Sample records for interviews as topic

  1. [Dealing with sensitive interview topics--insights into the research project "Everyday life of people with urinary incontinence"].

    PubMed

    Hayder, Daniela; Cintron, Alexa; Schnell, Martin W; Schnepp, Wilfried

    2009-10-01

    This article has been written as part of a research project investigating the experiences of people with urinary incontinence. In this article a systematic literature analysis combined with excerpts from the study was used to describe and reflect on the best way to conduct interviews on sensitive topics. Ethical aspects are emphasised. These include informed and process consent, different types, places, and phases of such an interview, and reasons for people to participate in such interviews. It is shown that grappling with sensitive and shameful topics can promote recruitment of potential candidates and add depth to qualitative research. As such, sensitive interview topics constitute important quality indicators for qualitative research.

  2. A Pilot Study of a Picture- and Audio-Assisted Self-Interviewing Method (PIASI) for the Study of Sensitive Questions on HIV in the Field

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aarnio, Pauliina; Kulmala, Teija

    2016-01-01

    Self-interview methods such as audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) are used to improve the accuracy of interview data on sensitive topics in large trials. Small field studies on sensitive topics would benefit from methodological alternatives. In a study on male involvement in antenatal HIV testing in a largely illiterate population…

  3. Interview with Ron Wasserstein

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rossmann, Allan; Wasserstein, Ron

    2014-01-01

    Ron Wasserstein is Executive Director of the American Statistical Association (ASA). He previously served as Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Statistics at Washburn University. This interview took place via email on January 21- February 24, 2014. Topics covered in this interview are as follows: 1) Beginnings, 2) Teaching…

  4. 'Let the heart speak out'--interviewing practices by psychiatrists from two different traditions.

    PubMed

    Pinto, Diana; Ribeiro, Branca Telles; Lopes Dantas, Maria Tereza

    2005-01-01

    In the present article, we investigate the extent to which professional theories that underlie, inform, and guide the interviewing practices of two psychiatrists (a neuropsychiatrist and a psychoanalyst) are discursively displayed in their ways of conducting a psychiatric interview. This study analyses excerpts from two audio-recorded psychiatric interviews held at the Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. It follows theoretical and methodological frameworks derived from interactional sociolinguistics. Ethnographic data and research interviews with both clinicians also ground our discussion. Using frame analysis as a central tool, we found that the psychiatrist who subscribes to a neuropsychiatric orientation displays a concern on assessing the patient's cognitive processes, and shifts topics away from the patient's delusions to (re)introduce the institutional frame of the psychiatric interview. By contrast, the psychiatrist who holds a psychoanalytic orientation towards interviewing not only listens attentively to very personal topics introduced by the patient, but also sustains and develops these topics. Most of all, she proposes and stays within conversational frames. In keeping a dual understanding about their practices in the interview situation, both doctors balance the need to follow the institutional agenda and the need to listen to the patient, despite their different theoretical orientations.

  5. Wind Powering America Podcasts, Wind Powering America (WPA)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    2012-04-01

    Wind Powering America and the National Association of Farm Broadcasters produce a series of radio interviews featuring experts discussing wind energy topics. The interviews are aimed at a rural stakeholder audience and are available as podcasts. On the Wind Powering America website, you can access past interviews on topics such as: Keys to Local Wind Energy Development Success, What to Know about Installing a Wind Energy System on Your Farm, and Wind Energy Development Can Revitalize Rural America. This postcard is a marketing piece that stakeholders can provide to interested parties; it will guide them to this online resource formore » podcast episodes.« less

  6. Keep S'meylin

    MedlinePlus

    ... MS together. It is filled with stories, interviews, games, and activities on a variety of topics related ... engaging, and interactive publication filled with stories, interviews, games, and activities on a variety of topics related ...

  7. Co-development of Conceptual Understanding and Critical Attitude: Analyzing texts on radiocarbon dating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Décamp, N.; Viennot, L.

    2015-08-01

    This research documents the impact of a teaching interview aimed at developing a critical attitude in students, and focused on a particular topic: radiocarbon dating. This teaching interview is designed to observe students' reaction to limited written explanations of the phenomenon under study, and their possible frustration or intellectual satisfaction in relation to these texts. We aim to document the possible link between students' developing conceptual understanding of a topic and their ability to express their frustration when presented with very incomplete explanations, or their intellectual satisfaction when presented with complete explanation. As a side product, we intend to observe some of their a priori ideas concerning this topic. Ten teaching interviews conducted with fourth-year University students were recorded, transcribed and coded. Beyond a series of results concerning students' a priori understanding of the domain, the analysis of the interviews suggests that, when students are presented with texts of increasing completeness and discuss these with the interviewer, their critical reactions evolve in time in a very specific way. We propose a tentative model for this co-evolution of student conceptual command and critical stance. The discussion bears on possible interpretations for the 'anesthesia of judgment' observed in most students at the beginning of the interview, and for a few of them throughout the discussion. Keeping in mind the 'competence vs concepts' current alternative, the conditions that seem to free students' critical potential are analyzed in relation to their evolving command of the topic and their degree of intellectual satisfaction.

  8. Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Opinions about the Difficulties in Understanding Introductory Quantum Physics Topics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kizilcik, Hasan Sahin; Yavas, Pervin Ünlü

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to identify the opinions of pre-service physics teachers about the difficulties in introductory quantum physics topics. In this study conducted with twenty-five pre-service physics teachers, the case study method was used. The participants were interviewed about introductory quantum physics topics. The interviews were…

  9. Audio computer-assisted self interview compared to traditional interview in an HIV-related behavioral survey in Vietnam.

    PubMed

    Le, Linh Cu; Vu, Lan T H

    2012-10-01

    Globally, population surveys on HIV/AIDS and other sensitive topics have been using audio computer-assisted self interview for many years. This interview technique, however, is still new to Vietnam and little is known about its application and impact in general population surveys. One plausible hypothesis is that residents of Vietnam interviewed using this technique may provide a higher response rate and be more willing to reveal their true behaviors than if interviewed with traditional methods. This study aims to compare audio computer-assisted self interview with traditional face-to-face personal interview and self-administered interview with regard to rates of refusal and affirmative responses to questions on sensitive topics related to HIV/AIDS. In June 2010, a randomized study was conducted in three cities (Ha Noi, Da Nan and Can Tho), using a sample of 4049 residents aged 15 to 49 years. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three interviewing methods: audio computer-assisted self interview, personal face-to-face interview, and self-administered paper interview. Instead of providing answers directly to interviewer questions as with traditional methods, audio computer-assisted self-interview respondents read the questions displayed on a laptop screen, while listening to the questions through audio headphones, then entered responses using a laptop keyboard. A MySQL database was used for data management and SPSS statistical package version 18 used for data analysis with bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Rates of high risk behaviors and mean values of continuous variables were compared for the three data collection methods. Audio computer-assisted self interview showed advantages over comparison techniques, achieving lower refusal rates and reporting higher prevalence of some sensitive and risk behaviors (perhaps indication of more truthful answers). Premarital sex was reported by 20.4% in the audio computer-assisted self-interview survey group, versus 11.4% in the face-to-face group and 11.1% in the self-administered paper questionnaire group. The pattern was consistent for both male and female respondents and in both urban and rural settings. Men in the audio computer-assisted self-interview group also reported higher levels of high-risk sexual behavior--such as sex with sex workers and a higher average number of sexual partners--than did women in the same group. Importantly, item refusal rates on sensitive topics tended to be lower with audio computer-assisted self interview than with the other two methods. Combined with existing data from other countries and previous studies in Vietnam, these findings suggest that researchers should consider using audio computer-assisted self interview for future studies of sensitive and stigmatized topics, especially for men.

  10. Four Decades of JDE Interviews: a Historical Content Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stahl, Norman A.; Theriault, Jennifer C.; Armstrong, Sonya L.

    2016-01-01

    This content analysis examines the topics, trends, and issues impacting developmental education and its professionals as evaluated by interviews that have appeared in the "Journal of Developmental Education" ("JDE") between the issuance of Volume 1 through Volume 39. A total of 76 interviews were analyzed with attention to…

  11. An Abnormal Psychology Community Based Interview Assignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Geoffry D.

    1977-01-01

    A course option in abnormal psychology involves students in interviewing and observing the activities of individuals in the off-campus community who are concerned with some aspect of abnormal psychology. The technique generates student interest in the field when they interview people about topics such as drug abuse, transsexualism, and abuse of…

  12. An interview guide for clinicians to identify a young disabled person's motivation to work.

    PubMed

    Faber, B J M; Wind, H; Frings-Dresen, M H W

    2016-06-27

    The percentage of young people with disabilities who are employed is relatively low. Motivation is considered to be an important factor in facilitating or hindering their ability to obtain employment. We aimed to develop a topic list that could serve as an interview guide for professionals in occupational health care which would aid them in their discussion of work motivation-related issues with this group. We systematically searched Pubmed, PsychInfo and Picarta. Studies were included if they described aspects of work motivation and/or instruments that assess work motivation. Based on the results of our literature survey, we developed a list of topics that had been shown to be related to work motivation. Our search resulted in 12 articles describing aspects of work motivation and 17 articles describing instruments that assess work motivation. The aspects that we found were intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, goal setting, self-efficacy, expectancy, values and work readiness. Based on this information we developed an interview guide that includes seven topic areas: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, goal setting, expectancy, values, self- efficacy, and work readiness. The topics within the interview guide and the literature survey data that is presented will shed light on the role that motivation plays on the work participation among young people with disabilities.

  13. A Ghostly Symposium on the Value of the Arts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Music Educators Journal, 1978

    1978-01-01

    In mock interviews with Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Plato, and George Santayana, the value of the arts in education is discussed. The author suggests this mock interview technique as a method for teaching other topics. (KC)

  14. Methodological and ethical issues related to qualitative telephone interviews on sensitive topics.

    PubMed

    Mealer, Meredith; Jones Rn, Jacqueline

    2014-03-01

    To explore the methodological and ethical issues of conducting qualitative telephone interviews about personal or professional trauma with critical care nurses. The most common method for conducting interviews is face-to-face. However, there is evidence to support telephone interviewing on a variety of sensitive topics including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Qualitative telephone interviews can limit emotional distress because of the comfort experienced through virtual communication. Critical care nurses are at increased risk of developing PTSD due to the cumulative exposure to work-related stress in the intensive care unit. We explored the methodological and ethical issues of conducting qualitative telephone interviews, drawing on our experiences communicating with a group of critical care nurses. Qualitative research interviews with 27 critical care nurses. Fourteen of the nurses met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD; 13 did not and had scores consistent with high levels of resilience. This is a methodology paper on the authors' experiences of interviewing critical care nurses on sensitive topics via the telephone. The authors found that establishing rapport and connections with the participants and the therapeutic use of non-verbal communication were essential, and fostered trust and compassion. The ethical issues of this mode of communication include protecting the privacy and confidentiality associated with the disclosure of sensitive information, and minimising the risk of psychological harm to the researcher and participants. Qualitative telephone interviews are a valuable method of collecting information on sensitive topics. This paper explores a method of interviewing in the workplace. It will help inform interventions to promote healthy adaptation following trauma exposure in the intensive care unit.

  15. Children's Ideas about "Metals." Learning in Science Project (Primary). Working Paper No. 112.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biddulph, Fred; Osborne, Roger

    The topic of metals is frequently taught in primary schools. However, when metals are suggested as one of a series of topics for study, students often initially show little enthusiasm for the topic. To determine the ideas that children have about metals the Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--interviewed thirty-eight 9- to 10-year-old…

  16. The limitations of language: male participants, stoicism, and the qualitative research interview.

    PubMed

    Affleck, William; Glass, Kc; Macdonald, Mary Ellen

    2013-03-01

    The semistructured, open-ended interview has become the gold standard for qualitative health research. Despite its strengths, the long interview is not well suited for studying topics that participants find difficult to discuss, or for working with those who have limited verbal communication skills. A lack of emotional expression among male research participants has repeatedly been described as a significant and pervasive challenge by health researchers in a variety of different fields. This article explores several prominent theories for men's emotional inexpression and relates them to qualitative health research. The authors argue that investigators studying emotionally sensitive topics with men should look beyond the long interview to methods that incorporate other modes of emotional expression. This article concludes with a discussion of several such photo-based methods, namely, Photovoice, Photo Elicitation, and Visual Storytelling.

  17. Family Therapy with Latino Families: An Interview with Patricia Arredondo

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardona, Betty; Softas-Nall, Lia

    2010-01-01

    In this interview, Patricia Arredondo shares with us her scholarship and expertise working with Latino families. Patricia talks about multicultural competencies, multicultural development as well as diversity assessment when working with Latino families. Dr. Arredondo has published widely on these topics and is the coauthor of "Counseling Latinos…

  18. The role of topic, interviewee and question in predicting rich interview data in the field of health research.

    PubMed

    Ogden, Jane; Cornwell, Danielle

    2010-11-01

    Although texts recommend the generation of rich data from interviews, no empirical evidence base exists for achieving this. This study aimed to operationalise richness and to assess which components of the interview (for example, topic, interviewee, question) were predictive. A total of 400 interview questions and their corresponding responses were selected from 10 qualitative studies in the area of health identified from university colleagues and the UK Data Archive database. The analysis used the text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, and additional rating scales. Richness was operationalised along five dimensions. 'Length of response' was predicted by a personal, less specific or positive topic, not being a layperson, later questions, open or double questions; 'personal richness' was predicted by being a healthy participant and questions about the past and future; 'analytical responses' were predicted by a personal or less specific topic, not being a layperson, later questions, questions relating to insight and causation; 'action responses' were predicted by a less specific topic, not being a layperson, being healthy, later and open questions. The model for 'descriptive richness' was not significant. Overall, open questions, located later on and framed in the present or past tense, tended to be most predictive of richness. This could inform improvements in interview technique. © 2010 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2010 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  19. Split-Session Focus Group Interviews in the Naturalistic Setting of Family Medicine Offices

    PubMed Central

    Fetters, Michael D.; Guetterman, Timothy C.; Power, Debra; Nease, Donald E.

