical problems of a less familiar clinical topic. Unfamiliarity seems to trigger more self-explanations and to stimulate students to reactivate relevant biomedical knowledge, which could lead to the development of more coherent representations of diseases. The benefit of students׳ self-explanation is increased when it is combined with listening to residents׳ self-explanation examples and with prompts. The

Fostering dental student self-assessment of knowledge by confidence scoring of multiple-choice examinations.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahan, C Alex; Pinckard, R Neal; Jones, Anne Cale; Hendricson, William D

2014-12-01

Creating a learning environment that fosters student acquisition of self-assessment behaviors and skills is critically important in the education and training of health professionals. Self-assessment is a vital component of competent practice and lifelong learning. This article proposes applying a version of confidence scoring of multiple-choice questions as one avenue to address this crucial educational objective for students to be able to recognize and admit what they do not know. The confidence scoring algorithm assigns one point for a correct answer, deducts fractional points for an incorrect answer, but rewards students fractional points for leaving the question unanswered in admission that they are unsure of the correct answer. The magnitude of the reward relative to the deduction is selected such that the expected gain due to random guessing, even after elimination of all but one distractor, is never greater than the reward. Curricular implementation of this confidence scoring algorithm should motivate health professions students to develop self-assessment behaviors and enable them to acquire the skills necessary to critically evaluate the extent of their current knowledge throughout their professional careers. This is a professional development competency that is emphasized in the educational standards of the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).

Impact of the parenting style of foster parents on the behaviour problems of foster children.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuentes, M J; Salas, M D; Bernedo, I M; García-Martín, M A

2015-09-01

Few studies have analysed the effects of the parenting style used by foster carers on children's behaviour problems. This study examines the role played by the quality of the emotional relationship with foster carers and the kind of discipline they use as regard internalizing and externalizing problems among foster children. Participants were 104 foster children (56 boys and 48 girls) and their respective foster families. The Child Behaviour Checklist, the Affect and Communication Scale, and the Rules and Demands Scale were completed by foster parents. A series of linear regression analyses were performed using the stepwise method. The main findings were as follows: an authoritarian parenting style explained the internalizing problems presented by foster children (11% of the variance); criticism/rejection, authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting explained externalizing problems (37% of the variance); and criticism/rejection and authoritarian parenting explained total problems (29% of the variance). These results indicate that criticism/rejection on the part of foster parents, as well as the use of inappropriate parenting styles (authoritarian and permissive), has an important effect in relation to the behaviour problems of foster children. This highlights the key role that foster carers play in terms of tackling the behaviour problems that foster children present. The findings also suggest that preparation for fostering should focus especially on ways of helping foster parents both to acquire positive parenting strategies and to avoid authoritarian and permissive parenting. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reaching everyone: Promoting the inclusion of youth with disabilities in evaluating foster care outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Blakeslee, Jennifer E.; Quest, A. Del; Powers, Jennifer; Powers, Laurie E.; Geenen, Sarah; Nelson, May; Dalton, Lawrence D.; McHugh, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Efforts to evaluate foster care outcomes must avoid systematic exclusion of particular groups. Although often unrecognized as such, youth with disabilities are highly overrepresented in the U.S. foster care system, and yet youth with some disabilities, including those with intellectual, serious emotional, and physical impairments may be underrepresented in research and evaluation studies evaluating foster care outcomes. The recruitment and retention of youth with various disabilities in such studies can be impeded by under-identification of disability and relatively high placement and school mobility. Furthermore, youth with various disabilities may experience more disappointing outcomes than foster youth overall, underscoring the importance of including these youth in outcome tracking efforts. This is especially relevant given the recent implementation of the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), which requires that state child welfare agencies gather baseline information about youth in foster care at age 17, and then survey outcomes at 19 and 21. To promote the full participation of foster youth with disabilities in such outcome evaluation, this paper describes successful strategies for identifying and retaining participants that were used in three separate longitudinal intervention studies. These strategies include the systematic recruitment of foster youth by special education status, and creative use of validated tracking and retention strategies incorporating minor accommodations as needed. PMID:24273364

Glimmers for Cultural Relevance: The Pedagogical Knowledge of an Indigenous Cabécar Teacher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marielos Vargas Morales

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Indigenous education is becoming a priority to be dealt with in Higher Education. Therefore, efforts are oriented towards newly nourishing inclusive proposals for education; for them to take cultural diversity on and generate quality learning processes while also promoting the vindication of the right towards a culturally-relevant education for indigenous populations. Hence, the article sets forth an analysis of the pedagogical practice by an indigenous cabécar teacher, which unveils elements and cultural aspects that constitute valuable input to be considered in teacher education proposals. This research took place in the educative community of Sharabata, which is part of the High Chirripó Cábecar Indigenous Territory, which in turn is located in the province of Cartago in the Central American country of Costa Rica. The current research was conducted as a case study. Obtained results now create curricular content that responds to socio-cultural, linguistic and natural needs and characteristics of the cabécar culture. The present research recovers oral communication and the value of words, of learning by imitation, cosmovision as cultural heritage and the importance of recognizing mother languages in originary populations. It is forewarned that, though handled under the discourse of cultural displacement, practical and ritualistic practices still persist, all of which must be acknowledged and valued in school by young people in order for culture as ancestral heritage to be prolonged. It is given the mentioned situations where education must be made present; as a fight towards respect, inclusion and the strengthening of originary cultures. In that sense and in order to achieve cultural relevance, the process of the construction of knowledge with children must be inserted in its historical, social and cultural context, for which knowledge, experience and the practice of cabécar cosmovision is transcendental. As part of cultural relevance

Rethinking Partnerships with the Aim of Producing Knowledge with Practical Relevance: a Case Study in the Field of Ecological Restoration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Héloïse Gonzalo-Turpin

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Researchers in conservation biology and restoration ecology often work in partnership with local actors to increase the practical relevance of the knowledge they produce. Although an academic mode of knowledge production is essential in research for a better understanding of biological systems, it often fails to produce frameworks and methodologies having practical relevance that can be used in conservation and restoration programs. The involvement of researchers in collective plans of action is supposed to contribute to the production of a more contextualized form of knowledge. In this paper, we report our experience of partnership research in an ecological restoration project. We show that changing our mode of knowledge production to one that produces knowledge having more practical relevance requires a particular spectrum of partners and reflexive communication between all the partners. We advocate the need for participatory approaches that favor collective and reflexive processes of problem finding and problem solving in conservation and restoration projects. Putting such processes into practice is not only a challenge for researchers but also for their partners, and presupposes a profound transformation of their roles.

Knowledge of ideas: On design and the politics of relevance in concept development work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yoshinaka, Yutaka

important roles in the selection of ideas for conceptualization and synthesis work in such projects – they at once open up and enable, while also delimit and constrain, the design space in which practitioners may engage their insight and skills. The study explores the translation of knowledge practices......The paper examines the emergent nature of how ideas and problem issues are handled in the organisational processes of project work in design. It addresses the knowledge practices entailed in the (re)association of past projects or activities within a project with ongoing ones (the idea of knowledge...... reuse). This is pursued from the standpoint of the particular and partial framings of knowledge, as localised and situated in character and enactment, through its socio-material ordering and mediation in heterogeneous networks of relations. Network building processes and the drawing of relevance play...

Suicide-Related Knowledge and Confidence Among Behavioral Health Care Staff in Seven States.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Caroline; Smith, April R; Dodd, Dorian R; Covington, David W; Joiner, Thomas E

2016-11-01

Death by suicide is a serious and growing public health concern in the United States. This noncontrolled, naturalistic study examined professionals' knowledge about suicide and confidence in working with suicidal individuals, comparing those who had received either of two gatekeeper trainings-Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) or Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)-or other suicide-relevant training or no training. Participants (N=16,693) were individuals in various professional roles in the field of behavioral health care in Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Participants completed a survey assessing suicide knowledge and skills confidence. Most participants (52.9%) reported no previous suicide prevention or assessment training. Individuals with suicide-relevant training demonstrated greater suicide knowledge and confidence than those with no such training. Among those who had received any training, no differences were found in suicide knowledge; however, individuals who had received ASIST reported greater confidence in working with suicidal individuals, compared with those who had received other training. Professional role and prior experience with a client who had died by suicide had significant positive relationships with suicide knowledge and confidence. Regional differences emerged between states and are examined within the context of statewide suicide prevention initiatives. Increasing access to and incentives for participating in suicide-relevant training among behavioral health care staff may foster a more knowledgeable and confident group of gatekeepers. Future research should examine whether increases in knowledge and confidence among staff translate into actual changes in practice that help protect and serve at-risk individuals.

Using Service-Learning in Urban Areas in Semarang Regency to Address Local Knowledge System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rully Adi Nugroho

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Service-learning has gained substantial recognition as an effective type of pedagogy and has enhanced civic education across the disciplines, however remains a lack of understanding of this type of learning in Indonesia. The goals of the study were (1 to explore the forms of local knowledge systems practiced in Semarang Regency and how they are used in resources conservation using service-learning method, (2 to foster student engagement with the community, and (3 to promote student awareness of community resources that are directly relevant to local knowledge system issues. The success of the service-learning projects in meeting these goals was assessed via qualitative analysis of student reflective papers and classroom presentations. The results indicated there were local knowledges that were still successfully in use, but often only very locally. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the service-learning projects promoted students’ valuable academic skills, including communication, team-building, and critical thinking, built their self-esteem, their awareness of community needs and resources, and demonstrated the relevance of course content to real life.

Searching for Mirrors: Preservice Teachers' Journey toward More Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Tanya; Sharma, Sue Ann

2018-01-01

Culturally relevant text selection and pedagogy support students' motivation, engagement, literacy outcomes, and positive identity formation. Nevertheless, there is limited research on teacher preparation that fosters these outcomes. We explore 17 preservice teachers' challenges and successes with culturally relevant text selection and pedagogy…

the life experiences of foster parents who nurture foster children in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The affected children are placed in the care of related or unrelated .... if they were part of the decision for the removal of the child (Pickin et al, 2011; Samrai .... Foster parents described denial and guilt when a foster child is removed from them.

Beyond survival: fostering growth and innovation in doctoral study--a concept analysis of the Ba space.

Science.gov (United States)

Krahe, J A E; Lalley, Cathy; Solomons, Nan M

2014-01-25

This concept analysis examines the Ba space in the context of interdisciplinary doctoral study in nursing and healthcare innovation in a minimal residency program. The authors identified Ba in their small, highly diverse, self-selected doctoral study group and believe Ba is an educational innovation that will prove useful to nursing and healthcare educators. Ba originates from Japanese philosophy and is foundational to the birth and sustainment of environments fostering knowledge creation. Ba manifests in complex environments where participants are emotionally invested and relies on the tacit knowledge of each participant, allowing for synthesis of rationality and intuition. Walker and Avant's concept analysis methodology will explore Ba's centrality to interdisciplinary education. Ba's utility and application in fostering innovation in doctoral study will be illustrated. Ba is a true educational innovation, enriching learning environments promoting interdisciplinary collaboration. Ba permits each member a voice and fosters a safe environment where relationships are created and sustained.

Nostalgia fosters self-continuity: Uncovering the mechanism (social connectedness) and consequence (eudaimonic well-being).

Science.gov (United States)

Sedikides, Constantine; Wildschut, Tim; Cheung, Wing-Yee; Routledge, Clay; Hepper, Erica G; Arndt, Jamie; Vail, Kenneth; Zhou, Xinyue; Brackstone, Kenny; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M

2016-06-01

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one's past, is an emotion that arises from self-relevant and social memories. Nostalgia functions, in part, to foster self-continuity, that is, a sense of connection between one's past and one's present. This article examined, in 6 experiments, how nostalgia fosters self-continuity and the implications of that process for well-being. Nostalgia fosters self-continuity by augmenting social connectedness, that is, a sense of belongingness and acceptance (Experiments 1-4). Nostalgia-induced self-continuity, in turn, confers eudaimonic well-being, operationalized as subjective vitality (i.e., a feeling of aliveness and energy; Experiments 5-6). The findings clarify and expand the benefits of nostalgia for both the self-system and psychological adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Perspectives of Foster Parents and Social Workers on Foster Placement Disruption

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Brian J.; McQuillan, Karen

2014-01-01

The potential human and financial costs of foster placement disruption for the children, families, professionals and agencies involved are widely accepted. This service evaluation identified and described perspectives of foster parents and social workers regarding placement disruptions in order to identify the main issues of concern and to derive…

The wellbeing of foster children and their relationship with foster parents and biological parents : a child’s perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maaskant, A.M.; van Rooij, F.B.; Bos, H.M.W.; Hermanns, J.M.A.

2016-01-01

Most Dutch foster children live permanently in foster families. It is often assumed that foster children have ambivalent loyalties and attachments to their birth parents and foster parents and are torn between the two. In this study 59 children between 10 and 18 years placed in long term foster care

How FOSTER supports training Open Science in the GeoSciences

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Astrid

2016-04-01

FOSTER (1) is about promoting and facilitating the adoption of Open Science by the European research community, and fostering compliance with the open access policies set out in Horizon 2020 (H2020). FOSTER aims to reach out and provide training to the wide range of disciplines and countries involved in the European Research Area (ERA) by offering and supporting face-to-face as well as distance training. Different stakeholders, mainly young researchers, are trained to integrate Open Science in their daily workflow, supporting researchers to optimise their research visibility and impact. Strengthening the institutional training capacity is achieved through a train-the-trainers approach. The two-and-half-year project started in February 2014 with identifying, enriching and providing training content on all relevant topics in the area of Open Science. One of the main elements was to support two rounds of trainings, which were conducted during 2014 and 2015, organizing more than 100 training events with around 3000 participants. The presentation will explain the project objectives and results and will look into best practice training examples, among them successful training series in the GeoSciences. The FOSTER portal that now holds a collection of training resources (e.g. slides and PDFs, schedules and design of training events dedicated to different audiences, video captures of complete events) is presented. It provides easy ways to identify learning materials and to create own e-learning courses based on the materials and examples. (1) FOSTER is funded through the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 612425. http://fosteropenscience.eu

Using Game-Based Learning to Foster Critical Thinking in Student Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Cicchino, Marc I.

2015-01-01

Previous research indicates the importance of student discourse in the construction of knowledge and the fostering of critical thinking skills, especially in the field of problem-based learning (PBL). Further, a growing body of research on game-based learning (GBL) draws parallels between playing certain types of games and the solving of…

Fostering Learning Through Interprofessional Virtual Reality Simulation Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicely, Stephanie; Farra, Sharon

2015-01-01

This article presents a unique strategy for improving didactic learning and clinical skill while simultaneously fostering interprofessional collaboration and communication. Senior-level nursing students collaborated with students enrolled in the Department of Interactive Media Studies to design a virtual reality simulation based upon disaster management and triage techniques. Collaborative creation of the simulation proved to be a strategy for enhancing students' knowledge of and skill in disaster management and triage while impacting attitudes about interprofessional communication and teamwork.

Conceptualizing the Step-Down for Foster Youth Approaching Adulthood: Perceptions of Service Providers, Caseworkers, and Foster Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Havlicek, Judy; McMillen, J. Curtis; Fedoravicius, Nicole; McNelly, David; Robinson, Debra

2012-01-01

Studies find considerable movement between residential treatment and less restrictive foster home settings, with approximately half of foster youth who are stepped down eventually returning to a higher level of care. Very little is known about the step down for foster youth who are approaching adulthood in locked residential facilities. A qualitative study of stepping down a small sample of foster youth, as perceived by team members delivering a model of treatment foster care, is presented. These findings reveal the dimensions of stepping down foster youth at the onset of adulthood, and highlight the importance of providing foster youth with developmental opportunities to engage in the social roles and tasks of late adolescence and/or early adulthood. Implications for further refining the concept of stepping down from a developmental perspective are discussed. PMID:23878410

Attachment, Development, and Mental Health in Abused and Neglected Preschool Children in Foster Care: A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasileva, Mira; Petermann, Franz

2016-09-22

A proper preparation for foster parents to care for abused and neglected children includes effective training and initial diagnostics in order to plan individual treatment. Hence, a basic knowledge about the main psychosocial and developmental problems associated with abuse and neglect and their prevalence in foster children is needed. For this purpose, a systematical literature review and a series of meta-analyses were conducted. A total of 25 studies reporting data on development (n = 4,033), mental health (n = 726), and attachment (n = 255) of foster children in preschool age met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses indicated prevalence rates of approximately 40% for developmental, mental health problems, and insecure attachment. Rates of disorganized attachment were estimated to 22%. These findings outline the necessity of an initial trauma-oriented diagnostics and trainings for foster parents that address foster children's development, mental health, and disorganized attachment. © The Author(s) 2016.

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Preschool Children in Foster Care: The Influence of Placement and Foster Family Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasileva, Mira; Petermann, Franz

2017-10-01

Children in foster care often experience traumatic events which increase their risk for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Until now, no research has investigated the developmentally sensitive PTSS criteria for preschoolers among children in foster care. The current study estimated the prevalence of potentially traumatic experiences and clinical PTSS in German foster care children aged 3 to 7 years. The foster parents of 324 children completed questionnaires about children's PTSS, foster parental stress, parenting, and family functioning. Linear regression models tested trauma-related variables, placement history, and foster family characteristics as predictors of PTSS. Approximately 45.4% of the foster children had experienced at least one traumatic event and 15.4% had clinical PTSS. Physical abuse, β = .34, p < .001; hospitalization, β = -.17, p = .026; witnessing someone being hurt, β = -.15, p = .047; and parental stress, β = .43, p < .001, were significantly associated with PTSS. Results demonstrate the impact the foster family has on children who are coping with trauma, and suggest the necessity of trauma-sensitive trainings for foster parents, with stress management as an important component. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Behavior problems of children in foster care: Associations with foster mothers' representations, commitment, and the quality of mother-child interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubois-Comtois, Karine; Bernier, Annie; Tarabulsy, George M; Cyr, Chantal; St-Laurent, Diane; Lanctôt, Anne-Sophie; St-Onge, Janie; Moss, Ellen; Béliveau, Marie-Julie

2015-10-01

This study investigated different environmental and contextual factors associated with maltreated children's adjustment in foster care. Participants included 83 children (52 boys), ages 1-7 years, and their foster caregivers. Quality of interaction with the foster caregiver was assessed from direct observation of a free-play situation; foster caregiver attachment state of mind and commitment toward the child were assessed using two interviews; disruptive behavior symptoms were reported by foster caregivers. Results showed that quality of interaction between foster caregivers and children were associated with behavior problems, such that higher-quality interactions were related to fewer externalizing and internalizing problems. Foster caregivers' state of mind and commitment were interrelated but not directly associated with behavior problems of foster children. Type of placement moderated the association between foster caregiver commitment and foster child behavior problems. Whereas greater foster caregiver commitment was associated with higher levels of adjustment for children in foster families (kin and non-kin), this was not the case in foster-to-adopt families. Finally, the associations between foster child behavior problems and history of maltreatment and placement related-risk conditions fell below significance after considering child age and quality of interaction with the foster caregiver. Findings underscore the crucial contribution of the foster caregiver-child relationship to fostering child adjustment and, thereby, have important implications for clinical services offered to this population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parenting the Poorly Attached Teenager. Fostering Families. A Specialized Training Program Designed for Foster Care Workers & Foster Care Parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Schatz, Mona Struhsaker; Faust, Timothy Philip

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module explores the attachment process and the long-term effects of attachment difficulties in the first years of a child's life. The module's learning objectives address: (1) ways of identifying the basic concepts…

Fostering Autonomy through Syllabus Design: A Step-by-Step Guide for Success

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez Espinosa, Alexánder

2016-01-01

Promoting learner autonomy is relevant in the field of applied linguistics due to the multiple benefits it brings to the process of learning a new language. However, despite the vast array of research on how to foster autonomy in the language classroom, it is difficult to find step-by-step processes to design syllabi and curricula focused on the…

Fostering functioning of workers: A new challenge for prevention in occupational health.

Science.gov (United States)

van Amelsvoort, Ludovic G P M; de Brouwer, Carin P M; Heerkens, Yvonne F; Widdershoven, Guy A M; Kant, IJmert

2017-01-01

Given large changes in working conditions and society, occupational health care has to prioritize its efforts towards fostering health and functioning of workers and as such promote work participation. This requires that more emphasis is given on the application of biopsychological models in the care of workers. Although a biopsychological approach is often mentioned as essential part of occupational health care, it's application is often hampered in practice, by practical barriers and lack of practical knowledge. This is illustrated by a study that uncovered facilitating and hindering factors in the implementation process of a preventive strategy, proven effective in reducing the risk of long term sickness absence. To facilitate the use of biopsychological models in occupational health care, it is shown that setting up a training curriculum is possible, based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) grafted on available training in evidence based practice skills is possible. Furthermore, there is a need for elaboration of the personal factors relevant for workers and the relevant work-related environmental factors to support practical application of ICF in occupational health care. A paradigm shift in occupational health care can facilitate widespread implementation of the biopsychosocial approach in occupational health and may stimulate occupational health professionals to further integrate this approach in their daily practice.

Designing Smart Knowledge Building Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ambar Murillo Montes de Oca

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Knowledge building communities (KBCs are environments where learning is continually occurring as a social process, and the collective knowledge base is gradually being expanded upon. Knowledge accessible to all members is produced in collaborative discourse, along with the development and the use of conceptual artifacts. This theoretical contribution discusses the possibilities to foster and design KBCs in a “smart” manner so that they can be connected to formal learning. Firstly, the paper identifies the characteristics of “smartness” for the context of KBCs: participants (individuals and groups, collaboration and convergence, as well as technology that may provide enabling and monitoring tools. Secondly, tools are suggested to foster and monitor the development and the use of collaborative discourse and conceptual artifacts. Thirdly, recommendations for the design of smart KBCs are provided. Finally, a research agenda is proposed based on the previous discussions.

[Sustainable Implementation of Evidence-Based Programmes in Health Promotion: A Theoretical Framework and Concept of Interactive Knowledge to Action].

Science.gov (United States)

Rütten, A; Wolff, A; Streber, A

2016-03-01

This article discusses 2 current issues in the field of public health research: (i) transfer of scientific knowledge into practice and (ii) sustainable implementation of good practice projects. It also supports integration of scientific and practice-based evidence production. Furthermore, it supports utilisation of interactive models that transcend deductive approaches to the process of knowledge transfer. Existing theoretical approaches, pilot studies and thoughtful conceptual considerations are incorporated into a framework showing the interplay of science, politics and prevention practice, which fosters a more sustainable implementation of health promotion programmes. The framework depicts 4 key processes of interaction between science and prevention practice: interactive knowledge to action, capacity building, programme adaptation and adaptation of the implementation context. Ensuring sustainability of health promotion programmes requires a concentrated process of integrating scientific and practice-based evidence production in the context of implementation. Central to the integration process is the approach of interactive knowledge to action, which especially benefits from capacity building processes that facilitate participation and systematic interaction between relevant stakeholders. Intense cooperation also induces a dynamic interaction between multiple actors and components such as health promotion programmes, target groups, relevant organisations and social, cultural and political contexts. The reciprocal adaptation of programmes and key components of the implementation context can foster effectiveness and sustainability of programmes. Sustainable implementation of evidence-based health promotion programmes requires alternatives to recent deductive models of knowledge transfer. Interactive approaches prove to be promising alternatives. Simultaneously, they change the responsibilities of science, policy and public health practice. Existing boundaries

Psychosocial Needs of Children in Foster Care and the Impact of Sexual Abuse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenbakkers, Annemarie; Ellingsen, Ingunn; van der Steen, Stephanie; Grietens, Hans

Children in family foster care, especially those who have experienced sexual abuse, require a safe and nurturing environment in which their psychosocial needs are met. However, there is limited knowledge on how youth prioritize various needs and what impact previous experiences have on these needs.

Nostalgia fosters self-continuity : Uncovering the mechanism (social connectedness) and consequence (eudaimonic well-being)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sedikides, Constantine; Wildschut, Tim; Cheung, Wing-Yee; Routledge, Clay; Hepper, Erica G; Arndt, Jamie; Vail, Kenneth; Zhou, Xinyue; Brackstone, Kenny; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.

2016-01-01

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one's past, is an emotion that arises from self-relevant and social memories. Nostalgia functions, in part, to foster self-continuity, that is, a sense of connection between one's past and one's present. This article examined, in 6 experiments, how nostalgia

Antipsychotic treatment among youth in foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

Dosreis, Susan; Yoon, Yesel; Rubin, David M; Riddle, Mark A; Noll, Elizabeth; Rothbard, Aileen

2011-12-01

Despite national concerns over high rates of antipsychotic medication use among youth in foster care, concomitant antipsychotic use has not been examined. In this study, concomitant antipsychotic use among Medicaid-enrolled youth in foster care was compared with disabled or low-income Medicaid-enrolled youth. The sample included 16 969 youths younger than 20 years who were continuously enrolled in a Mid-Atlantic state Medicaid program and had ≥1 claim with a psychiatric diagnosis and ≥1 antipsychotic claim in 2003. Antipsychotic treatment was characterized by days of any use and concomitant use with ≥2 overlapping antipsychotics for >30 days. Medicaid program categories were foster care, disabled (Supplemental Security Income), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Multicategory involvement for youths in foster care was classified as foster care/Supplemental Security Income, foster care/TANF, and foster care/adoption. We used multivariate analyses, adjusting for demographics, psychiatric comorbidities, and other psychotropic use, to assess associations between Medicaid program category and concomitant antipsychotic use. Average antipsychotic use ranged from 222 ± 110 days in foster care to only 135 ± 101 days in TANF (P foster care only and 24% in foster care/adoption compared with youths in the foster care system.

Educational Supports for Middle School Youths Involved in the Foster Care System

Science.gov (United States)

Tyre, Ashli D.

2012-01-01

Despite our knowledge of poor educational outcomes for youths in foster care, the literature on methods or models for addressing the needs of this vulnerable group of students remains extremely limited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to describe a school-based educational support model that provides advocacy, tutoring, and…

Placement breakdown in foster care: Reducing risks by a foster parent training program?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maaskant, A.M.

2016-01-01

This thesis started by focusing on Dutch foster children’s well-being, emotional and behavioral functioning and placement stability. Subsequently, we attempted to identify how foster families who are considered to be at a high risk of placement breakdown could be given effective support. The

45 CFR 1356.71 - Federal review of the eligibility of children in foster care and the eligibility of foster care...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES, FOSTER CARE... foster care and the eligibility of foster care providers in title IV-E programs. 1356.71 Section 1356.71... § 1356.71 Federal review of the eligibility of children in foster care and the eligibility of foster care...

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Foster Care Alumni: The Role of Race, Gender, and Foster Care Context

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Lovie J.; O'Brien, Kirk; Pecora, Peter J.

2011-01-01

Little is known about the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adult alumni of foster care and its demographic and contextual correlates. This is one of the first studies to report on racial/ethnic and gender differences and the influence of foster care experiences (i.e., revictimization during foster care, placement change rate,…

The Common Body of Knowledge: A Framework to Promote Relevant Information Security Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth J. Knapp

2007-03-01

Full Text Available This study proposes using an established common body of knowledge (CBK as one means of organizing information security literature.  Consistent with calls for more relevant information systems (IS research, this industry-developed framework can motivate future research towards topics that are important to the security practitioner.  In this review, forty-eight articles from ten IS journals from 1995 to 2004 are selected and cross-referenced to the ten domains of the information security CBK.  Further, we distinguish articles as empirical research, frameworks, or tutorials.  Generally, this study identified a need for additional empirical research in every CBK domain including topics related to legal aspects of information security.  Specifically, this study identified a need for additional IS security research relating to applications development, physical security, operations security, and business continuity.  The CBK framework is inherently practitioner oriented and using it will promote relevancy by steering IS research towards topics important to practitioners.  This is important considering the frequent calls by prominent information systems scholars for more relevant research.  Few research frameworks have emerged from the literature that specifically classify the diversity of security threats and range of problems that businesses today face.  With the recent surge of interest in security, the need for a comprehensive framework that also promotes relevant research can be of great value.

Governing Knowledge Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul; Husted, Kenneth; Michailova, Snejina

2003-01-01

An under-researched issue in work within the `knowledge movement' is therelation between organizational issues and knowledge processes (i.e., sharingand creating knowledge). We argue that managers can shape formalorganization structure and organization forms and can influence the moreinformal org...... to Anna Grandori for numerous excellent comments on anearlier draft. The standard disclaimer applies.Keywords: Knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, governance, organizationaleconomics, organizational behavior.......An under-researched issue in work within the `knowledge movement' is therelation between organizational issues and knowledge processes (i.e., sharingand creating knowledge). We argue that managers can shape formalorganization structure and organization forms and can influence the moreinformal...... organizational practices in order to foster knowledge sharing andcreation. Theoretically, we unfold this argument by relying on key ideas oforganizational economics and organizational behaviour studies. We put forwarda number of refutable propositions derived from this reasoning.AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful...

Strategy, Economic Organization, and the Knowledge Economy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul

. This theme is taken through several theoretical as well as empirical variations. Themes such as the incentive liabilities of flat, 'knowledge-based' organizations and the role of complementary HRM practices for fostering knowledge sharing and creation are extensively treated. The book thus contains important...

Fostering Environmental Knowledge and Action through Online Learning Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maier, Carmen Daniela

2010-01-01

In order to secure correct understanding of environmental issues, to promote behavioral change and to encourage environmental action, more and more educational practices support and provide environmental programs. This article explores the design of online learning resources created for teachers...... and students by the GreenLearning environmental education program. The topic is approached from a social semiotic perspective. I conduct a multimodal analysis of the knowledge processes and the knowledge selection types that characterize the GreenLearning environmental education program and its online...

Salivary cortisol: a possible biomarker in evaluating stress and effects of interventions in young foster children?

Science.gov (United States)

van Andel, Hans W H; Jansen, Lucres M C; Grietens, Hans; Knorth, Erik J; van der Gaag, Rutger Jan

2014-01-01

Young foster children undergo an early separation from their caregiver(s) and often experience severe stress before placement. However, a considerable part of the children do not show apparent signs of distress, making it difficult for the foster carer to be aware of the amount of stress in their foster child. Potential evidence for using salivary cortisol levels as a dimension to evaluate the amount of stress in young foster children is reviewed. Moreover, the applicability of salivary cortisol in the evaluation of stress-reducing interventions for young foster children is discussed. A systematic review was performed using the databases Medline, Psychinfo, Embase, Ebscohost, and Academic Search Premier. Nine studies were traced in which salivary cortisol was used to measure stress in children placed in family foster care or in adoptive families. Stress in general but also neglect, early loss of a caregiver, a younger age at first placement, and a higher number of placements were associated with an altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in foster children. Moreover, four studies on the effect of stress-reducing interventions on HPA-axis functioning of young foster children were found. These studies suggest that caregiver-based interventions can actually help to normalize the HPA-axis function in foster children, and that such changes co-occur with improved behavioral functioning. Although the results from the papers discussed in this review suggest that diurnal cortisol with a wake up and a bedtime measurement may be a relevant tool to evaluate stress in young foster children, this cannot yet be concluded from the present studies, because statistical data from the studies on foster care and adoption in this review were not robust and researchers used different methods to collect the salivary cortisol. Still, it is noteworthy that all studies did find the same pattern of reduced levels in relation to chronic stress (caused by maltreatment and

Development of an Intervention for Foster Parents of Young Foster Children with Externalizing Behavior: Theoretical Basis and Program Description

Science.gov (United States)

Vanschoonlandt, Femke; Vanderfaeillie, Johan; Van Holen, Frank; De Maeyer, Skrallan

2012-01-01

Foster parents are often faced with serious externalizing behaviors of their foster child. These behavioral problems may induce family stress and are related to less effective parenting and often increase. Foster children with behavioral problems are also more at risk of placement breakdown. An intervention to support foster parents of young…

Lithuania 1940 / Herbert Foster Anderson

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Foster Anderson, Herbert

2004-01-01

Stseenid Leedu ennesõjaaegsest pealinnast Kaunasest briti ärimehe H. Foster Andersoni silme läbi 1940. aastal. Lühikokkuvõte raamatust: Foster Anderson, Herbert. Borderline Russia. London : Cresset press, 1942

Seven ‘corporate venturing’ strategies to foster innovation (and create an environment for long-term growth)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeulen, Erik; Fenwick, Mark

2016-01-01

Seven “Corporate Venturing” Strategies to Foster Innovation tackles the question: What should companies do to accelerate innovation and remain relevant? Or, stated differently: What should companies do to avoid being disrupted by more agile and innovative startups? One answer is corporate venturing.

Indigenous Knowledge and Language: Decolonizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in a Mapuche Intercultural Bilingual Education Program in Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Patricio R.

2009-01-01

This article illustrates how Mapuche Indigenous knowledge (Kimun) and language (Mapudungun) incorporated into an Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) program of a school within a Mapuche context in Chile creates decolonizing counter-hegemonic narratives as forms of culturally relevant pedagogy. Based on a six-month school ethnography, this…

Anticipatory child fostering and household economic security in Malawi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Bachan

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Background: While there is a rich literature on the practice of child fostering in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about how fostering impacts receiving households, as few studies consider household conditions both before and after fostering. Despite the fact that circumstancessurrounding fostering vary, the literature's key distinction of fostering is often drawn along the simple line of whether or not a household is fostering a child. This paper argues that anticipation of fostering responsibilities, in particular, is a useful dimension to distinguish fostering experiences for receiving households. Objective: This paper examines the relationship between receiving a foster child and subsequent changes in household wealth. Particular emphasis is placed on how these changes are conditioned by differing levels of anticipation of the fostering event. Methods: This study uses data from Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT, a longitudinal survey in Balaka, Malawi. Using data from 1754 TLT respondents, fixed effects pooled time-series models are estimated to assess whether and how receiving a foster child changes household wealth. Results: This paper demonstrates the heterogeneity of fostering experiences for receiving households.The results show that households that anticipate fostering responsibilities experience a greater increase in household wealth than both households that do not foster and those that are surprised by fostering. Conclusions: Households that anticipate fostering responsibilities exhibit the greatest increase in householdwealth. While fostering households that do not anticipate fostering responsibilities may not experience these gains, there is no evidence to indicate that such households are negatively impacted relative to households that do not foster. This finding suggests that additional childcare responsibilities may not be as detrimental to African households as some researchers have feared.

Global forces and local currents in Argentina's science policy crossroads: restricted access or open knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horacio Javier Etchichury

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The article describes the tensions between two competing approaches to scientific policy in Argentina. The traditional vision favors autonomous research. The neoliberal conception fosters the link between science and markets. In the past few years, a neodevelopmentalist current also tries to stress relevance of scientific research. Finally, the article describes how the Open Access movement has entered the debate. The World Bank intervention and the human rights dimension of the question are discussed in depth. The article introduces the notion of open knowledge as a guiding criterion to design a human-rights based scientific policy.

Nutritional status, dietary intake, and relevant knowledge of adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Nurul; Roy, Swapan Kumar; Ahmed, Tahmeed; Ahmed, A M Shamsir

2010-02-01

This study estimated the levels and differentials in nutritional status and dietary intake and relevant knowledge of adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh using data from the Baseline Survey 2004 of the National Nutrition Programme. A stratified two-stage random cluster-sampling was used for selecting 4,993 unmarried adolescent girls aged 13-18 years in 708 rural clusters. Female interviewers visited girls at home to record their education, occupation, dietary knowledge, seven-day food-frequency, intake of iron and folic acid, morbidity, weight, and height. They inquired mothers about age of their daughters and possessions of durable assets to divide households into asset quintiles. Results revealed that 26% of the girls were thin, with body mass index (BMI)-for-age 95th percentile), and 32% stunted (height-for-age knowledge was low. More than half could not name the main food sources of energy and protein, and 36% were not aware of the importance of taking extra nutrients during adolescence for growth spurt. The use of iron supplement was 21% in nutrition-intervention areas compared to 8% in non-intervention areas. Factors associated with the increased use of iron supplements were related to awareness of the girls about extra nutrients and their access to mass media and education. Community-based adolescent-friendly health and nutrition education and services and economic development may improve the overall health and nutritional knowledge and status of adolescents.

Laboratory Screening for Children Entering Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Greiner, Mary V; Beal, Sarah J; Nause, Katie; Staat, Mary Allen; Dexheimer, Judith W; Scribano, Philip V

2017-12-01

To determine the prevalence of medical illness detected by laboratory screening in children entering foster care in a single, urban county. All children entering foster care in a single county in Ohio were seen at a consultation foster care clinic and had laboratory screening, including testing for infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, and tuberculosis as well as for hemoglobin and lead levels. Over a 3-year period (2012-2015), laboratory screening was performed on 1977 subjects entering foster care in a consultative foster care clinic. The prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, and tuberculosis were all found to be <1%. There were no cases of HIV. Seven percent of teenagers entering foster care tested positive for Chlamydia . A secondary finding was that 54% of subjects were hepatitis B surface antibody-negative, indicating an absence of detected immunity to the hepatitis B virus. Routine laboratory screening for children entering foster care resulted in a low yield. Targeted, rather than routine, laboratory screening may be a more clinically meaningful approach for children entering foster care. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Optimizing foster family placement for infants and toddlers : A randomized controlled trial on the effect of the Foster Family Intervention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Andel, Hans; Post, Wendy; Jansen, Lucres; Van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Knorth, Erik; Grietens, Hans

The relationship between foster children and their foster carers comes with many risks and may be very stressful both for parents and children. We developed an intervention (foster family intervention [FFI]) to tackle these risks. The intervention focuses on foster children below the age of 5 years.

Optimizing foster family placement for infants and toddlers: A randomized controlled trial on the effect of the foster family intervention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andel, H. Van; Post, W.; Janssen, L.; Gaag, R.J. van der; Knorth, E.; Grietens, H.

2016-01-01

The relationship between foster children and their foster carers comes with many risks and may be very stressful both for parents and children. We developed an intervention (foster family intervention [FFI]) to tackle these risks. The intervention focuses on foster children below the age of 5 years.

Health Risk Behavior in Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Gramkowski, Bridget; Kools, Susan; Paul, Steven; Boyer, Cherrie; Monasterio, Erica; Robbins, Nancy

2010-01-01

Problem Adolescent health problems are predominantly caused by risk behavior. Foster adolescents have disproportionately poor health; therefore identification of risk behavior is critical. Method A secondary analysis of data from a larger study investigated the health risk behavior of 56 foster youth using the CHIP-AE. Findings Foster youth had some increased risk behavior. Younger adolescents and those in kinship care had less risky behavior. Youth had more risk behavior when: in group homes, parental death, histories of physical or emotional abuse, or history of attempted suicide. Conclusions These results point to areas of strength and vulnerability in foster youth. PMID:19490278

The Power of Community: How Foster Parents, Teachers, and Community Members Support Academic Achievement for Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Brenda M.