    2016-01-01

    PURPOSE When recruiting health care professionals to focus group interviews, investigators encounter challenges such as busy clinic schedules, recruitment, and a desire to get candid responses from diverse participants. We sought to overcome these challenges using an innovative, office-based, split-session focus group procedure in a project that elicited feedback from family medicine practices regarding a new preventive services model. This procedure entails allocating a portion of time to the entire group and the remaining time to individual subgroups. We discuss the methodologic procedure and the implications of using this approach for data collection. METHODS We conducted split-session focus groups with physicians and staff in 4 primary care practices. The procedure entailed 3 sessions, each lasting 30 minutes: the moderator interviewed physicians and staff together, physicians alone, and staff alone. As part of the focus group interview, we elicited and analyzed participant comments about the split-session format and collected observational field notes. RESULTS The split-session focus group interviews leveraged the naturalistic setting of the office for context-relevant discussion. We tested alternate formats that began in the morning and at lunchtime, to parallel each practice’s workflow. The split-session approach facilitated discussion of topics primarily relevant to staff among staff, topics primarily relevant to physicians among physicians, and topics common to all among all. Qualitative feedback on this approach was uniformly positive. CONCLUSION A split-session focus group interview provides an efficient, effective way to elicit candid qualitative information from all members of a primary care practice in the naturalistic setting where they work. PMID:26755786

  20. Interviews in qualitative research.

    PubMed

    Peters, Kath; Halcomb, Elizabeth

    2015-03-01

    Interviews are a common method of data collection in nursing research. They are frequently used alone in a qualitative study or combined with other data collection methods in mixed or multi-method research. Semi-structured interviews, where the researcher has some predefined questions or topics but then probes further as the participant responds, can produce powerful data that provide insights into the participants' experiences, perceptions or opinions.

  1. Reporting on first sexual experience: The importance of interviewer-respondent interaction

    PubMed Central

    Poulin, Michelle

    2010-01-01

    Survey methodologists typically seek to improve data on sensitive topics by standardizing surveys and avoiding the use of human interviewers. This study uses data collected from 90 never-married young adults in rural Malawi to compare reports on first sexual encounters between a standard survey and an in-depth interview. A significant fraction of young women who claimed in the survey to have never been sexually active affirmed sexual experience during the in-depth interview, fielded shortly thereafter. Two elements of the in-depth interview, flexibility and reciprocal exchange, foster trust and more truthful reporting. The findings contradict the long-standing presumption that face-to-face interviews are inherently threatening when the topic is sex. PMID:20357897

  2. Joys and Mysteries: An Interview with Debra W. Fritts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gamble, Harriet

    2002-01-01

    Presents an interview with Debra W. Fritts, a ceramic artist who created handbuilt terra-cotta sculptures. Focuses on topics, such as her childhood, her beginning interests in art, her teaching, her growth as an artist, and the techniques she uses when creating her sculptures. Includes directions for a rattle project. (CMK)

  3. The Discursive Management of Emotionality in the L2 Research Interview

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prior, Matthew T.

    2011-01-01

    This study investigates the ways in which emotions and emotionality are managed as topics and resources in second language (L2) research interviews. A continued challenge for researchers is how to define and operationalize emotions and other putative psychological phenomena. One popular research methodology that treats emotions as the object and…

  4. Stability of measures from children's interviews: the effects of time, sample length, and topic.

    PubMed

    Heilmann, John; DeBrock, Lindsay; Riley-Tillman, T Chris

    2013-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of, and sources of variability in, language measures from interviews collected from young school-age children. Two 10-min interviews were collected from 20 at-risk kindergarten children by an examiner using a standardized set of questions. Test-retest reliability coefficients were calculated for 8 language measures. Generalizability theory (G-theory) analyses were completed to document the variability introduced into the measures from the child, session, sample length, and topic. Significant and strong reliability correlation coefficients were observed for most of the language sample measures. The G-theory analyses revealed that most of the variance in the language measures was attributed to the child. Session, sample length, and topic accounted for negligible amounts of variance in most of the language measures. Measures from interviews were reliable across sessions, and the sample length and topic did not have a substantial impact on the reliability of the language measures. Implications regarding the clinical feasibility of language sample analysis for assessment and progress monitoring are discussed.

  5. Second Language Vocabulary Learning and Teaching: Still a Hot Topic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larrotta, Clarena

    2011-01-01

    For many reasons second language vocabulary learning and teaching continues to be a topic of interest for learners, instructors, and researchers. This article describes the implementation of personal glossaries in a community program offering English as second language classes to Latina/o Spanish speaking adults. Field notes, interviews, and…

  6. Identifying Relevant Acid-Base Topics in the Context of a Prenursing Chemistry Course to Better Align Health-Related Instruction and Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Corina E.; Henry, Melissa L. M.; Hyslop, Richard M.

    2018-01-01

    This study explores the acid-base topic in the context of a chemistry course taken as a prerequisite for a baccalaureate nursing program. Core findings were derived from semistructured interviews with experts in the areas of chemistry and nursing, and a multiple university survey of experts' opinions. The acid-base topic was reviewed and evaluated…

  7. Interviews with Exemplary Teachers: Leon F. Litwack.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosenzweig, Roy

    2001-01-01

    Presents an interview with Leon F. Litwack, a professor of U.S. history at the University of California, Berkeley. Covers topics such as what led him to teaching history, his lectures at Berkeley, themes covered in his U.S. history surveys, and his perception of good teaching. (CMK)

  8. Science teacher orientations and PCK across science topics in grade 9 earth science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Campbell, Todd; Melville, Wayne; Goodwin, Dawne

    2017-07-01

    While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade 9 earth science course. Through interviews and observations of one teacher's classroom across two sequentially taught, this research contests the notion that teachers hold a single way of conceptualising science teaching and learning. In this, we consider if multiple ontologies can provide potential explanatory power for characterising instructional enactments. In earlier work with the teacher in this study, using generic interview prompts and general discussions about science teaching and learning, we accepted the existence of a unitary STO and its promise of consistent reformed instruction in the classroom. However, upon close examination of instruction focused on different science topics, evidence was found to demonstrate the explanatory power of multiple ontologies for shaping characteristically different epistemological constructions across science topics. This research points to the need for care in generalising about teacher practice, as it reveals that a teacher's practice, and orientation, can vary, dependent on the context and science topics taught.

  9. A View from the ToP and Beyond: An Interview with Randolph A. Smith.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scoby, Alma

    2002-01-01

    Presents an interview with Randolph A. Smith, the editor of the journal "Teaching of Psychology." Covers topics, such as his background, his thoughts on issues related to the journal, his teaching experiences, and the relationship between his teaching and editorial post. (CMK)

  10. Using Evaluation and Research Theory to Improve Programs in Applied Settings: An Interview with Thomas D. Cook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buescher, Thomas M.

    1986-01-01

    An interview with T. Cook, author of works on the use of research and evaluation theory and design, touches on such topics as practical evaluation, planning programs with evaluation or research design, and evaluation of programs for gifted students. (CL)

  11. An Interview with Lawrence M. Lieberman.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Academic Therapy, 1986

    1986-01-01

    An interview with L. Lieberman, a teacher educator and author, touches on such topics as departmentalization at the secondary and elementary level, the use of triple level tests to allow students to stay in mainstreamed settings, and the importance of emphasizing skill development rather than subject matter instruction in secondary resource rooms.…

  12. Child Abuse and Neglect: A Major Childhood Disease.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leavitt, Jerome E.; And Others

    1978-01-01

    The booklet contains an interview with Dr. Lendon H. Smith and bibliographies on child abuse, sexual abuse, and audiovisual aids. Presented in question and answer format, the interview covers such topics as signs of abuse seen by the pediatrician, children at risk for abuse (such as the hyperactive child), and the role of teachers and counselors…

  13. On the Importance of Subject Matter in Mathematics Education: A Conversation with Erich Christian Wittmann

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akinwunmi, Kathrin; Höveler, Karina; Schnell, Susanne

    2014-01-01

    Erich Christian Wittmann is one of the primary founders of mathematics education research as an autonomous field of work and research in Germany. The interview presented here reflects on his role in promoting mathematics education as a design science. The interview addresses the following topics: (1) The importance of subject matter in…

  14. Public Participation Guide: Stakeholder Interviews

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Interviews with stakeholders are one-to-one conversations about a specific topic or issue. The primary purpose of these interviews is to obtain project-relevant information and elicit stakeholder reactions and suggestions.

  15. With Passion and Hope: The Delicate Bond between Research and Researcher. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McClafferty, Karen A.

    This paper describes a study of the factors that motivate researchers toward particular topics as well as the obstacles that may keep them from pursuing these topics with passion and empathy. Interviews were conducted with 47 faulty members at 2 California research universities, 1 public and 1 private. In keeping with the grounded theory approach,…

  16. Telephone and Face-to-Face Interviews with Low-Income Males with Child Care Responsibilities Support Inclusion as a Target Audience in SNAP-Ed.

    PubMed

    Krall, Jodi Stotts; Wamboldt, Patricia; Lohse, Barbara

    2015-06-01

    Federally funded nutrition programs mostly target females. Changes in family dynamics suggest low-income men have an important role in food management responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to inform nutrition education program planning to meet needs of lower-income males. Cross-sectional telephone and face-to-face interviews. Stratified random sample of men (n = 101), 18-59 years of age, with child care responsibilities, living in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and a convenience sample of adult males (n = 25) recruited from lower income venues. (1) Scripted telephone interviews about health status, eating behaviors, eating competence, food security, technology usage and topics and strategies for nutrition education. (2) In-person cognitive interviews during review of selected online nutrition education lessons. Nutrition education topics of interest, preferred educational strategies, influences on and barriers to intake, eating competence, critiques of online program content, graphics, format. Bivariate correlations, independent t tests, one-way analysis of variance or Chi square, as appropriate. Thematic analyses of cognitive interviews. Of telephone interviewees, 92.1% prepared meals/snacks for children and 54.5% made major household food decisions. Taste was the greatest influence on food selection and the greatest barrier to eating healthful foods. Topics of highest interest were "which foods are best for kids" and "how to eat more healthy foods." Preferred nutrition education strategies included online delivery. Online lessons were highly rated. Interactive components were recognized as particularly appealing; enhanced male centricity of lessons was supported. Findings provided compelling evidence for including needs specific to low-income males when planning, designing, and funding nutrition education programs.

  17. Developing Student Critical Thinking Skills through Teaching Psychology: An Interview with Claudio S. Hutz.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCarthy-Tucker, Sherri

    2001-01-01

    Presents an interview with Claudio S. Hutz, who is dean of Instituto de Psicologia at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he has been teaching psychology since 1977. Discusses topics such as teaching psychology in Brazil and developing critical thinking skills. (CMK)

  18. Radical Flexibility and Student Success: An Interview with Homero Lopez

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oblinger, Diana G.

    2006-01-01

    In this interview with Dr. Homero Lopez, who brings thirty-two years of higher education experience to his position as the founding president of Estrella Mountain Community College, (Maricopa County Community College District of Arizona), topics centered on how learning spaces and campus design are planned and implemented on Estrella Mountain…

  19. Positive Health Psychology: An Interview with Shelley Taylor.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rich, Grant Jewell

    2000-01-01

    Presents an interview with Shelley Taylor, a professor of Psychology at the University of California in Los Angles (California). Addresses topics such as how she became interested in psychology, the importance of health psychology in the curriculum, the ideal training for students in health psychology, and her work with "positive illusions." (CMK)

  20. Education for the 1980s and Beyond: An Interview with Carl Rogers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robinson, Edward H., III

    1985-01-01

    Presents an interview with Carl Rogers regarding education today and what it could be in the future. Discusses topics including politics and power, free choice versus conservatism, censorship, facilitators of learning, knowledge children need in today's world, and the changing society as it relates to humanistic education. (BH)

  1. Evidence Supporting Restrictions on Uses of Body Diagrams in Forensic Interviews

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poole, Debra Ann; Dickinson, Jason J.

    2011-01-01

    Objective: This study compared two methods for questioning children about suspected abuse: standard interviewing and body-diagram-focused (BDF) interviewing, a style of interviewing in which interviewers draw on a flip board and introduce the topic of touching with a body diagram. Methods: Children (N = 261) 4-9 years of age individually…

  2. Hands-On English: A Periodical for Teachers and Tutors of Adult English as a Second Language, 2003.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silliman, Anna, Ed.

    2003-01-01

    These three issues contain educational activities and articles on the following topics: education for the future; learning about learning; readers' responses to requests for suggested article and activity topics; tools and techniques (revisiting the one-question interview, learning students' names, and getting to know one another); multi-level…

  3. Teaching Medication Compliance to Psychiatric Residents: Placing an Orphan Topic into a Training Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiden, Peter J.; Rao, Nyapati

    2005-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Medication compliance is an orphan topic. Training in the understanding and management of noncompliance does not neatly fall within the domain of psychopharmacology, nor does it clearly fit into other core curricula areas, such as clinical interviewing or psychotherapy training. The objective of this article is to increase awareness…

  4. Junior High School Students’ Understanding and Problem Solving Skills on the Topics of Line and Angles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Irsal, I. L.; Jupri, A.; Prabawanto, S.

    2017-09-01

    Line and angles is important topics to learn to develop the geometry skills and also mathematics skills such as understanding and problem solving skills. But, the fact was given by Indonesian researcher show that Indonesian students’ understanding and problem solving skills still low in this topics. This fact be a background to investigate students’ understanding and problem solving skills in line and angles topics. To investigate these skills, this study used descriptive-qualitative approach. Individual written test (essay) and interview was used in this study. 72 students grade 8th from one of Junior High School in Lembang, worked the written test and 18 of them were interviewed. Based on result, almost of student were have a good instrumental understanding in line and angles topic in same area, but almost all student have a low instrumental understanding in line and angles topic in different area. Almost all student have a low relational understanding. Also, almost all student have a low problem solving skills especially in make and use strategy to solve the problem and looking back their answer. Based on result there is need a meaningfulness learning strategy, which can make students build their understanding and develop their problem solving skill independently.

  5. Adapting Cognitive Interviewing for Early Adolescent Hispanic Girls and Sensitive Topics

    PubMed Central

    Norris, Anne E.; Torres-Thomas, Sylvia; Williams, Ellita T.

    2015-01-01

    Cognitive interviewing is a research technique commonly used in survey research to improve measurement validity. However, this technique is useful to researchers planning to use self-report measures in intervention research because invalidity of such measures jeopardizes detection of intervention effects. Little research currently exists regarding the use of cognitive interviewing techniques with adolescent populations, particularly those who are Hispanic. This article describes common challenges to conducting cognitive interviewing with early adolescent girls and how these challenges are impacted by Hispanic culture and sensitive topics. A focus group approach is recommended over the traditional one-on-one cognitive interview format, and experiences from actual focus groups, conducted in preparation for an intervention study are used to illustrate strategies for accomplishing the goals of cognitive interviewing. Creative and careful planning, attention to developmental considerations, and incorporation of cultural values are essential to the success of this approach. PMID:25239207

  6. Online Catalogs from the Users' Perspective: The Use of Focus Group Interviews.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connaway, Lynn Silipigni; Johnson, Debra Wilcox; Searing, Susan E.

    1997-01-01

    Discussion of a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to elicit information about the library's online catalog. Highlights the use of focus group interviews. Topics include experience with other catalogs, approaches to searching, positive feedback, barriers to use, and changes to the catalog as a result of the study. (LRW)

  7. Writing in the Margins: An Interview with Bob Davis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Locke, Kirsten

    2017-01-01

    Bob Davis is Editor of the "Journal of Philosophy of Education" and is Head of School and Professor of Religious and Cultural Education in the School of Education Administration at the University of Glasgow. In this interview Davis provides his insight on topics such as the role of learned societies in philosophy of education,…

  8. The Archives of the History of American Psychology: An Interview with David B. Baker.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prieto, Loreto R.

    2001-01-01

    Presents an interview with David B. Baker, Director of the Archives of the History of American Psychology. Covers topics such as: Baker's interest in the history of psychology, his work at the Archives of the History of American Psychology, and recommendations for teachers when addressing history in non-history courses. (CMK)

  9. Immigrant Voices: Pursuing an American Dream = Voces de inmigrantes: En busca de un sueno americano.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mira Costa Coll., Oceanside, CA.

    Dedicated to the 1.6 million Californians newly legalized under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, this booklet summarizes interviews with 148 immigrants conducted as part of the Amnesty Education Outreach Project. The interviews included the following topics: why they came, their educational experiences, changes in their lives, their…

  10. Being Irrationally Funny as a Cognitive Psychologist: Interview With Dan Ariely.

    PubMed

    Ariely, Dan; Popescu, Beatrice

    2015-11-01

    The idea of interviewing Dan Ariely was somehow latent on my mind since I started being interested in cognitive psychology and cognitive behavior psychotherapy, but actually got more ardent ever since irrationality became a research topic for his team at Duke University. I picked him as an interviewee thinking not only at his exceptional skills as a researcher and as Kahnemann 'disciple', but mainly for his fantastic wit, true modesty and utmost interest in making people's lives easier and more comfortable, by creating awareness on a lot of topics otherwise neglected. Dan Ariely's very agreeable personality and humor would not let you think of him as a burnt casualty who, in his youth struggled to survive a personal drama, so well-documented in his paper "Painful lessons" posted on the MIT website (http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/mypain.pdf). I think reading his paper and also this transcribed interview with him would be also comforting for people who found out about Bucharest fire incident that rocked our society and also for people who are personally related to this tragedy.

  11. Job Interviewing Skills for ESL Students with a Cross-Cultural Emphasis. Instructor's Manual and Student Workbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gosak, Alice; Nguyen, Patricia

    These instructor and student manuals contain the content for a course on getting a job for students of English as a Second Language. The course emphasizes the cultural values and nuances of U.S. culture that students may expect to encounter during the job search and job interviews. Topics covered include exploring cultural assumptions, culture…

  12. Participation of Second Language and Second Dialect Speakers in the Legal System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eades, Diana

    2003-01-01

    Overviews current theory and practice and research on second language and second dialect speakers and the language of the law. Suggests most of the studies on the topic have analyzed language in courtrooms, where access to data is much easier than in other legal settings, such as police interviews, mediation sessions, or lawyer-client interviews.…

  13. Service user involvement in research may lead to contrary rather than collaborative accounts: findings from a qualitative palliative care study.

    PubMed

    Forbat, Liz; Hubbard, Gill

    2016-04-01

    The aim of this study was to explore what data emerge when former carergivers (co-researchers) are trained to interview current care-givers about their experiences. Despite a trend of involving service users in conducting research interviews, there have been few examinations of how and whether a common service user identity has an impact on the data generated. Four co-researchers were recruited, trained and supported to conduct qualitative interviews with 11 current carers of people receiving palliative services. Conversation analysis was used to examine the conversational characteristics of the research interviews. Data were collected in 2010-2011. Conversation analysis identified that interactional difficulties were evident across the data. When co-researchers talked about their own experiences as carers, interviewees frequently changed the topic of conversation, thereby closing-down opportunities for further disclosure or elaboration from the interviewee about the original topic. Conversation analysis identifies how caregiving identities are co-constructed and points where there is agreement and disagreement in the co-construction. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Public Participation Guide: Social Media

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Interviews with stakeholders are one-to-one conversations about a specific topic or issue. The primary purpose of these interviews is to obtain project-relevant information and elicit stakeholder reactions and suggestions.

  15. L'esperanto et le plurilinguisme de l'avenir: Entretien avec Umberto Eco (Esperanto and the Multilingualism of the Future: Interview with Umberto Eco).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ertl, Istvan; Lo Jacomo, Francois

    Excerpts of the interview with Umberto Eco, a prominent semiotician, by two specialists in Esperanto focused on the role of translation, which paradoxically appears to be essential for the existence of a universal language such as Esperanto. Topics addressed include the perceived conflict between the existence of a "perfect," universal…

  16. Conversations: with Sean O'Keefe. Interview by Frank Sietzen Jr.

    PubMed

    O'Keefe, Sean

    2002-10-01

    Sean O'Keefe, who took office as the 10th NASA administrator in December 2001, is interviewed after 9 months on the job. Topics of conversation include his transition from the Office of Management and Budget to NASA, management priorities, space shuttle safety, the Space Launch Initiative and the National Aerospace Initiative, future space exploration, relationships with Congress and the President, and NASA's budget.

  17. Constructing a relevant decision aid for parents of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

    PubMed

    Skibo, M; Guillen, U; Zhang, H; Munson, D; Mackley, A; Nilan, K; Kirpalani, H

    2017-12-01

    To develop and test a decision aid for counseling parents of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).Local problem:Parental education about complex conditions is not standardized and communication and understanding may not be adequate. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 neonatal clinicians and 12 parents of children with BPD using a qualitative research design. The interviews were used to identify education topics that were felt to be important in BPD education. These topics were then used to create a visual decision aid to be used in counseling sessions with parents. The decision aid was then used in mock counseling sessions with 15 'experienced' participants and 7 'naïve' participants to assess its efficacy. The participants completed a pre and post test to assess change in knowledge as well as an 11-question Likert style acceptability survey. Implementation of a decision aid while educating parents about BPD. Topics identified during the interviews were used to create eight educational cards which included pictures, pictographs and statistics. Overall, participants thought the decision aid contained an appropriate amount of information, were easy to understand and improved their knowledge about BPD. Testing demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge in both the 'experienced' (P<0.0001) and 'naïve' group (P=0.0064). A decision aid for parents of children with BPD may improve understanding of the condition and help facilitate communication between parents and doctors.

  18. Interview Questions with Bentham Scientific

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mather, John C.

    2013-01-01

    John Mather answers questions for an interview for the Bentham Science Newsletter. He covers topics ranging from his childhood, his professional career and his thoughts on research, technology and today's scientists and engineers.

  19. Exploring Teachers' Curriculum Decision Making: Insights from History Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Richard; Reynolds, Rosemary

    2018-01-01

    This paper explores teachers' decision making by examining the topics that 11 history teachers from 10 schools in England chose to teach and how they approached teaching these topics. Data were gathered from curriculum documents and semi-structured interviews in which teachers' topic choices and approaches to history were explored. Most teachers…

  20. A study of changes in middle school teachers' understanding of selected ideas in science as a function of an in-service program focusing on student preconceptions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shymansky, James A.; Woodworth, George; Norman, Obed; Dunkhase, John; Matthews, Charles; Liu, Chin-Tang

    This article examines the impact of a specially designed in-service model on teacher understanding of selected science concepts. The underlying idea of the model is to get teachers to restructure their own understanding of a selected science topic by having them study the structure and evolution of their students' ideas on the same topic. Concepts on topics from the life, earth, and physical sciences served as the content focus and middle school Grades 4-9 served as the context for this study. The in-service experience constituting the main treatment in the study occurred in three distinct phases. In the initial phase, participating teachers interviewed several of their own students to find out what kinds of preconceptions students had about a particular topic. The teachers used concept mapping strategies learned in the in-service to facilitate the interviews. Next the teachers teamed with other teachers with similar topic interests and a science expert to evaluate and explore the scientific merit of the student conceptual frameworks and to develop instructional units, including a summative assessment during a summer workshop. Finally, the student ideas were further evaluated and explored as the teachers taught the topics in their classrooms during the fall term. Concept maps were used to study changes in teacher understanding across the phases of the in-service in a repeated-measures design. Analysis of the maps showed significant growth in the number of valid propositions expressed by teachers between the initial and final mappings in all topic groups. But in half of the groups, this long-term growth was interrupted by a noticeable decline in the number of valid propositions expressed. In addition, analysis of individual teacher maps showed distinctive patterns of initial invalid conceptions being replaced by new invalid conceptions in later mappings. The combination of net growth of valid propositions and the patterns of evolving invalid conceptions is discussed in constructivist terms.

  1. Church Attendance as a Predictor of Number of Sexual Health Topics Discussed among High Risk HIV Negative Black Women

    PubMed Central

    Williams, Terrinieka T.; Pichon, Latrice C.; Davey-Rothwell, Melissa; Latkin, Carl A.

    2015-01-01

    Research suggests that sexual health communication is associated with safer sex practices. In this study, we examined the relationship between church attendance and sexual health topics discussed with both friends and sexual partners among a sample of urban Black women. Participants were 434 HIV negative Black women who were at high risk for contracting HIV through heterosexual sex. They were recruited from Baltimore, Maryland using a network-based sampling approach. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and Audio-Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews (ACASI). Fifty-four percent of the participants attended church once a month or more (regular attendees). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that regular church attendance among high-risk HIV negative Black women was a significant predictor of the number of sexual health topics discussed with both friends (AOR = 1.85, p =.003) and sexual partners (AOR= 1.68, p =.014). Future efforts to reduce HIV incidence among high-risk Black women may benefit from partnerships with churches that equip faith leaders and congregants with the tools to discuss sexual health topics with both their sexual partners and friends. PMID:25966802

  2. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The NHIS collects data on a broad range of health topics through personal household interviews. The results of NHIS provide data to track health status, health care access, and progress toward achieving national health objectives.

  3. Is there a bias against telephone interviews in qualitative research?

    PubMed

    Novick, Gina

    2008-08-01

    Telephone interviews are largely neglected in the qualitative research literature and, when discussed, they are often depicted as a less attractive alternative to face-to-face interviewing. The absence of visual cues via telephone is thought to result in loss of contextual and nonverbal data and to compromise rapport, probing, and interpretation of responses. Yet, telephones may allow respondents to feel relaxed and able to disclose sensitive information, and evidence is lacking that they produce lower quality data. This apparent bias against telephone interviews contrasts with a growing interest in electronic qualitative interviews. Research is needed comparing these modalities, and examining their impact on data quality and their use for studying varying topics and populations. Such studies could contribute evidence-based guidelines for optimizing interview data. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

  4. Is There a Bias Against Telephone Interviews In Qualitative Research?

    PubMed Central

    Novick, Gina

    2011-01-01

    Telephone interviews are largely neglected in the qualitative research literature and, when discussed, they are often depicted as a less attractive alternative to face-to-face interviewing. The absence of visual cues via telephone is thought to result in loss of contextual and nonverbal data and to compromise rapport, probing, and interpretation of responses. Yet, telephones may allow respondents to feel relaxed and able to disclose sensitive information, and evidence is lacking that they produce lower quality data. This apparent bias against telephone interviews contrasts with a growing interest in electronic qualitative interviews. Research is needed comparing these modalities, and examining their impact on data quality and their use for studying varying topics and populations. Such studies could contribute evidence-based guidelines for optimizing interview data. PMID:18203128

  5. THE MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DOCUMENTARY SOUND-FILM AS A SUPPLEMENT IN THE TEACHING OF METHODS TO COLLEGE STUDENTS BEING PREPARED TO TEACH IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    PATRICK, ROBERT B.

    THE PREPARATION AND ASSESSMENT OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS FOR USE IN METHODS INSTRUCTION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS WAS REPORTED. FOUR GENERAL SOURCES WERE USED FOR GUIDANCE IN THE SELECTION OF TOPICS FOR THE DOCUMENTARIES. THESE SOURCES INCLUDED COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS, COLLEGE CATALOGS, INTERVIEWS WITH SPECIALISTS, AND STUDENT INTERVIEWS. POSSIBLE TITLES, FILMS,…

  6. “It Depends on What You Mean by ‘Disagree’”: Differences between Parent and Child Perceptions of Parent–Child Conflict

    PubMed Central

    Thomas, Sarah A.; Swan, Anna J.; Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Reynolds, Elizabeth K.; Suarez, Liza; Dougherty, Lea R.; MacPherson, Laura; Pabón, Shairy C.

    2014-01-01

    We examined a new structured interview of parent–child conflict that assesses parent and child perceptions of behavioral conflict about daily life topics (e.g., doing chores, homework), and whether discrepancies exist on beliefs about these topics. In a sample of 100 parents and children ages 10 to 17 years (M=13.5 years, 52 males, 57 % African-American), informants could reliably distinguish between perceived behavioral conflicts and perceived discrepant beliefs about topics. These scores were also significantly related to questionnaire reports of parent–child conflict. Parent and child questionnaire reports did not significantly differ, yet on the structured interview, parents reported significantly greater levels of perceived conflict and discrepant beliefs relative to child reports. Additionally, structured interview reports of conflict demonstrated incremental validity by relating to child self-reports of delinquent behaviors, when accounting for questionnaire conflict reports. The findings have implications for increasing understanding of the links between parent–child conflict and psychosocial outcomes. PMID:25210227

  7. "It Depends on What You Mean by 'Disagree'": Differences between Parent and Child Perceptions of Parent-Child Conflict.