2016-01-01

Foster children have been identified as one of the most high-risk groups for academic failure in schools today. However, a small number of foster youth are beating the odds by achieving academically. How are they able to overcome tremendous barriers and succeed? This phenomenological study reports the findings of former foster youth and their P-12…

Knowledge Building and Mathematics: Shifting the Responsibility for Knowledge Advancement and Engagement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joan Moss

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Three classrooms of Grade 4 students from different schools and diverse backgrounds collaborated in early algebra research to solve a series of linear and quadratic generalizing problems. Results revealed that high- and low-achieving students were able to solve problems of recognized difficulty. We discuss Knowledge Building principles and practices that fostered deep understanding and broad participation. Students used the online Knowledge Building environment Knowledge Forum® to conduct their work and we illustrate how Knowledge Forum supported a Knowledge Building culture for mathematical learning and problem solving. Analyses of participation patterns and note content revealed practices consistent with Knowledge Building principles, specifically democratization of knowledge, with students at all achievement levels participating, and epistemic agency, with students providing evidence and justification for conjectures and generating multiple solutions to challenging problems.

[Mental health of preschool foster care children: How do foster families influence the way children cope with trauma?].

Science.gov (United States)

Vasileva, Mira; Petermann, Franz

2017-08-15

Parents and other significant persons have an important role when preschool children develop or cope with psychological symptoms following traumatic experiences. The underlying mechanisms of the interaction between traumatic experiences and influences of the foster family are still unclear. This study investigates foster parents’ stress levels and parenting styles as moderators or mediators in the context of traumatic experiences. Foster parents of 286 children between three and seven years participated in an online or paper-and-pencil survey. The results suggest a connection between the traumatic experiences of foster children and the stress levels as well as the parenting styles of their foster parents. While verbosity and laxness as parenting styles moderated the impact of traumatic experiences on externalising symptoms, stress levels mediated the impact of traumatic experiences on children’s internalising and externalising symptoms. The results underscore the necessity of standardized preparation of and support for foster parents in order to avoid deterioration of psychological symptoms following traumatic Events.

Community Strategic Relationship and Marketing to Foster the Development of communities and the sustainability of organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Juárez

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to define community strategic relationship and marketing (CSRM as a relevant tool to foster the development of communities and the sustainability of organizations. The method was rationalist, theoretical, and conceptual; it comprised the analysis of a propositional structure. Articulated propositions provided a framework for analysis, discussion, and conclusions. After giving a definition of CSRM, several analyses were conducted that determined the uniqueness and usefulness of this approach. These analyses were: 1 the usefulness of the community concepts and strategies in CSRM, 2 the existence of a community approach to different strategic areas or marketing, and 3 the relevance of the use of community concepts and strategies to foster the development of communities and the sustainability of organizations. The conclusion was that CSRM and the use of these concepts and strategies have the potential to be a fruitful research and strategic approach in marketing and in all of organization activities

Helping Foster Children in School: A Guide for Foster Parents, Social Workers and Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

DeGarmo, John

2015-01-01

"Helping Foster Children in School" explores the challenges that foster children face in schools and offers positive and practical guidance tailored to help the parents, teachers and social workers supporting them. Children in care often perform poorly at school both in terms of their behavior and their academic performance, with many…

Delinquency and Crime Prevention: Overview of Research Comparing Treatment Foster Care and Group Care

Science.gov (United States)

Osei, Gershon K.; Gorey, Kevin M.; Jozefowicz, Debra M. Hernandez

2016-01-01

Background: Evidence of treatment foster care (TFC) and group care's (GC) potential to prevent delinquency and crime has been developing. Objectives: We clarified the state of comparative knowledge with a historical overview. Then we explored the hypothesis that smaller, probably better resourced group homes with smaller staff/resident ratios have…

Identifying Divergent Foster Care Careers for Danish Children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fallesen, Peter

2014-01-01

Foster care children who experience placement disruption and foster care instability are at elevated risk for a host of poor outcomes, yet little work considers what these unstable foster care careers look like or what causes them. In this article, I start by using previous studies on foster care...

The Relationship between Immediate Relevant Basic Science Knowledge and Clinical Knowledge: Physiology Knowledge and Transthoracic Echocardiography Image Interpretation

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Dorte Guldbrand; Gotzsche, Ole; Sonne, Ole; Eika, Berit

2012-01-01

Two major views on the relationship between basic science knowledge and clinical knowledge stand out; the Two-world view seeing basic science and clinical science as two separate knowledge bases and the encapsulated knowledge view stating that basic science knowledge plays an overt role being encapsulated in the clinical knowledge. However, resent…

Getting Foster Youth to and through College: Successes and Challenges of the New Jersey Foster Care Scholars Program

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Maia; Losey, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

The popularity of the New Jersey Foster Care Scholars program is a testament to its importance. Typical college students rely on parents for financial assistance and emotional support. Youth aging out of foster care often are on their own. The scholarship program offers an opportunity for higher education that many foster youth thought they would…

75 FR 23557 - National Foster Care Month, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-04

... America A Proclamation Nearly a half-million children and youth are in foster care in America, all... promise of children and youth in foster care, as well as former foster youth. We also celebrate the professionals and foster parents who demonstrate the depth and kindness of the human heart. Children and youth...

Cultural safety and the challenges of translating critically oriented knowledge in practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Browne, Annette J; Varcoe, Colleen; Smye, Victoria; Reimer-Kirkham, Sheryl; Lynam, M Judith; Wong, Sabrina

2009-07-01

Cultural safety is a relatively new concept that has emerged in the New Zealand nursing context and is being taken up in various ways in Canadian health care discourses. Our research team has been exploring the relevance of cultural safety in the Canadian context, most recently in relation to a knowledge-translation study conducted with nurses practising in a large tertiary hospital. We were drawn to using cultural safety because we conceptualized it as being compatible with critical theoretical perspectives that foster a focus on power imbalances and inequitable social relationships in health care; the interrelated problems of culturalism and racialization; and a commitment to social justice as central to the social mandate of nursing. Engaging in this knowledge-translation study has provided new perspectives on the complexities, ambiguities and tensions that need to be considered when using the concept of cultural safety to draw attention to racialization, culturalism, and health and health care inequities. The philosophic analysis discussed in this paper represents an epistemological grounding for the concept of cultural safety that links directly to particular moral ends with social justice implications. Although cultural safety is a concept that we have firmly positioned within the paradigm of critical inquiry, ambiguities associated with the notions of 'culture', 'safety', and 'cultural safety' need to be anticipated and addressed if they are to be effectively used to draw attention to critical social justice issues in practice settings. Using cultural safety in practice settings to draw attention to and prompt critical reflection on politicized knowledge, therefore, brings an added layer of complexity. To address these complexities, we propose that what may be required to effectively use cultural safety in the knowledge-translation process is a 'social justice curriculum for practice' that would foster a philosophical stance of critical inquiry at both the

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Knowledge Sharing and Organizational Change in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Dee, Jay; Leisyte, Liudvika

2017-01-01

Purpose: Organizational learning in higher education institutions depends upon the ability of managers and academics to maintain a flow of knowledge across the structural boundaries of the university. This paper aims to understand the boundary conditions that foster or impede the flow of knowledge during organizational change at a large public…

Fostering Creative Thinking in the Institutional Army

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-10

organizational structure, training, leadership development and education, personnel, facilities, and policies foster creative thinking ? These questions will be...in fostering creative thinking at the organizational level across the US Army. This assumption justifies researching if CGSOC fosters creative...creative thinking . Doctrine and policy and organizational structure and personnel will also be grouped to consolidate analysis. While the researcher will

Current knowledge on the genetics of autism and propositions for future research.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourgeron, Thomas

2016-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by problems in social communication, as well as by the presence of restricted interests, stereotyped and repetitive behaviours. In the last 40years, genetic studies have provided crucial information on the causes of ASD and its diversity. In this article, I will first review the current knowledge on the genetics of ASD and then suggest three propositions to foster research in this field. Twin and familial studies estimated the heritability of ASD to be 50%. While most of the inherited part of ASD is captured by common variants, our current knowledge on the genetics of ASD comes almost exclusively from the identification of highly penetrant de novo mutations through candidate gene or whole exome/genome sequencing studies. Approximately 10% of patients with ASD, especially those with intellectual disability, are carriers of de novo copy-number (CNV) or single nucleotide variants (SNV) affecting clinically relevant genes for ASD. Given the function of these genes, it was hypothesized that abnormal synaptic plasticity and failure of neuronal/synaptic homeostasis could increase the risk of ASD. In addition to these discoveries, three propositions coming from institutions, researchers and/or communities of patients and families can be made to foster research on ASD: (i) to use more dimensional and quantitative data than diagnostic categories; (ii) to increase data sharing and research on genetic and brain diversity in human populations; (iii) to involve patients and relatives as participants for research. Hopefully, this knowledge will lead to a better diagnosis, care and integration of individuals with ASD. Copyright © 2016 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

The Random-Map Technique: Enhancing Mind-Mapping with a Conceptual Combination Technique to Foster Creative Potential

Science.gov (United States)

Malycha, Charlotte P.; Maier, Günter W.

2017-01-01

Although creativity techniques are highly recommended in working environments, their effects have been scarcely investigated. Two cognitive processes are often considered to foster creative potential and are, therefore, taken as a basis for creativity techniques: knowledge activation and conceptual combination. In this study, both processes were…

Transition Planning for Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Geenen, Sarah J.; Powers, Laurie E.

2006-01-01

The study evaluated the IEPs/Individualized Transition Plans of 45 students who were in special education and foster care, and compared them to the plans of 45 students who were in special education only. Results indicate that the transition plans of foster youth with disabilities were poor in quality, both in absolute terms and in comparison to…

Mental and Physical Health of Children in Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Kristin; Wildeman, Christopher

2016-11-01

Each year, nearly 1% of US children spend time in foster care, with 6% of US children placed in foster care at least once between their birth and 18th birthday. Although a large literature considers the consequences of foster care placement for children's wellbeing, no study has used a nationally representative sample of US children to compare the mental and physical health of children placed in foster care to the health of children not placed in foster care. We used data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized children in the United States, and logistic regression models to compare parent-reported mental and physical health outcomes of children placed in foster care to outcomes of children not placed in foster care, children adopted from foster care, children across specific family types (eg, single-mother households), and children in economically disadvantaged families. We find that children in foster care are in poor mental and physical health relative to children in the general population, children across specific family types, and children in economically disadvantaged families. Some differences are explained by adjusting for children's demographic characteristics, and nearly all differences are explained by also adjusting for the current home environment. Additionally, children adopted from foster care, compared with children in foster care, have significantly higher odds of having some health problems. Children in foster care are a vulnerable population in poor health, partially as a result of their early life circumstances. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Can Medicaid Claims Validly Ascertain Foster Care Status?

Science.gov (United States)

Raghavan, Ramesh; Brown, Derek S; Allaire, Benjamin T

2017-08-01

Medicaid claims have been used to identify populations of children in foster care in the current literature; however, the ability of such an approach to validly ascertain a foster care population is unknown. This study linked children in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being-I to their Medicaid claims from 36 states using their Social Security numbers. Using this match, we examined discordance between caregiver report of foster care placement and the foster care eligibility code contained in the child's Medicaid claims. Only 73% of youth placed in foster care for at least a year displayed a Medicaid code for foster care eligibility. Half of all youth coming into contact with child welfare displayed discordance between caregiver report and Medicaid claims. Children with emergency department utilization, and those in primary care case management health insurance arrangements, had the highest odds of accurate ascertainment. The use of Medicaid claims to identify a cohort of children in foster care results in high rates of underascertainment. Supplementing administrative data with survey data is one way to enhance validity of ascertainment.

Evaluating Environmental Knowledge Dimension Convergence to Assess Educational Programme Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Liefländer, Anne K.; Bogner, Franz X.; Kibbe, Alexandra; Kaiser, Florian G.

2015-01-01

One aim of environmental education is fostering sustainable environmental action. Some environmental behaviour models suggest that this can be accomplished in part by improving people's knowledge. Recent studies have identified a distinct, psychometrically supported environmental knowledge structure consisting of system, action-related and…

Breastfeeding of a medically fragile foster child.

Science.gov (United States)

Gribble, Karleen D

2005-02-01

A case is presented in which a medically fragile baby was breastfed by her foster mother. As a result, the child's physical and emotional health were improved. The mechanisms whereby human milk improves health are well known. The act of breastfeeding may also have an analgesic and relaxant effect as a result of hormonal influences and skin-to-skin contact. Many foster babies may benefit from human milk or breastfeeding. However, the risk of disease transmission must be minimized. Provision of human milk to all medically fragile foster babies is desirable. Breastfeeding by the foster mother may be applicable in cases in which the child is likely to be in long-term care, the child has been previously breastfed, or the child's mother expresses a desire that the infant be breastfed. However, social barriers must be overcome before breastfeeding of foster babies can become more common.

We Care for Kids: A Handbook for Foster Parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Illinois State Dept. of Children and Family Services, Springfield.

This handbook outlines essential information for foster parents under these basic headings: (1) legal rights and responsibilities of children, parents and foster parents; (2) recruitment, licensing, training, and evaluation of foster homes; (3) placement and removal of foster children; (4) payments and expenses; (5) medical care; (6)…

The Limits to Relevance

Science.gov (United States)

Averill, M.; Briggle, A.

2006-12-01

Science policy and knowledge production lately have taken a pragmatic turn. Funding agencies increasingly are requiring scientists to explain the relevance of their work to society. This stems in part from mounting critiques of the "linear model" of knowledge production in which scientists operating according to their own interests or disciplinary standards are presumed to automatically produce knowledge that is of relevance outside of their narrow communities. Many contend that funded scientific research should be linked more directly to societal goals, which implies a shift in the kind of research that will be funded. While both authors support the concept of useful science, we question the exact meaning of "relevance" and the wisdom of allowing it to control research agendas. We hope to contribute to the conversation by thinking more critically about the meaning and limits of the term "relevance" and the trade-offs implicit in a narrow utilitarian approach. The paper will consider which interests tend to be privileged by an emphasis on relevance and address issues such as whose goals ought to be pursued and why, and who gets to decide. We will consider how relevance, narrowly construed, may actually limit the ultimate utility of scientific research. The paper also will reflect on the worthiness of research goals themselves and their relationship to a broader view of what it means to be human and to live in society. Just as there is more to being human than the pragmatic demands of daily life, there is more at issue with knowledge production than finding the most efficient ways to satisfy consumer preferences or fix near-term policy problems. We will conclude by calling for a balanced approach to funding research that addresses society's most pressing needs but also supports innovative research with less immediately apparent application.

Economic diversification: Explaining the pattern of diversification in the global economy and its implications for fostering diversification in poorer countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Freire Junior, Clovis

2017-01-01

Economic diversification is very relevant for poorer developing countries to create jobs and foster economic development. That need has been recognised in key internationally agreed development goals. The empirical economic literature has identified several stylised facts about the pattern of

Key characteristics relevant for selecting knowledge management software tools

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smuts, H

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The shift to knowledge as the primary source of value results in the new economy being led by those who manage knowledge effectively. Today’s organisations are creating and leveraging knowledge, data and information at an unprecedented pace – a...

FOSTERING AND DEVELOPMENT OF MULTICULTURALISM VIA SITUATIVE VOCABULARIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О В Львова

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The search for ways and means of fostering and development of multiculturalism is now of great importance for the world community. Situational vocabulary was previously proposed by the author as an ICT tool for fostering and development of communicative competence in foreign language. They contain lexical structures used in specific communicative situations, as well as modern ICT tools (blogs, chats, forums, mail, etc. to supplement already gained data and to discuss the ways and situations of use of various linguistic constructions or meanings of the words. Further study of the possibilities and ways of application of the instrument showed that students are not able to choose a relevant form for certain situations, or they lack or do not know the appropriate words and expressions, both in native and in a foreign language. In addition, the incorrect use of certain words or expressions in the situation may be regarded by representatives of other cultures as rude or disrespectful. The peculiarity of the method offered by the author is based on the idea of using situational vocabularies for gaining information and study of various linguistic and cultural aspects of the host country and other countries. In addition, the interaction in the familiar for learners ICT space motivates them and increase the effectiveness of such activities.

North-South Knowledge Partnerships : Promoting the Canada-Latin ...

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

Phase I (104033) sought to foster learning partnerships between Canadian and Latin American research and ... I. The idea is to support ongoing North-South and South-South knowledge partnerships based on participatory, ... Project status.

Case Study: The Transfer of Tacit Knowledge from Community College Full-Time to Adjunct Faculty

Science.gov (United States)

Guzzo, Linda R.

2013-01-01

Knowledge is a valuable resource that fosters innovation and growth in organizations. There are two forms of knowledge: explicit knowledge or documented information and tacit knowledge or undocumented information which resides in individuals' minds. There is heightened interest in knowledge management and specifically the transfer of tacit…

Principles for fostering the transdisciplinary development of assistive technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Boger, Jennifer; Jackson, Piper; Mulvenna, Maurice; Sixsmith, Judith; Sixsmith, Andrew; Mihailidis, Alex; Kontos, Pia; Miller Polgar, Janice; Grigorovich, Alisa; Martin, Suzanne

2017-07-01

Developing useful and usable assistive technologies often presents complex (or "wicked") challenges that require input from multiple disciplines and sectors. Transdisciplinary collaboration can enable holistic understanding of challenges that may lead to innovative, impactful and transformative solutions. This paper presents generalised principles that are intended to foster transdisciplinary assistive technology development. The paper introduces the area of assistive technology design before discussing general aspects of transdisciplinary collaboration followed by an overview of relevant concepts, including approaches, methodologies and frameworks for conducting and evaluating transdisciplinary working and assistive technology design. The principles for transdisciplinary development of assistive technologies are presented and applied post hoc to the COACH project, an ambient-assisted living technology for guiding completion of activities of daily living by older adults with dementia as an illustrative example. Future work includes the refinement and validation of these principles through their application to real-world transdisciplinary assistive technology projects. Implications for rehabilitation Transdisciplinarity encourages a focus on real world 'wicked' problems. A transdisciplinary approach involves transcending disciplinary boundaries and collaborating with interprofessional and community partners (including the technology's intended users) on a shared problem. Transdisciplinarity fosters new ways of thinking about and doing research, development, and implementation, expanding the scope, applicability, and commercial viability of assistive technologies.

When the Periphery Becomes the Center. Forensic Anthropology in Argentina, a Case of Socially Relevant Scientific Knowledge Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano G. Levin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Forensic anthropology has had extraordinary scientific success in Argentina. On the one hand, this discipline has developed very well in only 25 years generating scientifically relevant knowledge both locally and internationally. On the other hand, and unlike a large part of scientific knowledge generated in peripheral contexts, it has major social applications. This work describes the different dimensions of the origin and development of this discipline in Argentina, the cognitive condition of the field in 1983 and, briefly, its development until today, its institutional dimension, the existence of other research traditions and certain social dimensions which, we believe, are the basis for the success of this scientific discipline.

A Roadmap for Tracking Knowledge Results – Experiences and Challenges

OpenAIRE

Walsh, Christopher; Simon, Yehude; Silverman, Sheryl; Sultan, Sara

2011-01-01

From fostering expertise to packaging and sharing lessons from the field, the knowledge work of the World Bank Group takes many shapes. But unlike lending operations, knowledge work is not always subject to the same results monitoring processes. For example, the publishing of a report has often been used as the only indicator of a successful knowledge product. During a program-wide effort ...

Foster Care and College: The Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Youth in the Foster Care System

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk, Chris M.; Lewis, Rhonda K.; Nilsen, Corinne; Colvin, Deltha Q.

2013-01-01

Despite an overall increase in college attendance, low-income youth and particularly those in the foster care system are less likely to attend college (Wolanin, 2005). Although youth in foster care report high educational aspirations, as little as 4% obtain a 4-year college degree (Nixon & Jones, 2007). The purpose of this study is to explore…

Science knowledge and biblical literalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Zigerell, L J

2012-04-01

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

Clinical relevance in anesthesia journals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritsen, Jakob; Møller, Ann M

2006-01-01

The purpose of this review is to present the latest knowledge and research on the definition and distribution of clinically relevant articles in anesthesia journals. It will also discuss the importance of the chosen methodology and outcome of articles.......The purpose of this review is to present the latest knowledge and research on the definition and distribution of clinically relevant articles in anesthesia journals. It will also discuss the importance of the chosen methodology and outcome of articles....

In search of connection: The foster youth and caregiver relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Storer, Heather L.; Barkan, Susan E.; Stenhouse, Linnea L.; Eichenlaub, Caroline; Mallillin, Anastasia; Haggerty, Kevin P.

2015-01-01

Placement instability is an ongoing challenge for the 125,000 foster youth aged 14 – 18 that are living in foster care, with youth living in approximately 3 placements before aging out of the system. Despite the importance caring adult relationships can play in promoting positive youth development and resiliency, there has been limited inquiry into the characteristics of the foster youth and caregiver relationship. The goal of this paper is to provide a descriptive account of the foster youth and caregiver relationship, and explore what qualities and experiences foster youth desire from their caregivers. Qualitative data were gathered from 9 focus groups. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis approaches. Foster youth, caregivers, and child welfare staff described relationships lacking in formative bonds and connection, where youth didn’t “fit in”, and chaotic homes marked by reactivity and judgment. Characteristics of supportive foster homes include a sense of belonging, structure, guidance, and consistency. This research underscores the important role positive relationships can play in foster youth’s feelings of well-being and points to the need for foster parent training to include tangible strategies to develop stronger bonds. PMID:26052173

Generational Differences in Knowledge Markets

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

on the job learning and training,” as the necessary “non- trade-able asset stocks” (p. 1505) for providing that competitive advantage. Prahalad and... strategic management, organizational culture, organizational behavior, organizational structure, artificial intelligence, quality management, and...According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), there are five conditions which foster knowledge creation in an organization: intention , autonomy

Health risk behavior of youth in foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

Gramkowski, Bridget; Kools, Susan; Paul, Steven; Boyer, Cherrie B; Monasterio, Erica; Robbins, Nancy

2009-05-01

Many adolescent health problems are predominantly caused by risk behavior. Foster adolescents have disproportionately poor health; therefore, identification of risk behavior is critical. Data from a larger study were analyzed to investigate the health risk behavior of 56 youth in foster care using the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition. Data indicated that youth in foster care had some increased risk behavior when compared with a normative adolescent population. Younger adolescents and those in relative placement had less risky behavior. Risk behavior was increased for youth in foster care when they were in group homes, had experienced a parental death, or had a history of physical or emotional abuse or attempted suicide. These results point to areas of strength and vulnerability for youth in foster care and suggest areas for clinicians and caregivers of these adolescents to focus interventions towards harm reduction and enhancement of resiliency.

Mental health and associated risk factors of Dutch school aged foster children placed in long-term foster care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maaskant, A.M.; van Rooij, F.B.; Hermanns, J.M.A.

2014-01-01

More than 20,000 children in the Netherlands live in foster families. The majority are in long-term foster family placements, which are intended to provide a stable rearing environment until the children reach adulthood. International studies have shown, however, that compared to children in the

Using Social Media and Mobile Technologies to Foster Engagement and Self-organisation in Participatory Urban Planning and Neighbourhood Governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleinhans, R.J.; Van Ham, M.; Evans-Cowley, J.

2015-01-01

This editorial explores the potential of social media and mobile technologies to foster citizen engagement and participation in urban planning. We argue that there is a lot of wishful thinking, but little empirically validated knowledge in this emerging field of study. We outline key developments

Ahlstroem Pyropower sold to Foster Wheeler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

Representatives of Foster Wheeler Corporation and A. Ahlstroem Oy have signed in the 3rd of October 1995 a contract which transfers the majority of the shares in Ahlstroem Pyropower to the American company Foster Wheeler at a price of some 200 million dollars. The final price will depend on the result of Ahlstroem Pyropower at the end of 1995. (1 fig.)

The Association between Foster Care and Substance Abuse Risk Factors and Treatment Outcomes: An Exploratory Secondary Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Blome, Wendy Whiting; Shields, Joseph; Verdieck, Mary Jeanne

2009-01-01

The child welfare and substance abuse systems are integrally linked through the children and families they both serve. There is a dearth of knowledge, however, on how children who have experienced foster care fare when they are treated for substance abuse issues as adults. This article presents an exploratory study using the Alcohol and Drug…

Appropriation of social media for fostering effective tacit knowledge sharing: developing conceptual model

Science.gov (United States)

Amidi, A.; Jabar, M.; Jusoh, Y. Y.; Abdullah, R.

2017-09-01

With the rising popularity of social media in the past few years, several researches ratiocinate that this type of interactive and collaborative technology could be a beneficial tool for the sharing of tacit knowledge. Nevertheless, very few literatures have tackled the subject of how social media could facilitate tacit knowledge sharing among medical practitioners, and what are its contributions in the area. Thus, the factors that drive individuals to share tacit knowledge need to be investigated further and included in literature. Through a systematic literature review, this study proposes seven enabling conditions which could potentially facilitate the sharing of tacit knowledge. TAM was applied as a novelty in this study in investigating the factors influencing knowledge sharing via social media, whilst taking into account the mediation effects of Attitude in social media usage. This study uncovered an important correlation between virtual settings and the conversion of tacit knowledge, which affects organizational members who are not co-located physically but have a crucial need for sharing information.

Fostering Adolescents' Value Beliefs for Mathematics with a Relevance Intervention in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Gaspard, Hanna; Dicke, Anna-Lena; Flunger, Barbara; Brisson, Brigitte Maria; Häfner, Isabelle; Nagengast, Benjamin; Trautwein, Ulrich

2015-01-01

Interventions targeting students' perceived relevance of the learning content have been shown to effectively promote student motivation within science classes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). Yet, further research is warranted to understand better how such interventions should be designed in order to be successfully implemented in the…

Effect of childhood age in foster care on the incidence of divorce in adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusby, James S M

2010-02-01

This retrospective study examines the long-term effect of the age at which British children were fostered in World War II on their divorce rate. A total of 859 respondents, aged 62 to 72 years, were recruited who had childhood homes in the county of Kent in southeast England during the war. Of these, 770 had been evacuated and fostered, and the remainder stayed at home. Reflecting the wartime concerns of Bowlby, Miller, and Winnicott (1939) regarding the wisdom of separating young children from their parents for a potentially long period, male and female respondents evacuated between the ages of 4 to 6 years had a significantly higher incidence of divorce compared with those in the 13- to 15-year age group. This association was found to be mediated by attachment style in which the fearful category was predominant. The relevance of these results in the broader developmental context, and to family counseling, are briefly discussed.

Reducing Sibling Conflict in Maltreated Children Placed in Foster Homes

Science.gov (United States)

Linares, L. Oriana; Jimenez, Jessica; Nesci, Cristina; Pearson, Eva; Beller, Sarah; Edwards, Nancy; Levin-Rector, Alison

2016-01-01

Sibling aggression among maltreated children placed in foster homes is linked to other externalizing problems and placement disruption. The reduction of sibling conflict and aggression may be achieved via a multicomponent ecologically focused intervention for families in the foster care system. The focus of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and short-term effectiveness of a transtheoretical intervention model targeting sibling pairs and their foster parent that integrates family systems, social learning theory, and a conflict mediation perspective. In this pilot study, sibling pairs (N=22) and their foster parent were randomized into a three-component intervention (n=13) or a comparison (n=9) group. Promoting Sibling Bonds (PSB) is an 8-week prevention intervention targeting maltreated sibling pairs ages 5–11 years placed together in a foster home. The Siblings, Parent, and Joint components were delivered in a program package at the foster agency by a trained two-clinician team. Average attendance across program components was 73%. Outcomes in four areas were gathered at pre-and post-intervention: observed sibling interaction quality (positive and negative) including conflict during play, and foster parent reports of mediation strategies and sibling aggression in the foster home. At post-intervention, adjusting for baseline scores and child age, intervention pairs showed higher positive (p<.001) and negative (p<.05) interaction quality, and lower sibling conflict during play (p <.01) than comparison pairs. Foster parents in the intervention group reported a higher number of conflict mediation strategies than those in the comparison group (p <.001). Foster parents in the intervention group reported lower sibling physical aggression from the older toward the younger child than those in the comparison group (p <.05). Data suggest that the PSB intervention is a promising approach to reduce conflict and promote parental mediation which together may reduce

Knowledge engineering in a temporal symantic web context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Milea, D.V.; Frasincar, F.; Kaymak, U.; Schwabe, D.; Curbera, F.; Dantzig, P.

2008-01-01

The emergence of Web 2.0 and the semantic Web as established technologies is fostering a whole new breed of Web applications and systems. These are often centered around knowledge engineering and context awareness. However, adequate temporal formalisms underlying context awareness are currently

Fostering Personal Meaning and Self-Relevance: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Internalization

Science.gov (United States)

Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Aelterman, Nathalie; De Muynck, Gert-Jan; Haerens, Leen; Patall, Erika; Reeve, Johnmarshall

2018-01-01

Central to self-determination theory (SDT) is the notion that autonomously motivated learning relates to greater learning benefits. While learners' intrinsic motivation has received substantial attention, learners also display volitional learning when they come to endorse the personal meaning or self-relevance of the learning task. In Part I of…

Re-Imagining Language, Culture, and Family in Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Puig, Victoria I.

2013-01-01

Nearly half a million children in the United States are currently being served by the foster care system. Infants and toddlers represent the largest single group entering foster care. While these very young children are at the greatest peril for physical, mental health, and developmental issues and tend to spend the longest time in the foster care…

Children's behavioral health needs and satisfaction and commitment of foster and adoptive parents: Do trauma-informed services make a difference?

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Erin R; Cleary, Sarah E; Butcher, Rebecca L; Jankowski, Mary K

2018-05-03

Caring for children in foster or adoptive care with behavioral health needs can severely stress parents, contributing to adverse outcomes for children and families. Trauma-informed services from the child welfare and mental health sectors may help prevent poor outcomes by helping children and parents identify and understand trauma and its impact on children's behavioral health and receive effective treatment. To help understand the role of trauma-informed services for the child welfare population, we examined whether trauma-informed child welfare and mental health services moderated the relationship between children's behavioral health needs and parent satisfaction and commitment. The researchers analyzed data from a cross-sectional statewide survey of foster and adoptive parents (n = 512 respondents, 42% of 1,206 contacted) from one state. Foster (but not adoptive) parent ratings of trauma-informed mental health services significantly moderated the relationship between children's behavioral health needs and foster and adoptive parent satisfaction and commitment. As ratings of trauma-informed mental health services increased, the association between child behavioral health needs and parent satisfaction and commitment became nonsignificant, suggesting a buffering effect. Trauma-informed child welfare services did not moderate the relationship for foster or adoptive parents. Leaders and policymakers are urged to promote trauma-informed mental health services for children involved with child welfare to potentially buffer foster parents against lower parenting satisfaction and commitment. More research is needed to replicate and expand on these findings and to examine the effectiveness of trauma-informed services on other relevant child and family outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge to Sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It is based on the experience, often tested over centuries of use, adapted to local culture and environment, dynamic and changing. People have an intimate knowledge of many aspects of their surroundings and their daily lives. Over centuries, people have learnt how to grow food and to survive in difficult environments.

The needs of foster children : A Q-sort study on the differences between the psychosocial needs of foster children with and without a history of sexual abuse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenbakkers, Anne; van der Steen, Steffie; Ellingsen, Ingunn T.; Grietens, Hans

2016-01-01

Children in family foster care have a specific set of psychosocial needs, stemming from previous caregiving, (traumatic) experiences, and living in a foster family. Foster parents are expected to learn about these needs and incorporate them into their parenting and nurturing. When foster children

Psychotropic medication patterns among youth in foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

Zito, Julie M; Safer, Daniel J; Sai, Devadatta; Gardner, James F; Thomas, Diane; Coombes, Phyllis; Dubowski, Melissa; Mendez-Lewis, Maria

2008-01-01

Studies have revealed that youth in foster care covered by Medicaid insurance receive psychotropic medication at a rate > 3 times that of Medicaid-insured youth who qualify by low family income. Systematic data on patterns of medication treatment, particularly concomitant drugs, for youth in foster care are limited. The purpose of this work was to describe and quantify patterns of psychotropic monotherapy and concomitant therapy prescribed to a randomly selected, 1-month sample of youth in foster care who had been receiving psychotropic medication. METHODS. Medicaid data were accessed for a July 2004 random sample of 472 medicated youth in foster care aged 0 through 19 years from a southwestern US state. Psychotropic medication treatment data were identified by concomitant pattern, frequency, medication class, subclass, and drug entity and were analyzed in relation to age group; gender; race or ethnicity; International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, psychiatric diagnosis; and physician specialty. Of the foster children who had been dispensed psychotropic medication, 41.3% received > or = 3 different classes of these drugs during July 2004, and 15.9% received > or = 4 different classes. The most frequently used medications were antidepressants (56.8%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drugs (55.9%), and antipsychotic agents (53.2%). The use of specific psychotropic medication classes varied little by diagnostic grouping. Psychiatrists prescribed 93% of the psychotropic medication dispensed to youth in foster care. The use of > or = 2 drugs within the same psychotropic medication class was noted in 22.2% of those who were given prescribed drugs concomitantly. Concomitant psychotropic medication treatment is frequent for youth in foster care and lacks substantive evidence as to its effectiveness and safety.

Reducing sibling conflict in maltreated children placed in foster homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Linares, L Oriana; Jimenez, Jessica; Nesci, Cristina; Pearson, Eva; Beller, Sarah; Edwards, Nancy; Levin-Rector, Alison

2015-02-01

Sibling aggression among maltreated children placed in foster homes is linked to other externalizing problems and placement disruption. The reduction of sibling conflict and aggression may be achieved via a multicomponent ecologically focused intervention for families in the foster care system. The focus of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and short-term effectiveness of a transtheoretical intervention model targeting sibling pairs and their foster parent that integrates family systems, social learning theory, and a conflict mediation perspective. In this pilot study, sibling pairs (N = 22) and their foster parent were randomized into a three-component intervention (n = 13) or a comparison (n = 9) group. Promoting Sibling Bonds (PSB) is an 8-week prevention intervention targeting maltreated sibling pairs ages 5-11 years placed together in a foster home. The siblings, parent, and joint components were delivered in a program package at the foster agency by a trained two-clinician team. Average attendance across program components was 73 %. Outcomes in four areas were gathered at pre- and postintervention: observed sibling interaction quality (positive and negative) including conflict during play, and foster parent reports of mediation strategies and sibling aggression in the foster home. At postintervention, adjusting for baseline scores and child age, intervention pairs showed higher positive (p conflict during play (p conflict mediation strategies than those in the comparison group (p conflict and promote parental mediation, which together may reduce sibling aggression in the foster home.

Strangers and Orphans: Knowledge and Mutuality in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Claudia Rozas

2013-01-01

Paulo Freire consistently upheld humanization and mutuality as educational ideals. This article argues that conceptualizations of knowledge and how knowledge is sought and produced play a role in fostering humanization and mutuality in educational contexts. Drawing on Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein," this article focuses on the…

25 CFR 20.507 - What requirements must foster care providers meet?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Child Assistance Foster Care § 20.507 What requirements must foster care providers meet? If a child needs foster care, the social services worker must select care that... contain an approved current home study. (c) An off-reservation foster home, or residential care facility...

Thinking Socially: Teaching Social Knowledge to Foster Social Behavioral Change

Science.gov (United States)

Crooke, Pamela J.; Winner, Michelle Garcia; Olswang, Lesley B.

2016-01-01

This article addresses the complexity of what it means to "be social" from the perspective of social thinking. This perspective recognizes social cognitive processing abilities as the foundation for social knowledge and, in turn, social behaviors. The article further describes variables that influence how one understands how to do what…

Managing Knowledge And Information In The Sustainable Organization

Science.gov (United States)

Grecu, Valentin

2015-09-01

Knowledge and information management are essential for the success of organizations and bring significant competitive advantages. There has been significant investments in setting up technological platforms that support business processes and increase the efficiency of operational structure in many organizations through an efficient management of knowledge and information. This research highlights the importance of using knowledge and information management in order to increase the competitiveness of organizations and to foster the transition towards the sustainable organization, as nowadays an organization that wants to be competitive needs to be sustainable.

Technology and knowledge flow the power of networks

CERN Document Server

Trentin, Guglielmo

2011-01-01

This book outlines how network technology can support, foster and enhance the Knowledge Management, Sharing and Development (KMSD) processes in professional environments through the activation of both formal and informal knowledge flows. Understanding how ICT can be made available to such flows in the knowledge society is a factor that cannot be disregarded and is confirmed by the increasing interest of companies in new forms of software-mediated social interaction. The latter factor is in relation both to the possibility of accelerating internal communication and problem solving processes, an

Fostering Passion among First Year Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Mazumder, Quamrul H.

2010-01-01

Engineering is a complex field of study. Declining enrollment in engineering programs in the United States is of concern and understanding the various factors that contribute to this decline is in order. Fostering a higher level of student engagement with the content may foster passion towards engineering which could increase academic competency…

Academic Freedom: Its Relevance and Challenges for Public Universities in Ghana Today

Science.gov (United States)

Owusu-Ansah, Collins

2015-01-01

There have been various shapes of opinions shared on the concept of academic freedom. This concept means different things to many and different people. Those outside the University view academic freedom with some level of suspicion. Even among the academia, academic freedom is rarely understood. To foster the growth of knowledge and its…

Influence of Participation, Facilitator Styles, and Metacognitive Reflection on Knowledge Building in Online University Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Cacciamani, Stefano; Cesareni, Donatella; Martini, Francesca; Ferrini, Tiziana; Fujita, Nobuko

2012-01-01

Understanding how to foster knowledge building in online and blended learning environments is a key for computer-supported collaborative learning research. Knowledge building is a deeply constructivist pedagogy and kind of inquiry learning focused on theory building. A strong indicator of engagement in knowledge building activity is the…

Effects of informed consent for individual genome sequencing on relevant knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaphingst, K A; Facio, F M; Cheng, M-R; Brooks, S; Eidem, H; Linn, A; Biesecker, B B; Biesecker, L G

2012-11-01

Increasing availability of individual genomic information suggests that patients will need knowledge about genome sequencing to make informed decisions, but prior research is limited. In this study, we examined genome sequencing knowledge before and after informed consent among 311 participants enrolled in the ClinSeq™ sequencing study. An exploratory factor analysis of knowledge items yielded two factors (sequencing limitations knowledge; sequencing benefits knowledge). In multivariable analysis, high pre-consent sequencing limitations knowledge scores were significantly related to education [odds ratio (OR): 8.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.45-31.10 for post-graduate education, and OR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.05, 14.61 for college degree compared with less than college degree] and race/ethnicity (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.09, 5.38 for non-Hispanic Whites compared with other racial/ethnic groups). Mean values increased significantly between pre- and post-consent for the sequencing limitations knowledge subscale (6.9-7.7, p benefits knowledge subscale (7.0-7.5, p < 0.0001); increase in knowledge did not differ by sociodemographic characteristics. This study highlights gaps in genome sequencing knowledge and underscores the need to target educational efforts toward participants with less education or from minority racial/ethnic groups. The informed consent process improved genome sequencing knowledge. Future studies could examine how genome sequencing knowledge influences informed decision making. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Being a Foster Family in Portugal—Motivations and Experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisete Diogo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Foster care is an almost absent component in the child care system and scientific research conducted in Portugal foster comprises 3.2%1 of out-of-home care in Portugal. This research aims to contribute to a deeper visibility of the care phenomena, giving specific attention to the foster families themselves. This research adopted a qualitative analytical approach, inspired by Grounded Theory. Foster families’ motivation is rooted in altruism, affection for children, and sensitivity to maltreatment. Personal and professional biography or past contact with out-of-home care can also induce predisposition to become a carer. The experience of being a carer2 is one of traversing through a life of many challenges and rewards. Considering the recognition from the stakeholders, it is a rewarding task. The quality of the service provided and the performance of the care professionals are both key elements to foster care.