    PubMed

    De Los Reyes, Andres; Thomas, Sarah A; Swan, Anna J; Ehrlich, Katherine B; Reynolds, Elizabeth K; Suarez, Liza; Dougherty, Lea R; MacPherson, Laura; Pabón, Shairy C

    2012-09-01

    We examined a new structured interview of parent-child conflict that assesses parent and child perceptions of behavioral conflict about daily life topics (e.g., doing chores, homework), and whether discrepancies exist on beliefs about these topics. In a sample of 100 parents and children ages 10 to 17 years ( M =13.5 years, 52 males, 57 % African-American), informants could reliably distinguish between perceived behavioral conflicts and perceived discrepant beliefs about topics. These scores were also significantly related to questionnaire reports of parent-child conflict. Parent and child questionnaire reports did not significantly differ, yet on the structured interview, parents reported significantly greater levels of perceived conflict and discrepant beliefs relative to child reports. Additionally, structured interview reports of conflict demonstrated incremental validity by relating to child self-reports of delinquent behaviors, when accounting for questionnaire conflict reports. The findings have implications for increasing understanding of the links between parent-child conflict and psychosocial outcomes.

  8. Gender and diversity topics taught in Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education programs.

    PubMed

    Winston, Ebony Joy; Piercy, Fred P

    2010-10-01

    This article explores how the topics of gender and diversity are being taught and defined in accredited marriage and family therapy programs through syllabi content analysis and interviews with selected faculty. We examined findings by program (master's and doctoral) and type of training (those that taught specific gender and culture courses and those that attempted to infuse gender and culture throughout the curriculum). We examined 39 syllabi from 21 master's and 18 doctoral training programs. In addition, we conducted 20 interviews with faculty members. (Eighteen were White/Caucasian, one was African American and one was Asian Indian.) Some variation in topic areas was found between master's and doctoral programs and between those programs that offered specific course content and those that offered infused course content. However, qualitative interview data reflected many similarities. Particularly apparent was the level of commitment, transparency, and experiential learning methods professors used, regardless of program level or type. © 2010 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

  9. Language competence in forensic interviews for suspected child sexual abuse.

    PubMed

    Fontes, Lisa A; Tishelman, Amy C

    2016-08-01

    Forensic interviews with children for suspected child sexual abuse require meeting children "where they are" in terms of their developmental level, readiness to disclose, culture, and language. The field lacks research indicating how to accommodate children's diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This article focuses on language competence, defined here as the ability of an organization and its personnel (in this case, Child Advocacy Centers and forensic interviewers) to communicate effectively with clients regardless of their preferred language(s). In this qualitative study, 39 U.S. child forensic interviewers and child advocacy center directors discussed their experiences, practices, and opinions regarding interviews with children and families who are not native speakers of English. Topics include the importance of interviewing children in their preferred language, problems in interpreted interviews, bilingual interviews, and current and recommended procedures. Recommendations for practice and further research are included. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. African Primary Care Research: qualitative interviewing in primary care.

    PubMed

    Reid, Steve; Mash, Bob

    2014-06-05

    This article is part of a series on African Primary Care Research and focuses on the topic of qualitative interviewing in primary care. In particular it looks at issues of study design, sample size, sampling and interviewing in relation to individual and focus group interviews.There is a particular focus on helping postgraduate students at a Masters level to write their research proposals.

  11. Q & A with Ed Tech Leaders: Interview with Ryan Watkins

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaughnessy, Michael F.; Fulgham, Susan M.

    2016-01-01

    In this regular feature of "Educational Technology," Michael F. Shaughnessy and Susan M. Fulgham present their interview with Ryan Watkins, Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the George Washington University and the author of 10 books and more than 95 articles. In this interview, Watkins discusses the following topics:…

  12. Designing Structured Interviews for Educational Research. ERIC/AE Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, Washington, DC.

    This digest reviews the basic building blocks of a structured interview, points out some of the pitfalls in interviewing, and suggests ways for researchers to avoid these difficulties to produce questions that have the best possibility of generating reliable and accurate data on the topics of interest. The data collection instrument is a document…

  13. Science Anxiety, Science Attitudes, and Gender: Interviews from a Binational Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mallow, Jeffry; Kastrup, Helge; Bryant, Fred B.; Hislop, Nelda; Shefner, Rachel; Udo, Maria

    2010-01-01

    We conducted interviews with eleven groups of Danish and American students. The interview topics included gender and national components of science education, science anxiety, and attitudes toward science. The groups were science and nonscience students at the upper secondary and university levels, and one group of American science teachers who…

  14. Interview with Danny Kaplan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rossman, Allan; Kaplan, Danny

    2017-01-01

    Danny Kaplan is DeWitt Wallace Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Macalester College. He received Macalester's Excellence in teaching Award in 2006 and the CAUSE/USCOTS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. This interview took place via email on March 4-June 17, 2017. Topics covered in the interview include: (1) the current state of…

  15. Drivers of Continuing Education Learning Preferences for Veterans Affairs Women's Health Primary Care Providers.

    PubMed

    Zuchowski, Jessica L; Hamilton, Alison B; Washington, Donna L; Gomez, Arthur G; Veet, Laure; Cordasco, Kristina M

    2017-01-01

    Documented gaps in health professionals' training in women's health are a special concern for continuing education (CE). In the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, women veterans are a numerical minority, preferably assigned to designated women's health primary care providers (DWHPs). DWHPs need to maintain their knowledge and skills in women's health topics, in addition to general internal medicine topics. We explored drivers of VA DWHPs' learning preferences for women's health topics-ie, factors which influence greater and lesser learning interest. We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with DWHPs across six VA health care systems. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded in ATLAS.ti. We synthesized results by grouping relevant coded sections of text to form emergent themes. Among the 31 DWHPs interviewed, reported drivers of learning interests among women's health topics were (1) high frequency of clinical incidence of particular issues; (2) perceived appropriateness of particular issues for management in primary care settings; and (3) perceived appropriateness of particular issues for partial management in primary care. Lower interest in particular women's health topics was associated with (1) perceived existing competency or recent training in an issue and (2) perceived need for specialty care management of an issue. Understanding drivers of DWHPs' CE learning priorities lays a foundation for developing CE programming that will be of interest to women's health primary care providers. Attention to drivers of learning interests may have applicability beyond women's health, suggesting a general approach for CE programming that prioritizes high-volume topics within the practice scope of target providers.

  16. Practice variation amongst preventive child healthcare professionals in the prevention of child maltreatment in the Netherlands: Qualitative and quantitative data.

    PubMed

    Visscher, Simeon J A; van Stel, Henk F

    2017-12-01

    This article provides both qualitative and quantitative data on practice variation amongst preventive child healthcare professionals in the prevention of child maltreatment in the Netherlands. Qualitative data consist of topics identified during interviews with 11 experts (with quotes), resulting in an online survey. The quantitative data are survey responses from 1104 doctors and nurses working in 29 preventive child healthcare organizations. Additionally, the interview topic list, the qualitative data analysis methodology, the survey (in English and Dutch) and anonymized raw survey data (http://hdl.handle.net/10411/5LJOGH) are provided as well. This data-in-brief article accompanies the paper "Variation in prevention of child maltreatment by Dutch child healthcare professionals" by Simeon Visscher and Henk van Stel [1].

  17. On understanding the nature of interpersonal conflict between coaches and athletes.

    PubMed

    Wachsmuth, Svenja; Jowett, Sophia; Harwood, Chris G

    2018-09-01

    Conflict is a part of coach-athlete relationships and should be carefully considered as it can have effects on the quality of coaching and the level of performance. Despite its practical relevance, there is a dearth of research around coach-athlete conflict. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the characteristics and topics of conflict, as well as coaches and athletes' emotional, cognitive and behavioural experiences during conflict. A total of 22 independent coaches and athletes participated in semi-structured interviews evolving around the nature of interpersonal conflict. After all interviews were transcribed, a deductive-inductive content analysis was conducted. This was guided by the interview schedule as well as the by the conceptual framework of conflict in sport relationships (Wachsmuth, Jowett, & Harwood, 2017). Data were divided into five main categories: Conflict characteristics and conflict topics, as well as conflict cognitions, emotions, and behaviours. Findings highlighted the variety of ways in which participants understood and interpreted interpersonal conflict and how their impressions of conflict influenced its evolving process. Considering the participants' cognitive, emotional and behavioural expressions of conflict, it became apparent that conflict can be described through uncertain, escalating and problem-orientated responses. Practical applications concerning (mal-) adaptive responses to conflict are discussed. (199/200).

  18. Adult attachment interview, thematic analysis, and communicative style in families with substance use disorder.

    PubMed

    Anolli, Luigi; Balconi, Michela

    2002-02-01

    The paper examined the Adult Attachment Interview with special reference to thematic and semantic analysis in line with the discourse study (van Dijk, 1997). The hypothesis was that correspondence between the communicative organization of speech and the mental representations of the attachment experiences would be substantial. Eight Adult Attachment Interview transcripts of fathers with a heroin addicted young son were analyzed at two levels, (a) thematic analysis to individuate the topics of their talk applying the structural and semantic study of discourse and (b) enunciative analysis of speech to define their linguistic patterns utilizing a set of linguistic micro- and macro-units. Results showed nine main topics in the Adult Attachment Interview, each of which was characterized by a distinctive linguistic profile. In this perspective this device seems to be effective not only for discriminating attachment styles between subjects but also to identify differences within subjects belonging to the same attachment pattern.

  19. Stability of Measures from Children's Interviews: The Effects of Time, Sample Length, and Topic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heilmann, John; DeBrock, Lindsay; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of, and sources of variability in, language measures from interviews collected from young school-age children. Method: Two 10-min interviews were collected from 20 at-risk kindergarten children by an examiner using a standardized set of questions. Test-retest reliability…

  20. Why patients self-refer to the Emergency Department: A qualitative interview study.

    PubMed

    Kraaijvanger, Nicole; Rijpsma, Douwe; Willink, Lisa; Lucassen, Peter; van Leeuwen, Henk; Edwards, Michael

    2017-06-01

    There have been multiple studies investigating reasons for patients to self-refer to the Emergency Department (ED). The majority made use of questionnaires and excluded patients with urgent conditions. The goal of this qualitative study is to explore what motives patients have to self-refer to an ED, also including patients in urgent triage categories. In a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands, a qualitative interview study focusing on reasons for self-referring to the ED was performed. Self-referred patients were included until no new reasons for attending the ED were found. Exclusion criteria were as follows: not mentally able to be interviewed or not speaking Dutch. Patients who were in need of urgent care were treated first, before being asked to participate. Interviews followed a predefined topic guide. Practicing cyclic analysis, the interview topic guide was modified during the inclusion period. Interviews were recorded on an audio recorder, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Two investigators independently coded the information and combined the codes into meaningful clusters. Subsequently, these were categorized into themes to build a framework of reasons for self-referral to the ED. Characteristic quotes were used to illustrate the acquired theoretical framework. Thirty self-referred patients were interviewed. Most of the participants were male (63%), with a mean age of 46 years. Two main themes emerged from the interviews that are pertinent to the patients' decisions to attend the ED: (1) health concerns and (2) practical issues. This study found that there are 2 clearly distinctive reasons for self-referral to the ED: health concerns or practical motives. Self-referral because of practical motives is probably most suitable for strategies that aim to reduce inappropriate ED visits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Pursuing Personal Passion: Learner-Centered Research Mentoring.

    PubMed

    Phillips, William R

    2018-01-01

    New researchers often face difficulty finding and focusing research questions. I describe a new tool for research mentoring, the Pursuing Personal Passion (P3) interview, and a systematic approach to help learners organize their curiosity and develop researchable questions aligned with their personal and professional priorities. The learner-centered P3 research interview parallels the patient-centered clinical interview. This paper reviews experience with 27 research mentees over the years 2009 to 2016, using the P3 approach to identify their initial research topics, classify their underlying passions and track the evolution into their final research questions. These researchers usually identified one of three personal passions that provided lenses to focus their research: problem, person, or process. Initial research topics focused on: problem (24%, 6), person (48%, 12) and process (28%, 7). Final research questions evolved into: problem (20%, 5), person (32%, 8) and process (48%, 12). Identification of the underlying passion can lead researchers who start with one general topic to develop it into very different research questions. Using this P3 approach, mentors can help new researchers focus their interests into researchable questions, successful studies, and organized programs of scholarship.

  2. The affective reactivity of psychotic speech: The role of internal source monitoring in explaining increased thought disorder under emotional challenge.

    PubMed

    de Sousa, Paulo; Sellwood, William; Spray, Amy; Bentall, Richard P

    2016-04-01

    Thought disorder (TD) has been shown to vary in relation to negative affect. Here we examine the role internal source monitoring (iSM, i.e. ability to discriminate between inner speech and verbalized speech) in TD and whether changes in iSM performance are implicated in the affective reactivity effect (deterioration of TD when participants are asked to talk about emotionally-laden topics). Eighty patients diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and thirty healthy controls received interviews that promoted personal disclosure (emotionally salient) and interviews on everyday topics (non-salient) on separate days. During the interviews, participants were tested on iSM, self-reported affect and immediate auditory recall. Patients had more TD, poorer ability to discriminate between inner and verbalized speech, poorer immediate auditory recall and reported more negative affect than controls. Both groups displayed more TD and negative affect in salient interviews but only patients showed poorer performance on iSM. Immediate auditory recall did not change significantly across affective conditions. In patients, the relationship between self-reported negative affect and TD was mediated by deterioration in the ability to discriminate between inner speech and speech that was directed to others and socially shared (performance on the iSM) in both interviews. Furthermore, deterioration in patients' performance on iSM across conditions significantly predicted deterioration in TD across the interviews (affective reactivity of speech). Poor iSM is significantly associated with TD. Negative affect, leading to further impaired iSM, leads to increased TD in patients with psychosis. Avenues for future research as well as clinical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Interview with Smithsonian NASM Spacesuit Curator Dr. Cathleen Lewis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lewis, Cathleen; Wright, Rebecca

    2012-01-01

    Dr. Cathleen Lewis was interviewed by Rebecca Wright during the presentation of an "Interview with Smithsonian NASM Spacesuit Curator Dr. Cathleen Lewis" on May 14, 2012. Topics included the care, size, and history of the spacesuit collection at the Smithsonian and the recent move to the state-of-the-art permanent storage facility at the Udvar-Hazy facility in Virginia.