Supporting Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmann, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Over 400,000 children are in foster care in the United States, and more than 100,000 of them are waiting to be adopted. Yet many will age out of foster care into adulthood without an adoptive family. Teens and young adults aging out of foster care, even those with preparation and training for the transition, often do not fare well in young adulthood. Many face challenges in areas of education, employment, homelessness, finances, the criminal justice system, and meeting health and mental healthcare needs. Research demonstrates what only makes sense: teens with tangible support from meaningful adult relationships fare better than those without. This article describes an innovative program that connects teens in foster care with supportive adults through social events that can lead to meaningful long-term teen-adult connections - including friendships, mentoring, and even, in some cases, adoption. Pediatric nurses, aware of the challenges these teens face adjusting to adulthood, can begin to explore referral and support options for such teens in their own locales using the resources herein.

Foster Youth Evaluate the Performance of Group Home Services in California

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Rex S.; Ellis, Peter T.

2008-01-01

In 2003 foster youth employed by a foster youth advocacy organization suggested that an evaluation of group home services to foster youth be conducted in Alameda County, California. This report presents the development and conduct of this evaluation study; how funding was obtained; and how foster youth were hired, trained, and employed to produce…

Motivating Young Native American Students to Pursue STEM Learning Through a Culturally Relevant Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Sally; Andrade, Rosi; Page, Melissa

2016-12-01

Data indicate that females and ethnic/race minority groups are underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce calling for innovative strategies to engage and retain them in science education and careers. This study reports on the development, delivery, and outcomes of a culturally driven science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) program, iSTEM, aimed at increasing engagement in STEM learning among Native American 3rd-8th grade students. A culturally relevant theoretical framework, Funds of Knowledge, informs the iSTEM program, a program based on the contention that the synergistic effect of a hybrid program combining two strategic approaches (1) in-school mentoring and (2) out-of-school informal science education experiences would foster engagement and interest in STEM learning. Students are paired with one of three types of mentors: Native American community members, university students, and STEM professionals. The iSTEM program is theme based with all program activities specifically relevant to Native people living in southern Arizona. Student mentees and mentors complete interactive flash STEM activities at lunch hour and attend approximately six field trips per year. Data from the iSTEM program indicate that the program has been successful in engaging Native American students in iSTEM as well as increasing their interest in STEM and their science beliefs.

'To talk or not to talk?' : Foster youth's experiences of sharing stories about their past and being in foster care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenbakkers, Anne; van der Steen, Steffie; Grietens, Hans

2016-01-01

Sharing stories about the past and about being in care, can help adolescents placed in foster families to make meaning of their experiences and connect with their conversation partner. However, what obstacles and opportunities for sharing stories are experienced by foster youth has not been

JournalMap: Geo-semantic searching for relevant knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Ecologists struggling to understand rapidly changing environments and evolving ecosystem threats need quick access to relevant research and documentation of natural systems. The advent of semantic and aggregation searching (e.g., Google Scholar, Web of Science) has made it easier to find useful lite...

In search of connection: The foster youth and caregiver relationship

OpenAIRE

Storer, Heather L.; Barkan, Susan E.; Stenhouse, Linnea L.; Eichenlaub, Caroline; Mallillin, Anastasia; Haggerty, Kevin P.

2014-01-01

Placement instability is an ongoing challenge for the 125,000 foster youth aged 14 – 18 that are living in foster care, with youth living in approximately 3 placements before aging out of the system. Despite the importance caring adult relationships can play in promoting positive youth development and resiliency, there has been limited inquiry into the characteristics of the foster youth and caregiver relationship. The goal of this paper is to provide a descriptive account of the foster youth...

Fostering Ethical Integrity in Nursing Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Eby, Ruth A; Hartley, Patricia Lynn; Hodges, Patricia J; Hoffpauir, Rebecca Baldwin

Nursing students bring an array of morals, values, and ethics that may be inconsistent with ethical integrity. This study explored nurse educator perceptions of student ethical integrity and how educators can foster an ethical foundation in students and novice educators. Four major themes influencing ethical integrity emerged: the learning environment, behaviors, ethical principles, and a toolbox of strategies. Strategies for fostering ethical integrity included: modeling ethical integrity, effective communication, grading accuracy, faculty perceptions, and faculty peer mentoring.

Planning a mentorship initiative for foster parents: Does gender matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Jay Miller, J; Benner, Kalea; Thrasher, Shawndaya; Pope, Natalie; Dumas, Tamikia; Damron, Larry J; Segress, Melissa; Niu, Chunling

2017-10-01

Despite the use of mentoring programs in fields such as business, career training, and youth development, little is known about how mentoring can be used to train and support new foster parents. This paper describes how Concept Mapping was used with current foster parents to develop a conceptual framework suitable to plan a foster parent mentor program. A secondary aim of this study was to explore priority differences in the conceptualization by self-reported gender (foster mothers vs. foster fathers). Participant data was collected via three qualitative brainstorming sessions, and analyzed using non-metric multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. Findings indicate that foster parents participating in this study conceptualized effective mentor programs via a seven cluster solution. Study results also showed no significant differences in cluster ratings by gender. Implications for practice and program planning are identified, as well as areas for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fostering Upper Secondary Students' Ability to Engage in Practices of Scientific Investigation: a Comparative Analysis of an Explicit and an Implicit Instructional Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Vorholzer, Andreas; von Aufschnaiter, Claudia; Boone, William J.

2018-02-01

Inquiry-based teaching is considered as contributing to content-related, procedural, and epistemic learning goals of science education. In this study, a quasi-experimental research design was utilized to investigate to what extent embedding inquiry activities in an explicit and an implicit instructional approach fosters students' ability to engage in three practices of scientific investigation (POSI): (1) formulating questions and hypotheses, (2) planning investigations, (3) analyzing and interpreting data. Both approaches were implemented in a classroom-based intervention conducted in a German upper secondary school (N = 222). Students' procedural knowledge of the three POSI was assessed with a paper-pencil test prior and post to the intervention, their content knowledge and dispositional factors (e.g., cognitive abilities) were gathered once. Results show that not only explicit but also implicit instruction fosters students' knowledge of POSI. While overall explicit instruction was found to be more effective, the findings indicate that the effectiveness depends considerably on the practice addressed. Moreover, findings suggest that both approaches were equally beneficial for all students regardless of their prior content knowledge and their prior procedural knowledge of POSI. Potential conditions for the success of explicit and implicit approaches as well as implications for instruction on POSI in science classrooms and for future research are discussed.

Knowledge Management Enablers and Process in Hospital Organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyun-Sook

2017-02-01

This research aimed to investigate the effects of knowledge management enablers, such as organizational structure, leadership, learning, information technology systems, trust, and collaboration, on the knowledge management process of creation, storage, sharing, and application. Using data from self-administered questionnaires in four Korean tertiary hospitals, this survey investigated the main organizational factors affecting the knowledge management process in these organizations. A total of 779 questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0. The results showed that organizational factors affect the knowledge management process differently in each hospital organization. From a managerial perspective, the implications of these factors for developing organizational strategies that encourage and foster the knowledge management process are discussed.

Health care of youth aging out of foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

Youth transitioning out of foster care face significant medical and mental health care needs. Unfortunately, these youth rarely receive the services they need because of lack of health insurance. Through many policies and programs, the federal government has taken steps to support older youth in foster care and those aging out. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub L No. 110-354) requires states to work with youth to develop a transition plan that addresses issues such as health insurance. In addition, beginning in 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Pub L No. 111-148) makes youth aging out of foster care eligible for Medicaid coverage until age 26 years, regardless of income. Pediatricians can support youth aging out of foster care by working collaboratively with the child welfare agency in their state to ensure that the ongoing health needs of transitioning youth are met.

Improving Innovation in University Spin-Offs. The Fostering Role of University and Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Prencipe

2016-06-01

Full Text Available University spin-offs (USOs are companies created to commercialize knowledge or technology developed in academia; thus, their major contribution to the knowledge economy is their ability to generate innovation. Following the Resource-Based View of the Firm and the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship, it was stated that fostering mechanisms at university level and at regional level may positively influence the USOs innovation. Based on a sample of 621 Italian USOs, we show that the positive impact of the university context is more crucial compared with those of the regional context. In particular, the university affiliated business incubators and Science Parks, jointly with the university financial resources, seem to promote the innovation efforts of USOs. These evidences rise the need of a resilient partnership among all the contextual players involved in the spillover processes, mainly at regional level, in order to effectively exploit the potential innovative efforts of the university start-ups.

Precursors and sequelae of attachment in foster children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterman, M.; Schuengel, C.

2008-01-01

This study focused on attachment of foster children by examining factors associated with attachment relationships of children raised from birth by the same parents. The sample included 61 children between 26 to 88 months of age and their foster caregivers. Attachment security and caregiver

Matching children with foster carers : A literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeijlmans, Kirti; López, Monica; Grietens, Hans; Knorth, Erik J.

Matching in family foster care is a form of complex decision-making influenced by more than case factors alone. Organizational, contextual, and decision-maker factors also contribute to the process. This scoping review has synthesized the empirical literature on matching decisions in family foster

45 CFR 1355.40 - Foster care and adoption data collection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... § 1355.40 Foster care and adoption data collection. (a) Scope of the data collection system. (1) Each... children who enter foster care prior to October 1, 1995 and who are still in the system, core data elements... of foster care data reports. (1) For each child, a computer generated transaction date must reflect...

Emotional Development: Fostering the Child's Identity. Instructor's Manual.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, Emily Jean

"Emotional Development: Fostering the Child's Identity" is a manual for use in training families providing service to foster children. Consisting of information to be covered in eight class sessions and numerous appendices providing supplementary material, this instructor's manual contains instructor's materials and participants' course content.…

Managers’ and companies’ knowledge orientation as business performance drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianna Strzyżewska

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is widely considered to be the major source of sustainable competitive advantage, fostering companies’ business performance. Therefore, a number of authors have undertaken the efforts at describing its role. There were, however, much fewer attempts aimed at evaluating the influence of knowledge activities and behaviors on companies’ business performance/results in various countries. At the same time, there was practically no research identifying the full range of opinions and beliefs, indicating company managers’ attitudes towards knowledge activities within their companies. This paper investigates the relations between the managers’ opinions concerning knowledge (managers’ knowledge orientation, the knowledge-related activities and behaviors (companies’ knowledge orientation and companies’ business performance within the context of medium-sized companies operating in Poland.

Social-Psychological Training as a Tool to Foster Communicative Competency of Students Specialising in Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena N.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: communicative competency serves as the basis for individual development of students specialising in management as well as a factor of successful managerial career. The implementation of competency-oriented approach in education and modern requirements of the labour market provide for the relevance of fostering communicative competency including its psychological features such as communication knowledge and skills. The specific trait of the author’s approach in the research is a shift from psychological characteristics diagnosis of communicative competencies to their amelioration through social psychological training of students specialized in management. The aim of the research is to elaborate, verify and assess the training programme effectiveness in forming psychological traits of communicative competencies. The article might be of interest for trainers and high school staff, students, specialists in human resources departments of various organisations. Materials and Methods: the research includes the following steps: choosing the testees, selecting diagnostic methodology to identify the level of communication knowledge and skills, pre-testing, elaborating the training programme of communicative competency, getting feed-back from the testees on completing the programme, post-testing diagnostics, comparing the results of testing before and after the training, drawing conclusions. Results: the prospect of formation of students-managers’ preparedness to manage the dynamic correlation of communicative knowledge, abilities, and skills for future professional activity in management students is substantiated. As a result of diagnostics, better knowledge acquisition, higher values of indicators and higher level of development of communicative abilities were revealed. An original author’s approach was proposed. The distinctive feature of this method was the transition from the diagnostics of psychological characteristics of

The Lived Experience of Foster Youth as Community-College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Kristen L.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine what life is like for foster youth pursuing postsecondary education. At a time when few foster youth are pursuing and completing higher education, this study attempted to gain an understanding from foster youth about 1) the reason(s) for their success in pursuing postsecondary education, 2) how they were…

The impact of family transitions on child fostering in rural Malawi.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Monica J; Yeatman, Sara

2014-02-01

Despite the frequency of divorce and remarriage across much of sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about what these events mean for the living arrangements of children. We use longitudinal data from rural Malawi to examine the effects of family transitions on the prevalence and incidence of child fostering, or children residing apart from their living parents. We find that between 7 % and 15 % of children aged 3-14 are out-fostered over the two-year intersurvey period. Although divorce appears to be a significant driver of child fostering in the cross-sectional analysis, it is not significantly associated with the incidence of out-fostering. In contrast, maternal remarriage has both a lagged and an immediate effect on the incidence of out-fostering. Furthermore, the likelihood of out-fostering is even higher among children whose mother remarried and had a new child during the intersurvey period. Using longitudinal data collected from living mothers rather than from children's current foster homes offers new insights into the reasons children are sent to live with others besides their parents.

Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Christina; Kabler, Brenda

2012-01-01

Recent statistics estimate that there are 783,000 children living in foster care in the United States. This vulnerable population is at risk for academic failure as well as internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Compared to their peers, foster youth face significant educational difficulties, including lower levels of academic…

Poverty among Foster Children: Estimates Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure

Science.gov (United States)

Pac, Jessica; Waldfogel, Jane; Wimer, Christopher

2017-01-01

We use data from the Current Population Survey and the new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) to provide estimates for poverty among foster children over the period 1992 to 2013. These are the first large-scale national estimates for foster children who are not included in official poverty statistics. Holding child and family demographics constant, foster children have a lower risk of poverty than other children. Analyzing income in detail suggests that foster care payments likely play an important role in reducing the risk of poverty in this group. In contrast, we find that children living with grandparents have a higher risk of poverty than other children, even after taking demographics into account. Our estimates suggest that this excess risk is likely linked to their lower likelihood of receiving foster care or other income supports. PMID:28659651

Children in foster care: what forensic nurses need to know.

Science.gov (United States)

Hornor, Gail

2014-01-01

Children living in foster care are a unique population with specialized healthcare needs. This article will assist forensic nurses and advanced practice forensic nurses, particularly those working in pediatrics, in understanding the needs of children in foster care and implementing a practice plan to better meet their healthcare needs. To that end, a basic understanding of the foster care system is crucial and involves an appreciation of the interface between the legal system and the child welfare system. Most important to providing care to children in foster care is a true understanding of trauma exposure and its potential effects on the lives of children: physically, developmentally, emotionally, and psychologically. This article will assist forensic nurses working with pediatric populations to more fully understand the needs of children in foster care and to develop innovative interventions to appropriately meet their unique needs.

Knowledge Management as a Strategic Tool to Foster Innovativeness of SMEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Zhou (Haibo); L.M. Uhlaner (Lorraine)

2009-01-01

textabstractThis study examines the relationship between knowledge management (KM) (in terms of external acquisition and internal sharing) and innovation behavior. The concept of absorptive capacity and assumptions from the dynamic capabilities view underlie the proposed framework and hypotheses.

Realizing Relevance: The Influence of Domain-Specific Information on Generation of New Knowledge through Integration in 4- to 8-Year-Old Children

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Patricia J.; Larkina, Marina

2017-01-01

In accumulating knowledge, direct modes of learning are complemented by productive processes, including self-generation based on integration of separate episodes. Effects of the number of potentially relevant episodes on integration were examined in 4- to 8-year-olds (N = 121; racially/ethnically heterogeneous sample, English speakers, from large…

Librarians as Knowledge Builders: Strategic Partnering for Service and Advocacy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kreitz, P

2003-12-15

In their article on the challenges facing the postmodern library authors Elteto and Frank warn that the ''relevancy of academic libraries are at stake as a result of dramatic budget reductions and ongoing changes in the use of libraries.'' Recognizing the fiscal crisis facing libraries, many leaders in the profession are calling for libraries to strengthen their core roles in supporting campus research, teaching, and learning and to become more proactive and effective communicators of the critical role the library plays in supporting institutional goals. Responding to this difficult period facing academia and interested in highlighting the creative ways academic libraries around the country are responding, ACRL President, Tyrone Cannon has chosen ''Partnerships and Connections: the Learning Community as Knowledge Builders'' 2 as the theme for his presidential year. His intention is to foster opportunities for libraries to ''play a key role in developing, defining and enhancing learning communities central to campus life.'' Focusing our efforts on supporting the core business of academia will ensure that academic libraries continue to be places of ''opportunity, interaction, serendipity and strong collections and remain central to the knowledge building process.''

Knowledge management as a strategic tool to foster innovativeness in SMEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhou, H.; Uhlaner, L.M.

2009-01-01

This study examines the relationship between knowledge management (KM) (in terms of external acquisition and internal sharing) and innovation behavior. The concept of absorptive capacity and assumptions from the dynamic capabilities view underlie the proposed framework and hypotheses. The framework

Knowledge Map of Facilities Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nenonen, Suvi; Jensen, Per Anker; Lindahl, Göran

2014-01-01

both the research community and FM-practitioners can develop new models for identifying knowledge needs and gaps and to improve knowledge sharing and knowledge flow and thus the fulfilment of their mission and goals. Knowledge maps can also help in organizing research activities and analysing......Purpose This paper aims to draft a knowledge map of the fragmented and multidisciplinary research of and relevant to FM. Facilities management knowledge map is a tool for presenting what relevant data and knowledge, a.k.a. knowledge, resides in different disciplines. Knowledge mapping is a step...... in creating an inventory of knowledge (i.e. the knowledge base) and developing/improving the processes of knowledge sharing in research, education and practice. Theory Knowledge mapping is discussed in terms of knowledge management. The research is connected to knowledge mapping in the facilities management...

Multidimension Treatment Foster Care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pontoppidan, Maiken; Hansen, Helle; Deding, Mette

2014-01-01

Dette notat er en kort opsamling af den nyeste forskning af effekterne af Multidimension Treatment Foster Care (herefter MTFC). SFI lavede i 2010 en oversigt over forskningen om effekterne af MTFC i forbindelse med udarbejdelsen af en projektbeskrivelse. Dette notat sammenfatter den nyeste...

FOSTERING ADOLESCENTS' INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIOUR: AN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Engr E. Egbochukwu

skill training (SST) in fostering interpersonal behaviour among Nigerian adolescents. ..... communication problems (Akinade, 1988, Aremu, 1998, Ojekunle, 1999, .... Restructuring on the Enhancement of Self Esteem of Visually Impaired.

Resiliency in Children and Youth in Kinship Care and Family Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Jed

2008-01-01

This study examined self-concept, resiliency and social support in 107 children and youth placed in foster care in New York City. Of the children and youth, 55 were placed in family foster care, while the remaining 52 children and youth were placed in a kinship foster home. Significantly more of mothers of the kinship foster care children and…

A Foster Care Alumna’s Past and Present Technological Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cesia Roche

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Research on technology use and access among youth raised in non-traditional family structures indicates that the youth’s experiences are different from individuals raised in traditional family structures. Foster care represents a non-traditional family structure that warrants research attention in terms of technology. Using a multicultural feminist framework, the present study explores the past and present technological experience of a woman (30 years old who was raised in the foster care system. The results are presented as a case study documenting her technological experience in foster care, as she transitioned out of the foster care system, and as she has taken on the roles of wife and mother. Results indicated that the participant had limited access to technology while in the foster care system, and this limited technology access related to her current use and perceptions of technology. Directions for future research are provided.

Engaging Adolescent Youth in Foster Care through Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Karen; Girvin, Heather; Primak, Sarah

2014-01-01

Older youth in foster care are particularly vulnerable because they are poorly prepared for the transition from foster care to independent adulthood. Interventions designed to assist in this transition rarely engage youth directly; plans are made for youth rather than with them. Photographs can serve as an externalised medium for the expression of…

Adapting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy to Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Mersky, Joshua P.; Topitzes, James; Grant-Savela, Stacey D.; Brondino, Michael J.; McNeil, Cheryl B.

2016-01-01

Objective: This study presents outcomes from a randomized trial of a novel Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) model for foster families. Differential effects of two intervention doses on child externalizing and internalizing symptoms are examined. Method: A sample of 102 foster children was assigned to one of three conditions--brief PCIT,…

77 FR 26909 - National Foster Care Month, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-07

..., childhood can be a time of sadness, pain, and separation. These children need and deserve safe, loving, and... commend the devotion and selflessness of the foster parents who step in to care for them. We also pay..., parent and advocacy groups--volunteer their time as mentors, tutors, and advocates for children in foster...

Foster carer experience in Spain: Analysis of the vulnerabilities of a permanent model.

Science.gov (United States)

López López, Mónica; Del Valle, Jorge F

2016-05-01

The voice of foster families is a valuable tool in the development and improvement of foster family services. Regularly evaluating the satisfaction of foster carers can facilitate the early identification of a range of problems that might pose a risk to the placement. This article reports the experience of 200 Spanish foster families (kinship and non-kinship) with foster services in relation to motivation for becoming foster carers, sources of stress and reward, satisfaction with the services and needs. Semi-structured interviews were performed. The aims of the research are principally of a descriptive character, so each group of variables was examined using frequency analysis. The foster carers interviewed demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction with the foster programs, although some areas seem more problematic, such as financial compensation, information provided about the fostered child, contact with the birth family and the sensitivity of professionals. This study reveals several differences with regard to international literature, that are related to particularities of the Spanish child care system. The results may be extremely useful for the implementation of policy changes which could contribute to raised levels of satisfaction for the foster carers, and increased effectiveness of the programs.

Nursery Rhyme Knowledge and Phonological Awareness in Preschool Children

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Laurie J.

2011-01-01

Phonological awareness is an important precursor in learning to read. This awareness of phonemes fosters a child's ability to hear and blend sounds, encode and decode words, and to spell phonetically. This quantitative study assessed pre-K children's existing Euro-American nursery rhyme knowledge and phonological awareness literacy, provided…

Foster Creative Engineers by PBL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Chunfang; Nielsen, Jens Frederik Dalsgaard; Kolmos, Anette

2011-01-01

In recent years, Problem and Project Based Learning (PBL) has been employed by a growing number of educational institutions to foster creative engineers. This paper aims to explore how PBL can develop creativity in engineering education. Accordingly, a qualitative case study was carried out...... with a student satellite project (AAUSAT3) in the department of electronic systems at Aalborg University in Denmark. Multiple methods including interviews and observation were employed. The analysis of the empirical data leads to the findings and discussions that PBL can foster creative engineers by providing...... conditions of problem analysis and solving, the shift from teaching to learning and team based projects. This research therefore contributes to both theory and practice in the PBL setting of engineering education....

A shifting paradigm: Teachers' beliefs and methods for fostering ecological literacy in two public charter schools

Science.gov (United States)

Sterling, Evan P.

Ecological literacy is measured by a person's ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible and how to live in accordance with those systems. The emergence of the pedagogies of place- and community-based education during the past two decades provides a possible avenue for fostering ecological literacy in schools. This thesis explores the following research questions: 1) How is ecological literacy fostered in two Alaskan public charter schools? 2) What are teachers' beliefs in these two schools about the way children and youth develop ecological literacy? 3) What are effective teaching methods and what are the challenges in engaging students in ecological literacy? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six K--12 teachers in two public charter schools in Alaska in order to investigate these questions, and relevant examples of student work were collected for study as well. Qualitative data analysis revealed several emergent themes: the need for real-world connections to curriculum; the necessity of time spent outdoors at a young age; the long-term and holistic nature of ecological literacy development; and the importance of family and community role models in developing connections with the natural world. Based upon the research findings, several recommendations are made to support the efforts of teachers in these schools and elsewhere for fostering ecological literacy in children and youth.

The foundation of the concept of relevance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjørland, Birger

2010-01-01

that what was regarded as the most fundamental view by Saracevic in 1975 has not since been considered (with very few exceptions). Other views, which are based on less fruitful assumptions, have dominated the discourse on relevance in information retrieval and information science. Many authors have...... reexamined the concept of relevance in information science, but have neglected the subject knowledge view, hence basic theoretical assumptions seem not to have been properly addressed. It is as urgent now as it was in 1975 seriously to consider “the subject knowledge view” of relevance (which may also...... be termed “the epistemological view”). The concept of relevance, like other basic concepts, is influenced by overall approaches to information science, such as the cognitive view and the domain-analytic view. There is today a trend toward a social paradigm for information science. This paper offers...

Gamification in Fostering Creativity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Kalinauskas

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose – to analyze gamification, as the method for fostering creativity.Design/methodology/approach – Author analyses the precognitions, which allowed gamification to attract mainstream attention, the diversity of understandings about the phenomenon, and the possible relations between usage of gamified platform and the development of creativity. The paper is based on the comparative analysis of scientific literature and related sources from sociology, business, and entertainment. The engagement is analyzed through the theories of self-determination and the “flow”. Creativity is understood as “any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996. Gamification is analyzed as “use of game design elements in non-game context” (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, and Nacke (2011. Findings – Although the gamification is gaining more public attention, there is a lack of studies which would reveal its relations in fostering creativity. One of the main goals of any gamified platform is to raise the engagement of the participant while keeping subject interested in the process or activity. In some cases, there is a relation between “flow” and creativity. However, the strength of this relationship depends from the users of gamified content and the domain of interest.Research limitations / implications – There are very few empirical studies which would support correlation between experiencing the “flow” state and a raise of creativity. This issue requires more surveys, which would ground the idea.Practical implications – By developing further research in usage of gamification while fostering creativity it is possible to determine, whether or not the “creative domains” should apply more measures of gamification in their activities.Value – The article emphasizes on theoretical analysis of gamification and its applicability in fostering creativity

Former foster youth's perspectives on independent living preparation six months after discharge.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Loring P

2014-01-01

Research findings have developed a troubling narrative of youth leaving foster care. Congress attempted to address the post-discharge difficulties of foster youth by passing the Independent Living Initiative in 1986, which mandated that the states develop services that would prepare youth for life after foster care. However, it is unclear what effect these programs have on post-foster care trajectories. This largely qualitative study examined the perceptions of a sample of discharged foster six months after leaving care. Most youth felt prepared for life and foster care. They were also for the most part were satisfied with their independent living program, but had significant dissatisfactions with elements of the program. These satisfactions and dissatisfactions are reported along with suggestions for improvement. The policy and practice implications of these suggestions are considered.

A Critical Reflection: Foster Care Youth Experiences at a Four Year Postsecondary Institution

Science.gov (United States)

Greer, Renada D.

2016-01-01

Foster care youth face significant challenges to postsecondary educational success, especially while enrolled at four-year institutions. Foster care youth are absent of family support that their non-foster peers receive throughout the college experience. Without family support, foster care youth encounter greater challenges to persevere through…

5 CFR 870.303 - Eligibility of foster children under Option C.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... biological parent becomes unable to care for the child due to a disability; or (4) The employee, annuitant....303 Eligibility of foster children under Option C. (a) Effective October 30, 1998, foster children are eligible for coverage as family members under Option C. (b) To qualify for coverage as a foster child, the...

Pathways to Preventing Substance Use Among Youth in Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyoun K; Buchanan, Rohanna; Price, Joseph M

2017-07-01

Substance use problems are highly prevalent among youth in foster care. Such problems in adolescence have long-lasting implications for subsequent adjustment throughout adulthood and even across generations. Although several programs have demonstrated positive results in reducing substance use in at-risk youth, few studies have systemically examined how such programs work for foster youth and whether they are effective for both genders. This study examined the efficacy of KEEP SAFE, a family-based and skill-focused program designed to prevent substance use and other related health risking behaviors among youth in foster care. We hypothesized that improving the caregiver-youth relationship would lead to later reductions in youths' involvement with deviant peers, which subsequently would lead to less substance use, and that this mechanism would work comparably for both genders. A sample of 259 youth (154 girls, ages 11-17 years) in foster care and their caregivers participated in a randomized controlled trial and was followed for 18 months post-baseline. Results indicated that the intervention significantly reduced substance use in foster youth at 18 months post-baseline and that the intervention influenced substance use through two processes: youths' improved quality of relationships with caregivers at 6 months post-baseline and fewer associations with deviant peers at 12 months post-baseline. This suggests that these two processes may be fruitful immediate targets in substance use prevention programs for foster youth. We also found little gender differences in direct and mediating effects of the intervention, suggesting KEEP SAFE may be effective for both genders in foster care.

Searching for effective interventions for young foster children under stress : A meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Andel, Hans W.H.; Grietens, Hans; Strijker, Johan; Van der Gaag, Rutger J.; Knorth, Erik J.

Foster children experience a lot of stress because of their life histories and changes in their family circumstances, such as foster care placement. It is important that foster parents recognize the early signs of stress in foster children and learn how to act in a non-threatening and understanding

Depression among Alumni of Foster Care: Decreasing Rates through Improvement of Experiences in Care

Science.gov (United States)

White, Catherine Roller; O'Brien, Kirk; Pecora, Peter J.; English, Diana; Williams, Jason R.; Phillips, Chereese M.

2009-01-01

The Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study examined the relation between experiences in foster care and depression among young adults who spent at least a year in foster care as adolescents. Results indicate that preparation for leaving foster care, nurturing supports from the foster family, school stability, access to tutoring, access to therapeutic…

Food in Foster Families: Care, Communication and Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, Alyson; Holland, Sally; Pithouse, Andrew

2012-01-01

This study explores the significance of food and mealtimes in relation to the transition into foster care and the therapeutic settling of the child in a new family. In doing so, we draw upon an in-depth, qualitative case study of 10 experienced foster families in the UK focusing on what helped them to be successful. At the time of the study, there…

Foster care, externalizing disorders, and antipsychotic use among Medicaid-enrolled youths.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderwerker, Lauren; Akincigil, Ayse; Olfson, Mark; Gerhard, Tobias; Neese-Todd, Sheree; Crystal, Stephen

2014-10-01

The authors investigated the extent to which clinical diagnoses of externalizing disorders explain higher rates of antipsychotic use by foster care youths. Medicaid claims data from 44 states for 2009 for youths in foster care (N=301,894) and those not in foster care (N=5,092,574) were analyzed, excluding those with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, and major depressive disorder. Logistic regressions assessed the relationship between foster care, externalizing disorders, and antipsychotic use. Foster care youths had higher rates of externalizing disorders than the comparison group (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, 17.3% versus 6.5%; disruptive behavior disorder, 7.2% versus 2.5%; conduct disorder, 2.3% versus .5%) and greater antipsychotic use (7.4% versus 1.4%). Foster care remained a significant predictor of antipsychotic use after control for demographic and diagnostic covariates, including externalizing disorders (adjusted odds ratio=2.59, 95% confidence interval=2.54-2.63). High rates of externalizing disorder diagnoses only partially explained elevated levels of antipsychotic use in this vulnerable population.

Functioning of the knowledge triangle in the example of IT education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHIVITSKAYA H.

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the interactions between knowledge triangle components in IT-education in the Republic of Belarus is described. This paper describes the results of research in the framework of the program of the European Union Tempus IV «Fostering the Knowledge Triangle in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova» - «FKTBUM». The analysis of the obstacles to the effective integration of higher education, research and innovation is performed.

Therapeutic mentoring: reducing the impact of trauma for foster youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Sara B; Pryce, Julia M

2013-01-01

This study utilized secondary data analysis to examine therapeutic mentoring (TM) as a service intervention in helping to reduce trauma symptoms in foster youth. Outcomes were compared for mentored (n = 106) and non-mentored (n = 156) foster youth related to experience and symptoms of trauma. Results showed that mentored youth improved significantly in the reduction of trauma symptoms relative to non-mentored youth, suggesting that TM shows promise as an important treatment intervention for foster youth with trauma experiences.

Labor of Love: Foster Mothers, Caregiving, and Welfare Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Critelli, Filomena M.

2008-01-01

Using a telephone survey, this study examined the experiences of 100 foster mothers who receive aid through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Foster mothers reported numerous difficulties with TANF, including frequent sanctions and case closings, limited work and training opportunities, and pervasive material hardships. Foster…

"Couch Surfing" of Latino Foster Care Alumni: Reliance on Peers as Social Capital

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Beatrix F.; Romo, Harriett D.

2011-01-01

Youth exiting foster care often experience difficulties transitioning into adulthood. This paper focuses on Latino foster care youth in a major southwestern U.S. city and addresses the importance of peer networks as a crucial form of social capital as youth leave foster care. Case studies illustrate experiences of foster care alumni ranging in age…

Information and Knowledge Management in the Scope of the Information Security practices: the human factor within Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciana Emirena Santos Carneiro

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The security of informational assets has always been a corporate requirement. These assets can be scaled in three main spheres, namely, people, organizational processes and technologies. The internet, the web, the broadcast of networks, and the growing presence of technology both in people's lives and in organizational contexts have caused profound transformations in the intrinsic processes that constitute personal and organizational routines. On the one hand, these changes provided by the technological progress have fostered competitiveness and decentralization; on the other hand, they require better management, control, security and protection for information and knowledge. This article presents the results of an investigation within information security realm, focusing on the human aspects of knowledge and information management related to security practices. Using a quality-quantitative approach, we identify behavioral actions and profiles of employees of a company in the field of healthcare, which reveal some connections with information security failures. We conclude that the human element is a relevant variable, even a critical one, for the management of information security in organizations.

Predictors of Early Childbirth Among Female Adolescents in Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Bryn; Van Wert, Melissa

2017-08-01

Placement into foster care is driven by a number of factors, many of which are associated with adolescent childbirth. Yet, there are few studies that identify the experiences and characteristics that predict adolescent childbirth among girls who spend time in foster care. A longitudinal, population-based data set was constructed by probabilistically matching California child protective service records for female foster youth to maternal information available on vital birth records for children born between 2001 and 2010. Rates of childbirth among girls in foster care after their 10th birthday were generated. Chi-square tests assessed differences and survival models were specified to determine the rate of childbearing across key characteristics. Among the 30,339 girls who spent time in foster care as adolescents, 18.3% (5,567) gave birth for the first time before their 20th birthday. At a bivariate level, significant differences (p foster care placement experiences. In the fully adjusted survival model, the highest birth rates were observed among girls who entered care between ages 13 and 16 years; had been in care for relatively short periods of time; lived in congregate care at the estimated date of conception; had a history of running away; and were Latina, black, or Native American. The results suggest that there are identifiable risk factors associated with early childbirth among girls in foster care, which can help determine the timing and location of reproductive health services to minimize unintended pregnancy and maximize adolescent health and well-being. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Treatment Foster Care Pre-Service Trainings: Changes in Parenting Attitudes and Fostering Readiness

Science.gov (United States)

Strickler, Amy; Trunzo, Annette C.; Kaelin, Michael S.

2018-01-01

Background: Pre-service training of treatment parents is a requirement for all foster care models to ensure safety and well-being of children in care. Researchers theorize treatment parents benefit more from enhanced pre-service trainings; however, no rigorous studies exist indicating the effectiveness of these trainings for treatment parents.…

Timely Health Service Utilization of Older Foster Youth by Insurance Type.

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Angelique; Curtis, Amy; Paul, Rajib; Allotey, Prince Addo; Crosby, Shantel

2016-01-01

To evaluate the impact of a policy change for older foster care youth from a fee-for-service (FFS) Medicaid program to health maintenance organization (HMO) providers on the timeliness of first well-child visits (health care physicals). A three-year retrospective study using linked administrative data collected by the Michigan Departments of Human Services and Community Health of 1,657 youth, ages 10-20 years, who were in foster care during the 2009-2012 study period was used to examine the odds of receiving a timely well-child visit within the recommended 30-day time frame controlling for race, age, days from foster care entry to Medicaid enrollment, and number of foster care placements. Youth entering foster care during the HMO period were more likely to receive a timely well-child visit than those in the FFS period (odds ratio, 2.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.84-3.29; p foster care during the FFS period to 29 days for the HMO period. Among the other factors examined, more than 14 days to Medicaid enrollment, being non-Hispanic black and having five or more placements were negatively associated with receipt of a timely first well-child visit. Those youth who entered foster care during the HMO period had significantly greater odds of receiving a timely first well-child visit; however, disparities in access to preventive health care remain a concern for minority foster care youth, those who experience delayed Medicaid enrollment and those who experienced multiple placements. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Foster Care: Assessing Disproportionality and Disparities in Los Angeles

OpenAIRE

Wilson, Bianca DM; Cooper, Khush; Kastanis, Angeliki; Nezhad, Sheila

2014-01-01

LGBTQ foster youth are twice as likely to report poor treatment and more likely to live in group homes and to have more foster care placements. Approximately 1 in 5, or 1,400 foster youth in Los Angeles County, home to the nation’s largest population of foster youth, identify as LGBTQ. The finding is twice the estimated percentage of youth not in foster care who are LGBTQ. Generally, LGBTQ foster youth mirror the racial/ethnic demographic of all foster youth in Los Angeles County. The majorit...

A Growth Curve Analysis of Housing Quality among Transition-Aged Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Tyrell, Fanita A.; Yates, Tuppett M.

2017-01-01

Background: Procuring safe housing is a salient developmental task during emerging adulthood, one that is especially challenging for emancipated foster youth. Yet, little is known about factors that influence foster youths' housing experiences. Objective: This investigation documented changes in foster youth's housing quality during the first…

45 CFR 2552.46 - What cost reimbursements are provided to Foster Grandparents?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false What cost reimbursements are provided to Foster..., Status and Cost Reimbursements § 2552.46 What cost reimbursements are provided to Foster Grandparents? Cost reimbursements include: (a) Stipend. Foster Grandparents who are income eligible will receive a...

Fostering Integrity in Research

Science.gov (United States)

McNutt, M. K.