  4. Surviving Medical School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coombs, Robert Holman

    This book for students contemplating medical school and medical students in postgraduate training is based on in-depth interviews with medical students at various stages of training. Each chapter also includes insights on the chapter topic by Bernard Virshup. Chapters address the following topics: (1) anticipation--the need for realistic…

  5. [open quotes]Sonya[close quotes] explains

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moss, N.

    This article describes observations of Ruth Werner from when she was an agent of the Soviet espionage service (code name [open quotes]Sonya[close quotes]) as related in her interview with the author. The main topics covered in the interview include her opinion and relationship with Klaus Fuchs, the German-born British physicist who passed the secrets of the first atomic bomb to the Russians, and her views on German reunification. Ruth focuses her discussion on her dedication to making the world a better place and the disillusionment she has felt as she reminisces about her past.

  6. Analyzing High School Students' Reasoning about Electromagnetic Induction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jelicic, Katarina; Planinic, Maja; Planinsic, Gorazd

    2017-01-01

    Electromagnetic induction is an important, yet complex, physics topic that is a part of Croatian high school curriculum. Nine Croatian high school students of different abilities in physics were interviewed using six demonstration experiments from electromagnetism (three of them concerned the topic of electromagnetic induction). Students were…

  7. Sensitive Interviewing in Qualitative Research.

    PubMed

    Dempsey, Laura; Dowling, Maura; Larkin, Philip; Murphy, Kathy

    2016-12-01

    In this paper we focus on important considerations when planning and conducting qualitative interviews on sensitive topics. Drawing on experiences of conducting interviews with dementia caregivers, a framework of essential elements in qualitative interviewing was developed to emphasize study participants' needs while also providing guidance for researchers. Starting with a definition of sensitive research, the framework includes preparing for interviews, interacting with gatekeepers of vulnerable groups, planning for interview timing, and location, building relationships and conducting therapeutic interactions, protecting ethically vulnerable participants, and planning for disengagement. This framework has the potential to improve the effectiveness of sensitive interviewing with vulnerable groups. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Ron Logan: An Insider's View of the Music Industry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Zandt, Kathryn

    2002-01-01

    Presents an interview with Ron Logan who has served as an executive vice president for Walt Disney Entertainment. Focuses on topics, such as: influential teachers in his life, his career, how he selects scripts for musical productions, and advice for students who want to work in the music industry. (CMK)

  9. Teaching the Past through Oral History.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dillon, Pattie

    2000-01-01

    Discusses oral history as a means to connect national events with the lives of individual people. Relates the information from student oral term paper interviews, focusing on topics such as the Vietnam War, the Great Depression, civil rights and school integration, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (CMK)

  10. Hot Topics. Should You Worry about Gender Equity?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Instructor, 1994

    1994-01-01

    An interview with two American University professors who authored a book on how American schools treat little girls discusses what gender equity is, what gender bias in classrooms looks like, whether gender bias cheats boys as well as girls, and whether they favor single-sex classes and schools. (SM)

  11. Staff Development and School Improvement: An Interview with Ernest Boyer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sparks, Dennis

    1984-01-01

    The importance of developing teachers' skills and feelings of power and professionalism is stressed in an interview with Ernest Boyer. Other topics of discussion include the establishment of a "teacher excellence fund" and the concept that school improvement is "people improvement." (DF)

  12. Ellie Mannette: Master of the Steel Drum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Svaline, J. Marc

    2001-01-01

    Presents an interview with Elliot ("Ellie") Mannette who has played a major role in the development and application of steel drums. States that he has spent most of his life designing and teaching the steel drums. Covers interview topics and background information on Mannette. (CMK)

  13. Patients' Perspectives on Information and Communication About Sexual and Relational Issues in Rheumatology Health Care.

    PubMed

    Helland, Ylva; Dagfinrud, Hanne; Haugen, Mona-Iren; Kjeken, Ingvild; Zangi, Heidi

    2017-06-01

    Men and women with rheumatic diseases report a significantly negative impact on multiple areas of life, including sexuality. Research indicates that patients want to discuss sexual issues with health professionals (HPs) in rheumatology care but these issues are rarely addressed in consultations. The objective of the present study was to explore patients' experiences of communication with HPs about disease-related sexual issues, their perceptions of the relevance of these issues in rheumatology care and their preferences for how these topics should be handled. A qualitative design was used and 18 semi-structured interviews were performed, including eight women and ten men with inflammatory rheumatic joint diseases, aged 29-62 years. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed thematically. Four main themes were derived from the interviews: (i) relevance of sexual issues; (ii) vital conditions for communication; (iii) individual preferences in mode and timing of information and communication; and (iv) benefits of information and communication. The participants expressed that, although sexual issues are relevant, necessary conditions for good communication are largely lacking. HPs' knowledge, experience and personal skills, as well as having sufficient time were essential. HPs lack of initiating sexual topics contributed to uncertainty about whether their sexual challenges were disease related and whether it was a legitimate topic to discuss in rheumatology care. Patients wanted HPs to possess knowledge about possible disease-related challenges in sexual life and intimate relationships, and to facilitate communication about these aspects. There is a need to develop practice guidelines to enable HPs to integrate sexual issues as an aspect of healthcare delivery in a patient-friendly manner. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Palm Pilots: An Assessment Power Tool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lacina, Jan

    2008-01-01

    Struggling readers may regularly worry about reading at an appropriate speed and intonation. Fluency is a "hot" topic according to Jack Cassidy's annual reading survey published in "Reading Today," in which he interviews various literacy experts throughout the United States on the hot and not-so-hot reading topics. Fluency…

  15. Creating Peer-Led Media to Teach Sensitive Topics: Recommendations from Practicing Health Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hudson, Heather K.; Bliss, Kadi R.; Bice, Matthew R.; Lodyga, Marc G.; Ragon, Bruce M.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate consumer (instructor) reception of Channel Surfing Contraceptives in order to determine components necessary for creation of peer-led educational videos to teach sensitive contraceptive topics. Methods: Two focus group interviews with introductory-level undergraduate personal health instructors…

  16. Career Development Course: Instructor's Handbook and Curriculum Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunsaker, Alan

    A ten-week course in career development for unemployed, low-income, dropout-prone teenagers is described. Topics covered include job applications, resumes, interviewing, ancillary needs (e.g., driver's licenses and social security numbers), the want ads, and employment agencies. Goals, objectives, and discussion items are provided for each topic.…

  17. Strategies for Success (Or Opportunities Galore).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eddison, Betty

    1990-01-01

    Reports on interviews with 25 information professionals regarding their experiences in corporate information centers and the value of information to the organization. Topics addressed include (1) knowing the organization; (2) marketing services; (3) financial planning; and (4) being/having a boss. A directory of subjects interviewed is included.…

  18. The Structure of Scientific Arguments by Secondary Science Teachers: Comparison of experimental and historical science topics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gray, Ron; Kang, Nam-Hwa

    2014-01-01

    Just as scientific knowledge is constructed using distinct modes of inquiry (e.g. experimental or historical), arguments constructed during science instruction may vary depending on the mode of inquiry underlying the topic. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how secondary science teachers construct scientific arguments during instruction differently for topics that rely on experimental or historical modes of inquiry. Four experienced high-school science teachers were observed daily during instructional units for both experimental and historical science topics. The main data sources include classroom observations and teacher interviews. The arguments were analyzed using Toulmin's argumentation pattern revealing specific patterns of arguments in teaching topics relying on these 2 modes of scientific inquiry. The teachers presented arguments to their students that were rather simple in structure but relatively authentic to the 2 different modes. The teachers used far more evidence in teaching topics based on historical inquiry than topics based on experimental inquiry. However, the differences were implicit in their teaching. Furthermore, their arguments did not portray the dynamic nature of science. Very few rebuttals or qualifiers were provided as the teachers were presenting their claims as if the data led straightforward to the claim. Implications for classroom practice and research are discussed.

  19. Being Irrationally Funny as a Cognitive Psychologist

    PubMed Central

    Ariely, Dan; Popescu, Beatrice

    2015-01-01

    The idea of interviewing Dan Ariely was somehow latent on my mind since I started being interested in cognitive psychology and cognitive behavior psychotherapy, but actually got more ardent ever since irrationality became a research topic for his team at Duke University. I picked him as an interviewee thinking not only at his exceptional skills as a researcher and as Kahnemann ‘disciple’, but mainly for his fantastic wit, true modesty and utmost interest in making people’s lives easier and more comfortable, by creating awareness on a lot of topics otherwise neglected. Dan Ariely’s very agreeable personality and humor would not let you think of him as a burnt casualty who, in his youth struggled to survive a personal drama, so well-documented in his paper “Painful lessons” posted on the MIT website (http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/mypain.pdf). I think reading his paper and also this transcribed interview with him would be also comforting for people who found out about Bucharest fire incident that rocked our society and also for people who are personally related to this tragedy. PMID:27247678

  20. Design, Development, and Psychometric Analysis of a General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Topic Inventory Based on the Identified Main Chemistry Topics Relevant to Nursing Clinical Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Corina E.

    2013-01-01

    This two-stage study focused on the undergraduate nursing course that covers topics in general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry. In the first stage, the central objective was to identify the main concepts of GOB chemistry relevant to the clinical practice of nursing. The collection of data was based on open-ended interviews of both nursing…

  1. Comparing appropriateness and equivalence of email interviews to phone interviews in qualitative research on reproductive decisions.

    PubMed

    Hershberger, Patricia E; Kavanaugh, Karen

    2017-10-01

    Despite an increasing use of qualitative email interviews by nurse researchers, there is little understanding about the appropriateness and equivalence of email interviews to other qualitative data collection methods, especially on sensitive topics research. The purpose is to describe our procedures for completing asynchronous, email interviews and to evaluate the appropriateness and equivalency of email interviews to phone interviews in two qualitative research studies that examined reproductive decisions. Content analysis guided the methodological appraisal of appropriateness and equivalency of in-depth, asynchronous email interviews to single phone interviews. Appropriateness was determined by: (a) participants' willingness to engage in email or phone interviews, (b) completing data collection in a timely period, and (c) participants' satisfaction with the interview. Equivalency was evaluated by: (a) completeness of the interview data, and (b) insight obtained from the data. Of the combined sample in the two studies (N=71), 31% of participants chose to participate via an email interview over a phone interview. The time needed to complete the email interviews averaged 27 to 28days and the number of investigator probe-participant response interchanges was 4 to 5cycles on average. In contrast, the phone interviews averaged 59 to 61min in duration. Most participants in both the email and phone interviews reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with their ability to express their true feelings throughout the interview. Regarding equivalence, 100% of the email and phone interviews provided insight into decision processes. Although insightful, two of the email and one phone interview had short answers or, at times, underdeveloped responses. Participants' quotes and behaviors cited within four published articles, a novel evaluation of equivalency, revealed that 20% to 37.5% of the citations about decision processes were from email participants, which is consistent with the percent of email participants. In-depth, asynchronous email interviews were appropriate and garnered rich, insightful data that augmented the phone interviews. Awareness of the procedures, appropriateness, and nuances when carrying out email interviews on sensitive topics may provide nurse researchers with the ability to obtain thick, rich data that can best advance clinical practice and direct future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Culturing Conceptions: From First Principles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roth, Wolff-Michael; Lee, Yew Jin; Hwang, SungWon

    2008-01-01

    Over the past three decades, science educators have accumulated a vast amount of information on conceptions--variously defined as beliefs, ontologies, cognitive structures, mental models, or frameworks--that generally (at least initially) have been derived from interviews about certain topics. During the same time period, cultural studies has…

  3. On-Site Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chan, Kennedy Kam Ho; Yung, Benny Hin Wai

    2015-05-01

    Experiences and reflection have long been regarded as a foundation for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. However, little is known about how experienced teachers develop their PCK via reflection-in-action during their moment-to-moment classroom instruction. Drawing upon data sources including classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall interviews based on lesson videos, this study examined instances when four experienced teachers were found to invent new instructional strategies/representations on the spot during the lesson (referred to as on-site PCK development) in their first attempts at teaching a new topic. The study documented the moment-to-moment experiences of the teachers, including their reconstructed thought processes associated with these instances of on-site PCK development. An explanatory model of a three-step process comprising a stimulus, an integration process and a response was advanced to account for the on-site PCK development observed among the teachers. Three categories of stimulus that triggered on-site PCK development were identified. Factors influencing the integration process and, hence, the resulting response, included teachers' subject matter knowledge of the new topic, their general pedagogical knowledge and their knowledge of student learning difficulties/prior knowledge related to the new topic. Implications for teacher professional development in terms of how to enhance teachers' on-site PCK development are discussed.

  4. Task uncertainty and communication during nursing shift handovers.

    PubMed

    Mayor, Eric; Bangerter, Adrian; Aribot, Myriam

    2012-09-01

    We explore variations in handover duration and communication in nursing units. We hypothesize that duration per patient is higher in units facing high task uncertainty. We expect both topics and functions of communication to vary depending on task uncertainty. Handovers are changing in modern healthcare organizations, where standardized procedures are increasingly advocated for efficiency and reliability reasons. However, redesign of handover should take environmental contingencies of different clinical unit types into account. An important contingency in institutions is task uncertainty, which may affect how communicative routines like handover are accomplished. Nurse unit managers of 80 care units in 18 hospitals were interviewed in 2008 about topics and functions of handover communication and duration in their unit. Interviews were content-analysed. Clinical units were classified into a theory-based typology (unit type) that gradually increases on task uncertainty. Quantitative analyses were performed. Unit type affected resource allocation. Unit types facing higher uncertainty had higher handover duration per patient. As expected, unit type also affected communication content. Clinical units facing higher uncertainty discussed fewer topics, discussing treatment and care and organization of work less frequently. Finally, unit type affected functions of handover: sharing emotions was less often mentioned in unit types facing higher uncertainty. Task uncertainty and its relationship with functions and topics of handover should be taken into account during the design of handover procedures. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. "The Academic Style Construction Committee Is by No Means an Ornament": Interview with Vice Director Yuan Zhenguo of the Ministry of Education, Social Sciences Department

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aihe, Huang; Xu, Han

    2007-01-01

    The academic style (conduct) of academic circles has become a hot topic in the media. This article presents an interview conducted by "China Newsweek" with Vice Director Yuan Zhenguo of the Ministry of Education, Social Sciences Department. In this interview, Zhenguo talks about the Ministry of Education's plan to set up such…

  6. Understanding Infidelity: An Interview with Gerald Weeks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Travis

    2011-01-01

    In this interview, Gerald Weeks shares his expertise on the topic of infidelity and couples counseling. Dr. Weeks defines infidelity, presents assessment strategies for treating the issue of infidelity, and discusses an intersystemic model for infidelity treatment when counseling couples. Dr. Weeks also provides insight into common mistakes made…

  7. Talking about Happiness: Interview Research and Well-Being

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Jennifer

    2016-01-01

    In addition to teaching research and writing skills, First-Year Composition classes are well situated to help students develop strategies for managing stress and increasing well-being. I describe an assignment sequence in which students interview others from three generations about topics related to happiness and wellbeing, analyze shared…

  8. 78 FR 942 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-07

    ..., health IT usage, and work processes. A total of 14 observation periods will take place across the six... 1. (4) Semi-structured individual interviews and surveys with clinic staff to further understand... the Technology Assessment Model (TAM) survey. The interview will address up to five key topic areas...