2017-12-01

The responsible conduct of research requires that all involved in the research enterprise - researchers, sponsors, reviewers, publishers, and communicators - adhere to a set of integrity principles to protect the public's investment. Given the increasing complexity and globalization of the research enterprise, the National Academies recently re-examined and updated its integrity recommendations for researchers in the report Fostering Integrity in Research, with sponsorship from the National Science Foundation. Major departures from the previous recommendations 25-years earlier are the recognition that practices that were previously classified as merely questionable are indeed detrimental to the responsible conduct of research. Furthermore, the report concludes that there has been insufficient effort to respond to the threats that lapses in research integrity pose to the quality of research products and the reputation of researchers as deserving of the public trust. It recommends the creation of an independent, non-profit entity dedicated to promoting research integrity by serving as a resource and clearing house for expertise, advice, materials, and best practices on fostering research integrity and responding to allegations of research misconduct.

Strategies for fostering basic psychological needs support in high quality youth leadership programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, Corliss; Harlow, Meghan; Kendellen, Kelsey

2017-04-01

Youth leadership programming has become an increasingly common context to foster basic psychological needs and promote youth development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore strategies involved in fostering youth needs support within six leadership programs. Two leaders and 30 youth participated in semi-structured interviews to better understand the strategies used to foster needs support. Findings revealed that leaders were able to foster a sense of relatedness among youth through building trusting adult-youth relationships and nurturing an inclusive environment. Maximizing choice and negotiating youth voice helped to foster youth's autonomy. Finally, creating a task-oriented climate and providing intentional opportunities for skill-building helped to foster youth's competence. Findings suggest that training for leaders is critical in understanding what, and how strategies should be employed to help foster youth needs support in leadership programming. Limitations and future directions are outlined. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Educational Experiences of Emancipated Foster Youth: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Stunkard, Cynthia Joyce

2013-01-01

The data obtained in this qualitative study focused on the educational experiences of youth formerly in foster care after graduation from high school from the viewpoint of the youth. Data were gathered from interviews from 10 participants. Themes included: (a) How do youth emancipated from foster care perceive their educational experiences? (b)…

Responding to the Needs of Foster Teens in a Rural School District

Science.gov (United States)

DeGarmo, John Nelson

2012-01-01

As more children are placed under foster care, schools often have difficulty in responding to newly placed foster teens. Foster teens often exhibit both academic and behavioral adjustment issues, leading to disciplinary problems and high failure, and dropout rates. Attachment theory related to placement disruptions, school performance and…

Fostering collaboration for knowledge and action in disaster management in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Sitas, Nadia E

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Engaging diverse stakeholders in collaborative processes to integrate environmental information into decision making is important, but challenging. It requires working at and across the boundaries between knowledge types — a complex milieu...

A Study of Operationally Relevant C2 Knowledge Management

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Petrov, Plamen

2003-01-01

.... The empirical phase of the project was designed to compare the performance of C2 personnel using an advanced information/knowledge management software environment to C2 personnel using a currently...

Problem based learning: enhancing constructivist activities and engagement by fostering online knowledge sharing

OpenAIRE

Malik, Manish

2009-01-01

PBL was first introduced in medical education as a pure constructivist activity. This was popularly known as the McMaster approach [1]. Later, as can be seen in the literature [2], [4]-[10], there were several different implementations of PBL. There is no single definition of what is classed as a PBL activity. Similarly, there is no one approach reported to be the only successful approach. Sharing of knowledge and discussions based on this knowledge are the hall mark of any successful PBL bas...

Star Power: An Experiential Learning Exercise to Foster Ecological Perspectives on Power, Privilege, and Oppression

Science.gov (United States)

Nnawulezi, Nkiru; Campbell, Christina; Landstra, Kalleigh; Davis, Se'ara; Vandegrift, Cortney; Taylor, Amanda

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the utility of Star Power, as an experiential learning exercise applied in a community psychology undergraduate course. This exercise simulates systems of power, privilege, and oppression while fostering an ecological perspective that raises students’ awareness and knowledge about power differentials within society. The simulation of trading and lawmaking works best with 18 to 35 students and takes approximately 80 minutes to conduct. This paper highlights three representative student perspectives concerning their participation and experience with Star Power. Strategies for facilitating class discussion are also discussed. PMID:23480288

The effect of foster care placement on paternal welfare dependency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fallesen, Peter

The arrival of a child profoundly alters the life-course for men. Yet, children could change men's lives not only by arriving in them, but also by departing from them. In this article, I test how one such departure-foster care placement-affects men's labor market attachment, and in so doing I...... provide a novel parallel to existing research on how fatherhood affects men, which focuses almost exclusively on a child's arrival. Using population panel data from Denmark that include all first time fathers whose children were placed in foster care from 1995-2005, I find that having a child placed...... in foster care is associated with up to a 12 percentage point increase in welfare dependency. This result persists in analyses that control for individual and family level fixed effects, unobserved heterogeneity, and selection into having a child placed in foster care....

Assessment of foster carers : their willingness to raise children with special needs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strijker, Johan; Knorth, Erik J.

2018-01-01

A substantial part of children placed out of home in family foster care suffers severe emotional and behavioural problems. These problems can enlarge the risk of a placement breakdown: the stay of a child in a foster family comes prematurely to an end because, for instance, the foster carers are not

Hopes & Hurdles: California Foster Youth and College Financial Aid

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Deborah Frankle; Szabo-Kubitz, Laura

2009-01-01

This report examines why former foster youth in California are not receiving the aid they are likely eligible for, from inadequate or poorly targeted information about college costs and financial aid to structural obstacles within the aid process and programs. While many of this report's findings and recommendations are specific to foster youth,…

Foster Care Involvement among Medicaid-Enrolled Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Cidav, Zuleyha; Xie, Ming; Mandell, David S.

2018-01-01

The prevalence and risk of foster care involvement among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to children with intellectual disability (ID), children with ASD and ID, and typically developing children were examined using 2001-2007 Medicaid data. Children were followed up to the first foster care placement or until the end of 2007;…

"Exploring knowledge-user experiences in integrated knowledge translation: a biomedical investigation of the causes and consequences of food allergy".

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Jenna; Elliott, Susan J; Clarke, Ann E

2016-01-01

Food allergy is a serious public health problem in Canada and other high-income countries, as it is potentially life threatening and severely impacts the quality of life for individuals and their families. Yet, many questions still remain as to its origins and determinants, and the best practices for treatment. Formed to tackle these very questions, the GET-FACTS research study centers on a novel concept in biomedical research: in order to make this science useful, knowledge creation must include meaningful interactions with knowledge-users. With this, knowledge-users are present at every stage of the research and are crucial, central and equal contributors. This study reflects on the early part of that journey from the perspective of the knowledge-users. We conducted interviews with all non-scientist members of the GET-FACTS steering committee, representing Canadian organizations that deal with patient advocacy and policy with regards to food allergy. Steering committee members had a clear sense that scientists and knowledge-users are equally responsible for putting knowledge into action and the importance of consulting and integrating knowledge-users throughout research. They also have high expectations for the GET-FACTS integrated process; that this model of doing science will create better scientists (e.g. improve communication skills) and make the scientific output more useful and relevant. Our work highlights both the unique contributions that knowledge-users can offer to knowledge creation as well as the challenges of trying to unify members from such different communities (policy/advocacy and biomedical science). There remains a real need to develop more touch points and opportunities for collaboration if true integration is to be achieved. Despite the obstacles, this model can help change the way knowledge is created in the biomedical world. ᅟ. Despite the burden of food allergic disease many questions remain as to its origins, determinants and best

Examining Hip-Hop as Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jung; Pulido, Isaura

2015-01-01

Culturally relevant pedagogy is a framework that conceptualizes the process of student learning as contingent upon educators' deep understanding of students' cultural backgrounds to co-construct knowledge and develop academic skills. Concurrently, there are a growing number of studies that explore hip-hop as a culturally relevant curriculum for…

Law for Country: the Structure of Warlpiri Ecological Knowledge and Its Application to Natural Resource Management and Ecosystem Stewardship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miles C. C. Holmes

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK is deeply encoded in social processes. Our research shows that from an Indigenous perspective, IEK is a way of living whose core aim is to sustain the healthy functioning of people and country through relationships of reciprocity. However, IEK is often portrayed more prosaically as a body of knowledge about the environment. We introduce a framework, called ngurra-kurlu, that enables appreciation of indigenous perspectives on IEK. The framework was identified from the collaborative work of the authors with Warlpiri aboriginal elders in the Tanami Desert region of central Australia. Ngurra-kurlu facilitates cross-cultural understanding by distilling, from a complex cultural system, the five distinct conceptual categories that comprise IEK: law, skin, ceremony, language, and country. The framework enables engagement with nuanced environmental knowledge because it synthesizes, for cross-cultural audiences, all the key areas of knowledge and practice in which IEK is located. In particular, the framework highlights how social systems mediate the transmission, deployment, and regulation of environmental knowledge in on-ground situations, including collaborative natural resource management. Although the framework was generated in relation to one indigenous group, the epistemological structure of Warlpiri IEK is relevant throughout Australia, and the framework can be applied internationally to the emerging interest in fostering ecosystem stewardship in which the cultural connections between people and place are an integral part of ecosystems management.

Knowledge Management as a Strategic Tool to Foster Innovativeness of SMEs

OpenAIRE

Zhou, Haibo; Uhlaner, Lorraine

2009-01-01

textabstractThis study examines the relationship between knowledge management (KM) (in terms of external acquisition and internal sharing) and innovation behavior. The concept of absorptive capacity and assumptions from the dynamic capabilities view underlie the proposed framework and hypotheses. The framework is empirically tested using a random sample of 649 Dutch small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Our empricial results indicate that external acquisition practices play a key role in ...

STEM-21CS Module: Fostering 21st Century Skills through Integrated STEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norhaqikah Mohamad Khalil

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Malaysia calls for a society that is highly knowledgeable in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM and equipped with 21st century skills to provide professional workforce that can compete globally. The application of a STEM interdisciplinary approach and teaching and learning (T&L strategies such as problem-based and inquiry-based learning are proposed in development of the STEM-21CS Module in order to foster 21st century skills in the existing science curricula. A majority of real-world issues today are interdisciplinary in which they require students to comprehend the need to integrate multiple disciplines to solve them. STEM-21CS Module allows students to master scientific knowledge and subsequently master other disciplinary skills. It is aimed at improving students’ abilities to enrich their knowledge through hands-on and minds-on activities. The field of engineering requires the knowledge of product design and inventive problem solving skills. The integration of information technology in T&L is recommended in meeting the current needs of the Net Generation. Besides that, mathematics plays a vital role in providing computational tools, especially in analysing data. The STEM-21CS Module is expected to nurture 21st century skills such as digital era literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, high productivity, and spiritual and noble values among Malaysian students.

Knowledge brokers in a knowledge network: the case of Seniors Health Research Transfer Network knowledge brokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Conklin, James; Lusk, Elizabeth; Harris, Megan; Stolee, Paul

2013-01-09

The purpose of this paper is to describe and reflect on the role of knowledge brokers (KBs) in the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN). The paper reviews the relevant literature on knowledge brokering, and then describes the evolving role of knowledge brokering in this knowledge network. The description of knowledge brokering provided here is based on a developmental evaluation program and on the experiences of the authors. Data were gathered through qualitative and quantitative methods, analyzed by the evaluators, and interpreted by network members who participated in sensemaking forums. The results were fed back to the network each year in the form of formal written reports that were widely distributed to network members, as well as through presentations to the network's members. The SHRTN evaluation and our experiences as evaluators and KBs suggest that a SHRTN KB facilitates processes of learning whereby people are connected with tacit or explicit knowledge sources that will help them to resolve work-related challenges. To make this happen, KBs engage in a set of relational, technical, and analytical activities that help communities of practice (CoPs) to develop and operate, facilitate exchanges among people with similar concerns and interests, and help groups and individuals to create, explore, and apply knowledge in their practice. We also suggest that the role is difficult to define, emergent, abstract, episodic, and not fully understood. The KB role within this knowledge network has developed and matured over time. The KB adapts to the social and technical affordances of each situation, and fashions a unique and relevant process to create relationships and promote learning and change. The ability to work with teams and to develop relevant models and feasible approaches are critical KB skills. The KB is a leader who wields influence rather than power, and who is prepared to adopt whatever roles and approaches are needed to bring about a valuable

How to Measure the Cost of Foster Family Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Settles, Barbara H.; And Others

This report presents a method for measuring the cost of foster family care in local areas through use of governmental and other available data on costs relating to non-foster children. The cost measurement procedures used, for which 32 pages of tables and worksheet forms are provided, are designed to measure average costs in a particular area…

Futuragua: Fostering Cross-Scale Knowledge to Inform Social-Environmental Decision Processes for Building Drought Resilience in Highly Seasonal Environments

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniels, T.; Steyn, D. G.; Johnson, M. S.; Small, M.; Leclerc, G.; Vignola, R.; Chan, K.; Grossmann, I.; Wong-Parodi, G.

2014-12-01

Improving resilience to drought in complex social-environmental systems (SES) is extraordinarily important, particularly for rural tropical locations where small changes in climate regimes can have dramatic SES impacts. Efforts to build drought resilience must necessarily be planned and implemented within SES governance systems that involve linkages in water and land use administration from local to national levels. These efforts require knowledge and understanding that links climate and weather forecasts to regional and local hydrology, to social-economic and environmental systems, and to governance processes. In order to provide structure for such complex choices and investments, we argue that a focus on structured decision processes that involve linkages among science, technological perspectives, and public values conducted with agencies and stakeholders will provide a crucial framework for comparing and building insight for pursuing alternative courses of action to build drought resilience. This paper focuses on a regional case study in the seasonally-dry northwest region of Costa Rica, in watersheds rated as most threatened in the country in terms of drought. We present the overall framework guiding the transdisciplinary efforts to link scientific and technical understanding to public values, in order to foster civil society actions that lead to improved drought resilience. Initial efforts to characterize hydrological and climate regimes will be reported along with our approach to linking natural science findings, social inventories in terms of perspectives on SES, and the psychology and patterns of reliance on forecast information that provide the basis for characterizing public understanding. The overall linkage of technical and value information is focused on creating and comparing alternative actions that can potentially build resilience in short and long time frames by building decision making processes involving stakeholders, agencies and interested

A Compositional Relevance Model for Adaptive Information Retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Mathe, Nathalie; Chen, James; Lu, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

There is a growing need for rapid and effective access to information in large electronic documentation systems. Access can be facilitated if information relevant in the current problem solving context can be automatically supplied to the user. This includes information relevant to particular user profiles, tasks being performed, and problems being solved. However most of this knowledge on contextual relevance is not found within the contents of documents, and current hypermedia tools do not provide any easy mechanism to let users add this knowledge to their documents. We propose a compositional relevance network to automatically acquire the context in which previous information was found relevant. The model records information on the relevance of references based on user feedback for specific queries and contexts. It also generalizes such information to derive relevant references for similar queries and contexts. This model lets users filter information by context of relevance, build personalized views of documents over time, and share their views with other users. It also applies to any type of multimedia information. Compared to other approaches, it is less costly and doesn't require any a priori statistical computation, nor an extended training period. It is currently being implemented into the Computer Integrated Documentation system which enables integration of various technical documents in a hypertext framework.

The developing relationship between recently placed foster infants and toddlers and their foster carers: Do demographic factors, placement characteristics and biological stress markers matter?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Andel, H.W.H.; Post, W.J.; Jansen, L.M.C.; Kamphuis, J.S.; v.d. Gaag, R.J.; Knorth, E.J.; Grietens, H.

2015-01-01

Background: Infants and toddlers often react to a foster family placement with avoidant behavior. Foster carers may interpret this as if the child is adapting quite well to the new family. This misunderstanding may lead to stress in the child and create a risk for an enduring relationship.

A Critical Analysis of Foster Youth Advisory Boards in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Forenza, Brad; Happonen, Robin G.

2016-01-01

Background: The enactment of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Act brought welcome attention to young people aging out of foster care, and sought to include them in both case planning and policy dialog. Foster Youth Advisory Boards help to promote such inclusion, though the implementation of those boards has not been formally analyzed.…

Sexual knowledge, attitudes and activity of older people in Taipei, Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tze-Fang; Lu, Chwen-Hwa; Chen, I-Ju; Yu, Shu

2008-02-01

We examined sexual activity and predictive factors among older people in Taipei, Taiwan. We aimed to characterize the older population engaged in sexual activity and determine influencing factors, exploring aspects of sexuality that may influence elders' health and quality of life (QOL). Studies of sexual attitudes and behaviour have found that sexual difficulties are common among mature adults worldwide, influenced in men and women by physical health, ageing, psychosocial and cultural factors. We conducted a community-based retrospective study involving a random sample of 412 men and 204 women over age 65. A questionnaire on demographics and social situations was administered, along with a Sexuality Knowledge and Attitudes Scale; 34 questions evaluated sexual knowledge and 18 evaluated sexual attitudes. Two-hundred and twenty participants were sexually active (35.7%), 185 mainly with spouses (84.1%); frequency was 21.4 (SD 16.9) times per year (range: 1-120). Multiple logistic regressions identified five significant predictors of sexual activity: gender, age, being with spouse, sexual knowledge and sexual attitudes. Sexual activity was significantly associated with higher education levels, lower stress and more self-reported daily activities. Our results agreed with Western studies linking sexual activity with better health and higher QOL in older adults. Older peoples' stress and daily activity levels are recognized quality-of-life measures; lower stress and more daily activities among sexually active older people suggests a connection between sexual activity and higher QOL. Increasing knowledge and improving attitudes about sexuality may help older people build healthier relationships and enhance health and QOL. Relevance to clinical practice. If healthcare professionals possess greater understanding of older peoples' sexuality, healthcare systems may find ways to increase sexual knowledge and foster healthier attitudes and relationships to improve older peoples

A laboratory cage for foster nursing newborn mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Marques-de-Araújo

1999-03-01

Full Text Available We describe a cage to be used for foster nursing in order to guarantee that original mother's colostrum is not ingested by the newborn mice. A common (30.5 cm x 19.5 cm x 12.0 cm mouse cage was fitted with a wire net tray with a mesh (1 cm x 1 cm, which divides the cage into an upper and a lower compartment. Mice born to females placed in the upper compartment pass through the mesh and fall into the lower compartment, where another lactating female with one or two of its own pups are. Of a total of 28 newborn mice of C3H/He and Swiss strains, 23 were successfully fostered. Important observations are presented to show that this is a valuable alternative for foster studies without great suffering on the part of the female.

Good caring and vocabularies of motive among foster carers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Doyle

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Employing C. Wright Mills’ concept of vocabulary of motives, this article examines the motives and attitudes of people who volunteer to foster children with high support needs. Data is drawn from a larger qualitative study involving indepth interviewing of 23 carers. When asked why they had become foster carers participants produced conventional accounts of child-centred altruistic motives–an acceptable vocabulary of motives which satisfied institutional and cultural expectations regarding caregiving. However, closer examination of participants’ experiences and attitudes revealed the likelihood that economic motives were also factors in decisions to foster. It is argued that participants chose to exclude economic motives from their accounts so as to avoid the risk of being seen to be ‘doing it for the money’.

Knowledge translation tools for parents on child health topics: a scoping review

OpenAIRE

Albrecht, Lauren; Scott, Shannon D.; Hartling, Lisa

2017-01-01

Background An emerging field of knowledge translation (KT) research has begun to focus on health consumers, particularly in child health. KT tools provide health consumers with research knowledge to inform health decision-making and may foster ‘effective consumers’. Thus, the purpose of this scoping review was to describe the state of the field of previously published effectiveness research on child health-related KT tools for parents/caregivers to understand the evidence-base, identify gaps,...

Indigenous Knowledge and Sea Ice Science: What Can We Learn from Indigenous Ice Users?

Science.gov (United States)

Eicken, H.

2010-12-01

Drawing on examples mostly from Iñupiaq and Yup’ik sea-ice expertise in coastal Alaska, this contribution examines how local, indigenous knowledge (LIK) can inform and guide geophysical and biological sea-ice research. Part of the relevance of LIK derives from its linkage to sea-ice use and the services coastal communities derive from the ice cover. As a result, indigenous experts keep track of a broad range of sea-ice variables at a particular location. These observations are embedded into a broader worldview that speaks to both long-term variability or change and to the system of values associated with ice use. The contribution examines eight different contexts in which LIK in study site selection and assessment of a sampling campaign in the context of inter annual variability, the identification of rare or inconspicuous phenomena or events, the contribution by indigenous experts to hazard assessment and emergency response, the record of past and present climate embedded in LIK, and the value of holistic sea-ice knowledge in detecting subtle, intertwined patterns of environmental change. The relevance of local, indigenous sea-ice expertise in helping advance adaptation and responses to climate change as well as its potential role in guiding research questions and hypotheses are also examined. The challenges that may have to be overcome in creating an interface for exchange between indigenous experts and seaice researchers are considered. Promising approaches to overcome these challenges include cross-cultural, interdisciplinary education, and the fostering of Communities of Practice.

Protection of Children in Malaysia through Foster Care Legislation and Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azizah Mohd

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Children are immature, naive and unable to care for themselves. Due to this verynature of children, they are in need of among others, care, attention andsupervision from adults. Care, attention and supervision are among the means ofcare and protection of children, which can only be acquired in a familyenvironment. One of the ways to achieve family environment is through FosterCare where a child who is in need of care and protection will be placed with afamily permanently or temporarily or until they are able to care for themselves.Foster care will at least provide for a family life experience especially for childrenwithout family or who have problems in their family life. This paper is to examinethe Concept of Foster care in Malaysia and the law relating to it as to provideprotection to children in need of care and protection. Examination will focus onrelevant legislations and policy relating to Foster Care. Discussion will extend toanalysis on whether the available laws and policies are adequate to sustainchildren protection in Malaysia through Foster Care.

Effects of PMTO in foster families with children with behavior problems : A Randomized Controlled Trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maaskant, A.M.; van Rooij, F.B.; Overbeek, G.J.; Oort, F.J.; Arntz, M.; Hermanns, J.M.A.

The present randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of Parent Management Training Oregon for foster parents with foster children (aged 4–12) with severe externalizing behavior problems in long-term foster care arrangements. Foster children’s behavior problems are challenging for

Natural Fostering in Fritillaria cirrhosa: Integrating herbal medicine production with biodiversity conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiwen Li

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Protected areas are generally regarded as a power tool to conserve biodiversity. Nonetheless, few protected areas could address three crucial problems simultaneously, namely funding, public participation and rural living. Here, we introduced a new protective approach, Natural Fostering, which integrated herbal medicine production with community conservation. The principles of Natural Fostering adopted species–species interaction at community level. Most effective chemical components of herbal medicine are derived from such interaction. Fritillaria cirrhosa was selected as an economic botany, one of herbal medicines, to carry out Natural Fostering. Community habitats, herbal medicine production, funding and income of local family were investigated to verify the feasibility of Natural Fostering for biodiversity. We found the density of plant populations and the annual average personal income of rural people increased. F. cirrhosa production could provide sufficient funds for sustainable conservation. Local people gradually changed their life style of wild collection and overgrazing, instead of herbal medicine production. The fostering area set up a good sustainable economic cycle. Natural Fostering can be presented as an effective and pragmatic way to conserve biological diversity and sustainable utilization of traditional medicinal resources.

45 CFR 1356.30 - Safety requirements for foster care and adoptive home providers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... licensing file for that foster or adoptive family must contain documentation which verifies that safety... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Safety requirements for foster care and adoptive... ON CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES, FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS, ADOPTION ASSISTANCE, AND CHILD AND...

Factors associated with family reunification for children in foster care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

López, Mónica; del Valle, Jorge F.; Montserrat, Carme; Bravo, Amaia

In this paper, we analyse reunification processes from family foster care, both kinship and non-kinship, and the variables associated with them in a Spanish sample. Data collection was carried out after a review of child protection and foster care files, and those responsible for the cases were also

Special Needs Adoption and Foster Exigencies (SAFE: A Model for Case Managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen Linton

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Children with special needs disproportionately receive child welfare services in out-of-home placements, such as foster and adoptive homes. This theoretical model has been developed to describe or explain exigencies of adoptive and foster families of children with special needs (n = 82. A web content analysis, including theme, feature, link, exchange, and language analyses, of online discussion forums of adoptive and foster parents of children with special needs using a phenomenological framework was conducted. Inductive and quantitative web content analyses were conducted on themes. Parenting concerns were clustered into two main themes, disability and placement issues, and focused on children’s pre and post placement needs. A phenomenological analysis resulted in the development of the Special Needs Adoption and Foster Exigencies (SAFE, which outlines exigencies of adoptive and foster parents of children with special needs during engagement, assessment, and intervention phases of case management.

Against the odds: foster carers' perceptions of family, commitment and belonging in successful placements.

Science.gov (United States)

Oke, Nicholas; Rostill-Brookes, Helen; Larkin, Michael

2013-01-01

This study examines carer attributes associated with placement stability for teenagers growing up in long term foster care, focusing on unexpected placement success. We explored experiences and perceptions relating to family, belonging and commitment in a group of foster carers providing a stable placement for a young person who had not been expected to settle. These placements showed positive outcome, despite factors in the child's history that might have predicted otherwise. Seven foster carers were interviewed following a semi-structured guide, which covered their ideas about their relationship with the child in question, about the foster family, and the child's sense of belonging in foster and birth family. Analysis of carers' accounts of placements which had succeeded 'against the odds' revealed four major themes, described under the headings My Child--emotional bonding, the carers' enlarged view of family and their parental regard for the young person; Jam in the Sandwich--working within a 'compromised space' between Local Authority and birth family; Repair and Rebuild--the craft of fostering including managing the foster/birth family boundary; Sticking with It--resilience, tenacity and maintaining hopefulness. The carers' accounts offer pointers towards the ingredients of successful placements and prompt reflection on how these may be supported and promoted. They also highlight tensions inherent in the foster carer task relating to carers' parental functioning for young people in long-term foster care.

Reported Hyperphagia in Foster Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Demb, Janet M.

1991-01-01

Foster children (age 0-14, n=190) referred for mental health evaluations were compared to a subsample of 10 children identified as hyperphagic. These children displayed hyperactivity and poor impulse control, interpersonal skills, and communication skills. Mothers exhibited a high incidence of drug/alcohol abuse. Hyperphagia should alert…

Fostering accurate HIV/AIDS knowledge among unmarried youths in Cameroon: do family environment and peers matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Tsala Dimbuene, Zacharie; Kuate Defo, Barthelemy

2011-05-19

The last three decades have seen a series of HIV interventions in sub-Saharan Africa. However, youths still have a mixture of correct and incorrect HIV/AIDS knowledge of transmission routes and prevention strategies. Previous studies have identified parents and peers as the most important socializing agents for youths. This paper assesses the relationships between family structure, family/peer communication about sexuality and accurate knowledge of transmission routes and prevention strategies. Data were drawn from the Cameroon Family Life and Health Survey (CFHS) conducted in 2002. The CFHS collected information on a representative sample of 4950 people aged 10 years and over nested within 1765 selected households from the 75 localities forming the administrative prefecture of Bandjoun, using detailed questionnaires about family, HIV/AIDS/STDs knowledge, sexual behaviors, contraception, health, media exposure, household assets and neighborhood characteristics. The survey cooperation rates were high (97%). For the purpose of this study, a sub-sample of 2028 unmarried youths aged 12-29 years was utilized. Overall, 42% of respondents reported accurate knowledge of documented HIV transmission routes whereas 21% of them had inaccurate knowledge such as AIDS can be transmitted through mosquito bites or casual contact with an infected person. Only 9% of respondents were knowledgeable about all HIV prevention strategies. Multivariate analyses showed that family structure, communication with parents/guardians and peers about sexual topics were significantly associated with accurate HIV knowledge. Additionally, age, education, sexual experience and migration had significant effects on accurate knowledge. Finally, living in poor households and disadvantaged neighborhoods significantly increased inaccurate knowledge of HIV transmission modes and prevention strategies. This paper evidenced the limited effects of HIV interventions/programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, few

Discovering relevance knowledge in data: a growing cell structures approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Azuaje, F; Dubitzky, W; Black, N; Adamson, K

2000-01-01

Both information retrieval and case-based reasoning systems rely on effective and efficient selection of relevant data. Typically, relevance in such systems is approximated by similarity or indexing models. However, the definition of what makes data items similar or how they should be indexed is often nontrivial and time-consuming. Based on growing cell structure artificial neural networks, this paper presents a method that automatically constructs a case retrieval model from existing data. Within the case-based reasoning (CBR) framework, the method is evaluated for two medical prognosis tasks, namely, colorectal cancer survival and coronary heart disease risk prognosis. The results of the experiments suggest that the proposed method is effective and robust. To gain a deeper insight and understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the proposed model, a detailed empirical analysis of the models structural and behavioral properties is also provided.

The internal structure of foster-parent completed SDQ for school-aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Stine; Bøe, Tormod; Breivik, Kyrre

2017-01-01

Mental health problems are common in foster-children, and tools to measure the mental health of these children are needed. One candidate instrument is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a measure of child psychological adjustment that is increasingly being employed by Child Protection services. The aim of the current study was to examine the structural validity of the foster parent completed SDQ in a sample of 237 school aged foster children. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated an excellent fit of the foster parent completed SDQ data to a five-factor model (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.05, 90% CI [0.04, 0.06]), thus confirming the structural validity of the five-factor model for the parent-version of the SDQ in Norwegian foster children. Measurement invariance analyses indicated that boys had lower thresholds for fighting with or bullying other children than girls. Girls were on their side more likely to be rated as less popular than boys with a similar level of peer problems.

Fostering Creativity through Personalized Education

Science.gov (United States)

Munakata, Mika; Vaidya, Ashwin

2013-01-01

This article focuses on the philosophy of creativity and its enhancement through an undergraduate research experience. In this paper we offer suggestions for infusing the undergraduate mathematics and science curriculum with research experiences as a way of fostering creativity in our students. We refer to the term "research" broadly,…

Emancipated Foster Youth's Transition from Care to Virginia Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Shylan E.

2012-01-01

The focus of this study was the experience of students who had successfully achieved the transition from foster care to enrollment in Virginia Community Colleges. The following questions guided the inquiry: How do students who are emancipating from foster care describe their transition to enrollment at one of the Virginia Community Colleges? What…

Moral, Conventional, and Personal Rules: The Perspective of Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Mullins, David; Tisak, Marie S.

2006-01-01

Forty-five foster youth (9-13 year old and 14-17 year olds) were asked to evaluate moral, conventional, and personal rules and violations by providing judgments and reasons. The results suggest that foster youths' judgments distinguished between the moral, conventional, and personal domains. However, in providing reasons to support their judgments…

Fostering ethical behavior and preventing corruption: - A purchasing perspective

OpenAIRE

Løvdahl, Sebastian Rosten

2014-01-01

In the view of the latest corporate scandals in Norway and increased focus on ethics and anti-corruption, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the roles of Purchasing and Supply Management and Organizational Culture when fostering ethical behavior and preventing corruption. More specifically, this research attempts to investigate and theorize how organizations can foster ethical behavior and prevent corruption in their respective activities. The research methodology is qualitative...

Examining Educators' Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices about Using Technology with Young Children

Science.gov (United States)

Fenty, Nicole S.; Anderson, Elizabeth McKendry

2014-01-01

Technology has been shown to foster children's motivation and interest in instructional materials. In addition, researchers have found that technology results in higher levels of student engagement and greater levels of comprehension. Researchers have also found that educators must have the knowledge and skills in technology necessary to…

Why does site visit matter in global software development: A knowledge-based perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zahedi, Mansooreh; Babar, Muhammad Ali

2016-01-01

Context: Face-to-Face (F2F) interaction is a strong means to foster social relationships and effective knowledge sharing within a team. However, communication in Global Software Development (GSD) teams is usually restricted to computer-mediated conversation that is perceived to be less effective...

Cholera Vaccination Campaign Contributes to Improved Knowledge Regarding Cholera and Improved Practice Relevant to Waterborne Disease in Rural Haiti

Science.gov (United States)

Aibana, Omowunmi; Franke, Molly; Teng, Jessica; Hilaire, Johanne; Raymond, Max; Ivers, Louise C.

2013-01-01

Background Haiti's cholera epidemic has been devastating partly due to underlying weak infrastructure and limited clean water and sanitation. A comprehensive approach to cholera control is crucial, yet some have argued that oral cholera vaccination (OCV) might result in reduced hygiene practice among recipients. We evaluated the impact of an OCV campaign on knowledge and health practice in rural Haiti. Methodology/Principal Findings We administered baseline surveys on knowledge and practice relevant to cholera and waterborne disease to every 10th household during a census in rural Haiti in February 2012 (N = 811). An OCV campaign occurred from May–June 2012 after which we administered identical surveys to 518 households randomly chosen from the same region in September 2012. We compared responses pre- and post-OCV campaign. Post-vaccination, there was improved knowledge with significant increase in percentage of respondents with ≥3 correct responses on cholera transmission mechanisms (odds ratio[OR] 1.91; 95% confidence interval[CI] 1.52–2.40), preventive methods (OR 1.83; 95% CI 1.46–2.30), and water treatment modalities (OR 2.75; 95% CI 2.16–3.50). Relative to pre-vaccination, participants were more likely post-OCV to report always treating water (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.28–2.05). Respondents were also more likely to report hand washing with soap and water >4 times daily post-vaccine (OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.03–1.64). Knowledge of treating water as a cholera prevention measure was associated with practice of always treating water (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.14–1.89). Post-vaccination, knowledge was associated with frequent hand washing (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.35–4.51). Conclusion An OCV campaign in rural Haiti was associated with significant improvement in cholera knowledge and practices related to waterborne disease. OCV can be part of comprehensive cholera control and reinforce, not detract from, other control efforts in Haiti. PMID:24278498

Cholera vaccination campaign contributes to improved knowledge regarding cholera and improved practice relevant to waterborne disease in rural Haiti.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omowunmi Aibana

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Haiti's cholera epidemic has been devastating partly due to underlying weak infrastructure and limited clean water and sanitation. A comprehensive approach to cholera control is crucial, yet some have argued that oral cholera vaccination (OCV might result in reduced hygiene practice among recipients. We evaluated the impact of an OCV campaign on knowledge and health practice in rural Haiti.We administered baseline surveys on knowledge and practice relevant to cholera and waterborne disease to every 10th household during a census in rural Haiti in February 2012 (N = 811. An OCV campaign occurred from May-June 2012 after which we administered identical surveys to 518 households randomly chosen from the same region in September 2012. We compared responses pre- and post-OCV campaign. Post-vaccination, there was improved knowledge with significant increase in percentage of respondents with ≥ 3 correct responses on cholera transmission mechanisms (odds ratio[OR] 1.91; 95% confidence interval[CI] 1.52-2.40, preventive methods (OR 1.83; 95% CI 1.46-2.30, and water treatment modalities (OR 2.75; 95% CI 2.16-3.50. Relative to pre-vaccination, participants were more likely post-OCV to report always treating water (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.28-2.05. Respondents were also more likely to report hand washing with soap and water >4 times daily post-vaccine (OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.03-1.64. Knowledge of treating water as a cholera prevention measure was associated with practice of always treating water (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.14-1.89. Post-vaccination, knowledge was associated with frequent hand washing (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.35-4.51.An OCV campaign in rural Haiti was associated with significant improvement in cholera knowledge and practices related to waterborne disease. OCV can be part of comprehensive cholera control and reinforce, not detract from, other control efforts in Haiti.

Developing the experts we need: Fostering adaptive expertise through education.

Science.gov (United States)

Mylopoulos, Maria; Kulasegaram, Kulamakan; Woods, Nicole N

2018-03-08

In this era of increasing complexity, there is a growing gap between what we need our medical experts to do and the training we provide them. While medical education has a long history of being guided by theories of expertise to inform curriculum design and implementation, the theories that currently underpin our educational programs do not account for the expertise necessary for excellence in the changing health care context. The more comprehensive view of expertise gained by research on both clinical reasoning and adaptive expertise provides a useful framing for re-shaping physician education, placing emphasis on the training of clinicians who will be adaptive experts. That is, have both the ability to apply their extensive knowledge base as well as create new knowledge as dictated by patient needs and context. Three key educational approaches have been shown to foster the development of adaptive expertise: learning that emphasizes understanding, providing students with opportunities to embrace struggle and discovery in their learning, and maximizing variation in the teaching of clinical concepts. There is solid evidence that a commitment to these educational approaches can help medical educators to set trainees on the path towards adaptive expertise. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fostering accurate HIV/AIDS knowledge among unmarried youths in Cameroon: Do family environment and peers matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuate Defo Barthelemy

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The last three decades have seen a series of HIV interventions in sub-Saharan Africa. However, youths still have a mixture of correct and incorrect HIV/AIDS knowledge of transmission routes and prevention strategies. Previous studies have identified parents and peers as the most important socializing agents for youths. This paper assesses the relationships between family structure, family/peer communication about sexuality and accurate knowledge of transmission routes and prevention strategies. Methods Data were drawn from the Cameroon Family Life and Health Survey (CFHS conducted in 2002. The CFHS collected information on a representative sample of 4 950 people aged 10 years and over nested within 1 765 selected households from the 75 localities forming the administrative prefecture of Bandjoun, using detailed questionnaires about family, HIV/AIDS/STDs knowledge, sexual behaviors, contraception, health, media exposure, household assets and neighborhood characteristics. The survey cooperation rates were high (97%. For the purpose of this study, a sub-sample of 2 028 unmarried youths aged 12 - 29 years was utilized. Results Overall, 42% of respondents reported accurate knowledge of documented HIV transmission routes whereas 21% of them had inaccurate knowledge such as AIDS can be transmitted through mosquito bites or casual contact with an infected person. Only 9% of respondents were knowledgeable about all HIV prevention strategies. Multivariate analyses showed that family structure, communication with parents/guardians and peers about sexual topics were significantly associated with accurate HIV knowledge. Additionally, age, education, sexual experience and migration had significant effects on accurate knowledge. Finally, living in poor households and disadvantaged neighborhoods significantly increased inaccurate knowledge of HIV transmission modes and prevention strategies. Conclusions This paper evidenced the limited

Providing a secure base: parenting children in long-term foster family care.

Science.gov (United States)

Schofield, Gillian; Beek, Mary

2005-03-01

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of children growing up in long-term foster family care. It focuses attention on the challenges for foster carers in providing a secure base for foster children in middle childhood and early adolescence, who have come predominantly from backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and psychosocial adversity. Separation and loss in the children's lives, often through multiple placements, increase the likelihood of difficulties across a range of development. These children tend to be wary, distrustful, and controlling when they enter foster placements, but need from their carers many of the caregiving qualities most commonly described as providing a secure base in infancy. This study describes a model of parenting which uses four caregiving dimensions that are consistent with attachment theory and research: promoting trust in availability, promoting reflective function, promoting self-esteem, and promoting autonomy. A fifth dimension, promoting family membership, is added, as it reflects the need for children in long-term foster family care to experience the security that comes from a sense of identity and belonging. Qualitative data from the study demonstrates the usefulness of this model as a framework for analysis, but also suggests the potential use of such a framework for working with and supporting foster carers.