  9. OCLC Looks to an Online Future: An Interview with K. Wayne Smith.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arnold, Stephen

    1993-01-01

    Provides an interview with K. Wayne Smith, chief executive officer of OCLC, that focuses on OCLC's online reference services. Topics include the ratio between technical and online reference services, how OCLC fits into the online industry, telecommunications, electronic publishing, pricing, database tape leases, and CD-ROM. (EAM)

  10. An Exclusive Interview with William D. Ford, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, D-Michigan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Career Training, 1986

    1986-01-01

    Consists of background information on and an interview with United States Representative William D. Ford, a Democrat from Michigan. Topics discussed include private technical schools, public funding of training, high-risk students, the student loan default rate issue, and accountability. (CH)

  11. Job Analysis and the Preparation of Job Descriptions. Mendip Papers MP 037.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saunders, Bob

    This document provides guidelines for conducting job analyses and writing job descriptions. It covers the following topics: the rationale for job descriptions, the terminology of job descriptions, who should write job descriptions, getting the information to write job descriptions, preparing for staff interviews, conducting interviews, writing the…

  12. Philosophy, Rhetoric, Literacy Criticism: (Inter)views.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olson, Gary A., Ed.

    In addition to a foreword by Clifford Geertz and an introduction by Patricia Bizzell, this book features 12 essays by rhetoric and composition scholars responding to interviews with prominent scholars outside the discipline. The commentaries in the book entertain a range of topics, including language, rhetoric, philosophy, feminism and literary…

  13. From "A Cowgirl Romance" to "Ravine": An Interview with Janet Hickman.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Deborah

    2003-01-01

    Presents an interview with Janet Hickman. Notes that she is a highly respected scholar in children's literature and a recognized and much lauded author of novels for children. Discusses disparate topics from her earliest encounters with print to mandates surrounding scientifically based reading research (SBRR). (SG)

  14. College Psychotherapy at a Nigerian University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adeyemo, David A.

    2016-01-01

    David Adeyemo works at the Department of Guidance and Counselling at the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria. This article presents a transcript of an online interview with Adeyemo, focusing on his experience providing counseling services at the University. Topics in the interview include the percentage of campus students that come for…

  15. Analyzing high school students' reasoning about electromagnetic induction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jelicic, Katarina; Planinic, Maja; Planinsic, Gorazd

    2017-06-01

    Electromagnetic induction is an important, yet complex, physics topic that is a part of Croatian high school curriculum. Nine Croatian high school students of different abilities in physics were interviewed using six demonstration experiments from electromagnetism (three of them concerned the topic of electromagnetic induction). Students were asked to observe, describe, and explain the experiments. The analysis of students' explanations indicated the existence of many conceptual and reasoning difficulties with the basic concepts of electromagnetism, and especially with recognizing and explaining the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. Three student mental models of electromagnetic induction, formed during the interviews, which reoccurred among students, are described and analyzed within the knowledge-in-pieces framework.

  16. Changing Views of Culture and Behavior: An Interview with Robert Serpell

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lockett, Charles T.

    2003-01-01

    Charles Lockett is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at James Madison University, where he teaches developmental psychology as well as advanced topic courses in cultural psychology and the psychology of race and racism. A graduate of Howard University, Lockett credits Howard's Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship Program for his…

  17. "Why throw away something useful?": Attitudes and opinions of people treated for bipolar disorder and their relatives on organ and tissue donation.

    PubMed

    Padoan, Carolina S; Garcia, Lucas F; Rodrigues, Aline A; Patusco, Lucas M; Atz, Mariana V; Kapczinski, Flavio; Goldim, José R; Magalhães, Pedro V S

    2017-03-01

    In regard to mental illness, brain donation is essential for the biological investigation of central pathology. Nevertheless, little is known about the thoughts of people with mental disorders on tissue donation for research. Here, our objective was to understand the attitudes and opinions of people treated for bipolar disorder and their relatives regarding donation in general, and particularly donation for research. This is a qualitative study that used in-depth interviews to determine the thoughts of participants regarding tissue donation for research. Theoretical sampling was used as a recruitment method. Grounded theory was used as a framework for content analyses of the interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was applied with the topics: donation in general; donation for research; mental health and body organs; opinion regarding donation; feelings aroused by the topic. Although all participants were aware of organ donation for transplant, they were surprised that tissue could be donated for research. Nevertheless, once they understood the concept they were usually in favor of the idea. Although participants demonstrated a general lack of knowledge on donation for research, they were willing to learn more and viewed it as a good thing, with altruistic reasons often cited as a motive for donation. We speculate that bridging this knowledge gap may be a fundamental step towards a more ethical postmortem tissue donation process.

  18. Stakeholder perceptions of lowering the blood alcohol concentration standard in the United States.

    PubMed

    Molnar, Lisa J; Eby, David W; Kostyniuk, Lidia P; St Louis, Renée M; Zanier, Nicole

    2017-12-01

    This study sought to better understand the past change in the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) standard from 0.10% to 0.08% in the United States, as well as explore stakeholder perceptions about potential health and other impacts of further lowering the standard below 0.08%. In-depth interviews were conducted with representatives of 20 organizations considered to have an interest and investment in the potential impacts of strategies to decrease alcohol-impaired related crashes and injuries. Interviews were conducted by a trained moderator, using a structured guide. Themes from the interviews are presented for several discussion topics explored for both the earlier change in the legal BAC limit from 0.10% to 0.08% and a potential lowering of the limit below 0.08%. Topics included arguments for and against change; organizational position on the change; stakeholders on both sides of the issue; strategies to support or oppose the change; health and economic impacts; and enforcement and adjudication challenges. Collectively, results suggest that moving the BAC standard below the current level will require considerable effort and time. There was strong, but not complete, agreement that it will be difficult, and maybe infeasible in the short-term, for states to implement a BAC standard lower than 0.08%. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. 77 FR 12795 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-02

    ... Topical Module. OMB Control Number: 0607-0944. Form Number(s): SIPP 281305(L), Director's Letter: SIPP... Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a topical module during the Wave 13 interview for the 2008 Panel of... provided these kinds of data on a continuing basis since 1983, permitting levels of economic well-being and...

  20. On Blue Tongues, Undergraduates, and Science: An Interview With Linda M. Bartoshuk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Camille Tessitore

    2004-01-01

    Camille Tessitore King is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where she teaches Introduction to Psychology, Great Experiments in Psychology, Biological Psychology, as well as other advanced topic courses such as Drugs and Behavior. She received her BA, MA, and PhD from the University of…

  1. Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and Assessment (VISTA): Volume 2. Topics Analysis and Scenario Development

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-01-01

    A-32 5. Descriptive Statistical Results of Topic Analysis. .. ... A-33 Bt APPENDIX A Part 1 Interpersonal Skills Interview* The... Statistical Results of Topic Analysis ,% Using Part 5 On the following pages, the rank orders of "Difficulty" are given for all 57 situations followed...Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1973, 20, 535-540. Avila, D. L., Combs, A. W., & Purkey, W. W. (Eds). The helping relationship I coursebook . Boston

  2. Learners' decisions for attending Pediatric Grand Rounds: a qualitative and quantitative study.

    PubMed

    Dolcourt, Jack L; Zuckerman, Grace; Warner, Keith

    2006-04-27

    Although grand rounds plays a major educational role at academic medical centers, there has been little investigation into the factors influencing the learners' decision to attend. Greater awareness of attendees' expectations may allow grand rounds planners to better accommodate the learners' perspective, potentially making continuing education activities more attractive and inviting. We used both qualitative (part A) and quantitative (part B) techniques to investigate the motivators and barriers to grand rounds attendance. Part A investigated contextual factors influencing attendance as expressed through attendee interviews. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using grounded theory techniques. We created a concept map linking key factors and their relationships. In part B we quantified the motivators and barriers identified during the initial interviews through a survey of the grand rounds audience. Sixteen persons voluntarily took part in the qualitative study (part A) by participating in one of seven group interview sessions. Of the 14 themes that emerged from these sessions, the most frequent factors motivating attendance involved competent practice and the need to know. All sessions discussed intellectual stimulation, social interaction, time constraints and convenience, licensure, content and format, and absence of cost for attending sessions. The 59 respondents to the survey (part B) identified clinically-useful topics (85%), continuing education credit (46%), cutting-edge research (27%), networking (22%), and refreshments (8%) as motivators and non-relevant topics (44%) and too busy to attend (56%) as barriers. Greater understanding of the consumers' perspective can allow planners to tailor the style, content, and logistics to make grand rounds more attractive and inviting.

  3. Creating history: documents and patient participation in nurse-patient interviews.

    PubMed

    Jones, Aled

    2009-09-01

    Strongly worded directives regarding the need for increased patient participation during nursing interaction with patients have recently appeared in a range of 'best-practice' documents. This paper focuses on one area of nurse-patient communication, the hospital admission interview, which has been put forward as an ideal arena for increased patient participation. It uses data from a total of 27 admission interviews, extensive periods of participant observation and analysis of nursing records to examine how hospital admission interviews are performed by nurses and patients. Analysis shows that topics discussed during admission closely follow the layout of the admission document which nurses complete during the interview. Whilst it is tempting to describe the admission document as a 'super technological power' in influencing the interaction and restricting patient participation, this analysis attempts a more rounded reading of the data. Findings demonstrate that, whilst opportunities for patient participation were rare, admission interviews are complex interactional episodes that often belie simplistic or prescriptive guidance regarding interaction between nurses and patients. In particular, issue is taken with the lack of contextual and conceptual clarity with which best-practice guidelines are written.

  4. Reflecting on the experience of interviewing online: perspectives from the Internet and HIV study in London.

    PubMed

    Davis, M; Bolding, G; Hart, G; Sherr, L; Elford, J

    2004-11-01

    This paper considers some of the strengths and weaknesses of conducting synchronous online interviews for qualitative research. It is based on a study among gay/bisexual men that used both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the association between seeking sex through the Internet and HIV transmission risk. Between June 2002 and January 2004, 128 gay/bisexual men living in London were interviewed one-to-one by the first author (MD) about their experience of using the Internet to find sexual partners and negotiating condom use for anal sex. Thirty-five men were interviewed online, while 93 were interviewed face-to-face (i.e. offline). This paper draws on MD's experience of conducting these interviews--both online and face-to-face. Synchronous online interviews have the advantage of being cheap, convenient and attractive to people who do not like face-to-face interviews. However, some of the social conventions and technical limitations of computer-mediated-communication can introduce ambiguity into the online dialogue. To minimize this ambiguity, both interviewer and interviewee have to edit their online interaction. One of the distinctive features of the online interview is that it emerges as a form of textual performance. This raises fundamental questions about the suitability of the synchronous online interview for exploring sensitive topics such as risky sexual behaviour.

  5. Caregivers' Estimations of Their Children's Perceptions of Death as a Biological Concept

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gaab, Erin M.; Owens, Glynn R.; MacLeod, Roderick D.

    2013-01-01

    Communication about death is often a sensitive topic in families with children. The present studied compared answers of 141 school children aged 5-7 to questions about death, and their caregivers' predictions. Children were interviewed, and caregivers answered on paper, questions on inevitability, applicability, irreversibility, cessation,…

  6. Recommendations for Induction Training for Operators, Craftsmen and Ancillary Workers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chemical and Allied Products Industry Training Board, Staines (England).

    These recommendations by the Chemical and Allied Products Industry Training Board of Great Britain concerning employee induction or orientation cover such aspects as pay and pensions, working conditions, discipline, safety, medical services. Topics and time allocations are suggested for the initial interview, the first day, and subsequent…

  7. "Nomadic Knowledge": Men Writing Zines for Content Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guzzetti, Barbara J.; Foley, Leslie M.; Lesley, Mellinee

    2015-01-01

    Adult men create zines (self-publications written as alternative to commercial magazines) that advance content learning and knowledge. We describe three of these zine writers who created five zines on topics related to the disciplines of science, social studies, and English/language arts. We collected their zines, interviewed the authors, and…

  8. Child-Rearing Practices of Two Generations of Punjabi Parents.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dosnajh, J. S.; Ghuman, P. A. S.