Parental Book Reading and Social-Emotional Outcomes for Head Start Children in Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyunghee; Lee, Jung-Sook

2016-01-01

This study examines the associations between parental book reading and social-emotional outcomes for Head Start children in foster care. Despite no main Head Start impact on parental book reading, subgroup effects were found. Foster parents in Head Start provided more book reading for children with disabilities but less for children with low preacademic scores. Head Start enhanced social-emotional outcomes for children in foster care. The positive impacts of Head Start on children's social-emotional outcomes were greater when parents read books frequently. Head Start should include more foster families and provided parenting skills to enhance social-emotional outcomes for children in foster care.

Improving the Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Youth in Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Dworsky, Amy

2018-01-01

This chapter examines what we know about the disparity in postsecondary educational attainment between youth in foster care and their non-foster care peers, the reasons for it, and the policies and programs that have been developed to address that disparity. It also discusses the unique role that community colleges can play in reducing this…

Supportive Housing in Foster Care: The Views of Young People

Science.gov (United States)

Sinkkonen, Hanna-Maija; Kyttälä, Minna

2015-01-01

This study investigated Finnish young people's experiences of supportive housing. Supportive housing is an after-care programme that should support the transition from foster care to independent adulthood. It is directed mainly at young people who have been taken into foster care by social workers. The sample consisted of 39 young people (23…

From Foster Care to College: The Seita Scholars Program at Western Michigan University

Science.gov (United States)

Unrau, Yvonne A.

2011-01-01

More than 32,000 young people in the United States exit the foster care system in a typical year by aging out to independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Despite available financial support for post-secondary education through the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, only 20% of college-qualified foster youth attend college and…

How do foster youth experience the impact of adverse childhood events?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenbakkers, Anne; van der Steen, Steffie; Grietens, Hans

2017-01-01

Foster children have been disproportionately exposed to traumatic events (Turney & Wildeman, 2017), which are perceived as important factors contributing to problems and specific needs they experience (Berrick & Skivenes, 2012; Bruskas, 2008). Despite the growing interest in the stories of foster

Autonomic reactivity of children to separation and reunion with foster parents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuengel, C.; Oosterman, M.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether foster children showed different autonomic nervous system activity on separation and reunion than control children. Autonomic nervous system activity in foster children was examined in relation to time in placement and disinhibited attachment. METHOD: The sample

Trajectories of Depression Symptoms among Older Youths Exiting Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Munson, Michelle R.; McMillen, Curtis

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the trajectories of depressive symptoms as older youths from the foster care system mature while also examining the correlates of these trajectories. Data came from a longitudinal study of 404 youths from the foster care system in Missouri, who were interviewed nine times between their 17th and 19th…

Service Needs of Foster Families with Children Who Have Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Jason D.; Moraes, Sabrina; Mayhew, Janet

2005-01-01

We examined the service needs of foster families with children who have disabilities. Foster parents in a large Canadian city were asked "What services or supports would be helpful to you?" The responses to this question were edited for clarity and to eliminate redundancies, and sorted into piles of like statements by a group of 15…

THE CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE VALUE RELEVANCE RESEARCH FIELD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen- Alexandra BALTARIU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to assess the scientific literature referring to the value relevance of reported accounting information over a twelve year period starting from 2002. The approach of the paper is a theoretical (conceptual one. In order to complete the purpose of the paper we selected as research method the longitudinal qualitative analysis. The qualitative analysis carried out presents a deductive character. Our conclusions regarding the general characteristics of the research field pertaining to the value relevance of reported accounting information are drawn based on the main results and scientific contributions identified in the research field of interest.

Fostering Cooperation in Cancer Research

Science.gov (United States)

Thursday, June 25, 2015 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between US National Cancer Institute and three agencies of the Indian government - the Department of Biotechnology, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Indian National Cancer Institute, a part of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to foster cooperation in cancer research.

Online Education Improves Dementia Knowledge: Evidence From an International Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Annear, Michael J

2018-03-01

Dementia education disseminated through massive open online courses (MOOCs) has the potential to improve knowledge and care provision among health professionals and lay people. The potential learning effects of a dementia MOOC were assessed using a reliable and valid measure with international volunteers ( N = 3,649) who completed the measure before and after online education. Evaluation of learning effects suggests that the MOOC significantly increased dementia knowledge by at least 17% across six cohorts. Knowledge was improved by the MOOC in three ways: it significantly improved overall understanding of dementia for diverse cohorts; it reduced knowledge disparity within occupational and lay cohorts; and it reduced knowledge disparity across occupational and lay cohorts. The capacity of a dementia MOOC to significantly improve knowledge and reach a wide audience may lead to population-level improvements in understanding about dementia. This may foster improvements in treatment and quality of care for people with dementia.

The Fostering Academics Mentoring Excellence Program

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Angelique; Riebschleger, Joanne; Wen, Jiebing

2018-01-01

Precollege outreach programs improve college access for underrepresented students; however, information on foster youth engagement in precollege programs is virtually nonexistent. This chapter describes the impact of a precollege program on two- and four-year college enrollment and completion rates.

The knowledge game - motivating knowledge sharing and testing organization policies in this concern

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barroso, Antonio C.O.; Seixas, Marcelo A.

2011-01-01

The ageing of nuclear experts and operating personnel and the lack of attractiveness of nuclear jobs to younger generation were emphasized as two of the most important factors that could jeopardize the preservation and sustainable development of the present body of nuclear knowledge worldwide. The willingness to share knowledge is at the inner core of any process involving transfer and dissemination of knowledge. This paper deals with the development of a tool to demonstrate the advantages of a culture inductive of knowledge sharing and cooperation from both the organization's and individual's viewpoints and coins the basics of reward policies that foster the development of desirable cultures. The Knowledge Game is a software tool to: (a) show the importance of sharing knowledge to both the individual and the organization; (b) demonstrate the fact that collaborative behaviors achieve higher payoffs in the long run; (c) test organizational rewards policies. It is an agent based modeling tool in which users may play with other humans and/or built in agents with fixed strategies. Payoff rules, simulation speed, number of players and their strategies and number of cycles are set before beginning the simulation. Plots display results in real time and output files can be generated for further analysis. Tests encompassing proof of concept and application confirm the game's great potential as a demonstration and policy testing tool. To test policies more effectively future implementations of intelligent agents coupled with fitness selection of players should be a very key lever. (author)

Using performance-based contracts to foster innovation in outsourced service delivery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sumo, Regien; van der Valk, Wendy; Duijsters, Geert; van Weele, Arjan

2016-01-01

While many scholars claim that Performance-based Contracts (PBCs) foster supplier-led innovation, empirical research into their actual use and effects remains limited. We therefore explore two cases of IT outsourcing through such contracts to see whether, and if so how, PBCs foster innovation. Our

Academic Library Department Experience Fosters the Development of Leadership Skills Relevant to Academic Library Directorship

OpenAIRE

Joanne M. Muellenbach

2017-01-01

A Review of: Harris-Keith, Colleen S. (2015). The Relationship Between Academic Library Department Experience and Perceptions of Leadership Skill Development Relevant to Academic Library Directorship. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(3), 246-263. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2015.03.017 Objective – This study sought to identify if the perception of library leadership skill and quality development is equal across departmental experience, and what are the leadership skills and qualities...

Inexplicit Learning: Transferring Knowledge through Visual and Emulative practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koumudi Patil

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to understand how expert knowledge is transmitted in the absence or lack of explicit and formal means of knowledge acquisition, with particular interest in the evolved relationship of a master-apprentice, observable in pockets of traditional communities of practice. An ethnographic study based on content analysis of the transcriptions of members of a craft community from Varanasi, India has been used to strengthen the undermined pedagogical role of observation and emulation in the transfer of inexplicit knowledge. It is argued that in-situ observation and emulation foster situations for facilitating co-production of knowledge, further implying co-authorship. Gaining community membership in craft communities is not merely a matter of gaining a professional degree; instead, it is a slow process of enculturation.Keywords: Observation, Emulation, Inexplicit learning, Master-apprentice. Communities of Practice

"Nuestra Tierra Dinamica" Global Climate Change STEM Education Fostering Environmental Stewardship

Science.gov (United States)

La Grave, M.; de Valenzuela, M.; Russell, R.

2012-12-01

CLUB ECO LÓGICO is a democratic and participatory program that provides active citizenship in schools and community, placing climate change into context for the Latino Community. The program's objectives focus on: 1. The Environment. Reducing the school and community impact on the environment through environmental footprint through stewardship actions. 2. Empowerment. Engaging participants through project and service learning and make decisions about how to improve their schools, their homes and their community's environment. 3. Community and Research Partnerships. Fostering collaborations with local community, stakeholders, government, universities, research organizations, and businesses that have expertise in environmental research, management, education and climate change. 4. Awareness. Increasing environmental and climate science knowledge of participants through STEM activities and hands-on access to technology. 5. Research and evaluation. Assessing the relevance of program activities through the engagement of the Latino community in planning and the effectiveness and impact of STEM activities through formative and summative evaluation. To address these objectives, the program has several inter related components in an after school setting: SUN EARTH Connections: Elementary (grades K to 2) students learn the basic climate change concepts through inquiry and hands on STEM activities. Bilingual 8 facilitators adapt relevant NASA educational resources for use in inquiry based, hands on activities. Drama and the arts provide unique experiences as well as play a key role in learning, participation and facilitation. GREEN LABS: Elementary students (grades 3 to 5) participate in stations where each Lab is staffed by at least two professionals: a College level fully bilingual Latin American Professional and a stakeholder representing either a research organization or other relevant environmental organization. Our current Green Lab themes include: Air, Soils, Water

The Knowledge Management Research of Agricultural Scientific Research Institution

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2010-01-01

Based on the perception of knowledge management from experts specializing in different fields,and experts at home and abroad,the knowledge management of agricultural scientific research institution can build new platform,offer new approach for realization of explicit or tacit knowledge,and promote resilience and innovative ability of scientific research institution.The thesis has introduced functions of knowledge management research of agricultural science.First,it can transform the tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.Second,it can make all the scientific personnel share knowledge.Third,it is beneficial to the development of prototype system of knowledge management.Fourth,it mainly researches the realization of knowledge management system.Fifth,it can manage the external knowledge via competitive intelligence.Sixth,it can foster talents of knowledge management for agricultural scientific research institution.Seventh,it offers the decision-making service for leaders to manage scientific program.The thesis also discusses the content of knowledge management of agricultural scientific research institution as follows:production and innovation of knowledge;attainment and organizing of knowledge;dissemination and share of knowledge;management of human resources and the construction and management of infrastructure.We have put forward corresponding countermeasures to further reinforce the knowledge management research of agricultural scientific research institution.

Make2Learn: Fostering Engagement and Creativity in Learning through Making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giannakos, Michail N.; Divitini, Monica; Iversen, Ole Sejer

2015-01-01

by research- ers to introduce making principles to young students. Making principles enable them foster co-creativity and joy in learning processes and construct knowledge. By involving students in the design decisions they begin to develop technological fluency and the needed competences, in a joyful way....... Make2Learn aims to bring together international researchers, educators, designers, and makers for the ex- ploration of making principles towards the acquisition of 21st Century learning competences, by employing the state art aspects of entertainment technologies, new media, gaming, robotics, toys...... and applications. The main objective is to build a research community around this topical area. In particular, Make2Learn aims to develop a critical discussion about the well-established practices and en- tertainment technologies of the maker movement, and expected outcomes of put- ting them into practice under...

A User-Centered Approach to Adaptive Hypertext Based on an Information Relevance Model

Science.gov (United States)

Mathe, Nathalie; Chen, James

1994-01-01

Rapid and effective to information in large electronic documentation systems can be facilitated if information relevant in an individual user's content can be automatically supplied to this user. However most of this knowledge on contextual relevance is not found within the contents of documents, it is rather established incrementally by users during information access. We propose a new model for interactively learning contextual relevance during information retrieval, and incrementally adapting retrieved information to individual user profiles. The model, called a relevance network, records the relevance of references based on user feedback for specific queries and user profiles. It also generalizes such knowledge to later derive relevant references for similar queries and profiles. The relevance network lets users filter information by context of relevance. Compared to other approaches, it does not require any prior knowledge nor training. More importantly, our approach to adaptivity is user-centered. It facilitates acceptance and understanding by users by giving them shared control over the adaptation without disturbing their primary task. Users easily control when to adapt and when to use the adapted system. Lastly, the model is independent of the particular application used to access information, and supports sharing of adaptations among users.

Personal Knowledge Management for Employee Commoditization

Science.gov (United States)

Schild, Susie A.

2013-01-01

Knowledge management thinking has resulted in the perception that the organization is the relevant beneficiary of knowledge. Individual approaches to and experiences with personal knowledge management are not well documented in empirical studies, which uncovered the specific problem that the situatedness of knowledge worker contemporaries within…

Homelessness: The Foster Care Connection.

Science.gov (United States)

Institute for Children and Poverty, New York, NY.

Roughly 600,000 families are homeless today in America, while over 2.7 million children are in foster care or out-of-home placements. Few policymakers have examined these issues together, or understood that they are interrelated and must be addressed jointly to break the cycle of family disintegration, violence, and poverty. A recent survey by the…

How Case-Based Reasoning on e-Community Knowledge Can Be Improved Thanks to Knowledge Reliability

OpenAIRE

Gaillard , Emmanuelle; Lieber , Jean; Nauer , Emmanuel; Cordier , Amélie

2014-01-01

International audience; This paper shows that performing case-based reasoning (CBR) on knowledge coming from an e-community is improved by taking into account knowledge reliability. MKM (meta-knowledge model) is a model for managing reliability of the knowledge units that are used in the reasoning process. For this, MKM uses meta-knowledge such as belief, trust and reputation, about knowledge units and users. MKM is used both to select relevant knowledge to conduct the reasoning process, and ...

A curated compendium of monocyte transcriptome datasets of relevance to human monocyte immunobiology research [version 2; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darawan Rinchai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Systems-scale profiling approaches have become widely used in translational research settings. The resulting accumulation of large-scale datasets in public repositories represents a critical opportunity to promote insight and foster knowledge discovery. However, resources that can serve as an interface between biomedical researchers and such vast and heterogeneous dataset collections are needed in order to fulfill this potential. Recently, we have developed an interactive data browsing and visualization web application, the Gene Expression Browser (GXB. This tool can be used to overlay deep molecular phenotyping data with rich contextual information about analytes, samples and studies along with ancillary clinical or immunological profiling data. In this note, we describe a curated compendium of 93 public datasets generated in the context of human monocyte immunological studies, representing a total of 4,516 transcriptome profiles. Datasets were uploaded to an instance of GXB along with study description and sample annotations. Study samples were arranged in different groups. Ranked gene lists were generated based on relevant group comparisons. This resource is publicly available online at http://monocyte.gxbsidra.org/dm3/landing.gsp.

Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salovaara-Moring, Inka; Curran, James; Iyengar, Shanto

2009-01-01

This article addresses the implications of the movement towards entertainment-centred, market-driven media by comparing what is reported and what the public knows in four countries with different media systems. The different systems are public service (Denmark and Finland), a `dual' model (UK) an...... consumption and contributes to a smaller within-nation knowledge gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged. But wider processes in society take precedence over the organization of the media in determining how much people know about public life......) and the market model (US). The comparison shows that public service television devotes more attention to public affairs and international news, and fosters greater knowledge in these areas, than the market model. Public service television also gives greater prominence to news, encourages higher levels of news...

DeSyGNER: A Building Block Architecture Fostering Independent Cooperative Development of Multimedia Knowledge Management Applications

OpenAIRE

Deibel, Stephan R.A.; Greenes, Robert A.; Snydr-Michal, Jan T.

1990-01-01

Multimedia knowledge management requires generalized sharing, composition and inter-relation of disparate data and knowledge elements. Since traditional computer operating systems treat programs as bodies of isolated functionality, inter-program connections can be made only by considerable effort on the part of each program author. We have been developing a multimedia kernel called DeSyGNER (the Decision Systems Group Nucleus of Extensible Resources) that provides basic multimedia knowledge m...

Fostering corporate sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Munguia

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose – At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21 in Paris, 195 governments reached an agreement pivotal not only for countries but also for companies. The Paris Agreement makes it impossible to practice business as usual. The transition to a low-carbon coffee industry could be achieved by fostering corporate sustainability. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of how to adopt the principles of Paris Agreement by enhancing the corporate sustainability of a Mexican coffee-roaster company using the inventory phase of the life cycle assessment tool. Design/methodology/approach – The data collection process followed the requirements of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook, developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and data on packaging materials and energy production were drawn from a commercially available database in the LCA software SimaPro. Findings – Compiling data on the energy of the firm’s material flows in a firm revealed opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the inventory analysis can be used to evaluate the specific environmental impacts of the coffee-roasting process at this Mexican coffee company. Data compilation activities for energy flows identified the need to install liquefied petroleum gas measuring devices and individual measuring devices for electricity consumption in different areas of the coffee plant. It is recommended that, while implementing this option, the company also develop an energy management program to achieve energy efficiency. Practical implications – The inventory data in this case study permit comparisons of the current state of the system studied and its possible future states and offer stakeholders relevant information on resource use. Similarly, the project

'She was a foster mother who said she didn't give cuddles': The adverse early foster care experiences of children who later struggle with adoptive family life.

Science.gov (United States)

Meakings, Sarah; Selwyn, Julie

2016-10-01

Foster care remains a valuable and safe intervention for many children unable to live with their birth family. When birth family reunification is not considered possible, a small proportion of children in foster care will go on to achieve permanency by way of adoption. This article reports on some unexpected findings to emerge from two national adoption studies of previously looked after children in England and Wales. Focussing on a subset of families who had experienced or were at risk of an adoption disruption, the findings revealed that not only did children carry elevated risks for disruption due to their older age at entry to care, multiple foster care placements and traumatic early histories, but once in care, many of the children whose placements had disrupted were considered by their adoptive parents to have had very poor, even harmful fostering experiences before being placed for adoption. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, together with the implications for social work practice. © The Author(s) 2016.

On making nursing undergraduate human reproductive physiology content meaningful and relevant: discussion of human pleasure in its biological context.

Science.gov (United States)

McClusky, Leon Mendel

2012-01-01

The traditional presentation of the Reproductive Physiology component in an Anatomy and Physiology course to nursing undergraduates focuses on the broad aspects of hormonal regulation of reproduction and gonadal anatomy, with the role of the higher centres of the brain omitted. An introductory discussion is proposed which could precede the lectures on the reproductive organs. The discussion gives an overview of the biological significance of human pleasure, the involvement of the neurotransmitter dopamine, and the role of pleasure in the survival of the individual and even species. Pleasure stimuli (positive and negative) and the biological significance of naturally-induced pleasurable experiences are briefly discussed in the context of reproduction and the preservation of genetic material with an aim to foster relevancy between subject material and human behaviour in any type of society. The tenderness of this aspect of the human existence is well-understood because of its invariable association with soul-revealing human expressions such as love, infatuation, sexual flirtations, all of which are underpinned by arousal, desire and/or pleasure. Assuming that increased knowledge correlates with increased confidence, the proposed approach may provide the nurse with an adequate knowledge base to overcome well-known barriers in communicating with their patients about matters of sexual health and intimacy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of the nurse executive in fostering and empowering the advanced practice registered nurse.

Science.gov (United States)

Talbert, Tukea L

2012-06-01

The nurse executive plays a critical role in the design, oversight, and outcomes of the delivery of care and a key role in the success of the integration of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) into an organization. The critical areas that nurse executives must consider to foster and empower APRNs are: (1) knowledge and self preparation, especially of political initiatives that affect the role, (2) visionary leadership and development of clear role expectations and appropriate credentialing, (3) strategies to reduce disconnection between the APRN and their practice setting, and (4) appropriate education and marketing of the role to stakeholders. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Industry Support Institutions Fostering Innovations Culture among SME’s of Punjab, India: A Strategic Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.S. Sangha

2013-09-01

Full Text Available . The present paper attempts to investigate the role of six Industry Support Institutions in fostering innovation culture in manufacturing sector of Punjab in India. Some path breaking technological innovations have been introduced by the Institutions. These highly interactive, self-reliant institutes are the virtual In-house R&D to SMEs. Knowledge accumulations in the institutes also offer a platform for exchange of ideas which further facilitate the process of open innovation. The speedy and efficient dissemination of technical know-how by these institutes have brought creativity and innovativeness among SMEs of the region.  Keywords: Industry Support Institutions, Open Innovation, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Fostering reflective practice with mobile technologies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tabuenca, Bernardo; Verpoorten, Dominique; Ternier, Stefaan; Westera, Wim; Specht, Marcus

2012-01-01

Tabuenca, B., Verpoorten, D., Ternier, S., Westera, W., & Specht, M. (2012). Fostering reflective practice with mobile technologies. In A. Moore, V. Pammer, L. Pannese, M. Prilla, K. Rajagopal, W. Reinhardt, Th. D. Ullman, & Ch. Voigt (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Awareness and

Understanding Foster Youth Outcomes: Is Propensity Scoring Better than Traditional Methods?

Science.gov (United States)

Berzin, Stephanie Cosner

2010-01-01

Objectives: This study seeks to examine the relationship between foster care and outcomes using multiple comparison methods to account for factors that put foster youth at risk independent of care. Methods: Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, matching, propensity scoring, and comparisons to the general population are used to…

Distinct Subgroups of Former Foster Youth during Young Adulthood: Implications for Policy and Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Courtney, Mark E.; Hook, Jennifer L.; Lee, JoAnn S.

2012-01-01

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 ("Fostering Connections Act") fundamentally changed the nature of federal support for young people in state care by extending entitlement funding under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to age 21 beginning in FY2011. While the Fostering Connections Act provides…

Knowledge Transfer in Family Business Successions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, Britta; Royer, Susanne; Pei, Rong

Knowledge often is the fundament for strategic competitive advantage. Thus, it is highly relevant to understand better how knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next in family businesses. Building on the contingency model of family business succession (Royer, Simons, Boyd & Rafferty......, 2008) knowledge transfer in different cultures is investigated in this paper. From a resource-oriented perspective two family businesses with a similar industry background from China and Europe are compared regarding education processes and knowledge transfer in the context of family firm succession...... taking into account the respective transaction atmosphere. For the European family business from the Danish-German border region twelve successions were investigated in a former study: Access to experiential knowledge was found to be a driver of competitive advantage with a shift towards the relevance...

Accuracy of Knowledge of Child Development in Mothers of Children Receiving Early Intervention Services

Science.gov (United States)

Zand, Debra H.; Pierce, Katherine J.; Bultas, Margaret W.; McMillin, Stephen Edward; Gott, Rolanda Maxim; Wilmott, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Parents' involvement in early intervention (EI) services fosters positive developmental trajectories in young children. Although EI research on parenting skills has been abundant, fewer data are available on parents' knowledge of normative child development. Sixty-seven mothers of children participating in a Midwestern city's EI program completed…

A model for reusing service knowledge based on an empirical case

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema; Vianello, Giovanna

2015-01-01

between the service and design phases. Interviews with engineering designers and service engineers were conducted. Knowledge arising from servicing the drilling equipment that was identified as relevant for service engineers was compared to that relevant for engineering designers. Furthermore......, the mechanisms involved in the transfer of knowledge between service and design were investigated. Knowledge about changes, issues and improvements generated during service was found to be relevant to both groups; however, engineering designers were interested in knowledge of equipment at a component level...

Increasing College Access: A Look at College Readiness from the Experiences of Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchins, Demetrees Lee

2017-01-01

Fewer than 50% of all foster youth in the United States graduate from high school by the age of 18 and only 20% of those high school graduates attend college. There are many barriers that impact the college-going rates of foster youth. Past studies on college attendance among foster youth rarely look at college readiness experiences from the…

Seeing the Whole Picture: Views from Diverse Participants on Barriers to Educating Foster Youths

Science.gov (United States)

Zetlin, Andrea G.; Weinberg, Lois A.; Shea, Nancy M.

2006-01-01

Many children in the foster care system are at great risk of academic difficulties and school failure. The purpose of this study was to bring together individuals within the foster care system to discuss the challenges to obtaining an appropriate education for foster youths and how best to provide the supports and structures needed for educational…

A child brought up in foster family [Dziecko wychowywane w rodzinie zastępczej

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danuta WOSIK-KAWALA

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In a situation when a family does not care about the child and does not fulfil its educational duties to its child, and even where the support given does not result in an improvement of the situation, then the child may be placed in foster care. This leads to the child’s coexistence in two families: the biological one and foster one. In accordance with the law in force in Poland on family support and the foster care system of 20 September 2012, foster care becomes a supplement to parental care-giving and does not replace it. This article is an attempt to show the complexity of the issues concerning the upbringing of a child in two families. Particular attention is paid to the difficult situation of the child, who periodically, by the court’s decision is sent to foster care and functions in a new unrelated family, while maintaining contact with their biological parents, with whom they share a legal bond. This situation raises a number of difficulties experienced by the child – dilemmas and problems with identification and belonging to the foster or biological family. The temporary nature of foster care, its subsidiary character, causes that nowadays the goal of foster families is not to establish ties with the child similar to those resulting from a parent-like attitude but to support, help in the care and upbringing of the child. The article also highlights the resulting threats to the proper functioning of the child

Editorial: Role of knowledge and learning systems in fostering work-life balance

OpenAIRE

Murali Raman; Sharmini Gopinathan

2016-01-01

The ability of employees to effectively recognize, practice, and apply knowledge management (KM) and learning system principles accessible to them is a vital issue in improving work-life balance and providing strategies to enhance it. This issue has become obvious in efforts to apply information technology in the development of work-life balance policies through various learning systems. The victory and letdown of KM and work-life balance initiatives certainly depend on the deliberation of ho...

Foster Town History and Documents Located at the Tyler Free Library.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonough, Leslie B.

This annotated bibliography attempts to make the collection of the Tyler Free Library in Foster, Rhode Island, more accessible to anyone interested in the history of the town. The library has long been an unofficial repository of historical information and town documents for the community of Foster, Rhode Island. The library also houses the files…

Fostering Creative Problem Solvers in Higher Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Chunfang

2016-01-01

to meet such challenges. This chapter aims to illustrate how to understand: 1) complexity as the nature of professional practice; 2) creative problem solving as the core skill in professional practice; 3) creativity as interplay between persons and their environment; 4) higher education as the context......Recent studies have emphasized issues of social emergence based on thinking of societies as complex systems. The complexity of professional practice has been recognized as the root of challenges for higher education. To foster creative problem solvers is a key response of higher education in order...... of fostering creative problem solvers; and 5) some innovative strategies such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and building a learning environment by Information Communication Technology (ICT) as potential strategies of creativity development. Accordingly, this chapter contributes to bridge the complexity...

Fostering Self-Regulation in Distributed Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, Krista P.; Doolittle, Peter

2006-01-01

Although much has been written about fostering self-regulated learning in traditional classroom settings, there has been little that addresses how to facilitate self-regulated learning skills in distributed and online environments. This article will examine some such strategies by specifically focusing on time management. Specific principles for…

Foster parenting, human imprinting and conventional handling ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

p2492989

Foster parenting, human imprinting and conventional handling affects survival and early .... bird may subsequently direct its sexual attention to those humans on whom it was imprinted (Bubier et al., ..... The mind through chicks' eyes: memory,.

The knowledge game - motivating knowledge sharing and testing organization policies in this concern

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barroso, Antonio C.O.; Seixas, Marcelo A., E-mail: barroso@ipen.b [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2011-07-01

The ageing of nuclear experts and operating personnel and the lack of attractiveness of nuclear jobs to younger generation were emphasized as two of the most important factors that could jeopardize the preservation and sustainable development of the present body of nuclear knowledge worldwide. The willingness to share knowledge is at the inner core of any process involving transfer and dissemination of knowledge. This paper deals with the development of a tool to demonstrate the advantages of a culture inductive of knowledge sharing and cooperation from both the organization's and individual's viewpoints and coins the basics of reward policies that foster the development of desirable cultures. The Knowledge Game is a software tool to: (a) show the importance of sharing knowledge to both the individual and the organization; (b) demonstrate the fact that collaborative behaviors achieve higher payoffs in the long run; (c) test organizational rewards policies. It is an agent based modeling tool in which users may play with other humans and/or built in agents with fixed strategies. Payoff rules, simulation speed, number of players and their strategies and number of cycles are set before beginning the simulation. Plots display results in real time and output files can be generated for further analysis. Tests encompassing proof of concept and application confirm the game's great potential as a demonstration and policy testing tool. To test policies more effectively future implementations of intelligent agents coupled with fitness selection of players should be a very key lever. (author)

THE FOSTER CHILD?... (A New theory on “PARADISE”)

OpenAIRE

M.Arulmani; V.R.Hema Latha

2014-01-01

AM I FOSTER CHILD?…YES…YES…YES. Not only me everyone of the world is the Foster Child (Natural child) before the “LAW OF SUPERNATURE.This scientific research article focus that “VIRGIN MOTHER” lived in “WHITE PLANET” (White Mars) in the early universe shall be considered as “MOTHER OF UNIVERSE”. The white planet shall also be called as “J-GARDEN” (or) “PARADISE”. The J-GARDEN consider as the absolutely pure environment of „WIND‟ (THENDRAL) which composed of only ions of photon, electron, p...

Quality of social interaction in foster dyads at child age 2 and 3 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, Heidi; Vang, Kristin Alvestad; Lindahl, Karoline Mentzoni; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Smith, Lars; Moe, Vibeke

2018-06-30

The main aim of this study was to investigate the quality of social interaction between 60 foster parents and their foster children compared to a group of 55 non-foster families at 2 (T1) and again at 3 (T2) years of age. Video observations were used to investigate child-parent interaction at both time-points. "This is My Baby" interview was administered to investigate foster parents' commitment at T1. The main results revealed significant group differences at T1 on all child-parent social interaction measures, although not at T2. Further, a significant group by time interaction was identified for parental sensitivity, revealing a positive development over time in the foster group. Finally, a significant positive relation was found between commitment at T1 and parental sensitivity. The results convey an optimistic view of the possibilities for foster dyads to develop positive patterns of social interaction over time.

Structural analysis of health-relevant policy-making information exchange networks in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Contandriopoulos, Damien; Benoît, François; Bryant-Lukosius, Denise; Carrier, Annie; Carter, Nancy; Deber, Raisa; Duhoux, Arnaud; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Larouche, Catherine; Leclerc, Bernard-Simon; Levy, Adrian; Martin-Misener, Ruth; Maximova, Katerina; McGrail, Kimberlyn; Nykiforuk, Candace; Roos, Noralou; Schwartz, Robert; Valente, Thomas W; Wong, Sabrina; Lindquist, Evert; Pullen, Carolyn; Lardeux, Anne; Perroux, Melanie

2017-09-20

Health systems worldwide struggle to identify, adopt, and implement in a timely and system-wide manner the best-evidence-informed-policy-level practices. Yet, there is still only limited evidence about individual and institutional best practices for fostering the use of scientific evidence in policy-making processes The present project is the first national-level attempt to (1) map and structurally analyze-quantitatively-health-relevant policy-making networks that connect evidence production, synthesis, interpretation, and use; (2) qualitatively investigate the interaction patterns of a subsample of actors with high centrality metrics within these networks to develop an in-depth understanding of evidence circulation processes; and (3) combine these findings in order to assess a policy network's "absorptive capacity" regarding scientific evidence and integrate them into a conceptually sound and empirically grounded framework. The project is divided into two research components. The first component is based on quantitative analysis of ties (relationships) that link nodes (participants) in a network. Network data will be collected through a multi-step snowball sampling strategy. Data will be analyzed structurally using social network mapping and analysis methods. The second component is based on qualitative interviews with a subsample of the Web survey participants having central, bridging, or atypical positions in the network. Interviews will focus on the process through which evidence circulates and enters practice. Results from both components will then be integrated through an assessment of the network's and subnetwork's effectiveness in identifying, capturing, interpreting, sharing, reframing, and recodifying scientific evidence in policy-making processes. Knowledge developed from this project has the potential both to strengthen the scientific understanding of how policy-level knowledge transfer and exchange functions and to provide significantly improved advice

An Inside Track: Fostering Mathematical Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Buchheister, Kelley; Jackson, Christa; Taylor, Cynthia

2015-01-01

Classroom teachers may not initially consider games as opportunities for students to engage in deep mathematical thinking. However, this article reveals how a second grade veteran teacher used Attribute Trains, a game adapted from NCTM Illuminations, to foster his students' thinking related to key ideas within the Standards for Mathematical…

Cultivating Resilience in Families Who Foster: Understanding How Families Cope and Adapt Over Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Lietz, Cynthia A; Julien-Chinn, Francie J; Geiger, Jennifer M; Hayes Piel, Megan

2016-12-01

Families who foster offer essential care for children and youth when their own parents are unable to provide for their safety and well-being. Foster caregivers face many challenges including increased workload, emotional distress, and the difficulties associated with health and mental health problems that are more common in children in foster care. Despite these stressors, many families are able to sustain fostering while maintaining or enhancing functioning of their unit. This qualitative study applied an adaptational process model of family resilience that emerged in previous studies to examine narratives of persistent, long-term, and multiple fostering experiences. Data corroborated previous research in two ways. Family resilience was again described as a transactional process of coping and adaptation that evolves over time. This process was cultivated through the activation of 10 family strengths that are important in different ways, during varied phases. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

Defining a target population at high risk of long-term foster care: barriers to permanency for families of children with serious emotional disturbances.

Science.gov (United States)

Akin, Becci A; Bryson, Stephanie A; McDonald, Tom; Walker, Sheila

2012-01-01

Long-term foster care (LTFC) is an enduring problem that lacks evidence of effective strategies for practice or policy. This article describes initial activities of a statewide project of the national Permanency Innovations Initiative. The authors sought to: (1) verify the relevance of children's mental health as a predictor of LTFC, (2) describe critical barriers encountered by parents of children with serious emotional disturbances, and (3) identify systems barriers that hinder permanency for this target population.

Fostering inclusive, sustainable economic growth and "green" skills development in learning cities through partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlova, Margarita

2018-05-01

One of the requirements of building a learning city is working to ensure its sustainable development. In 2014, UNESCO developed a framework of the key features of learning cities, at the centre of which there are six pillars or "building blocks" which support sustainable development. This article focuses on the third of these pillars, "effective learning for and in the workplace". The author analyses a number of conditions to address this aspect in the context of "green restructuring" which is geared towards facilitating the sustainable development of learning cities. She argues that, at the conceptual level, an understanding of the nature of "green skills" (what they are) and the reasons for "green skills gaps" (why they exist) are essential for the processes of effective learning and strategy planning in sustainable city development. The specific focus of this article is at the policy level: the conceptualisation of partnerships between technical and vocational education and training (TVET) providers, industry, government and other stakeholders with the aim of fostering the production, dissemination and usage of knowledge for the purpose of sustainable economic development and the "greening" of skills. The author proposes a new model, based on the quintuple helix approach to innovation combined with a policy goals orientation framework to theorise the ways in which learning cities can foster sustainable economic growth through green skills development.

Foster Youth and Social Support: The First RCT of Independent Living Services

Science.gov (United States)

Greeson, Johanna K. P.; Garcia, Antonio R.; Kim, Minseop; Courtney, Mark E.

2015-01-01

Objective: Conduct secondary data analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of Massachusetts' Adolescent Outreach Program for Youths in Intensive Foster Care (Outreach) for increasing social support (SS) among enrolled youth. Participants: 194 youth in intensive foster care under the guardianship of the Massachusetts Department of Children and…

Knowledge Governance for Sustainable Development: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorrae van Kerkhoff

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development is a knowledge intensive process, but plagued by persistent concerns over our apparent inability to connect what we know with more sustainable practices and outcomes. While considerable attention has been given to ways we may better understand and enhance the knowledge-based processes that support the governance of social-­ecological systems, relatively few have examined the governance of knowledge itself. The institutions—rules and norms—that govern knowledge may shed light on the persistence of 'gaps' between knowledge and action. In this review I seek to answer the question: can interdisciplinary knowledge governance literature contribute to understanding and analysing the institutional knowledge-based dimensions of sustainable development? I present and analyse the concept of knowledge governance as it is emerging in a range of disciplines and practice areas, including private sector management literature and public regulation theory and practice. I then integrate the findings from this review into a model of sustainable development proposed by Nilsson et al. [1]. I show that knowledge governance (as a scale above knowledge management can inform Nilsson et al.'s three "nested" dimensions of sustainability: human wellbeing (through access to knowledge and freedom to exercise informed choice; resource-base management (though enhancing regulation and innovation and transitions from exclusive to inclusive knowledge systems; and global public goods (by balancing public and private interests and fostering global innovation systems. This review concludes by presenting a framework that places sustainable development in the context of broader socio-political struggles towards more open, inclusive knowledge systems.

Foster care as a form of family support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Flaga

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The foster care system in Poland has recently undergone many changes on the basis of new legislation. It has been presented as a part of the work with the child and its family towards reintegration of the child’s family. However, in order for the aim of foster care to be achieved in this form, it is necessary to integrate work with the child and its family with all the elements of the local environment. Similar assumptions are the basis of the pedagogical concept of the environmental educational system by Stanisław Kowalski. The article presents how to implement pedagogical objectives through legal solutions, which emphasize the integration of the local environment.

City Kids in the Wilderness: A Pilot-Test of Outward Bound for Foster Care Group Home Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Robert L.; Attah, E. B.

2001-01-01

A study examined perceptions of a 7-day Outward Bound program among 23 urban youths, foster parents, and foster care workers from group homes in Atlanta (Georgia). Foster parents reported improved self-esteem and behavior among the teens, but foster care workers reported worse behavior. Negative program impressions lessened among male youths but…

Optimize knowledge uptake - employ a knowledge management system to drive principles to practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeYoe, D.

2009-01-01

'Full text:' All too often the R&D community questions why good results based on sound science are not readily adopted by decision makers. We publish, hold conferences, even conduct workshops to engage policy developers and practitioners,who rarely show up. A closer look uncovers a common fault - although we may target decision makers we design information and tools to suit our interests, needs and/or standards then wonder why we end up always preaching to the converted. Are we missing the boat? In a word - yes! Employing the principles of knowledge transfer to infuse critical adaptive and/or mitigative strategies into policy and practice requires the right attitude, the right approach, the right tools and the right audience. The knowledge management cycle provides a framework that focuses on transfer of science principles or innovation into practice. It embodies the array of critical functions and activities inherent in a cycle that integrates knowledge generation, exchange and application. Knowledge exchange specialists play a pivotal role by helping translate technical knowledge into an appropriate suite of facts and figures well suited for consumption by decision makers. More importantly, they can facilitate adoption and the mainstream use of information and tools through collaborative efforts with knowledge application specialists in target organizations. This relationship can enable a knowledge management cycle that stimulates innovation and fosters informed decision making. Examples will be presented that describe what can happen when partners either fail to use, or succeed in using, a knowledge exchange system to manage projects in a manner that helps ensure inter-organizational collaboration. Examples include: a) a pilot study to demonstrate an emerging technology, b) striving for perfection in the face of ill-fated decisions, c) development of science-based policy and d) extension messaging at its best. (author)

Fostering Adolescents' Interpersonal Behaviour: An Empirical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the effect of enhanced thinking skills (ETS) and social skill training (SST) in fostering interpersonal behaviour among Nigerian adolescents. A pre- and post-test experimental-control group design with a 3x2 factorial matrix was employed for the study. Gender which was used as a moderator variable ...

Sustaining Tunisian SMEs' Competitiveness in the Knowledge Society

Science.gov (United States)

Del Vecchio, Pasquale; Elia, Gianluca; Secundo, Giustina

The paper aims to contribute to the debate about knowledge and digital divide affecting countries' competitiveness in the knowledge society. A survey based on qualitative and quantitative data collection has been performed to analyze the level of ICTs and e-Business adoption of the Tunisian SMEs. The results shows that to increase the SMEs competitiveness is necessary to invest in all the components of Intellectual capital: human capital (knowledge, skills, and the abilities of people for using the ICTs), structural capital (supportive infrastructure such as buildings, software, processes, patents, and trademarks, proprietary databases) and social capital (relations and collaboration inside and outside the company). At this purpose, the LINCET "Laboratoire d'Innovation Numerique pour la Competitivité de l'Entreprise Tunisienne" project is finally proposed as a coherent proposition to foster the growth of all the components of the Intellectual Capital for the benefits of competitiveness of Tunisian SMEs.

Cognitive patterns of neuroanatomy concepts: Knowledge organizations that emerge from problem solving versus information gathering

Science.gov (United States)

Weidner, Jeanne Margaret O'malley

2000-10-01

This study was motivated by some of the claims that are found in the literature on Problem-Based Learning (PBL). This instructional technique, which uses case studies as its primary instructional tool, has been advanced as an alternative to traditional instruction in order to foster more meaningful, integrative learning of scientific concepts. Several of the advantages attributed to Problem-Based Learning are that it (1) is generally preferred by students because it appears to foster a more nurturing and enjoyable learning experience, (2) fosters greater retention of knowledge and concepts acquired, and (3) results in increased ability to apply this knowledge toward solving new problems. This study examines the differences that result when students learn neuroanatomy concepts under two instructional contexts: problem solving vs. information gathering. The technological resource provided to students to support learning under each of these contexts was the multimedia program BrainStorm: An Interactive Neuroanatomy Atlas (Coppa & Tancred, 1995). The study explores the influence of context with regard to subjects' performance on objective post-tests, organization of knowledge as measured by Pathfinder Networks, differential use of the multimedia software and discourse differences emerging from the transcripts. The findings support previous research in the literature that problem-solving results in less knowledge acquisition in the short term, greater retention of material over time, and a subjects' preference for the method. However, both the degree of retention and preference were influenced by subjects' prior knowledge of the material in the exercises, as there was a significant difference in performance between the two exercises: for the exercise about which subjects appeared to have greater background information, memory decay was less, and subject attitude toward the problem solving instructional format was more favorable, than for the exercise for which subjects

Knowledge Model: Project Knowledge Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Durao, Frederico; Dolog, Peter; Grolin, Daniel

2009-01-01

The Knowledge model for project management serves several goals:Introducing relevant concepts of project management area for software development (Section 1). Reviewing and understanding the real case requirements from the industrial perspective. (Section 2). Giving some preliminary suggestions...... for usage in KIWI system (Sections 3). This document is intended for technological partners to understand how for example the software development concepts can be applied to a semantic wiki framework....

Allowing Family to be Family: End-of-Life Care in Veterans Affairs Medical Foster Homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Manheim, Chelsea E; Haverhals, Leah M; Jones, Jacqueline; Levy, Cari R

2016-01-01

The Medical Foster Home program is a unique long-term care program coordinated by the Veterans Health Administration. The program pairs Veterans with private, 24-hour a day community-based caregivers who often care for Veterans until the end of life. This qualitative study explored the experiences of care coordination for Medical Foster Home Veterans at the end of life with eight Veterans' family members, five Medical Foster Home caregivers, and seven Veterans Health Administration Home-Based Primary Care team members. A case study, qualitative content analysis identified these themes addressing care coordination and impact of the Medical Foster Home model on those involved: (a) Medical Foster Home program supports Veterans' families; (b) Medical Foster Home program supports the caregiver as family; (c) Veterans' needs are met socially and culturally at the end of life; and (d) the changing needs of Veterans, families, and caregivers at Veterans' end of life are addressed. Insights into how to best support Medical Foster Home caregivers caring for Veterans at the end of life were gained including the need for more and better respite options and how caregivers are compensated in the month of the Veteran's death, as well as suggestions to navigate end-of-life care coordination with multiple stakeholders involved.

Family narratives on fostering a child with a history of sexual abuse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wubs, Susanna; Grietens, Hans; Batstra, Laura

2016-01-01

The impact of a history of sexual abuse on foster families has been studied, although never from a multilevel family perspective. Therefore, in Project Iris narratives are collected on the expertise, needs and experiences of family members in foster families concerning the care for a child with a

Tuition Assistance Programs for Foster Youth Pursuing Postsecondary Education. 50-State Review

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Emily; Sarubbi, Molly

2017-01-01

Many students have concerns about the affordability of college, which may interfere with their potential success. However, foster care alumni have unique needs when making the transition into postsecondary enrollment. Compared to completion rates for the general population, postsecondary education outcomes for youth with foster care experience lag…

Postsecondary Strengths, Challenges, and Supports Experienced by Foster Care Alumni College Graduates

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar, Amy M.; Jones, Kevin R.; Emerson, John C.; Mucha, Lauren

2016-01-01

Young people transitioning from foster care to college experience unique identities and circumstances that make being successful in college especially challenging. We used qualitative survey data from 248 college graduates who were formerly in foster care to explore the strengths, challenges, and supports they experienced while in college that…

76 FR 25519 - National Foster Care Month, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-05

... people in foster care. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have significantly... Agriculture child nutrition programs. Additionally, beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act will require...

Foster Care Dynamics and System Science: Implications for Research and Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulczyn, Fred; Halloran, John

2017-10-05

Although system is a word frequently invoked in discussions of foster care policy and practice, there have been few if any attempts by child welfare researchers to understand the ways in which the foster care system is a system. As a consequence, insights from system science have yet to be applied in meaningful ways to the problem of making foster care systems more effective. In this study, we draw on population biology to organize a study of admissions and discharges to foster care over a 15-year period. We are interested specifically in whether resource constraints, which are conceptualized here as the number of beds, lead to a coupling of admissions and discharges within congregate care. The results, which are descriptive in nature, are consistent with theory that ties admissions and discharges together because of a resource constraint. From the data, it is clear that the underlying system exerts an important constraint on what are normally viewed as individual-level decisions. Our discussion calls on extending efforts to understand the role of system science in studies of child welfare systems, with a particular emphasis on the role of feedback as a causal influence.

Reaching everyone: Promoting the inclusion of youth with disabilities in evaluating foster care outcomes

OpenAIRE

Blakeslee, Jennifer E.; Quest, A. Del; Powers, Jennifer; Powers, Laurie E.; Geenen, Sarah; Nelson, May; Dalton, Lawrence D.; McHugh, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Efforts to evaluate foster care outcomes must avoid systematic exclusion of particular groups. Although often unrecognized as such, youth with disabilities are highly overrepresented in the U.S. foster care system, and yet youth with some disabilities, including those with intellectual, serious emotional, and physical impairments may be underrepresented in research and evaluation studies evaluating foster care outcomes. The recruitment and retention of youth with various disabilities in such ...

Strategic knowledge management: a methodology for structuring and analysing knowledge resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ricciardi, Rita Izabel

2009-01-01

This work presents a methodology to organize, to classify and to assess the knowledge resources of an organization. This methodology presents an innovative integration of the following elements: (a) a systemic vision of the organization; (b) a representation maps of organization strategy; (c) the identification of relevant knowledge through process analysis; (d) the reconfiguration and representation of the identified knowledge in maps; (e) a combination of critical analysis (importance and vulnerability) and of strategic analysis to assess knowledge. Such methodology was applied to the Radiopharmaceutical Center of Nuclear and Energetic Research Institute resulting in a very rich vision and understanding of the knowledge domains that are crucial to the CR. This kind of analysis has allowed a sharp perception of the knowledge problems of the Center and has also made visible the needed connections between Strategic Management and Knowledge Management. (author)

Development and piloting of a treatment foster care program for older youth with psychiatric problems.

Science.gov (United States)

McMillen, J Curtis; Narendorf, Sarah Carter; Robinson, Debra; Havlicek, Judy; Fedoravicius, Nicole; Bertram, Julie; McNelly, David

2015-01-01

Older youth in out-of-home care often live in restrictive settings and face psychiatric issues without sufficient family support. This paper reports on the development and piloting of a manualized treatment foster care program designed to step down older youth with high psychiatric needs from residential programs to treatment foster care homes. A team of researchers and agency partners set out to develop a treatment foster care model for older youth based on Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC). After matching youth by mental health condition and determining for whom randomization would be allowed, 14 youth were randomized to treatment as usual or a treatment foster home intervention. Stakeholders were interviewed qualitatively at multiple time points. Quantitative measures assessed mental health symptoms, days in locked facilities, employment and educational outcomes. Development efforts led to substantial variations from the MTFC model and a new model, Treatment Foster Care for Older Youth was piloted. Feasibility monitoring suggested that it was difficult, but possible to recruit and randomize youth from and out of residential homes and that foster parents could be recruited to serve them. Qualitative data pointed to some qualified clinical successes. Stakeholders viewed two team roles - that of psychiatric nurse and skills coaches - very highly. However, results also suggested that foster parents and some staff did not tolerate the intervention well and struggled to address the emotion dysregulation issues of the young people they served. Quantitative data demonstrated that the intervention was not keeping youth out of locked facilities. The intervention needed further refinement prior to a broader trial. Intervention development work continued until components were developed to help address emotion regulation problems among fostered youth. Psychiatric nurses and skills coaches who work with youth in community settings hold promise as important

ROMANIAN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT. A PROPOSAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela CERKEZ

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article is an argument for the applicability of the Finnish model of knowledge society oriented public policy-making and not a detailed recommendation on the specific steps Romania should make in order to become a knowledge society. The article is elaborated as a synthesis of the Finnish knowledge society oriented public policies and an analysis of the adequacy of policy transfers from Finland to Romania. Data on Romania are not rich as the task of the article is not to make a diagnosis on Romania’s stage of development. Its main contribution consists of the identification of Finnish public measures meant to foster knowledge society that may be a best practice example for Romania. The introductory part briefly introduces the reader into the theoretical understanding of the concept of knowledge society. Then, I argue that there are several types of knowledge societies and Romania should look for European examples given the resemblance of the starting conditions. The main part of the paper presents the Finnish knowledge society development as an experience modeled by public intervention and I mirror these developments with the Romanian case. In the end, I explore the differences between the two countries that may interfere with the application of the Finnish model. Still, my conclusion is that those differences do not make the Finnish model less applicable. The efforts might need to be more intense and the results might show up later.

Extended Foster Care for Transition-Age Youth: An Opportunity for Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting Support.

Science.gov (United States)

Putnam-Hornstein, Emily; Hammond, Ivy; Eastman, Andrea Lane; McCroskey, Jacquelyn; Webster, Daniel

2016-04-01

This analysis examined California county birth rate variations among girls in foster care. The objective was to generate data to assess potential intervention points tied to federal legislation extending foster care beyond age 18 years. Child protection records for all adolescent girls in foster care at age 17 years between 2003 and 2007 (N = 20,222) were linked to vital birth records through 2011. The cumulative percentage of girls who had given birth by age 21 years was calculated by county and race/ethnicity. One in three (35.2%) adolescent girls in foster care had given birth at least once before age 21 years. Although significant birth rate variations emerged, even at the low end of the county range, more than one in four girls had given birth by age 21 years. Child welfare systems are now charged with coordinating transitional services for foster youth beyond age 18 years. Extended foster care provides new opportunities for pregnancy prevention work and targeted parenting support. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Social Media on Adult Learners' Knowledge Construction and Democratic Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Eric M.

2015-01-01

This paper provides a resource on the impact of social media on adult learners' construction of knowledge, particularly as it pertains to adult education's role in fostering a robust democratic society. There has been an increase in the literature in recent years that explores the various aspects of social media use, such as the incivility of…

Is Subjective Knowledge the Key to Fostering Sustainable Behavior? Mixed Evidence from an Education Intervention in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron Redman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Educational interventions are a promising way to shift individual behaviors towards Sustainability. Yet, as this research confirms, the standard fare of education, declarative knowledge, does not work. This study statistically analyzes the impact of an intervention designed and implemented in Mexico using the Educating for Sustainability (EfS framework which focuses on imparting procedural and subjective knowledge about waste through innovative pedagogy. Using data from three different rounds of surveys we were able to confirm (1 the importance of subjective and procedural knowledge for Sustainable behavior in a new context; (2 the effectiveness of the EfS framework and (3 the importance of changing subjective knowledge for changing behavior. While the impact was significant in the short term, one year later most if not all of those gains had evaporated. Interventions targeted at subjective knowledge will work, but more research is needed on how to make behavior change for Sustainability durable.

An Examination of the Protective Factors That Facilitate Motivation and Educational Attainment among Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Amy

2016-01-01

In the United States, there are approximately 400,000 foster youth. The state of California accounts for approximately 20% percent of youth placed in the foster care system. As a whole, this population is exposed to a multitude of risk factors while placed in the foster care system and as they emancipate. Re-victimization is not uncommon as youth…

Where do youth in foster care receive information about preventing unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections?

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Angela L

2012-10-01

Adolescents in foster care are at risk for unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV infection. A study using a qualitative method was conducted to describe how and where foster youth receive reproductive health and risk reduction information to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Participants also were asked to describe their relationship with their primary health care provider while they were in foster care. Nineteen young adults, recently emancipated from foster care, participated in individual interviews. Using grounded theory as the method of analysis, three thematic categories were generated: discomfort visiting and disclosing, receiving and not receiving the bare essentials, and learning prevention from community others. Recommendations include primary health care providers providing a confidential space for foster youth to disclose sexual activity and more opportunities for foster youth to receive reproductive and risk prevention information in the school setting. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fostering professional formation in residency: development and evaluation of the "forum" seminar series.

Science.gov (United States)

Nothnagle, Melissa; Reis, Shmuel; Goldman, Roberta E; Anandarajah, Gowri

2014-01-01

Residency training is a critical time for physicians' professional formation. However, few structured interventions exist to support residents in this transformative process of integrating personal and professional values, a process that is essential to physician identity formation and preservation of core values such as service and compassion. The authors created a seminar series, the "Forum," to support resident professional formation and address the hidden curriculum as part of a larger intervention to support self-directed learning skills such as goal setting and reflection. Ninety-minute sessions with senior residents and faculty held every other month include opportunities for individual reflection, small- and large-group discussion, and brief didactic components focused on skills such as teaching and leadership. The qualitative program evaluation included analyses of individual semistructured interviews with resident and faculty participants from 2008 to 2011 and of notes recorded by an observer during the 1st year's sessions. Residents appreciated the focus on relevant issues, presence of faculty, opportunities for reflection and interactivity, and inclusion of practical skills. Effects attributed to the Forum included gaining practical skills, feeling a deeper connection to one another and a sense of community, and recognizing progress in their own professional development and growth. Elements described in the literature as essential to professional formation, including encouraging reflection, use of narrative, role modeling, addressing the hidden curriculum, and fostering an authentic community, were recognized by participants as integral to the Forum's success. A group forum for reflection and discussion with peers and role models, tailored to local needs, offers an effective structure to foster professional formation in residency.

Factory-discharged pharmaceuticals could be a relevant source of aquatic environment contamination: review of evidence and need for knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardoso, Olivier; Porcher, Jean-Marc; Sanchez, Wilfried

2014-11-01

Human and veterinary active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are involved in contamination of surface water, ground water, effluents, sediments and biota. Effluents of waste water treatment plants and hospitals are considered as major sources of such contamination. However, recent evidences reveal high concentrations of a large number of APIs in effluents from pharmaceutical factories and in receiving aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, laboratory exposures to these effluents and field experiments reveal various physiological disturbances in exposed aquatic organisms. Also, it seems to be relevant to increase knowledge on this route of contamination but also to develop specific approaches for further environmental monitoring campaigns. The present study summarizes available data related to the impact of pharmaceutical factory discharges on aquatic ecosystem contaminations and presents associated challenges for scientists and environmental managers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From Famine to Feast. A Review of the Foster Care Research Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Sellick, Clive

2006-01-01

Foster care has become the principal placement of choice for children and young people in public care in the United Kingdom (UK). This has been accompanied by a significant growth in its research scrutiny connected to a busy policy agenda, especially since 1997. With its increased usage, fostering has encountered both difficulties and…

Editorial: Practical applications of KM systems for organizational learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murali Raman

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Modern-day organizations are subject to continuous change. To remain relevant and competitive, it is imperative that organizations cultivate and foster learning capabilities. This special issue focus on examining practical applications of knowledge management systems in support of organizational learning efforts.

Mental Health of Children Living in Foster Families in Rural Rwanda: The Role of HIV and the Family Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Nduwimana, Estella; Mukunzi, Sylvere; Ng, Lauren C; Kirk, Catherine M; Bizimana, Justin I; Betancourt, Theresa S

2017-06-01

Fostering children is common in sub-Saharan Africa, but few studies examine these children's mental health needs. This study investigated the impact of living in a foster family on the mental health of HIV-positive, HIV-affected and HIV-unaffected children (n = 681 aged 10-17) in rural Rwanda. Regression analyses assessed the impact of living in a foster family on mental health, parenting, and daily hardships; multiple mediation analyses assessed whether family factors mediated the association between foster status and mental health. HIV-positive children were eight times more likely to live in foster families than HIV-unaffected children. Being HIV-affected was predictive of depression and irritability symptoms after controlling for family factors. Controlling for HIV-status, foster children had more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and irritability than non-fostered children. Positive parenting fully mediated the association between foster status and mental health. Mental health and parenting interventions for foster children and HIV-affected children may improve child outcomes.

The Role of Parenting Styles and Socio-Economic Status in Parents' Knowledge of Child Development

Science.gov (United States)

September, Shiron Jade; Rich, Edna Grace; Roman, Nicolette Vanessa

2016-01-01

Early childhood development (ECD) has been recognised to be the most important contributor to long-term social and emotional development. Therefore, positive parenting is paramount to foster quality parent-child interaction. Previous research shows that for parents to adopt a positive parenting style, some degree of parental knowledge is required.…

Social and Psychological Adjustment in Foster Care Alumni: Education and Employment

OpenAIRE

Archakova T.O.

2015-01-01

The article analyses issues in social and psychological adjustment of young adults, grown up in foster families. The psychological and socio-pedagogical factors facilitating professional education, successful employment and financial independence are emphasized. The methods and results of several large simple design researches of adjustment in foster care alumni, conducted in USA, are described. Recommendations for services and specialists working with young adults leaving state care are prov...

Biology relevant to space radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fry, R.J.M.

1996-01-01

The biological effects of the radiations to which mankind on earth are exposed are becoming known with an increasing degree of detail. This knowledge is the basis of the estimates of risk that, in turn, fosters a comprehensive and evolving radiation protection system. The substantial body of information has been, and is being, applied to questions about the biological effects of radiation is space and the associated risk estimates. The purpose of this paper is not to recount all the biological effect of radiation but to concentrate on those that may occur as a result from exposure to the radiations encountered in space. In general, the biological effects of radiation in space are the same as those on earth. However, the evidence that the effects on certain tissues by the heaviest-charged particles can be interpreted on the basis of our knowledge about other high-LET radiation is equivocal. This specific question will be discussed in greater detail later. It is important to point out the that there are only limited data about the effects on humans of two components of the radiations in space, namely protons and heavy ions. Thus predictions of effects on space crews are based on experimental systems exposed on earth at rates and fluences that are higher than those in space and one the effects of gamma or x rays with estimates of the equivalent doses using quality factors

Creative Stories: A Storytelling Game Fostering Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Koukourikos, Antonis; Karampiperis, Pythagoras; Panagopoulos, George

2014-01-01

The process of identifying techniques for fostering creativity, and applying these theoretical constructs in real-world educational activities, is, by nature, multifaceted and not straightforward, pertaining to several fields such as cognitive theory and psychology. Furthermore, the quantification of the impact of different activities on…

Foster parenting, human imprinting and conventional handling ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... the present study indicates that improvements can be made by adopting alternative approaches. Further studies are needed to ascertain how foster parenting and imprinting may be utilized to optimize chick performance, including the long-term consequences of these practices. Keywords: Parental care, Struthio camelus, ...

Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training in Fostering Tobacco ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the impact of mindfulness training in fostering tobacco cessation among undergraduates in a Nigerian university. It also observed the moderating effect of self-efficacy on the causal link between mindfulness training and tobacco cessation. Participants were 57 students randomly assigned to ...

Positive change following adversity and psychological adjustment over time in abused foster youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez, Christine E; Lim, Ban Hong Phylice; Parker, Christopher P

2015-10-01

Many foster youth experience maltreatment in their family-of-origin and additional maltreatment while in foster care. Not surprisingly, rates of depression are higher in foster youth than the general population, and peak during ages 17-19 during the stressful transition into adulthood. However, no known studies have reported on whether foster youth perceive positive changes following such adversity, and whether positive change facilitates psychological adjustment over time. The current study examined components of positive change (i.e., compassion for others and self-efficacy) with depression severity from age 17 to 18 as youth prepared to exit foster care. Participants were youth from the Mental Health Service Use of Youth Leaving Foster Care study who endorsed child maltreatment. Components of positive change and severity of abuse were measured initially. Depression was measured initially and every three months over the following year. Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the course of depression as a function of initial levels of positive change and severity of abuse. Results revealed that decreases in depression followed an inverse quadratic function in which the steepest declines occurred in the first three months and leveled off after that. Severity of abuse was positively correlated with higher initial levels of depression and negatively correlated with decreases in depression. Greater self-efficacy was negatively associated with initial levels of depression and predicted decreases in depression over the year, whereas compassion for others was neither associated with initial depression nor changes in depression. Implications for intervention, theory, and research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FOSTER-Flight Opportunities for Science Teacher EnRichment, A New IDEA Program From NASA Astrophysics

Science.gov (United States)

Devore, E.; Gillespie, C.; Hull, G.; Koch, D.

1993-05-01

Flight Opportunities for Science Teacher EnRichment (FOSTER) is a new educational program from the Imitative to Develop Education through Astronomy in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. Now in its first year of the pilot program, the FOSTER project brings eleven Bay Area teaaaachers to NASA Ames to participate in a year-long program of workshops, educational programs at their schools and the opportunity to fly aboard the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) on research missions. As science and math educators, FOSTER teachers get a close-up look at science in action and have the opportunity to interact with the entire team of scientists, aviators and engineers that support the research abord the KAO. In June, a second group of FOSTER teachers will participate in a week-long workshop at ASes to prepare for flights during the 1993-94 school year. In addition, the FOSTER project trains teachers to use e-mail for ongoing communication with scientists and the KAO team, develops educational materials and supports opportunities for scientists to become directly involved in local schools. FOSTER is supported by a NASA grant (NAGW 3291).

Practical knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Jens

2006-01-01

The chapter aims to develop conceptions of practical knowledge, relevant to skills and Bildung in engineering science. The starting point is Francis Bacon’s ideas of new science, developed 400 years ago. It is argued that Bacon’s vision has become dogmatized during the course of history, whereas....... Furthermore, and still with reference to truth, utility, and goodness, it is claimed that unification of skills and Bildung should include the ability to deal with complexity. A second-order complexity challenges the search for adequacy between; a) the complexity of knowledge-creation; and b) the complexity...

Foster Care Placement, Poor Parenting, and Negative Outcomes among Homeless Young Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Tyler, Kimberly A.; Melander, Lisa A.

2010-01-01

Although homeless youth with and without foster care histories both face adverse life circumstances, little is known about how these two groups compare in terms of their early histories and whether they face similar outcomes. As such, we compared those with and without a history of foster care placement to determine if the associations between a…

Youth transitioning out of foster care: an evaluation of a Supplemental Security Income policy change.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Laura; Rukh-Kamaa, Aneer

2013-01-01

Youths with disabilities face numerous challenges when they transition to adulthood. Those who are aging out of foster care face the additional challenge of losing their foster care benefits, although some will be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments after foster care ceases. However, the time needed to process SSI applications exposes those youths to a potential gap in the receipt of benefits as they move between foster care and SSI. We evaluate the effects of a 2010 Social Security Administration policy change that allows such youths to apply for SSI payments 60 days earlier than the previous policy allowed. The change provides additional time for processing claims before the applicant ages out of the foster care system. We examine administrative records on SSI applications from before and after the policy change to determine if the change has decreased the gap between benefits for the target population.

Engaging national organizations for knowledge translation: comparative case studies in knowledge value mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, Joseph P; Rogers, Juan D

2011-09-12

Government sponsors of research and development, along with their funded investigators, are increasingly tasked with demonstrating evidence of knowledge use by nontraditional audiences. This requires efforts to translate their findings for effective communication. For technology-related knowledge, these audiences include clinicians, consumers, manufacturers, public policy agencies, and knowledge brokers. One potentially efficient approach is to communicate research findings through relevant national organizations. However, this requires an understanding of how such organizations view and treat research knowledge, which can be determined through knowledge-value mapping. Do knowledge values differ between national organizations representing different audiences? Can a deeper understanding of knowledge values help sponsors, investigators, and organizations better communicate research findings to stakeholders? A series of comparative case studies on knowledge-value mapping were derived through interviews with spokespersons for six national organizations. The semi-structured interviews followed a 10-item questionnaire to characterize different ways in which each organization engages with research-based knowledge. Each participating organization represents a particular stakeholder group, while all share a common interest in the research subject matter. Each national organization considers the value of the research knowledge in the context of their organization's mission and the interests of their members. All are interested in collaborating with researchers to share relevant findings, while they vary along the following dimensions of knowledge engagement: create, identify, translate, adapt, communicate, use, promote, absorptive capacity, and recommendations for facilitation. The principles of knowledge translation suggest that investigators can increase use by tailoring the format and context of their findings to the absorptive capacity of nonscholars. Greater absorption

Stop and Think: Exploring Mobile Notifications to Foster Reflective Practice on Meta-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Tabuenca, Bernardo; Kalz, Marco; Ternier, Stefaan; Specht, Marcus

2015-01-01

Nowadays, smartphone users are constantly receiving notifications from applications that provide feedback, as reminders, recommendations or announcements. Nevertheless, there is little research on the effects of mobile notifications to foster meta-learning. This paper explores the effectiveness of mobile notifications to foster reflection on…

Systems theory as a framework for examining a college campus-based support program for the former foster youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Schelbe, Lisa; Randolph, Karen A; Yelick, Anna; Cheatham, Leah P; Groton, Danielle B

2018-01-01

Increased attention to former foster youth pursuing post-secondary education has resulted in the creation of college campus based support programs to address their need. However, limited empirical evidence and theoretical knowledge exist about these programs. This study seeks to describe the application of systems theory as a framework for examining a college campus based support program for former foster youth. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 program stakeholders including students, mentors, collaborative members, and independent living program staff. Using qualitative data analysis software, holistic coding techniques were employed to analyze interview transcripts. Then applying principles of extended case method using systems theory, data were analyzed. Findings suggest systems theory serves as a framework for understanding the functioning of a college campus based support program. The theory's concepts help delineate program components and roles of stakeholders; outline boundaries between and interactions among stakeholders; and identify program strengths and weakness. Systems theory plays an important role in identifying intervention components and providing a structure through which to identify and understand program elements as a part of the planning process. This study highlights the utility of systems theory as a framework for program planning and evaluation.

Knowledge Portals: Ontologies at Work

OpenAIRE

Staab, Steffen; Maedche, Alexander

2001-01-01

Knowledge portals provide views onto domain-specific information on the World Wide Web, thus helping their users find relevant, domain-specific information. The construction of intelligent access and the contribution of information to knowledge portals, however, remained an ad hoc task, requiring extensive manual editing and maintenance by the knowledge portal providers. To diminish these efforts, we use ontologies as a conceptual backbone for providing, accessing, and structuring information...

Dr. Andrew Foster: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Runnels, Joel

2017-01-01

Often compared to Laurent Clerc, Thomas Gallaudet, and Alexander Graham Bell, Dr. Andrew Foster was a deaf African American who founded 32 schools for the deaf in 13 African nations. The 60th anniversary of his arrival in Liberia and Ghana and the 30th anniversary of his tragic death in a Rwanda airplane accident both occur in 2017. Renewed…

Simultaneous-Fault Diagnosis of Automotive Engine Ignition Systems Using Prior Domain Knowledge and Relevance Vector Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi-Man Vong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Engine ignition patterns can be analyzed to identify the engine fault according to both the specific prior domain knowledge and the shape features of the patterns. One of the challenges in ignition system diagnosis is that more than one fault may appear at a time. This kind of problem refers to simultaneous-fault diagnosis. Another challenge is the acquisition of a large amount of costly simultaneous-fault ignition patterns for constructing the diagnostic system because the number of the training patterns depends on the combination of different single faults. The above problems could be resolved by the proposed framework combining feature extraction, probabilistic classification, and decision threshold optimization. With the proposed framework, the features of the single faults in a simultaneous-fault pattern are extracted and then detected using a new probabilistic classifier, namely, pairwise coupling relevance vector machine, which is trained with single-fault patterns only. Therefore, the training dataset of simultaneous-fault patterns is not necessary. Experimental results show that the proposed framework performs well for both single-fault and simultaneous-fault diagnoses and is superior to the existing approach.

Fostering rigour in accounting for social sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O'Dwyer, B.; Unerman, J.

2015-01-01

This paper illuminates how a journal and its editor can initiate and foster a stream of high quality and influential research in a novel area. It does this by analysing Accounting, Organizations and Society's (AOS's) and Anthony Hopwood's nurturing of research into key aspects of accounting for

The Influence of Social and Family Backgrounds on College Transition Experiences of Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Joaquin; Durdella, Nathan

2018-01-01

Familial and social experiences shape college transitions of first-year, first-generation college students who are foster youth. This chapter describes these experiences and offers recommendations to enhance support for foster youth in college.

Knowledge Representation and Ontologies

Science.gov (United States)

Grimm, Stephan

Knowledge representation and reasoning aims at designing computer systems that reason about a machine-interpretable representation of the world. Knowledge-based systems have a computational model of some domain of interest in which symbols serve as surrogates for real world domain artefacts, such as physical objects, events, relationships, etc. [1]. The domain of interest can cover any part of the real world or any hypothetical system about which one desires to represent knowledge for com-putational purposes. A knowledge-based system maintains a knowledge base, which stores the symbols of the computational model in the form of statements about the domain, and it performs reasoning by manipulating these symbols. Applications can base their decisions on answers to domain-relevant questions posed to a knowledge base.

Pursuing Innovation: Benchmarking Milwaukee's Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy. Metro Milwaukee Innovation Index 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Million, Laura; Dickman, Anneliese; Henken, Rob

2010-01-01

While the Milwaukee region's economic base is rooted in its manufacturing history, many believe that the region's future prosperity will be tied to its ability to successfully transition its economy into one that is based on knowledge and innovation. Indeed, fostering innovation has become the call to action for business and political leaders…

Small trails, great knowledge: local ecological knowledge shared by children and teenagers of a rural school in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Riat

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Deforestation and forests fragmentation in Argentina and particularly in Santiago del Estero have favored the loss of biodiversity in recent decades. Ethnobiological studies in the province have shown the presence of peasant families in relict of dry forests, who subsist through multiple use strategy (MUS. As it is necessary to develop conservation strategies that include local knowledge and recognize children and adolescents as key players, we conducted a study on the local botanical knowledge of children and adolescents, inquiring about how many and which uses of plant species they know. Field ethnobotanic techniques were used, among them ludic techniques and participative preparation of a territorial map. Children and adolescents recognized 36 plant species. Three principal microenvironments, tours and spaces that function as meeting places outside the households were identified. Finally, a discussion on the inclusion of knowledge of children in school settings is presented, to strengthen a process of teaching and learning, and an education that fosters the conservation of biocultural diversity.

Influence of Previous Knowledge, Language Skills and Domain-specific Interest on Observation Competency

Science.gov (United States)

Kohlhauf, Lucia; Rutke, Ulrike; Neuhaus, Birgit

2011-10-01

Many epoch-making biological discoveries (e.g. Darwinian Theory) were based upon observations. Nevertheless, observation is often regarded as `just looking' rather than a basic scientific skill. As observation is one of the main research methods in biological sciences, it must be considered as an independent research method and systematic practice of this method is necessary. Because observation skills form the basis of further scientific methods (e.g. experiments or comparisons) and children from the age of 4 years are able to independently generate questions and hypotheses, it seems possible to foster observation competency at a preschool level. To be able to provide development-adequate individual fostering of this competency, it is first necessary to assess each child's competency. Therefore, drawing on the recent literature, we developed in this study a competency model that was empirically evaluated within learners ( N = 110) from different age groups, from kindergarten to university. In addition, we collected data on language skills, domain-specific interest and previous knowledge to analyse coherence between these skills and observation competency. The study showed as expected that previous knowledge had a high impact on observation competency, whereas the influence of domain-specific interest was nonexistent. Language skills were shown to have a weak influence. By utilising the empirically validated model consisting of three dimensions (`Describing', `Scientific reasoning' and `Interpreting') and three skill levels, it was possible to assess each child's competency level and to develop and evaluate guided play activities to individually foster a child's observation competency.

Beating the Odds: Applying the Positive Deviance Framework to Address the Academic Underachievement of Foster Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, Daniel J.

2013-01-01

This study utilized the theory of positive deviance to explore the challenges and success factors for foster youth who have attained a postsecondary education. To accomplish this, twelve interviews were conducted. Six interviews were conducted with college-going foster youth and six adults who served as mentors for the foster youth participants…

The Sydney West Knowledge Portal: Evaluating the Growth of a Knowledge Portal to Support Translational Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Anna; Robinson, Tracy Elizabeth; Provan, Pamela; Shaw, Tim

2016-06-29

The Sydney West Translational Cancer Research Centre is an organization funded to build capacity for translational research in cancer. Translational research is essential for ensuring the integration of best available evidence into practice and for improving patient outcomes. However, there is a low level of awareness regarding what it is and how to conduct it optimally. One solution to addressing this gap is the design and deployment of web-based knowledge portals to disseminate new knowledge and engage with and connect dispersed networks of researchers. A knowledge portal is an web-based platform for increasing knowledge dissemination and management in a specialized area. To measure the design and growth of an web-based knowledge portal for increasing individual awareness of translational research and to build organizational capacity for the delivery of translational research projects in cancer. An adaptive methodology was used to capture the design and growth of an web-based knowledge portal in cancer. This involved stakeholder consultations to inform initial design of the portal. Once the portal was live, site analytics were reviewed to evaluate member usage of the portal and to measure growth in membership. Knowledge portal membership grew consistently for the first 18 months after deployment, before leveling out. Analysis of site metrics revealed members were most likely to visit portal pages with community-generated content, particularly pages with a focus on translational research. This was closely followed by pages that disseminated educational material about translational research. Preliminary data from this study suggest that knowledge portals may be beneficial tools for translating new evidence and fostering an environment of communication and collaboration.

Translators vs pharmacists as successful interlingual knowledge mediators?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Matilde Nisbeth

a contrastive source text/target text linguistic framework focussing on elements such as the use of nominalization, compounds nouns, medical terminology and other formal register. Findings showed significant differences between the two translator groups. My findings revealed that the nature of the translator......Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) were introduced in the EU as mandatory texts accompanying all medication informing users about dosage, side effects, etc. in order to foster informed decision-making and patient empowerment. By its nature, the PIL genre is complex aiming at instructing lay people...... about complex medical content, i.e. mediation of specialized medical knowledge across a knowledge asymmetry. Within the EU, this intralingual translation is further complicated by an interlingual dimension as PILs must be translated from English into all other 23 EU languages. Legally, PILs must...

Foster and Adoptive Parent Perspectives on Needs and Services: a Mixed Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Erin R; Jankowski, Mary K; Butcher, Rebecca L; Meister, Catherine; Parton, Rebecca R; Drake, Robert E

2018-01-01

Caring for children with complex needs severely stresses foster and adoptive parents, but few studies have examined their perspectives on needs and services. To examine parental views, the authors analyzed four focus groups (n = 27 participants) and one state-wide survey (n = 512 respondents, 42% of 1206 contacted) of foster and adoptive parents in one state. Results highlighted inadequate communication between providers and families, cultural and legal barriers, needs for parent training and preparation, the importance of several types of parent supports, and needs for specialized mental health treatment for the children. Surveyed parents identified children's behavior problems as their top challenge, and over half rated the availability of mental health providers who treat attachment and family as insufficient. The findings suggest specific areas in which state leaders could enhance training and supports for child welfare staff and foster and adoptive parents and improve mental health services for children in foster and adoptive care.

Incremental Net Benefit of Early Intervention for Preschool-Aged Children with Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Foster Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Frances L; Dickerson, John F; Saldana, Lisa; Fisher, Phillip A

2014-01-01

Of 1 million cases of child maltreatment identified every year in the United States, one-fifth result in foster care. Many of these children suffer from significant emotional and behavioral conditions. Decision-makers must allocate highly constrained budgets to serve these children. Recent evidence suggests that Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Preschoolers can reduce negative outcomes for these children, but the relative benefits and costs of the program have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to assess net benefit, over 24 months, of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Preschoolers compared to regular foster care. Data were from a randomized controlled trial of 117 young children entering a new foster placement. A subsample exhibited placement instability (n = 52). Intervention services including parent training, lasted 9-12 months. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Preschoolers significantly increased permanent placements for the placement instability sample. Average total cost for the new intervention sample was significantly less than for regular foster care (full sample: $27,204 vs. $30,090; P = .004; placement instability sample: $29,595 vs. $36,061; P = .045). Incremental average net benefit was positive at all levels of willingness to pay of zero or greater, indicating that the value of benefits exceeded costs. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Preschoolers has significant benefit for preschool children in foster care with emotional and behavioral disorders compared to regular foster care services. At even modest levels of willingness to pay, benefits exceed costs indicating a strong likeliness that this program is an efficient choice for improving outcomes for young children with emotional and behavioral disorders in foster care.