    1997-01-01

    Studied contrasts in child-rearing practices between two generations of Punjabi parents living in England, and between Punjabis and white parents. Collected data on topics such as breast-feeding, cot deaths, and father participation, through in-depth interviews of the first generation (1970) and second generation (1995). Found second-generation…

  9. The Nature of Learning at Forest School: Practitioners' Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Frances

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates forest school practitioners perceptions of learning at forest school to identify the topics covered, the learning styles, and the philosophies underpinning its delivery, based on interviews with experienced forest school practitioners. Practitioners identified the focus of learning at forest school as social development:…

  10. ESL Writing Assessment Prompts: How Students Choose.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polio, Charlene; Glew, Margo

    1996-01-01

    Examines how English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students choose a prompt from several options on a timed-writing exam. Researchers interviewed 26 students after observing them taking a writing exam. Findings indicate that students' background knowledge, question type, and topic specificity influence their decision and that time is not an…

  11. Picture Books about Blacks: An Interview with Opal Moore.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacCann, Donnarae; Richard, Olga

    1991-01-01

    Presents an interview with Opal Moore, who discusses Black imagery in picture books published in the last four years and the institutions that circulate that imagery. Topics discussed include the issue of race pride; interracial themes; appropriate illustrations; African versus African-American books; and the roles of publishers, books reviewers,…

  12. Beliefs about Using Technology in the Mathematics Classroom: Interviews with Pre-Service Elementary Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Cheng-Yao

    2008-01-01

    This study explored the efficacy of web-based workshops in topics in elementary school mathematics in fostering teachers' confidence and competence in using instructional technology, and thereby promoting more positive attitudes toward using computers and Internet resources in the mathematics classroom. It consisted of in-depth interviews of…

  13. Attacking Apartheid Education: An interview with Jonathan Kozol

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Curriculum Review, 2005

    2005-01-01

    This article presents an interview with Jonathan Kozol. Topics discussed include: (1) On the root causes of school resegregation; (2) On strategies for solving the problem; (3) On guaranteeing education for all; (4) On forcing opponents of integration into the open; (5) On mechanisms for promoting integration; (6) On scripted curricula in…

  14. 77 FR 65888 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-31

    ..., health IT usage, and work processes. A total of 14 observation periods will take place across the six...) Semi-structured individual interviews and surveys with clinic staff to further understand their use of... Technology Assessment Model (TAM) survey. The interview will address up to five key topic areas: Demographics...

  15. Co-Development of Conceptual Understanding and Critical Attitude: Analyzing Texts on Radiocarbon Dating

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Décamp, N.; Viennot, L.

    2015-01-01

    This research documents the impact of a teaching interview aimed at developing a critical attitude in students, and focused on a particular topic: radiocarbon dating. This teaching interview is designed to observe students' reaction to limited written explanations of the phenomenon under study, and their possible frustration or intellectual…

  16. Perceptions and Discourses Relating to Genetic Testing: Interviews with People with Down Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barter, Barbara; Hastings, Richard Patrick; Williams, Rebecca; Huws, Jaci C.

    2017-01-01

    Background: The perceptions of individuals with Down syndrome are conspicuously absent in discussions about the use of prenatal testing. Method: Eight individuals with Down syndrome were interviewed about their views and experience of the topic of prenatal testing. Results: Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed two major themes with…

  17. Group-Based Life Design Counseling in an Italian Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Di Fabio, Annamaria; Maree, Jacobus Gideon

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the effectiveness of group-based Life Design Counseling using the Career-Story Interview. Written exercises were used to implement the seven topics in the Career-Story Interview. The present study employed an experimental design that involved two groups of Italian entrepreneurs from the agricultural and trade sectors, namely an…

  18. Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Difficulties in Understanding Special Relativity Topics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ünlü Yavas, Pervin; Kizilcik, Hasan Sahin

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to identify the reasons why pre-service physics teachers have difficulties related to special relativity topics. In this study conducted with 25 pre-service physics teachers, the case study method, which is a qualitative research method, was used. Interviews were held with the participants about their reasons for…

  19. The Use of Poetry in a Spiral-Patterned Methodology for Research about Love in Early Childhood

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cousins, Sarah

    2017-01-01

    Research about love in early childhood education and care is rare. Love is difficult topic to research and write about in scholarly contexts. In order to properly explore love in professional contexts, practitioner narratives on the topic were sought through individual, unstructured interviews. A spiral-patterned methodological approach was…

  20. Emerging State-Level Themes: Strengths and Stressors in Educational Accountability Reform. Topical Review 4

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nagle, Katherine

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this topical review is to present Educational Policy Reform Research Institute's (EPRRI's) state-level qualitative findings collected during in depth interviews in the four core study states of California, Maryland, New York, and Texas. The data presented reflect the perspectives of state-level personnel who were involved with the…

  1. What Students Think About (Nuclear) Radiation - Before and After Fukushima

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Neumann, S.

    2014-06-01

    Preparing successful science lessons is very demanding. One important aspect a teacher has to consider is the students' previous knowledge about the specific topic. This is why research about students' preconceptions has been, and continues to be, a major field in science education research. Following a constructivistic approach [R. Duit et al., International handbook of research on conceptual change, p. 629 (2008)], helping students learn is only possible if teachers know about students' ideas beforehand. Studies about students' conceptions regarding the major topics in physics education (e.g. mechanics, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics), are numerous and well-documented. The topic radiation, however, has seen very little empirical research about students' ideas and misconceptions. Some research was conducted after the events of Chernobyl [P. Lijnse et al., International Journal of Science Education 12, 67 (1990); B. Verplanken, Environment and Behavior 21, 7 (1989)] and provided interesting insight into some of the students' preconceptions about radiation. In order to contribute empirical findings to this field of research, our workgroup has been investigating the conceptions students have about the topic radiation for several years [S. Neumann et al., Journal of Science Education and Technology 21, 826 (2012)]. We used children's drawings and conducted short follow-up interviews with students (9 - 12 years old) and more detailed interviews with 15-year-old students. Both studies were originally done before the events in Fukushima and replicated a year later. We not only asked students about their general associations and emotions regarding the term radiation, but also examined the students' risk perceptions of different types of radiation. Through the use of open-ended questions we were able to examine students' conceptions about different types of radiation (including nuclear) that could be a hindrance to student learning. Our results show that students' associations with the term radiation are almost exclusively related to nuclear radiation. Their emotions concerning the word radiation are predominately negative, and the idea that radiation is something to be avoided is widespread among students. Since most students were not familiar with the idea of naturally occurring nuclear radiation, it does not seem surprising that a lot of them generally described radiation as something artificial and man-made. Also, none of the students interviewed mentioned applications of nuclear radiation in medicine or technology (besides its use in nuclear power plants). All of these results have shown to be even more prevalent in the interview session that was conducted after the tragic events in Fukushima in 2011. In this article, we will also include suggestions for improving the teaching of the topic radiation in school.

  2. Christian Hip Hop as Pedagogy: A South African Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abraham, Ibrahim

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on interviews with creators of Christian hip hop music in South Africa, this article demonstrates that this genre of popular music and youth culture is utilised as a form of pedagogy to transmit religious beliefs and values to contemporary youth. The pedagogical aspects of hip hop have been recognised in research on the topic, but the…

  3. The Status of Physics 12 in BC: Reflections from UBC Science Teacher Candidates.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nashon, Samson Madera

    As part of attempts to find out why few high school science students take Physics 12, this case study sought University of British Columbia (UBC) science teacher educators' perspectives on the topic. A survey method employing questionnaires and interviews as part of the study was used to elicit science teacher candidates' perspectives. Forty-five…

  4. "More Aware of Everything": Exploring the Returnee Experience in American Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haines, David

    2013-01-01

    At the intersection of the topics of migration and diversity in higher education lies the experience of people who grow up overseas, or who go overseas for education or military service, and then return as college students. This article addresses their experience, drawing from a series of exploratory interviews conducted--as part of a broader…

  5. Bystander Reaction to Women Fighting: Developing a Theory of Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lowe, Robert D.; Levine, Mark; Best, Rachel M.; Heim, Derek

    2012-01-01

    This article explores accounts of bystanders to female-on-female public violence. Group interviews with participants in the night-time economy are carried out. Whereas men tend to respond to the discussion topic of female-on-female violence with laughter, this laughter reveals ambivalence and discomfort as much as amusement. Men seem to negotiate…

  6. Oracy Is as Important as Literacy: Interview with Christine C. M. Goh

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mah, Adeline Shi Hui

    2016-01-01

    Christine Goh is known internationally for her work on researching and developing oracy (listening and speaking) among English language learners, in particular the role of metacognition in language learning. She has published 10 books and over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and international book chapters on these and other related topics. Her…

  7. Raising the topic of weight in general practice: perspectives of GPs and primary care nurses.

    PubMed

    Blackburn, Maxine; Stathi, Afroditi; Keogh, Edmund; Eccleston, Christopher

    2015-08-07

    To explore general practitioners' (GPs) and primary care nurses' perceived barriers to raising the topic of weight in general practice. A qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). 34 semistructured interviews were conducted to explore views, opinions and experiences of initiating a discussion about weight. Content and thematic analyses were used to analyse the interview transcripts. General practices located in one primary care trust in the South West of England. 17 GPs and 17 nurses aged between 32 and 66 years. The modal age range for GPs was 30-39 years and for nurses, 40-49 years. Barriers were synthesised into three main themes: (1) limited understanding about obesity care, (2) concern about negative consequences, and (3) having time and resources to raise a sensitive topic. Most barriers were related to raising the topic in more routine settings, rather than when dealing with an associated medical condition. GPs were particularly worried about damaging their relationship with patients and emphasised the need to follow their patient's agenda. Uncertainty about obesity, concerns about alienating patients and feeling unable to raise the topic within the constraints of a 10 min consultation, is adding to the reluctance of GPs and nurses to broach the topic of weight. Addressing these concerns through training or by providing evidence of effective interventions that are feasible to deliver within consultations may lead to greater practitioner engagement and willingness to raise the topic. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  8. Bridging the gap between interviewer and interviewee: developing an interview guide for individual interviews by means of a focus group.

    PubMed

    Pedersen, Birgith; Delmar, Charlotte; Falkmer, Ursula; Grønkjaer, Mette

    2016-09-01

    In developing an interview guide, pre-existing knowledge about the research topic is essential. In a recent study, we were interested in exploring the experiences of weight changes among women treated for breast cancer using individual interviews. However, to develop an interview guide for the individual interviews that covered relevant thematic and dynamic dimensions, we found existing literature insufficient. Thus, we turned our attention to the benefit of the focus group method. This study aims to discuss how a focus group prior to individual interviews may contribute in developing the thematic dimension and translating the dynamic dimension of an interview guide into everyday language. We conducted one focus group interview of five women treated for breast cancer with experiences in weight changes. Data were analysed using content and conversation analysis and discussed with relevant literature on interview guide development. The study is approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency (2008-58-0028) and follows the ethical guidelines for qualitative research. Data generation and analysis resulted in themes for the thematic dimension, as well as three dynamic areas to consider in the individual interviews to bridge the gap between the interviewer and the interviewee. The dynamic areas are as follows: The use of words, images and metaphors - a shield and self-protection, Multiple meanings to explore and Staying close to the everyday language. The analysis made us more familiar with the content and meaning of weight changes among breast cancer survivors. Furthermore, it provided images and metaphors, multiple meanings and a sense of the women's everyday language that calls for an open interview frame to be used in subsequent individual interviews. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  9. Hilary Putnam Interviewed by Naoko Saito and Paul Standish

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2014

    2014-01-01

    The interview, which took place on the eve of the 2012 American presidential election, coincides with the publication of three major works by or about Hilary Putnam. It begins and ends with the topic of science, drawing attention to science's profound importance but also to its contemporary forms of distortion. It explores Putnam's…

  10. Young Children's Reactions to Mothers' Disclosure of Maternal HIV+ Serostatus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murphy, Debra A.; Roberts, Kathleen J.; Hoffman, Dannie

    2006-01-01

    Little is known about the impact of maternal disclosure of HIV-positive serostatus on young children. The objective of this study was to explore this topic, utilizing in-depth qualitative interviews. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 47 mothers who had disclosed to their young, well child, and with the children. The most prevalent child…

  11. Applying conversation analysis to foster accurate reporting in the diet history interview.

    PubMed

    Tapsell, L C; Brenninger, V; Barnard, J

    2000-07-01

    Inaccuracy in reporting dietary intakes is a major problem in managing diet-related disease. There is no single best method of dietary assessment, but the diet history lends itself well to the clinical setting. In many diet histories data are collected orally, so analysis of interviews can provide insights into reporting behaviors. Conversation analysis is a qualitative method that describes the systematic organization of talk between people. Patterns are identified and checked for consistency within and among individual interviews. The aim of this study was to describe consistent ways of reporting diet histories and to identify conversational features of problematic reporting. Diet history interviews from 62 overweight and insulin-resistant adult volunteers (50 women, 12 men) attending an outpatient clinic and 14 healthy volunteers (7 men, 7 women) participating in an energy balance study were audiotaped and transcribed. Conversation analysis identified a remarkably consistent pattern of reporting diet histories and 3 conversational features that indicated problematic reporting: "it depends," denoting variability (least of all at breakfast); "probably," suggesting guesswork (related to portion sizes); and elaborated talk on certain foods, distinguishing sensitive topics (e.g., alcohol, chocolate, butter/margarine, take-out foods) from safe topics. These findings indicate that there are ways in which dietetics practitioners may conduct the diet history interview to foster more accurate reporting.

  12. a Survey on Topics, Researchers and Cultures in the Field of Digital Heritage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Münster, S.

    2017-08-01

    Digital heritage comprises a broad variety of approaches and topics and involves researchers from multiple disciplines. While the use of digital methods in the text-oriented disciplines dealing with cultural heritage is widely discussed and canonized, an up-to-date investigation on cultural heritage as a scholarly field is currently missing. The extended abstract is about a three-stage investigation on standards, publications, disciplinary cultures as well as scholars in the field of digital heritage, carried out in 2016 and 2017. It includes results of a workshop-based survey involving 44 researchers, 15 qualitative interviews as well as an online survey with nearly 1000 participants. As an overall finding, a community is driven by researchers from European countries and especially Italy with a background in humanities, dealing with topics of data acquisition, data management and visualization. Moreover, conference series are most relevant for a scientific discourse, and especially EU projects set pace as most important research endeavours.

  13. The State of Leadership Education in Emergency Medical Services: A Multi-national Qualitative Study.

    PubMed

    Leggio, William Joseph

    2014-10-01

    This study investigated how leadership is learned in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from a multi-national perspective by interviewing EMS providers from multiple nations working in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A phenomenological, qualitative methodology was developed and 19 EMS providers from multiple nations were interviewed in June 2013. Interview questions focused on how participants learned EMS leadership as an EMS student and throughout their careers as providers. Data were analyzed to identify themes, patterns, and codes to be used for final analysis to describe findings. Emergency Medical Services leadership is primarily learned from informal mentoring and on-the-job training in less than supportive environments. Participants described learning EMS leadership during their EMS education. A triangulation of EMS educational resources yielded limited results beyond being a leader of patient care. The only course that yielded results from triangulation was EMS Management. The need to develop EMS leadership courses was supported by the findings. Findings also supported the need to include leadership education as part of continuing medical education and training. Emergency Medical Services leadership education that prepares students for the complexities of the profession is needed. Likewise, the need for EMS leadership education and training to be part of continuing education is supported. Both are viewed as a way to advance the EMS profession. A need for further research on the topic of EMS leadership is recognized, and supported, with a call for action on suggested topics identified within the study.