Example-based learning: comparing the effects of additionally providing three different integrative learning activities on physiotherapy intervention knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyer, Joseph-Omer; Hudon, Anne; Montpetit-Tourangeau, Katherine; Charlin, Bernard; Mamede, Sílvia; van Gog, Tamara

2015-03-07

Example-based learning using worked examples can foster clinical reasoning. Worked examples are instructional tools that learners can use to study the steps needed to solve a problem. Studying worked examples paired with completion examples promotes acquisition of problem-solving skills more than studying worked examples alone. Completion examples are worked examples in which some of the solution steps remain unsolved for learners to complete. Providing learners engaged in example-based learning with self-explanation prompts has been shown to foster increased meaningful learning compared to providing no self-explanation prompts. Concept mapping and concept map study are other instructional activities known to promote meaningful learning. This study compares the effects of self-explaining, completing a concept map and studying a concept map on conceptual knowledge and problem-solving skills among novice learners engaged in example-based learning. Ninety-one physiotherapy students were randomized into three conditions. They performed a pre-test and a post-test to evaluate their gains in conceptual knowledge and problem-solving skills (transfer performance) in intervention selection. They studied three pairs of worked/completion examples in a digital learning environment. Worked examples consisted of a written reasoning process for selecting an optimal physiotherapy intervention for a patient. The completion examples were partially worked out, with the last few problem-solving steps left blank for students to complete. The students then had to engage in additional self-explanation, concept map completion or model concept map study in order to synthesize and deepen their knowledge of the key concepts and problem-solving steps. Pre-test performance did not differ among conditions. Post-test conceptual knowledge was higher (P example and completion example strategies to foster intervention selection.

Epistemic agency in an environmental sciences watershed investigation fostered by digital photography

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Heather Toomey; Weible, Jennifer L.

2018-05-01

This collective case study investigates the role of digital photography to support high school students' engagement in science inquiry practices during a three-week environmental sciences unit. The study's theoretical framework brings together research from digital photography, participation in environmental science practices, and epistemic agency. Data analysed include field notes and video transcripts from two groups of learners (n = 19) that focus on how high school students used digital photography during their participation in two distinct environmental monitoring practices: stream mapping and macroinvertebrate identification. Our study resulted in two findings related to the role of digital photography where students developed knowledge as they engaged in environmental monitoring inquiry practices. First, we found that digital photography was integral to the youths' epistemic agency (defined as their confidence that they could build knowledge related to science in their community) as they engaged in data collection, documenting environmental monitoring procedures, and sharing data in the classroom. Based this finding, an implication of our work is a refined view of the role of digital photography in environmental sciences education where the use of photography enhances epistemic agency in inquiry-based activities. Second, we found that the youths innovated a use of digital photography to foster a recognition that they were capable and competent in scientific procedures during a streamside study. Based on this finding, we offer a theoretical implication that expands the construct of epistemic agency; we posit that epistemic agency includes a subcomponent where the students purposefully formulate an external recognition as producers of scientific knowledge.

How Can Science Education Foster Students' Rooting?

Science.gov (United States)

Østergaard, Edvin

2015-01-01

The question of how to foster rooting in science education points towards a double challenge; efforts to "prevent" (further) uprooting and efforts to "promote" rooting/re-rooting. Wolff-Michael Roth's paper discusses the uprooting/rooting pair of concepts, students' feeling of alienation and loss of fundamental sense of the…

Knowledge Transfer in Family Business Successions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, Britta; Royer, Susanne; Pei, Rong

Knowledge often is the fundament for strategic competitive advantage. Thus, it is highly relevant to understand better how knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next in family businesses. Building on the contingency model of family business succession (Royer, Simons, Boyd & Rafferty...

Why Knowledge management is (Cognitive) Psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jorna, R.J.J.M.; Jorna, R.J.J.M.; Stephenson, N; Radtke, H.R.; Stam, H.J.

2003-01-01

This chapter illustrates how psychology, and cognitive psychology in particular, can enrich the discussions on knowledge management. Beginning with a realistic organizational example of the use of knowledge management, I argue that organizations are multi-actor systems and discuss the relevance of

Assessing and Addressing the Needs of Former Foster Youth in a College Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Misty Glasgow

2017-01-01

Research indicated that former foster youth encounter unique challenges in pursuit of degree completion in higher education. Degree completion has the potential to promote self-sufficiency skills for former foster youth, decrease dependency on social services, and increase the likelihood of successful transition into adulthood roles. By aiding…

Validation Of Critical Knowledge-Based Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Duke, Eugene L.

1992-01-01

Report discusses approach to verification and validation of knowledge-based systems. Also known as "expert systems". Concerned mainly with development of methodologies for verification of knowledge-based systems critical to flight-research systems; e.g., fault-tolerant control systems for advanced aircraft. Subject matter also has relevance to knowledge-based systems controlling medical life-support equipment or commuter railroad systems.

Fostering Cognitive Collaboration for Effective Instruction in English ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Fostering Cognitive Collaboration for Effective Instruction in English ... be a paradigm shift in the teaching and learning strategies of the English language. ... is a major determinant of success across the curriculum and in the world of work.

Knowledge acquisition for temporal abstraction.

Science.gov (United States)

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

1996-01-01

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

The Role of Therapeutic Mentoring in Enhancing Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Sara B.; Pryce, Julia M.; Martinovich, Zoran

2011-01-01

Effective service interventions greatly enhance the well-being of foster youth. A study of 262 foster youth examined one such intervention, therapeutic mentoring. Results showed that mentored youth improved significantly in the areas of family and social functioning, school behavior, and recreational activities, as well as in the reduction of…

Coupling knowledge and action in the management context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazza, Carmelo; Strandgaard Pedersen, Jesper; Alvarez, José Luis

2003-01-01

In the last decade, scholarly interest has been mainly attracted on the nature of knowledge,mechanisms of knowledge production and the transformation of the institutions diffusingknowledge. Most of these studies share the underlying hypotheses that management knowledge`travels', as a package, from...... on priorities and undertake specific courses of actions This supports theidea that the managerial role is intrinsically political.Second, management education cannot simply deals with managerial recipes and rules of thumb. Itis increasingly asked for providing non-technical knowledge to help managers exert...... their politicalrole. To mobilize constituencies and create consensus on controversial decisions, technicalitiescould be less relevant than business-unrelated knowledge. We hold that has a relevant impact onboth the institutional settings and the content of management education.The paper is structured in three parts...

Understanding the Black Foster Child through Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Seligman, Linda

1979-01-01

Sheds light on the difficulties of one of the most problem-ridden segments of our society's young people--minority foster children--and suggests ways to improve the help that these children receive. Results indicate that a satisfactory rapport could be established with these children with moderate effort and that rewarding therapeutic…

Strategies for Fostering Creativity Among Business Education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The findings of the study reveal that the respondents agreed that the 20 creativity skill-items are needed by business education graduates. Furthermore, the study also show a no significant difference between the mean rating of opinion of male and female business educators on the strategies for fostering creativity among ...

Temperament, disordered attachment and parental sensitivity in foster care: Differential findings on attachment security for shy children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Schipper, J.C.; Oosterman, M.; Schuengel, C.

2012-01-01

In a foster care sample, the moderating effect of temperamental shyness on the association between parental sensitivity and attachment quality was tested. The foster parents of 59 foster children (age M=57 months, SD=16.4) filled out the Child Behavior Questionnaire. To control for confounds,

Caregiver Involvement in the Education of Youth in Foster Care: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Beisse, Kay; Tyre, Ashli

2013-01-01

This study was an exploratory investigation of caregiver involvement in the education of youth in foster care. In this study, foster caregivers reported that they are involved in the education of children in their care and participate in at-home involvement activities more often than at-school involvement activities. Caregivers in this study…

Strategic Direction of Libraries in Knowledge Management

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2002-01-01

1 Introduction “Knowledge Management”has become a popular term inthe business world during the last decade of the 20th century.It was the business world that recognizes at first theimportance of knowledge in the“global economy”of the“knowledge age”. In the new knowledge economy,knowledge is power,especially if it is shared and put tocreative use. The possession of relevant and strategicknowledge and its unceasing renewal enables businesses togain competitive advantage.

Outcomes-focused knowledge translation: a framework for knowledge translation and patient outcomes improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Diane M; Sidani, Souraya

2007-01-01

Regularly accessing information that is current and reliable continues to be a challenge for front-line staff nurses. Reconceptualizing how nurses access information and designing appropriate decision support systems to facilitate timely access to information may be important for increasing research utilization. An outcomes-focused knowledge translation framework was developed to guide the continuous improvement of patient care through the uptake of research evidence and feedback data about patient outcomes. The framework operationalizes the three elements of the PARIHS framework at the point of care. Outcomes-focused knowledge translation involves four components: (a) patient outcomes measurement and real-time feedback about outcomes achievement; (b) best-practice guidelines, embedded in decision support tools that deliver key messages in response to patient assessment data; (c) clarification of patients' preferences for care; and (d) facilitation by advanced practice nurses and practice leaders. In this paper the framework is described and evidence is provided to support theorized relationships among the concepts in the framework. The framework guided the design of a knowledge translation intervention aimed at continuous improvement of patient care and evidence-based practice, which are fostered through real-time feedback data about patient outcomes, electronic access to evidence-based resources at the point of care, and facilitation by advanced practice nurses. The propositions in the framework need to be empirically tested through future research.

Achieving Knowledge-Creating Companies in Mexico: the Advantage of University-Industry Alliances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla Cedano

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we focused on developing a methodology to promote innovation through industry-university collaboration. So we analyzed two different scenarios. On one hand we have the traditional firm, that is striving to survive in the global knowledge-driven economic framework and on the other we have world class research universities that are trying to find the best way to put their knowledge in the market place, fostering spin-offs as well as promoting knowledge transfer to the traditional industry. We have analyzed the behavior of successful high-technology spin-offs, and knowledge transfer experiences worldwide. In particular, we have focused on the management paradigm of the "knowledge creating company", proposed by Nonaka [11], since it is one of the models that best describes the organizational environment in such successful experiences. Finally, we present the methodology developed as a result of this study that is currently being applied in our State University

Fostering Environmental Literacy For A Changing Earth: Interactive and Participatory Outreach Programs at Biosphere 2

Science.gov (United States)

Pavao-Zuckerman, M.; Huxman, T.; Morehouse, B.

2008-12-01

Earth system and ecological sustainability problems are complex outcomes of biological, physical, social, and economic interactions. A common goal of outreach and education programs is to foster a scientifically literate community that possesses the knowledge to contribute to environmental policies and decision making. Uncertainty and variability that is both inherent in Earth system and ecological sciences can confound such goals of improved ecological literacy. Public programs provide an opportunity to engage lay-persons in the scientific method, allowing them to experience science in action and confront these uncertainties face-on. We begin with a definition of scientific literacy that expands its conceptualization of science beyond just a collection of facts and concepts to one that views science as a process to aid understanding of natural phenomena. A process-based scientific literacy allows the public, teachers, and students to assimilate new information, evaluate climate research, and to ultimately make decisions that are informed by science. The Biosphere 2 facility (B2) is uniquely suited for such outreach programs because it allows linking Earth system and ecological science research activities in a large scale controlled environment setting with outreach and education opportunities. A primary outreach goal is to demonstrate science in action to an audience that ranges from K-12 groups to retired citizens. Here we discuss approaches to outreach programs that focus on soil-water-atmosphere-plant interactions and their roles in the impacts and causes of global environmental change. We describe a suite of programs designed to vary the amount of participation a visitor has with the science process (from passive learning to data collection to helping design experiments) to test the hypothesis that active learning fosters increased scientific literacy and the creation of science advocates. We argue that a revised framing of the scientific method with a more

Child welfare services involvement among the children of young parents in foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

Dworsky, Amy

2015-07-01

Despite the high rate of early parenthood among youth in foster care as well as the increased risk of child maltreatment among children whose adolescent parents have been neglected or abused, very little is known about child welfare services involvement among children whose parents were in foster care when they were born. This study uses administrative data from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to examine the occurrence of child abuse and neglect investigations, indicated reports and out of home care placements among the children of youth in foster. Thirty-nine percent of the children were the subject of at least one CPS investigation, 17 percent had at least one indicated report and 11 percent were placed in out of home care at least once before their 5th birthday. Cox proportional hazard models are also estimated to identify characteristics of parenting foster youth and their placement histories associated with the risk of child welfare services involvement. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hyperthermic radiosensitization : mode of action and clinical relevance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kampinga, HH; Dikomey, E

Purpose: To provide an update on the recent knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of thermal radiosensitization and its possible relevance to thermoradiotherapy. Summary: Hyperthermia is probably the most potent cellular radiosensitizer known to date. Heat interacts with radiation and potentiates

Engaging national organizations for knowledge translation: Comparative case studies in knowledge value mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rogers Juan D

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Government sponsors of research and development, along with their funded investigators, are increasingly tasked with demonstrating evidence of knowledge use by nontraditional audiences. This requires efforts to translate their findings for effective communication. For technology-related knowledge, these audiences include clinicians, consumers, manufacturers, public policy agencies, and knowledge brokers. One potentially efficient approach is to communicate research findings through relevant national organizations. However, this requires an understanding of how such organizations view and treat research knowledge, which can be determined through knowledge-value mapping. Do knowledge values differ between national organizations representing different audiences? Can a deeper understanding of knowledge values help sponsors, investigators, and organizations better communicate research findings to stakeholders? Methods A series of comparative case studies on knowledge-value mapping were derived through interviews with spokespersons for six national organizations. The semi-structured interviews followed a 10-item questionnaire to characterize different ways in which each organization engages with research-based knowledge. Each participating organization represents a particular stakeholder group, while all share a common interest in the research subject matter. Results Each national organization considers the value of the research knowledge in the context of their organization's mission and the interests of their members. All are interested in collaborating with researchers to share relevant findings, while they vary along the following dimensions of knowledge engagement: create, identify, translate, adapt, communicate, use, promote, absorptive capacity, and recommendations for facilitation. Conclusions The principles of knowledge translation suggest that investigators can increase use by tailoring the format and context of their

Community-based participatory research and integrated knowledge translation: advancing the co-creation of knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Jull, Janet; Giles, Audrey; Graham, Ian D

2017-12-19

Better use of research evidence (one form of "knowledge") in health systems requires partnerships between researchers and those who contend with the real-world needs and constraints of health systems. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and integrated knowledge translation (IKT) are research approaches that emphasize the importance of creating partnerships between researchers and the people for whom the research is ultimately meant to be of use ("knowledge users"). There exist poor understandings of the ways in which these approaches converge and diverge. Better understanding of the similarities and differences between CBPR and IKT will enable researchers to use these approaches appropriately and to leverage best practices and knowledge from each. The co-creation of knowledge conveys promise of significant social impacts, and further understandings of how to engage and involve knowledge users in research are needed. We examine the histories and traditions of CBPR and IKT, as well as their points of convergence and divergence. We critically evaluate the ways in which both have the potential to contribute to the development and integration of knowledge in health systems. As distinct research traditions, the underlying drivers and rationale for CBPR and IKT have similarities and differences across the areas of motivation, social location, and ethics; nevertheless, the practices of CBPR and IKT converge upon a common aim: the co-creation of knowledge that is the result of knowledge user and researcher expertise. We argue that while CBPR and IKT both have the potential to contribute evidence to implementation science and practices for collaborative research, clarity for the purpose of the research-social change or application-is a critical feature in the selection of an appropriate collaborative approach to build knowledge. CBPR and IKT bring distinct strengths to a common aim: to foster democratic processes in the co-creation of knowledge. As research

Social capital and knowledge sharing: effects on patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chia-Wen; Huang, Heng-Chiang; Chiang, Chi-Yun; Hsu, Chiu-Ping; Chang, Chia-Chen

2012-08-01

This article is a report on a study that empirically examines the influence of social capital on knowledge sharing and the impact of knowledge sharing on patient safety. Knowledge sharing is linked to many desirable managerial outcomes, including learning and problem-solving, which are essential for patient safety. Rather than studying the tangible effects of rewards, this study examines whether social capital (including social interaction, trust and shared vision) directly supports individual knowledge sharing in an organization. This cross-sectional study analysed data collected through a questionnaire survey of nurses from a major medical centre in northern Taiwan. The data were collected over a 9-month period from 2008 to 2009. The data analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares Graph v3.0 program to evaluate the measurement properties and the structural relationships specified in the research model. Based on a large-scale survey, empirical results indicate that Registered Nurses' perceptions of trust and shared vision have statistically significant and direct effects on knowledge sharing. In addition, knowledge sharing is significantly and positively associated with patient safety. The findings suggest that hospital administrators should foster group trust and initiate a common vision among Registered Nurses. In addition, administrators and chief knowledge officers of hospitals should encourage positive intentions towards knowledge sharing. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Is Teacher Knowledge Associated with Performance? On the Relationship between Teachers' General Pedagogical Knowledge and Instructional Quality

Science.gov (United States)

König, Johannes; Pflanzl, Barbara

2016-01-01

Researchers have identified general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) as a relevant category of teacher knowledge. However, hardly any study has examined the relationship between GPK of teachers and the instructional quality delivered to their students. This article therefore investigates the relationship between teachers' GPK assessed via a…

Knowledge Management Experience in Kosovo Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MSc. Drita Kacandolli-Gjonbalaj

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is an empirical study, the findings of which reflect the experience gathered in knowledge management in Kosovo organizations. The main goal of this paper was to identify the realistic situation, and recommend instruments for a more effective knowledge management in Kosovo organizations. The findings of the empirical study have found inefficiency in knowledge management by organizations in Kosovo. A research was undertaken for this study, thereby directly interviewing representatives of 102 organizations in Kosovo.The research was undertaken during the period January-February 2013. Findings of the research show that most of the organizations in Kosovo are dominated by a random approach to knowledge assessment in personnel. This is the opinion of 83,3% of respondents in foreign organizations and institutions, 58,3% of respondents in education institutions, 53,8% of interviewees in state institutions, 47,4% of respondents in business organizations, and 34,8% of interviewees in the Privatization Agency of Kosovo (regional units and other operational units. The main statistical model used in this study was the ChiSquare, Asymp. Sig test (2 single-way and V. Cramer’s. Records were processed with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS. The main recommendation of this paper is the following: essential changes are required in managers’ behaviour in terms of knowledge management, thereby fostering and motivating their subordinates to engage in change and new approaches in Kosovo organizations.

Knowledge of primary care nurses regarding domestic violence ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Knowledge of primary care nurses regarding domestic violence. ... It included also knowledge about prevalence of DV, and four main aspects relevant to DV, namely deprivation, psychological, ... schools, training courses and conferences.

Laboratory-Diagnosed Sexually Transmitted Infections in Former Foster Youth Compared With Peers

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrens, Kym R.; Richardson, Laura P.; Courtney, Mark E.; McCarty, Carolyn; Simoni, Jane; Katon, Wayne

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between having resided in foster care and risk for sexually transmitted infection (STI) during young adulthood. METHODS Multiple regression analyses were performed by using Waves I to III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994–2002) to evaluate the association between foster care status and STI biomarkers and risk behaviors. Female (N = 7563) and male participants (N = 6759) were evaluated separately. Covariates in all models included baseline age, race, ethnicity, parental education level, parental income level, and average neighborhood household income level. RESULTS Female participants who had been in foster care were more likely to have Trichomonas (odds ratio [OR]: 3.23 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.45–7.23) but not gonorrhea or chlamydia and reported increased sexual risk behaviors compared with nonfostered peers. Male participants who had been in foster care were more likely to have both gonorrhea (OR: 14.28 [95% CI: 2.07–98.28]) and chlamydia (OR: 3.07 [95% CI: 1.36–6.96]) but not Trichomonas and did not report a higher risk for most sexual risk behaviors than nonfostered peers. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that individuals who have been in foster care are at increased risk for STIs during young adulthood. The pattern of exposure may differ between male and female individuals. If findings are confirmed, they suggest that health care providers who work with these youth should adjust their STI screening practices. Child welfare agencies should also consider targeted interventions to reduce STI risk in this population. PMID:20547646

Designing Knowledge Map for Knowledge Management projects Using Network Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

heidar najafi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this research knowledge management has been studied as an interdisciplinary area. We aim to find an answer for this question that "what are the scientific structure and knowledge map of knowledge management projects regarding these two aspect of subject areas and keywords. For this purpose, nearly 40000 scientific documents including knowledge management as one of their keywords were selected from Scopus database and were studied in various subject areas. In this research,bar charts have been drawn for each index of subject areas and keywords. Besides, using Co-occurrence matrix, adjacency graphs were drawn and then clustered using Average-Link algorithm. Bar charts and graphs were drawn using R and Excel software. The results of this research showed that among the researches on knowledge management in the world, the most relevant scientific fields to knowledge management are Computer Sciences with 32.5%, Business, Management and Accounting with 14.5%, Engineering with 13.7%, Decisive Sciences with 12.6%, Mathematics with 7.07%, and Social Sciences with 6.63%, respectively. The most keywords collocate with knowledge management in the world are Human-Computer Interaction, Information Management, Systems Management, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Acquisition of Knowledge, Semantics, Knowledge Transfer, Ontology and Information Retrieval.

Fostering cooperation through the enhancement of own vulnerability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kopányi-Peuker, A.; Offerman, T.; Sloof, R.

2013-01-01

We consider the possibility that cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma is fostered by people's voluntary enhancement of their own vulnerability. The vulnerability of a player determines the effectiveness of possible punishment by the other. In the "Gradual" mechanism, players may condition their

Fostering cooperation through the enhancement of own vulnerability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kopányi-Peuker, A.; Offerman, T.; Sloof, R.

2012-01-01

We consider the possibility that cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma is fostered by people's voluntarily enhancement of their own vulnerability. The vulnerability of a player determines the effectiveness of possible punishment by the other. In the "Gradual" mechanism, players may condition their

NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Underway Meteorological Data, Quality Controlled

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Underway Meteorological Data (delayed ~10 days for quality control) are from the Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System...

The knowledge base of journalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svith, Flemming

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

Employment of Former Foster Youth as Young Adults: Evidence from the Midwest Study. Chapin Hall Issue Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Hook, Jennifer L.; Courtney, Mark

2010-01-01

In this issue brief, the authors explore how former foster youth in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa are faring in the labor market and what explains the variability in employment outcomes for these youth. First, they describe trends in former foster youths' employment from age 17 to 24. Then, they consider how former foster youths' characteristics…

Understanding the Barriers to College Access for Former Foster Youth at the Los Angeles Community College District

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, John Chaves

2013-01-01

Generally referred to as aged-out youth, approximately 20,000 former foster youth leave foster care each year, with very few enrolling into the community college system. Many enroll into a college system without a clear understanding of the system. Unable to maneuver, most former foster youth will drop out. The current exploratory, comparative…

Building positive self-image in adolescents in foster care: the use of role models in an interactive group approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Yancey, A K

1998-01-01

In a previous article (Yancey, 1992), the literature on identity development in individuals from socially devalued racial and ethnic groups was summarized. It was postulated that the social maladaptation of adolescents in residential group foster care is reflective of identity disturbances created by the negative images of African-Americans and Latinos perpetuated by the dominant society and unfiltered by optimal parental racial/ethnic socialization. The present article describes the development of a pilot preventive mental health intervention, the PRIDE (Personal and Racial/ethnic Identity Development and Enhancement) program, designed to provide components of parenting that are necessary for promoting positive self-image in ethnically marginalized adolescents and that are typically lacking in the group foster care milieu. PRIDE utilizes successful, ethnically relevant role models in interactive group sessions to create a significant cognitive and emotional experience for teens. While the utility of role modeling for at-risk youth is widely accepted, there is little research on the packaging, delivery, and influence of this intervention modality. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a "hybrid" role-modeling approach (intermediate in intensity of exposure and cost between one-to-one mentoring and career-day programs). Implications for further research on this type of intervention are discussed.

Using Vector and Extended Boolean Matching in an Expert System for Selecting Foster Homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Edward A.; Winett, Sheila G.

1990-01-01

Describes FOCES (Foster Care Expert System), a prototype expert system for choosing foster care placements for children which integrates information retrieval techniques with artificial intelligence. The use of prototypes and queries in Prolog routines, extended Boolean matching, and vector correlation are explained, as well as evaluation by…

Pathways to Advancing Aging Policy-Relevant Research in Academic Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kietzman, Kathryn G; Troy, Lisa M; Green, Carmen R; Wallace, Steven P

2016-01-01

Policy-level changes have a significant influence on the health and well-being of aging populations. Yet there is often a gap between scientific knowledge and policy action. Although previous research has identified barriers and facilitators to effective knowledge translation, little attention has been given to the role of academic institutions in knowledge generation. This exploratory focus group study examines barriers and pathways to developing and maintaining an aging policy-relevant research agenda in academic settings, and additional challenges associated with minority group membership in this pursuit. Participants were personally committed to conducting policy-relevant research despite institutional barriers such as fewer funding opportunities and less value attributed to their research, particularly in the context of tenure and promotion. Although many viewed their research as an opportunity to make a difference, especially for underserved older adult populations, a number of minority group participants expressed that their policy research interests were marginalized. Participants offer individual and institutional-level strategies for addressing barriers, including collaborating with community members and colleagues and engaging mentors within and outside of their academic institutions. Reframing the valuation of policy research through the diversification of funding and publishing opportunities can better support scholars engaged in aging policy-relevant research.

Measuring Knowledge of Natural Selection: A Comparison of the CINS, an Open-Response Instrument, and an Oral Interview

Science.gov (United States)

Nehm, Ross H.; Schonfeld, Irvin Sam

2008-01-01

Growing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in-depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified…

THE CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE VALUE RELEVANCE RESEARCH FIELD

OpenAIRE

Carmen- Alexandra BALTARIU

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to assess the scientific literature referring to the value relevance of reported accounting information over a twelve year period starting from 2002. The approach of the paper is a theoretical (conceptual) one. In order to complete the purpose of the paper we selected as research method the longitudinal qualitative analysis. The qualitative analysis carried out presents a deductive character. Our conclusions regarding the general characteristics of the research fi...

Innovation through Knowledge Transfer 2012

CERN Document Server

Gabrys, Bogdan; Musial-Gabrys, Katarzyna; Roach, Jim; Innovation through Knowledge Transfer InnovationKT-2012

2013-01-01

Across the world there is growing awareness of the importance of innovation and knowledge transfer.  Innovation in the sense of generating new knowledge and making better use of existing knowledge, coupled with knowledge transfer and sharing paradigms, have never been more relevant to the universities, industry, commerce and the third sector.  This volume represents the proceedings of the Innovation through Knowledge Transfer 2012 Conference which formed an excellent opportunity to disseminate, share and discuss the impact of innovation, knowledge sharing, enterprise and entrepreneurship.  The volume contains papers presented at a Workshop on ‘The Meta Transfer of Knowledge: Challenges in the Transfer of Knowledge in Industry’, others from thematic sessions on ‘Next-Practice in University Based Open Innovation’,  ‘Social Innovation and Related Paradigms’, ‘Engagement with Industry and Commerce’ and ‘Knowledge Exchange’.  All papers were thoroughly reviewed by referees knowledgeable in...

Semantic knowledge representation for information retrieval

CERN Document Server

Gödert, Winfried; Nagelschmidt, Matthias

2014-01-01

This book covers the basics of semantic web technologies and indexing languages, and describes their contribution to improve languages as a tool for subject queries and knowledge exploration. The book is relevant to information scientists, knowledge workers and indexers. It provides a suitable combination of theoretical foundations and practical applications.

Applying a Knowledge Management Taxonomy to Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Thambi, Melinda; O'Toole, Paddy

2012-01-01

The purpose of this article is to examine the relevance of a corporate-based taxonomy of knowledge management to secondary schooling. Do the principles of knowledge management from the corporate world translate to the world of education; specifically, secondary schooling? This article examines categories of knowledge management articulated in…

How Exemplary Inpatient Teaching Physicians Foster Clinical Reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Houchens, Nathan; Harrod, Molly; Fowler, Karen E; Moody, Stephanie; Saint, Sanjay

2017-09-01

Clinical reasoning is a crucial component of training in health professions. These cognitive skills are necessary to provide quality care and avoid diagnostic error. Much previous literature has focused on teaching clinical reasoning in nonclinical environments and does not include learner reflections. The authors sought to explore, through multiple perspectives including learners, techniques used by exemplary inpatient clinician-educators for explicitly cultivating clinical reasoning. The authors conducted (2014-2015) a multisite, exploratory qualitative study examining how excellent clinician-educators foster clinical reasoning during general medicine rounds. This was accomplished through interviews of educators, focus group discussions with learners, and direct observations of clinical teaching. The authors reviewed field notes and transcripts using techniques of thematic analysis. Twelve clinician-educators, 57 current learners, and 26 former learners participated in observations and interviews. The techniques and behaviors of educators were categorized into 4 themes, including 1) emphasizing organization and prioritization, 2) accessing prior knowledge, 3) thinking aloud, and 4) analyzing the literature. The findings of this comprehensive study both confirm strategies found in previous literature and provide novel approaches. This is the first study to incorporate the perspectives of learners. Educators' techniques and behaviors, identified through direct observation and supported by reflections from the entire team, can inform best practices for the teaching of clinical reasoning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fostering Spiritual Formation of Millennials in Christian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Horan, Anne Puidk

2017-01-01

Christian education seeks to foster millennials' spiritual formation to equip them for future challenges and to benefit society. Using nonexperimental mixed methods, 504 secondary educators revealed what spiritual formation programs their schools implement and their perceptions about millennial spiritual formation. Descriptive analysis showed that…

Counselling as a psychological approach to fostering appropriate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The focus of this paper is on counselling as a psychological approach to fostering appropriate learning behaviour in Nigerian secondary school students. The paper drew attention to the confrontation, mentoring, behavioural, appraisal, and standards blending models to appeal to the consciences of students with ...

Fostering women's leadership to advance human rights in informal ...

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

1 mai 2018 ... Fostering women's leadership to advance human rights in informal settlements ... gathering evidence to improve settlement conditions and raising the ... on behalf of poor communities threatened with forceful evictions and ...

Cultivating the Under-Mined: Cross-Case Analysis as Knowledge Mobilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samia Khan

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Despite a plethora of case studies in the social sciences, it is the authors' opinion that case studies remain relatively under-mined sources of expertise. Cross-case analysis is a research method that can mobilize knowledge from individual case studies. The authors propose that mobilization of case knowledge occurs when researchers accumulate case knowledge, compare and contrast cases, and in doing so, produce new knowledge. In this article, the authors present theories of how people can learn from sets of cases. Second, existing techniques for cross-case analysis are discussed. Third, considerations that enable researchers to engage in cross-case analysis are suggested. Finally, the authors introduce a novel online database: the Foresee (4C database. The purpose of the database is to mobilize case knowledge by helping researchers perform cross-case analysis and by creating an online research community that facilitates dialogue and the mobilization of case knowledge. The design of the 4C database is informed by theories of how people learn from case studies and cross-case analysis techniques. We present evidence from case study research that use of the 4C database helps to mobilize previously dormant case study knowledge to foster greater expertise. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0801348

Validating office-based screening for psychosocial strengths and difficulties among youths in foster care.

Science.gov (United States)

Jee, Sandra H; Szilagyi, Moira; Conn, Anne-Marie; Nilsen, Wendy; Toth, Sheree; Baldwin, Constance D; Szilagyi, Peter G

2011-05-01

To assess the effectiveness of social-emotional screening in the primary care setting for youths in foster care. The setting was a primary care practice for all youth in home-based foster care in 1 county. Subjects were youths, aged 11 to 17 years, and their foster parents; both completed a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at well-child visits. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a previously validated 25-item tool that has 5 domains: emotional symptoms; conduct problems; hyperactivity/inattention; peer problems; and prosocial behaviors and an overall total difficulties score. We first compared youth versus parent Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores and then assessed the accuracy of these Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores by comparing them in a subsample of youths (n = 50) with results of home-based structured clinical interviews using the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes. Of 138 subjects with both youth and parent reports, 78% had prosocial behaviors (strengths), and 70% had 1 or more social-emotional problems. Parents reported significantly more conduct problems (38% vs 16%; P youth. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire had better agreement with the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (n = 50) for any Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-identified problem for combined youth and foster-parent reports (93%), compared with youth report alone (54%) or parent report alone (71%). Although most youths in foster care have social-emotional problems, most have strengths as well. Youth and foster-parent perspectives on these problems differ. Systematic social-emotional screening in primary care that includes both youth and parent reports can identify youths who may benefit from services.

Engagement with Cognitively-Based Compassion Training is associated with reduced salivary C-reactive protein from before to after training in foster care program adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Pace, Thaddeus W W; Negi, Lobsang Tenzin; Dodson-Lavelle, Brooke; Ozawa-de Silva, Brendan; Reddy, Sheethal D; Cole, Steven P; Danese, Andrea; Craighead, Linda W; Raison, Charles L

2013-02-01

Children exposed to early life adversity (ELA) have been shown to have elevated circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers that persist into adulthood. Increased inflammation in individuals with ELA is believed to drive the elevated risk for medical and psychiatric illness in the same individuals. This study sought to determine whether Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT) reduced C-reactive protein (CRP) in adolescents in foster care with high rates of ELA, and to evaluate the relationship between CBCT engagement and changes in CRP given prior evidence from our group for an effect of practice on inflammatory markers. It was hypothesized that increasing engagement would be associated with reduced CRP from baseline to the 6-week assessment. Seventy-one adolescents in the Georgia foster care system (31 females), aged 13-17, were randomized to either 6 weeks of CBCT or a wait-list condition. State records were used to obtain information about each participant's history of trauma and neglect, as well as reason for placement in foster care. Saliva was collected before and again after 6 weeks of CBCT or the wait-list condition. Participants in the CBCT group completed practice diaries as a means of assessing engagement with the CBCT. No difference between groups was observed in salivary CRP concentrations. Within the CBCT group, practice sessions during the study correlated with reduced CRP from baseline to the 6-week assessment. Engagement with CBCT may positively impact inflammatory measures relevant to health in adolescents at high risk for poor adult functioning as a result of significant ELA, including individuals placed in foster care. Longer term follow-up will be required to evaluate if these changes are maintained and translate into improved health outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Noticing relevant problem features: activating prior knowledge affects problem solving by guiding encoding

Science.gov (United States)

Crooks, Noelle M.; Alibali, Martha W.

2013-01-01

This study investigated whether activating elements of prior knowledge can influence how problem solvers encode and solve simple mathematical equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = 3 + __). Past work has shown that such problems are difficult for elementary school students (McNeil and Alibali, 2000). One possible reason is that children's experiences in math classes may encourage them to think about equations in ways that are ultimately detrimental. Specifically, children learn a set of patterns that are potentially problematic (McNeil and Alibali, 2005a): the perceptual pattern that all equations follow an “operations = answer” format, the conceptual pattern that the equal sign means “calculate the total”, and the procedural pattern that the correct way to solve an equation is to perform all of the given operations on all of the given numbers. Upon viewing an equivalence problem, knowledge of these patterns may be reactivated, leading to incorrect problem solving. We hypothesized that these patterns may negatively affect problem solving by influencing what people encode about a problem. To test this hypothesis in children would require strengthening their misconceptions, and this could be detrimental to their mathematical development. Therefore, we tested this hypothesis in undergraduate participants. Participants completed either control tasks or tasks that activated their knowledge of the three patterns, and were then asked to reconstruct and solve a set of equivalence problems. Participants in the knowledge activation condition encoded the problems less well than control participants. They also made more errors in solving the problems, and their errors resembled the errors children make when solving equivalence problems. Moreover, encoding performance mediated the effect of knowledge activation on equivalence problem solving. Thus, one way in which experience may affect equivalence problem solving is by influencing what students encode about the

What does policy-relevant global environmental knowledge do? The cases of climate and biodiversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turnhout, E.; Dewulf, A.R.P.J.; Hulme, M.

2016-01-01

There is a surge in global knowledge-making efforts to inform environmental governance. This article synthesises the current state of the art of social science scholarship about the generation and use of global environmental knowledge. We focus specifically on the issues of scale — providing

Information Impact | Journal of Information and Knowledge ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

Information Impact | Journal of Information and Knowledge Management ... Abstract. This study was designed to determine the impact of collaboration on research and teaching .... delivery of quality instruction. ... for doing Collaborative projects, and there ... reveals that co-construction of knowledge ..... Get relevant materials.

Analisis Knowledge Management System Pada STMIK Mitra Lampung

OpenAIRE

Winarko, Triyugo

2014-01-01

Knowledge is information that is contextual, relevant and actionable. Knowledge differs from data or information because knowledge is only found in one's thinking. For that we need the knowledge that knowledge management can be an "intangible assets" that can be managed and utilized by many people. STMIK Mitra Lampung is a college with a wealth of knowledge on each personal well yet manageable, so that the knowledge management is expected to be "intangible assets" that can play its role optim...

Sustainable Coastal Destination Development: Fostering Green Practices of Restaurateurs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timo Derriks

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Coastal tourism destinations are reinventing themselves, concentrating on product improvement and image enhancement. Reinventing sustainably is key and restaurants are an important factor. Research upon the processes of change in the industry seems to be fragmented and undefined in its conclusions. Knowledge is lacking on what specifically drives innovation in the hospitality industry. Since restaurants seem to be focusing more than ever on implementing green strategies, incorporating sustainability into restaurant practices is not an unexplored area. However, the how and why it is incorporated or not, can be different per restaurant. The objective of this study is to identify possibilities of change in restaurateur practices, which can lead to interventions that will foster sustainable destination development in Vrouwenpolder; a coastal destination within the Netherlands. For the identification of interventions that could advance the sustainability enacted in restaurateur practices, a qualitative research was conducted. Practices of restaurateurs in Vrouwenpolder are identified and compared to perceived-to-be ideal practices. Analysis of data collection draws on practice theory, and resulted into recommendations for advancing the sustainability enacted in restaurateur practices. It seems to be that primarily the meaning within a practice is decisive in whether sustainability is integrated or not.

Investigating Peer Review as a Systemic Pedagogy for Developing the Design Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions of Novice Instructional Design Students

Science.gov (United States)

Brill, Jennifer M.

2016-01-01

This research investigated peer review as a contemporary instructional pedagogy for fostering the design knowledge, skills, and dispositions of novice Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) professionals. Participants were graduate students enrolled in an introductory instructional design (ID) course. Survey, artifact, and observation data were…

Pathways to College for Former Foster Youth: Understanding Factors that Contribute to Educational Success

Science.gov (United States)

Merdinger, Joan M.; Hines, Alice M.; Osterling, Kathy Lemon; Wyatt, Paige

2005-01-01

This article presents early descriptive findings from the Pathways to College study, a multimethod and multiphase study of emancipated foster youth. Results based on a sample of 216 emancipated foster youth attending a four-year university indicate that many of their experiences are characteristic of individuals manifesting resilience in the face…

76 FR 39361 - AmeriCorps State/National, Senior Companions, Foster Grandparents, and Retired and Senior...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-06

... AmeriCorps State/National, Senior Companions, Foster Grandparents, and Retired and Senior Volunteer...) on Senior Companions, Foster Grandparents, Retired Senior Volunteer Program grant-funded staff, Learn... X ....... X X ....... Senior Companions Yes X ....... ....... X X ....... X X ....... X X X No...

An Empirical Study of Industrial Engineering and Management Curriculum Reform in Fostering Students' Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chi-Kuang; Jiang, Bernard C.; Hsu, Kuang-Yiao

2005-01-01

The objective of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of a creativity-fostering program in industrial engineering and management (IE&M) curriculum reform. Fostering creativity in students has become a crucial issue in industrial engineering education. In a survey of previous studies, we found few on IE&M curriculum reform. In…

What Teachers Think about Self-Regulated Learning: Investigating Teacher Beliefs and Teacher Behavior of Enhancing Students’ Self-Regulation

OpenAIRE

Dignath-van Ewijk, Charlotte; van der Werf, Greetje

2012-01-01

In order to foster self-regulated learning (SRL), teachers should provide students with learning strategies, as well as with constructivist learning environments that allow them to self-regulate their learning. These two components complement each other. When investigating teachers’ promotion of SRL, not only teacher behavior, but also teachers’ beliefs as well as their knowledge about SRL are relevant aspects to consider. Therefore, this study seeks to examine teachers’ knowledge and beliefs...

Screening foster children for mental disorders: properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stine Lehmann

Full Text Available High prevalence of mental disorders among foster children highlight the need to examine the mental health of children placed out of home. We examined the properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ in screening school-aged foster children for mental disorders.Foster parents and teachers of 279 foster children completed the SDQ and the diagnostic interview Developmental and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA. Using the diagnoses derived from the DAWBA as the standard, we examined the performance of the SDQ scales as dimensional measures of mental health problems using receiver operating characteristic (ROC analyses. Recommended cut-off scores were derived from ROC coordinates. The SDQ predictive algorithms were also examined.ROC analyses supported the screening properties of the SDQ Total difficulties and Impact scores (AUC = 0.80-0.83. Logistic regression analyses showed that the prevalence of mental disorders increased linearly with higher SDQ Total difficulties scores (X2 = 121.47, df = 13, p<.001 and Impact scores (X2 = 69.93, df = 6, p<.001. Our results indicated that there is an additive value of combining the scores from the Total difficulties and Impact scales, where scores above cut-off on any of the two scales predicted disorders with high sensitivity (89.1%, but moderate specificity (62.1%. Scores above cut-off on both scales yielded somewhat lower sensitivity (73.4%, but higher specificity (81.1%. The SDQ multi-informant algorithm showed low discriminative ability for the main diagnostic categories, with an exception being the SDQ Conduct subscale, which accurately predicted the absence of behavioural disorders (LHR- = 0.00.The results support the use of the SDQ Total difficulties and Impact scales when screening foster children for mental health problems. Cut-off values for both scales are suggested. The SDQ multi-informant algorithms are not recommended for mental health screening of foster

An Internal Audit of a Virtual Learning Space to Facilitate Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing

Science.gov (United States)

McEwan, Beryl; Hercelinskyj, Gylo

2012-01-01

In any nursing program, it is a challenge to foster an awareness of, and engagement with, the complexity and reality of nursing practice. During their studies, nursing students have to learn the relevant underpinning theoretical knowledge for practice as well as develop their understanding of the role and responsibilities of the registered nurse…

4th ASEM Seminar on Knowledge Management to Enhance Nuclear Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castello, F.; Reyes, A. de los; Sobari, M. P. Mohd; Istiyanto, J. E.; Faross, P.; Delarosa, A.

2016-01-01

Full text: The 4th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Nuclear Safety was convened in Madrid, Spain on 29th–30th October 2015, hosted by the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council. The seminar’s theme was “Knowledge management to enhance nuclear safety”, which aimed to continue discussing on nuclear safety to foster Asia-Europe capacity-building and cooperation in nuclear safety. The seminar was attended by representatives from national governments, nuclear regulators, energy companies, radiation protection and nuclear safety authorities, research institutes and universities. According to such model, proposed by the IAEA, the national capacity building requires an integrated approach based on four pillars: human resources development, education and training, knowledge management and knowledge networking. In this context, Nuclear Knowledge Management (KM) has become a high priority in many countries and international organizations and it has been taken into account to develop and implement specific strategies in ensuring safe and sustainable operation of nuclear facilities. At national level, a sustainable approach should include the necessary Nuclear Knowledge Management actions to ensure that every actor having a significant role in the national nuclear programmes infrastructure acquires, preserves and improves its corporate and individual knowledge. (author

The IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme as a Knowledge Multiplier Mechanism for Nuclear Medicine — The Case of the Nuclear Medicine Knowledge Network in Argentina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belinco, M.; Boado Montero, G.; Di Lorenzo, D.; De Rose, G.

2015-01-01

This poster aims at: – Highlighting the relevance of the conformation of a Nuclear Medicine (NM) Network; – Shedding light on the influence of the IAEA TCP on the Network; – Emphasizing on the role of women as decision-makers in NM. CNEA together with the MINPLAN led the creation of the NM Network which now assembles 20 institutions. Its main purposes are: to strengthen ties among institutions; to federalize, spread and exchange knowledge in NM; to standardise protocols; to enhance interdisciplinary work and to harmonise the levels of capacity building nationally. These goals are reached through collaboration, teaching and research activities; already being attained through training in new Centers and the expansion of NM poles throughout the country within the framework of the National Programme of NM. NM has been a strategic area of the nuclear sector in Argentina since its beginning. There are three essential milestones for this continuity and for the establishment of this Network: NM as a state policy; the institutional policy within CNEA and the permanent support and acknowledgment from the IAEA. The geographic and demographic features of Argentina call for a federal working scheme such as the one carried out by CNEA; this has been replicated in a six-decade-networking among NM institutions and enhanced by including NM in the Public Health agenda. The IAEA TCP plays a key role as a knowledge multiplier mechanism in NM by supporting the creation of networks and endorsing the CPF 2014–2021 which fosters this cooperation link. Since 1976, thanks to the TCP, 456 people were trained and over 40 projects were financed in this area. Regarding female participation in NM, no gender barriers were observed, since the main decision-makers in this field are women, who handle issues sensitively, considering the direct impact NM has on people’s daily lives. (author)

The value of a college degree for foster care alumni: comparisons with general population samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar, Amy M

2013-04-01

Higher education is associated with substantial adult life benefits, including higher income and improved quality of life, among others. The current study compared adult outcomes of 250 foster care alumni college graduates with two samples of general population graduates to explore the role higher education plays in these young adults' lives. Outcomes compared include employment, income, housing, public assistance, physical and mental health, happiness, and other outcomes that are often found to be related to educational attainment. Foster care alumni college graduates were very similar to general population college graduates for individual income and rate of employment. However, foster care alumni graduates were behind general population graduates on factors such as self-reported job security, household earnings, health, mental health, financial satisfaction, home ownership, happiness, and public assistance usage. Results have implications for policy and practice regarding the most effective means of supporting postcollege stability of youths with foster care experience.

Indexing Creativity Fostering Teacher Behaviour: Replication and Modification

Science.gov (United States)

Dikici, Ayhan; Soh, Kaycheng

2015-01-01

Many measurement tools on creativity are available in the literature. One of these scales is Creativity Fostering Teacher Behaviour Index (CFTIndex) developed for Singaporean teacher originally. It was then translated into Turkish and trialled on teachers in Nigde province with acceptable reliability and factorial validity. The main purpose of…

78 FR 26219 - National Foster Care Month, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-03

... love, protection, and stability of a permanent family. This month, we recommit to giving them that..., family members--individuals dedicated to making a difference. As they lend their strength to our most... be an adoptive or foster parent. And we will support programs that help increase permanency, reduce...

Fostering Communicative Competence through Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Aslam Sipra

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The article explores the use of technology in EFL classes to promote communicative competence. It elucidates communicative competence and explicates obstructions in communicative tasks. Moreover, it interprets the use of technology in fostering and supporting the development of communicative competence and explains how it is pragmatic in maintaining learners’ level of motivation and interest in learning a foreign language. The present article identifies the significance and use of mobile phone, camera, computer and internet, tape recorder, projector, and language labs in EFL classes. Besides, it discusses the use of technology as an educational tool in language teaching and learning.

Fostering excellence

Science.gov (United States)

Hogg, William; Kendall, Claire; Muggah, Elizabeth; Mayo-Bruinsma, Liesha; Ziebell, Laura

2014-01-01

Abstract Problem addressed A key priority in primary health care research is determining how to ensure the advancement of new family physician clinician investigators (FP-CIs). However, there is little consensus on what expectations should be implemented for new investigators to ensure the successful and timely acquisition of independent salary support. Objective of program Support new FP-CIs to maximize early career research success. Program description This program description aims to summarize the administrative and financial support provided by the C.T. Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre in Ottawa, Ont, to early career FP-CIs; delineate career expectations; and describe the results in terms of research productivity on the part of new FP-CIs. Conclusion Family physician CI’s achieved a high level of research productivity during their first 5 years, but most did not secure external salary support. It might be unrealistic to expect new FP-CIs to be self-financing by the end of 5 years. This is a career-development program, and supporting new career FP-CIs requires a long-term investment. This understanding is critical to fostering and strengthening sustainable primary care research programs. PMID:24522688

Conserving Local Knowledge in Traditional Healing through Knowledge Transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lah Salasiah Che

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Local knowledge (LK basically refers to the knowledge that people in a given community have developed over time, and continues to develop, through practices and based on experiences. Local beliefs pertaining to ilmu, a central concept in Malay culture that refers to knowledge, is essential among the traditional healers. The vast repository of knowledge and its relevance to locality and local situation makes the conservation of LK a necessity.However, due to the dominance of modern knowledge, diminished inter-generational knowledge transfer has led to LK being threatened with extinction. The fact that LK is practiced by only a few these days could be due to lack of knowledge transfer to the younger generations from the traditional healers who are knowledgeable in the communities. The common transfer mode of local knowledge, usually via words of mouth, may not be sustainable because the LK could vanish when knowledgeable elders die before it is transferred or during resettlements of individuals or communities. The need to conserve LK through knowledge transfer is also pertinent for the continued sustenance of their culture by recognizing, protecting and enforcing the rights of local communities to have continued access to biological resources as well as by protecting their LK, acquired over thousand of years of experimentation and experience, about the uses of these biological resources in traditional healing. Therefore, it is important to have a governance framework to effectively protect this LK of the local communities for the continued sustenance of their culture. This conceptual paper attempts to highlight the significance of conserving LK in traditional healing via effective knowledge transfer method, which should thereafter be translated into a working governance framework that protects the knowledge as well as the holders of such knowledge.

A framework for creating an ICT knowledge hub in Zimbabwe: A holistic approach in fostering economic growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilbert Mahlangu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available ICT knowledge hubs are important resources for a country to grow towards an innovative economy. Their growth has been viewed as a node point for techno-prenuership development and economic sustainability by many countries. The purpose of this study was to establish how Zimbabwe as a developing country should move towards the creation of an ICT knowledge hub that will promote economic growth in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset economic blueprint crafted in 2013. A qualitative research design was used whereby literature was conducted to establish models for ICT Knowledge hub creation while two focus group discussions were held with academia, research agents and software developers to achieve face validity and in-depth interviews were held with officials from The Ministry of ICT Postal and Courier services. The consensus was reached on the need for creating a focal point which will act as a cyber-port where ICT driven solutions can be obtained based on the industry needs. The focus group discussions settled for four components in creating an ICT knowledge hub. These are planning function, development function, management function and co-ordinating function. The research also established that the Ministry of ICT and Courier services in Zimbabwe has set up an innovation fund to encourage and reward innovation and craftsmanship in Zimbabwe mainly targeted at the youths. The government acquired the high-performance computing facility which is stationed at the University of Zimbabwe. The ICT hub should be used to facilitate access and use of this resource. Every country should therefore strive to create its own centre of innovation which enables it to gain maximum utility from its indigenous people in order to fully utilise ICTs for industry development and spearhead economic growth. The study recommends that there is need for establishing an ICT Knowledge hub in the country.

Parents’ Monitoring-Relevant Knowledge and Adolescents’ Delinquent Behavior: Evidence of Correlated Developmental Changes and Reciprocal Influences

OpenAIRE

Laird, Robert D.; Pettit, Gregory S.; Bates, John E.; Dodge, Kenneth A.

2003-01-01

Links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior were tested for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations. For 4 years beginning at age 14, adolescents (N = 396) reported on their delinquent behavior and on their parents’ knowledge of their whereabouts and activities. Parents completed measures of their adolescents’ delinquent behavior. Knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at baseline, and increases over time in knowledge...

Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past.

Science.gov (United States)

Keefer, Betsy; Schooler, Jayne E.

Many individuals who grew up as adopted or foster children felt that they were reared under the shadow of secrecy, silence, and shame, finding it difficult to build an identity and feel secure. Because of the connection to troublesome experiences that resulted in the adoption plan such as alcoholism or teen pregnancy, adoptive and foster parents…

The Socioemotional Development of Orphans in Orphanages and Traditional Foster Care in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Abdulbaghi; Mohamad, Kirmanj

1996-01-01

A one-year follow-up study of children who had lost both parents and were placed in orphanages (n=19) or foster homes (n=18) in Iraqi Kurdistan investigated the orphans' situation and development. The children in orphanages were found to have higher frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder than the foster care children. (Author/CR)

Workshop on Current Issues in Predictive Approaches to Intelligence and Security Analytics: Fostering the Creation of Decision Advantage through Model Integration and Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanfilippo, Antonio P.

2010-05-23

The increasing asymmetric nature of threats to the security, health and sustainable growth of our society requires that anticipatory reasoning become an everyday activity. Currently, the use of anticipatory reasoning is hindered by the lack of systematic methods for combining knowledge- and evidence-based models, integrating modeling algorithms, and assessing model validity, accuracy and utility. The workshop addresses these gaps with the intent of fostering the creation of a community of interest on model integration and evaluation that may serve as an aggregation point for existing efforts and a launch pad for new approaches.

Cross-fostering alters advertisement vocalizations of grasshopper mice (Onychomys): Evidence for the developmental stress hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasch, Bret; Abbasi, Mustafa Z; Wilson, Macey; Zhao, Daniel; Searle, Jeremy B; Webster, Michael S; Rice, Aaron N

2016-04-01

Nutritional stress can have lasting impacts on the development of traits involved in vocal production. Cross-fostering experiments are often used to examine the propensity for vocal learning in a variety of taxa, but few studies assess the influence of malnourishment that can occur as a byproduct of this technique. In this study, we reciprocally cross-fostered sister taxa of voluble grasshopper mice (genus Onychomys) to explore their propensity for vocal learning. Vocalizations of Onychomys leucogaster did not differ between control and cross-fostered animals, but cross-fostered Onychomys arenicola produced vocalizations that were higher in frequency in a direction away from tutors. These same animals exhibited a transient reduction in body mass early in development, indicative of malnutrition. Our findings simultaneously refute vocal learning and support the developmental stress hypothesis to highlight the importance of early ontogeny on the production of vocalizations later in life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feminist Approaches to Triangulation: Uncovering Subjugated Knowledge and Fostering Social Change in Mixed Methods Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse-Biber, Sharlene

2012-01-01

This article explores the deployment of triangulation in the service of uncovering subjugated knowledge and promoting social change for women and other oppressed groups. Feminist approaches to mixed methods praxis create a tight link between the research problem and the research design. An analysis of selected case studies of feminist praxis…

Recent study, but not retrieval, of knowledge protects against learning errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullet, Hillary G; Umanath, Sharda; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2014-11-01

Surprisingly, people incorporate errors into their knowledge bases even when they have the correct knowledge stored in memory (e.g., Fazio, Barber, Rajaram, Ornstein, & Marsh, 2013). We examined whether heightening the accessibility of correct knowledge would protect people from later reproducing misleading information that they encountered in fictional stories. In Experiment 1, participants studied a series of target general knowledge questions and their correct answers either a few minutes (high accessibility of knowledge) or 1 week (low accessibility of knowledge) before exposure to misleading story references. In Experiments 2a and 2b, participants instead retrieved the answers to the target general knowledge questions either a few minutes or 1 week before the rest of the experiment. Reading the relevant knowledge directly before the story-reading phase protected against reproduction of the misleading story answers on a later general knowledge test, but retrieving that same correct information did not. Retrieving stored knowledge from memory might actually enhance the encoding of relevant misinformation.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-01-01

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

Safeguarding children and youth in residential and foster care: Supporting healthy sexual development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Gitte Riis; Grandal*, Niels

(in 2012) to report on sexual and physical violence, that raised awareness on the subject. The investigations showed that professionals perceive very few of the cases of sexual abuse in residential and foster care and in many cases the perpetrators turn out to be peers. This drew attention......In The Netherlands, Denmark and Scotland special awareness on the subject of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation was raised by national investigations on the prevalence and content of sexual abuse in residential and foster care. In Flanders (Belgium) it was the start of the so called Helpline 1712...... to a central issue: the incapability of professionals to support a healthy sexual development and discuss sexual behaviour with children and young people, their (foster) parents and other professionals. Sex is a subject that is not easily talked about and most professionals feel insecure about. Moreover...

Creativity and organizational learning as means to foster sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lozano, Rodrigo

This article argues that creativity and organizational learning can help to challenge the traditional Newtonian and Cartesian mental models and foster more sustainable societies. The recognition and acceptance of creativity by individuals, groups, organizations, and finally society can create new

Software Helps Retrieve Information Relevant to the User

Science.gov (United States)

Mathe, Natalie; Chen, James

2003-01-01

The Adaptive Indexing and Retrieval Agent (ARNIE) is a code library, designed to be used by an application program, that assists human users in retrieving desired information in a hypertext setting. Using ARNIE, the program implements a computational model for interactively learning what information each human user considers relevant in context. The model, called a "relevance network," incrementally adapts retrieved information to users individual profiles on the basis of feedback from the users regarding specific queries. The model also generalizes such knowledge for subsequent derivation of relevant references for similar queries and profiles, thereby, assisting users in filtering information by relevance. ARNIE thus enables users to categorize and share information of interest in various contexts. ARNIE encodes the relevance and structure of information in a neural network dynamically configured with a genetic algorithm. ARNIE maintains an internal database, wherein it saves associations, and from which it returns associated items in response to a query. A C++ compiler for a platform on which ARNIE will be utilized is necessary for creating the ARNIE library but is not necessary for the execution of the software.

Fostering information problem solving skills through completion problems and prompts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frerejean, Jimmy; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Kirschner, Paul A.

2012-01-01

Frerejean, J., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012, November). Fostering information problem solving skills through completion problems and prompts. Poster presented at the ICO Fall School 2012, Girona, Spain.

Text mining patents for biomedical knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Esteban, Raul; Bundschus, Markus

2016-06-01

Biomedical text mining of scientific knowledge bases, such as Medline, has received much attention in recent years. Given that text mining is able to automatically extract biomedical facts that revolve around entities such as genes, proteins, and drugs, from unstructured text sources, it is seen as a major enabler to foster biomedical research and drug discovery. In contrast to the biomedical literature, research into the mining of biomedical patents has not reached the same level of maturity. Here, we review existing work and highlight the associated technical challenges that emerge from automatically extracting facts from patents. We conclude by outlining potential future directions in this domain that could help drive biomedical research and drug discovery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fostering science communication and outreach through video production in Dartmouth's IGERT Polar Environmental Change graduate program

Science.gov (United States)

Hammond Wagner, C. R.; McDavid, L. A.; Virginia, R. A.

2013-12-01

Dartmouth's NSF-supported IGERT Polar Environmental Change graduate program has focused on using video media to foster interdisciplinary thinking and to improve student skills in science communication and public outreach. Researchers, educators, and funding organizations alike recognize the value of video media for making research results more accessible and relevant to diverse audiences and across cultures. We present an affordable equipment set and the basic video training needed as well as available Dartmouth institutional support systems for students to produce outreach videos on climate change and its associated impacts on people. We highlight and discuss the successes and challenges of producing three types of video products created by graduate and undergraduate students affiliated with the Dartmouth IGERT. The video projects created include 1) graduate student profile videos, 2) a series of short student-created educational videos for Greenlandic high school students, and 3) an outreach video about women in science based on the experiences of women students conducting research during the IGERT field seminar at Summit Station and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. The 'Science in Greenland--It's a Girl Thing' video was featured on The New York Times Dot Earth blog and the Huffington Post Green blog among others and received international recognition. While producing these videos, students 1) identified an audience and created story lines, 2) worked in front of and behind the camera, 3) utilized low-cost digital editing applications, and 4) shared the videos on multiple platforms from social media to live presentations. The three video projects were designed to reach different audiences, and presented unique challenges for content presentation and dissemination. Based on student and faculty assessment, we conclude that the video projects improved student science communication skills and increased public knowledge of polar science and the effects of climate change.

Salivary cortisol : A possible biomarker in evaluating interventions on stress reduction in young foster children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Andel, H.W.H.; Jansen, L.M.C.; Grietens, Hans; Knorth, Erik J.; Van der Gaag, R.J.

Young foster children undergo an early separation from their caregiver(s) and often experience severe stress before placement. However, a considerable part of the children do not show apparent signs of distress, making it difficult for the foster carer to be aware of the amount of stress in their

Mental Disorders in Foster Children: A Study of Prevalence, Comorbidity, and Risk Factors

OpenAIRE

Lehmann, Stine

2015-01-01

Children in foster care have often experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences, including maltreatment and the rupture of attachment bonds. Maltreatment and the rupture of attachment bonds make foster children vulnerable to later mental health problems. Register-based studies in Norway indicate that a history of out-of-home care is associated with marginalization in several areas of life, including school dropout, low income, the receipt of disability benefits, and early death. The...

Evaluation of the Processes and Outcomes of Implementing a Competency Model to Foster Research Knowledge Utilization in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Briand-Lamarche, Mélodie; Pinard, Renée; Thériault, Pascale; Dagenais, Christian

2016-01-01

To encourage the use of research-based information (RBI) in education in Quebec, the "Centre de transfert pour la réussite educative du Québec" CTREQ and the RENARD team, a knowledge transfer research team, developed the Competency Model for Knowledge Translation to Support Educational Achievement among Quebec Youth. They then developed…

Relationships between Conceptual Knowledge and Reasoning about Systems: Implications for Fostering Systems Thinking in Secondary Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lyons, Cheryl

2014-01-01

Reasoning about systems is necessary for understanding many modern issues that face society and is important for future scientists and all citizens. Systems thinking may allow students to make connections and identify common themes between seemingly different situations and phenomena, and is relevant to the focus on cross-cutting concepts in…

Measurement of Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes of Youth in Foster Care: Investigation of the Roles of Age and Placement Type.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabrielli, Joy; Jackson, Yo; Brown, Shaquanna

2015-09-01

The Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2 (BASC-2) is used to assess behavioral and emotional outcomes for youth. Research providing evidence for use of the BASC-2 parent-report form historically has included biological parents reporting on their children (Reynolds and Kamphaus 2004). For youth residing in out-of-home placements through enrollment in foster care, caregivers reporting on their functioning may include foster parents or residential staff. Given the significant adverse mental health outcomes for youth in foster care and the need to adequately assess adjustment in foster care, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the measurement properties of caregivers' report on the parent report form (PRS) of the BASC-2 in foster care youth. Using 479 respondents, a measurement model was fit to the data demonstrating adequate fit across Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, and Adaptive Skills. Further, a comparison of measurement properties across child and adolescent groups and groups of youth residing in residential facilities versus foster homes was conducted. Factorial invariance and latent means also were assessed. The BASC-2 PRS was found to be an adequate assessment of psychological outcomes for youth in foster care when completed by foster parents or residential facility staff.

Smoking Behaviors Among Adolescents in Foster Care: A Gender-Based Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shpiegel, Svetlana; Sussman, Steve; Sherman, Scott E; El Shahawy, Omar

2017-09-19

Adolescents in foster care are at high risk for cigarette smoking. However, it is not clear how their smoking behaviors vary by gender. The present study examined lifetime and current smoking among males and females, and explored gender-specific risk factors for engagement in smoking behaviors. Data from the Multi Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs was used to evaluate patterns of smoking among adolescents aged 12-18 years (N = 1121; 489 males, 632 females). Males and females did not differ significantly in rates of lifetime and current smoking, or in the age of smoking initiation and number of cigarettes smoked on a typical day. Gender-based analyses revealed that older age and placement in group homes or residential treatment facilities were associated with heightened risk of smoking among males. In contrast, sexual minority status (i.e., nonheterosexual orientation) and increased childhood victimization were associated with heightened risk of smoking among females. A history of running away was linked to smoking in both genders. Gender should be considered when designing intervention programs to address cigarette smoking among foster youth, as the stressors associated with smoking may differ for males and females.

Explaining variations in state foster care maintenance rates and the implications for implementing new evidence-based programs

Science.gov (United States)

Goldhaber-Fiebert, Jeremy D.; Babiarz, Kimberly S.; Garfield, Rachel L.; Wulczyn, Fred; Landsverk, John; Horwitz, Sarah M.

2013-01-01

Background U.S. Child Welfare systems are involved in the lives of millions of children, and total spending exceeds $26 billion annually. Out-of-home foster care is a critical and expensive Child Welfare service, a major component of which is the maintenance rate paid to support housing and caring for a foster child. Maintenance rates vary widely across states and over time, but reasons for this variation are not well understood. As evidence-based programs are disseminated to state Child Welfare systems, it is important to understand what may be the important drivers in the uptake of these practices including state spending on core system areas. Data and methods We assembled a unique, longitudinal, state-level panel dataset (1990–2008) for all 50 states with annual data on foster care maintenance rates and measures of child population in need, poverty, employment, urbanicity, proportion minority, political party control of the state legislature and governorship, federal funding, and lawsuits involving state foster care systems. All monetary values were expressed in per-capita terms and inflation adjusted to 2008 dollars. We used longitudinal panel regressions with robust standard errors and state and year fixed effects to estimate the relationship between state foster care maintenance rates and the other factors in our dataset, lagging all factors by one year to mitigate the possibility that maintenance rates influenced their predictors. Exploratory analyses related maintenance rates to Child Welfare outcomes. Findings State foster care maintenance rates have increased in nominal terms, but in many states, have not kept pace with inflation, leading to lower real rates in 2008 compared to those in 1991 for 54% of states for 2 year-olds, 58% for 9 year-olds, and 65% for 16 year-olds. In multivariate analyses including socioeconomic, demographic, and political factors, monthly foster care maintenance rates declined $15 for each 1% increase in state unemployment and

NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Underway Meteorological Data, Near Real Time

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Underway Meteorological Data (Near Real Time, updated daily) are from the Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System (SAMOS)...

Can the regulated market help foster a free market for wind energy in Brazil?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalbem, Marta Corrêa; Brandão, Luiz Eduardo Teixeira; Gomes, Leonardo Lima

2014-01-01

Wind energy has been negotiated in Brazil's regulated market through auctions organized by the government. Bilateral negotiations in the free market have been scarce. In 2011 wind farms were allowed to bid in ‘A minus 5 (A−5)' auctions, for energy with first delivery date 5 years ahead. This new design was expected to stimulate negotiations in the free market, as the 20-year contract in the regulated market eases financing while the 5-year grace period grants wind farms the option to sell whatever energy is generated beforehand in the free market. We modeled bidders' price decision in A−5 auctions as Real Options and concluded that given the low prices averaging USD 50/MW h, winners are tempted to defer investment, expecting more favorable equipment and energy prices, or a better knowledge of the wind site. Construction is likely to begin in 2–3 years, with little time left for the free market. Bidders that consider the option of eventually abandoning the project are more price competitive, increasing chances that some wind farms will never materialize. Therefore, this attempt to foster the free market may not pay-off and, moreover, it may have the unfavorable effect of turning Brazil's energy expansion planning a more difficult task. - Highlights: • Tight auction prices make winners exercise options to defer construction. • Investors that consider the option to abandon the project tend to win the auction. • High chances of default, when investors take abandonment options into account. • Auctioning wind farms for energy delivery 5 yr later will not foster a free market

Awareness and knowledge on modern biotechnology | Amin ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... to a theory on decision making, people only form attitudes about technologies when they have acquired relevant information. The purpose of this paper is to study the awareness and knowledge level of the Malaysia public in the Klang Valley region and to compare their awareness and knowledge level across stakeholder ...

Non-Foster Circuits for High Performance Antennas: Advantages and Practical Limitations

Science.gov (United States)

Jacob, Minu Mariam

The demand for miniaturized, broadband communication systems has created a need for electrically small, broadband antennas. However, all passive electrically small antennas have a fundamental gain-bandwidth limitation related to their electrical size, as first described by Wheeler and Chu. This limitation can be overcome using active non-Foster circuits (negative inductors and/or negative capacitors), which can deliver a broadband input match with active matching techniques, or can help reduce phase dispersion using negative delay effects. This thesis will illustrate the advantages of non-Foster circuits in obtaining broadband small antennas, in addition to examining their practical limitations due to noise in receive applications, and nonlinearity in transmit applications.

Engaging Foster Parents in Treatment: A Randomized Trial of Supplementing Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Evidence-based Engagement Strategies

OpenAIRE

Dorsey, Shannon; Pullmann, Michael D.; Berliner, Lucy; Koschmann, Elizabeth; McKay, Mary; Deblinger, Esther

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of supplementing Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT; Cohen, Mannarino, & Deblinger, 2006) with evidence-based engagement strategies on foster parent and foster youth engagement in treatment, given challenges engaging foster parents in treatment. A randomized controlled trial of TF-CBT standard delivery compared to TF-CBT plus evidence-based engagement strategies was conducted with 47 children and adolescents in foster care and ...

Linking Structure, Process, and Outcome to Improve Group Home Services for Foster Youth in California

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Rex S.; Ellis, Peter T.

2007-01-01

The California Youth Connection obtained funding from two foundations to evaluate the performance of group homes serving foster youth in Alameda County, California, in order to inform state policy-making. The evaluation team initially included 14 foster youth that personally experienced group home living. Three inter-related aspects of service…

Efficient Software Assets for Fostering Learning in Applied Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maurer, Matthias; Nussbaumer, Alexander; Steiner, Christina; Van der Vegt, Wim; Nadolski, Rob; Nyamsuren, Enkhbold; Albert, Dietrich

2018-01-01

Digital game technologies are a promising way to enable training providers to reach other target groups, namely those who are not interested in traditional learning technologies. Theoretically, through using digital game technologies we are able to foster the acquisition of any competence by

Strategies for Fostering the Efficacy of School-Based Management ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined community participation in the School-Based Management Committees (SBMC), the challenges hindering participation, and strategies for fostering efficacy of the School Based Management Committee. The number 340 schools were selected from the population of 2543 public primary schools in ...

Whose power? Whose knowledge? Tensions in collaborative production of knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Birgitte Ravn

to produce long-lasting, relevant and socially robust knowledge where complexity is seen as a quality rather than a problem. Looking back at the many rich processes I have been involved in makes it clear to me how the quality of the relations which were established became crucial for the outcome......This speech is a critical, reflexive gaze on my own research practices and ideals about creating knowledge through collaboration between researchers from universities and professionals in dialogical processes. Here the aim is often to give voice to differences and dissenting meanings in order...... of the research projects In social sciences and humanities it is possible to find especially poststructuralist (and feminist) researchers who refer to a discourse about knowledge production as a messy and entangled way of extending our understanding of the world. Social and natural phenomena are recognized...

[Fostering LGBT-friendly healthcare services].

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Han-Ting; Chen, Mu-Hong; Ku, Wen-Wei

2015-02-01

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) patients suffer from stigma and discrimination when seeking healthcare. A large LGBT healthcare survey revealed that 56% of gay patients and 70% of transgender patients suffered some type of discrimination while seeking healthcare in 2014. The fostering of LGBT-friendly healthcare services is not just an advanced step of gender mainstreaming but also a fulfillment of health equality and equity. Additionally, LGBT-friendly healthcare services are expected to provide new opportunities for healthcare workers. Therefore, proactive government policies, education, research, and clinical practice should all encourage the development of these healthcare services. We look forward to a well-developed LGBT-friendly healthcare system in Taiwan.

Fostering engagement during termination: Applying attachment theory and research.

Science.gov (United States)

Marmarosh, Cheri L

2017-03-01

Therapists often struggle to determine the most important things to focus on during termination. Reviewing the treatment, identifying plans for the future, summarizing positive gains, and saying goodbye receive the most attention. Despite our best intentions, termination can end up becoming intellectualized. Attachment theory and recent developments in neuroscience offer us a road map for facilitating endings that address client's underlying relational needs, direct us to foster engagement, and help us facilitate new relational experience that can be transformative for clients. We argue that endings in therapy activate client's and therapist's attachments and these endings trigger emotion regulating strategies that can elicit client's engagement or more defensiveness. The current paper will highlight through de-identified case examples how clients automatically respond termination and how therapists can foster rich relational experiences in the here-and-now that clients can take with them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Maltreatment, Coping, and Substance Use in Youth in Foster Care: Examination of Moderation Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabrielli, Joy; Jackson, Yo; Huffhines, Lindsay; Stone, Katie

2018-05-01

Child maltreatment is associated with negative outcomes such as substance use (SU). This study tested relations among maltreatment history, coping behavior, and SU behavior in youth residing in foster care. Participants were 210 youth ( M age = 12.71 years; SD = 2.95) in foster care who completed self-report measures through an audio computer-assisted self-interview program. Using a structural equation modeling framework and latent measurement constructs, positive associations were identified between maltreatment at baseline and coping behavior outcomes as well as SU behavior outcome approximately 4.5 months later. Specifically, greater severity and chronicity of maltreatment was associated with greater SU behavior as well as indirect action, prosocial, and asocial coping behavior. Maltreatment was not significantly related to direct action coping behavior. In moderation tests, only asocial coping provided a significant interaction effect for SU behavior outcomes; SU behavior did not moderate pathways between maltreatment and coping behavior. For youth in foster care, the coping approach may be varied and relate differentially to SU behavior outcomes, with asocial approaches to coping acting as a buffer for the maltreatment/SU relation. Additionally, SU remains an important target for intervention and prevention in youth residing in foster care.

A Review of Success Factors for Piglet Fostering in Lactation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jena G. Alexopoulos

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Piglet movement from one sow to another, or fostering, is required in modern pig farming but there is little available literature on the most effective strategy. In this review, we focus on the behavioural and physiological mechanisms responsible for piglet survival and growth, and have identified six key principles. (1 Colostrum provides piglets with warmth, energy and immunity. It is most accessible during the first 12 h from the birth sow, therefore no piglet should be moved before this; (2 To ensure even intake of birth sow colostrum, techniques such as split suckling prior to piglet movement should be implemented; (3 Udder assessment for functional teats should occur at farrowing, with number of fostered piglets not exceeding teat number; (4 Primiparous sows should receive as many piglets as the udder allows to maximise mammary stimulation, although older parities should be assessed for rearing ability; (5 Piglet fostering should occur between 12 and 24 h and movement kept to a minimum to prevent transfer of disease; Litter outliers should be moved and relocated to a litter of similar size; (6 Piglet movement after 24 h should be minimised. When required, strategies such as nurse usage should be employed. These principles will result in improved farrowing house performance by increasing the litter weight weaned per sow.

The Effects of Instruction with Visual Materials on the Development of Preservice Elementary Teachers' Knowledge and Attitude towards Global Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Bozdogan, Aykut Emre

2011-01-01

This study aimed to identify the erroneous knowledge and misconceptions of preservice elementary teachers about global warming and examine the effects of instruction with visual materials on rectifying these misconceptions and fostering a positive attitude towards the issue of global warming. Having a quasi-experimental design, the study made use…

Knowledge in health technology assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Tine; Hansen, Helle Ploug

2011-01-01

Health systems are placing more and more emphasis on designing and delivering services that are focused on the patient, and there is a growing interest in patient aspects of health policy research and health technology assessment (HTA). Only a few HTA agencies use and invest in scientific methods...... to generate knowledge and evidence about the patient aspects of a given technology. This raises questions about how knowledge is produced in HTA reports and what kind of knowledge is considered relevant. This article uses a Danish HTA on patient education from 2009 as empirical material for a critical...

Helping Former Foster Youth Graduate From College: Campus Support Programs in California and Washington State

Science.gov (United States)

Dworsky, Amy; Perez, Alfred

2009-01-01

The economic benefits of a college education are well documented; however, data from studies of young people transitioning out of foster care indicate that the college graduation rate for this population is very low. The child welfare system has traditionally done a poor job of encouraging foster youth to pursue postsecondary education. Although…

Moving In, Moving Through, and Moving Out: The Transitional Experiences of Foster Youth College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Gamez, Sara I.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the transitional experiences of foster youth college students. The study explored how foster youth experienced moving into, moving through, and moving out of the college environment and what resources and strategies they used to thrive during their college transitions. In addition, this study…

Association between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Transactional Sex in Youth Aging out of Foster Care

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrens, Kym R.; Katon, Wayne; McCarty, Carolyn; Richardson, Laura P.; Courtney, Mark E.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the association between history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and having transactional sex among adolescents who have been in foster care. Methods: We used an existing dataset of youth transitioning out of foster care. Independent CSA variables included self report of history of sexual molestation and rape when participants…

FOSTER FAMILY AS A FORM OF UNITS FOR ORPHANS AND CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE (CASE STUDY OF SARATOV AND BELGOROD REGIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oksana Vladimirovna Besschetnova

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the development and functioning of foster families, one of the priority interventions for children without parental care in Russia and abroad. The paper analyzes the current official statistics on the problem of child abandonment in Russia as a whole and in the Saratov and Belgorod regions of Russia in particular. The mechanism of social adaptation of children in foster care is based on the qualitative and quantitative methods (surveys and interviews of foster parents and foster children. The author identifies obstacles to the development of social institutions in the regions and the necessity of its active implementation in domestic social practices. The study found that foster care has been successful in areas where accepted legal basis allowed the recruiting, selecting candidates for adoptive parents, and foster care maintenance are carried out by social services. In addition, in order to reduce risk factors such as the secondary abandonment of foster children it is necessarily to increase assistance from the social guardianship bodies and professionals as well as building trusting parent-child relationships that use the democratic parenting style by foster parents.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-8-8

Knowledge Organization: A Sociohistorical Analysis and Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Jack; Skouvig, Laura

2006-01-01

In this article, the authors examine the discipline of knowledge organization by harnessing the theories of Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas. The argument is that knowledge organization is not just a question of improved technology; as an academic discipline, it has to define and legitimize its relevance for society. The authors use the…

Leveling the field: The role of training, safety programs, and knowledge management systems in fostering inclusive field settings