  14. Working Together for Preparedness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Exceptional Parent, 2006

    2006-01-01

    This article presents an interview with Daniel W. Sutherland, Officer for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Department of Homeland Security, to discuss some of the Department's future goals related to emergency preparedness for people with special needs and to find out how citizens can help in that quest. This article also focuses on topics such as:…

  15. Navigating the Water: Community College Faculty and Work-Life Balance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Latz, Amanda O.; Rediger, James N.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand if and how community college faculty construct work-life balance, as our review of the literature pointed toward a lack of research on this topic. Twenty-eight community college faculty members were interviewed, and six major findings were generated through the data analysis. Metaphors…

  16. Fathers' Role as Attachment Figures: An Interview with Sir Richard Bowlby

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newland, Lisa A.; Coyl, Diana D.

    2010-01-01

    Sir Richard Bowlby, son of John Bowlby, has carried on his father's work by lecturing and writing on the topic of attachment theory. He has initiated and maintained international connections with researchers, practitioners and agencies in the field of child development, and has produced training videos to more widely disseminate information about…

  17. Every Brick Tells a Story: Study Abroad as an Extraordinary Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Newell D.; Larsen, Val

    2012-01-01

    Research on study abroad programs (SAPs) has traditionally focused on logistics or the development of attitudes and skills. Less attention has been given to the subjective value of the participants' experience. This study focuses attention on that neglected topic. Drawing insights from an evolving genre of graffiti data and autodriving interviews,…

  18. Voices of Parolees Attending Community College: Helping Individuals and Society

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Potts, Kristi S.; Bierlein Palmer, Louann

    2014-01-01

    As one of the few qualitative studies on this topic, this phenomenological study examined how parolees experience participation in a community college reentry program. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 11 parolee college students. Major themes found that parolees enjoy the college environment and that they have become role models for their…

  19. Negative Stereotypes Deconstructed and Transformed in the Experience of Native American Academics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dvorakova, Antonie

    2018-01-01

    This qualitative interdisciplinary study explored the responses of Native American academics to selected contingencies of their tribal identities. Negative stereotypes emerged as an important topic from the narratives of 20 male and 20 female tribal academics in a variety of disciplines whom the author interviewed at 28 universities across the…

  20. The Significance for Education Reform of the New York City Mayoral Election

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noguera, Pedro

    2014-01-01

    In this first 2014 issue of "Voices in Urban Education," Oona Chatterjee, the Annenberg Institute's associate director for New York City organizing, interviews Pedro Noguera, the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University, a noted researcher and national commentator on topics such as urban school reform, conditions that…

  1. New Approaches to Assessment in Science and Mathematics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crow, Tracy, Ed.

    1997-01-01

    This issue of ENC Focus serves as a guide to 29 instructional materials that utilize some form of alternative assessment. These materials focus on mathematics, science, and integrated topics. The products included utilize one or more of the following means of student assessment: (1) portfolios; (2) journals; (3) interviews; (4) surveys; (5)…

  2. Using Focus Groups to Develop a Nutrition Education Video for High School Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    James, Delores C. S.; Rienzo, Barbara A.; Frazee, Carol

    1997-01-01

    Study used focus group interviews with ninth graders to help develop a nutrition education video and teacher's guide for Florida high schools. Students believed a video would be successful, expressed interest in 10 nutrition topics, recommended using teen actors with varying body types, and suggested no more than three or four topics per video.…

  3. Gender and Diversity Topics Taught in Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winston, Ebony Joy; Piercy, Fred P.

    2010-01-01

    This article explores how the topics of gender and diversity are being taught and defined in accredited marriage and family therapy programs through syllabi content analysis and interviews with selected faculty. We examined findings by program (master's and doctoral) and type of training (those that taught specific gender and culture courses and…

  4. Temas y problemas del idioma espanol en la prensa (Spanish Language Topics and Problems in the Press).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    El Brocense; And Others

    1980-01-01

    This section consists of reprints on the following topics: (1) the misuse of "en"; (2) anglicisms; (3) widespread use of vulgar language; (4) an interview with Emilio Criado on Spanish language variation; (5) use of the feminine in professional titles; and (6) Spanish, the national language of Latin American countries. (AMH)

  5. Science Teachers' and Senior Secondary Schools Students' Perceptions of Earth and Environmental Science Topics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dawson, Vaille; Carson, Katherine

    2013-01-01

    This article presents an evaluation of a new upper secondary Earth and Environmental Science (EES) course in Western Australia. Twenty-seven EES teachers were interviewed and 243 students were surveyed about the degree of difficulty, relevance and interest of EES topics in the course. The impact of the course on students' views about EES topics…

  6. The Right Time and Place? Middle School Language Arts Teachers Talk about Not Talking about Sexual Orientation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Puchner, Laurel; Klein, Nicole Aydt

    2011-01-01

    In this article we report results of a qualitative interview study focusing on middle school Language Arts teachers' perceptions, attitudes, and reported practices related to LGBQ topics. The study found that virtually all of the teacher participants recognized that the topic of same-sex sexuality was important for their students, yet the teachers…

  7. Sex Roles Inside the Corporation. A Summary of Findings from Mgmt. 689: "Special Topics in Careers & Sex Roles in the Organization".

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenfeld, Sue

    Advanced graduate students enrolled in a management course conducted thirty-four structured interviews at a major multi-million-dollar Houston-based oil company. Approximately fifty open-ended questions were asked the respondents over topics related to sex roles in the organization, including employee interactions, secretarial roles, work-related…

  8. Parenting an overweight or obese teen; issues and advice from parents

    PubMed Central

    Boutelle, Kerri N.; Feldman, Shira; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2013-01-01

    Objective This qualitative study addresses: 1) What challenges do parents of overweight adolescents face? 2) What advice do parents of overweight adolescents have for other parents? Design One-on-one interviews were conducted with 27 parents of overweight or previously overweight adolescents Setting Medical clinic at the University of Minnesota Participants 27 parents of adolescents (12-19 years) who were either currently or previously overweight recruited from the community Main Outcome Measures. Qualitative interviews related to parenting overweight adolescents Analysis Content analysis was used to identify themes regarding parental experiences. Results Issues most frequently mentioned: 1) uncertainty regarding effective communication with adolescent about weight-related topics, 2) inability to control adolescent’s decisions around healthy eating and activity behaviors, 3) concern for adolescent’s well-being, 4) parental feeling of responsibility/guilt. Parental advice most often provided included: 1) setting up healthy home environment, 2) parental role modeling of healthy behaviors, and 3) providing support/encouragement for positive efforts. Conclusions Topics for potential intervention development include communication and motivation of adolescents regarding weight-related topics, appropriate autonomy, and addressing negative emotions concerning the adolescent’s weight status. Targeting these topics could potentially improve acceptability and outcomes for treatments. PMID:22770833

  9. Parenting an overweight or obese teen: issues and advice from parents.

    PubMed

    Boutelle, Kerri N; Feldman, Shira; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2012-01-01

    This qualitative study addresses: (1) what challenges parents of overweight adolescents face and (2) what advice parents of overweight adolescents have for other parents. One-on-one interviews were conducted with parents of overweight or previously overweight adolescents. Medical clinic at the University of Minnesota. Twenty-seven parents of adolescents (12-19 years) who were either currently or previously overweight recruited from the community. Qualitative interviews related to parenting overweight adolescents. Content analysis was used to identify themes regarding parental experiences. Issues most frequently mentioned were (1) uncertainty regarding effective communication with adolescent about weight-related topics; (2) inability to control adolescents' decisions related to healthful eating and activity behaviors; (3) concern for adolescents' well-being; and (4) parental feeling of responsibility/guilt. Parental advice most often provided included: (1) setting up a healthful home environment; (2) parental role modeling of healthful behaviors; and (3) providing support/encouragement for positive efforts. Topics for potential intervention development include communication and motivation of adolescents regarding weight-related topics, appropriate autonomy, and addressing negative emotions concerning the adolescent's weight status. Targeting these topics could potentially improve acceptability and outcomes for treatments. Copyright © 2012 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Hospital agenda to prioritize. Interview by Donald E. Johnson..

    PubMed

    Forsyth, J D

    1991-09-01

    How does a teaching hospital balance the needs of patient care with its educational mission? What changes in focus must the CEO make to accommodate reductions in federal funding while maintaining academic excellence? In the following interview with Health Care Strategic Management's Donald E. L. Johnson, John D. Forsyth, executive director of the University of Michigan Hospitals, discusses the challenges facing his institution. The interview focuses on many topics including setting priorities, funding researchers and countering any "anti-science" perceptions.

  11. Mental and behavioral health environments: critical considerations for facility design.

    PubMed

    Shepley, Mardelle McCuskey; Watson, Angela; Pitts, Francis; Garrity, Anne; Spelman, Elizabeth; Kelkar, Janhawi; Fronsman, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to identify features in the physical environment that are believed to positively impact staff and patients in psychiatric environments and use these features as the foundation for future research regarding the design of mental and behavioral health facilities. Pursuant to a broad literature review that produced an interview script, researchers conducted 19 interviews of psychiatric staff, facility administrators and architects. Interview data were analyzed using the highly structured qualitative data analysis process authored by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Seventeen topics were addressed ranging from the importance of a deinstitutionalized environment to social interaction and autonomy. The interviewees reinforced the controversy that exists around the implications of a deinstitutionalized environment, when the resulting setting diminishes patient and staff safety. Respondents tended to support open nurse stations vs. enclosed stations. Support for access to nature and the provision of an aesthetic environment was strong. Most interviewees asserted that private rooms were highly desirable because lower room density reduces the institutional character of a unit. However, a few interviewees adamantly opposed private rooms because they considered the increased supervision of one patient by another to be a deterrent to self-harm. The need to address smoking rooms in future research received the least support of all topics. Responses of interviews illustrate current opinion regarding best practice in the design of psychiatric facilities. The findings emphasize the need for more substantive research on appropriate physical environments in mental and behavioral health settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Handbook Preparation as a Tool for Self-Directed Learning Process: A Case Study on Endocrine Topic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cerrah Ozsevgec, Lale; Ayas, Alipasa; Ozsevgec, Tuncay

    2010-01-01

    This study examines the effectiveness of handbook preparation as a method in the self-directed learning process of student teachers in teaching endocrine glands, and increasing their levels of knowledge. Thirty student teachers were selected from a biology department. A pencil and paper test and a clinical interview procedure were used to collect…

  13. The Mommy and Daddy Guide to Kindergarten: Real-Life Advice and Tips from Parents and Other Experts. A to Z.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernard, Susan

    Noting that kindergarten is a time of dramatic change for parents as well as for the kindergarten child, this book presents information on a variety of topics related to kindergarten education. The book is based on interviews with kindergarten teachers, principals, parents, and several experts from higher education involved in kindergarten…

  14. Barriers, facilitators and attitudes influencing health promotion activities in general practice: an explorative pilot study

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The number of chronically ill patients increases every year. This is partly due to an unhealthy lifestyle. However, the frequency and quality of (evidence-based) health promotion activities conducted by Dutch general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses (PNs) are limited. The aim of this pilot study was to explore which lifestyle interventions Dutch GPs and PNs carry out in primary care, which barriers and facilitators can be identified and what main topics are with respect to attitudes towards health promoting activities. These topic areas will be identified for a future, larger scale study. Method This qualitative study consisted of 25 semi-structured interviews with sixteen GPs and nine PNs. ATLAS.ti was used to analyse the transcripts of the interviews. Results All GPs and PNs said they discuss lifestyle with their patients. Next to this, GPs and PNs counsel patients, and/or refer them to other disciplines. Only few said they refer patients to specific lifestyle programs or interventions in their own practice or in the neighbourhood. Several barriers and facilitators were identified. The main topics as barriers are: a lack of patients’ motivation to make lifestyle changes, insufficient reimbursement, a lack of proven effectiveness of interventions and a lack of overview of health promoting programs in their neighbourhood. The most cited facilitators are availability of a PN, collaboration with other disciplines and availability of interventions in their own practice. With respect to attitudes, six different types of GPs were identified reflecting the main topics that relate to attitudes, varying from ‘ignorer’ to ‘nurturer’. The topics relating to PNs attitudes towards health promotion activities, were almost unanimously positive. Conclusion GPs and PNs all say they discuss lifestyle issues with their patients, but the health promotion activities that are organized in their practice vary. Main topics that hinder or facilitate implementation are identified, including those that relate to attitudes of GPs and PNs. PMID:23394162

  15. Expressive Behavior in Parkinson's Disease as a Function of Interview Context

    PubMed Central

    Takahashi, Kayoko; Tickle-Degnen, Linda; Coster, Wendy J.; Latham, Nancy K.

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVE Parkinson's disease affects the ability to express motivation through face, body, and voice; contextual factors may facilitate or inhibit expressive behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine whether qualities of the interview context are associated with client motivational behavior in Parkinson's disease. METHOD Men and women with Parkinson's disease (N = 106) discussed 2 topics (enjoyable activity vs. frustrating activity) during an assessment with a female or male interviewer. From videotaped clips, displays of 4 categories of motivation and 12 verbal and 18 nonverbal behavioral patterns were rated. RESULTS During the discussion of enjoyable activities, participants used more positive words, smiled more, and were more facially expressive. Participants were less talkative about their negative feelings and appeared to be more apathetic with the same-gender interviewer. CONCLUSION Occupational therapy practitioners should vary the emotional tone of their questions to improve the validity of motivation assessments. PMID:20608279

  16. CoRes utilization for building PCK in pre-service teacher education on the digestive system topic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nugraha, Ikmanda

    2017-05-01

    Knowledge of teachers in learning activities in the classroom has a close relationship with how well and how much students learn. Recently, a promising development in teacher education has appeared that centers on the academic construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study was an exploratory study into a science teacher education program that seeks to build the foundations on which pre-service teachers can begin to build their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The program involved the use of Content Representations (CoRes), which was initially applied as component of a strategy for exploring and gaining insights into the PCK of in-service science teachers. This study involved the researcher and 20 students (third year) in a pre-service teacher education course (School Science I) in science education when the students worked to make content analysis on the digestive system topic. During the course, the students make their own CoRes through a workshop for digestive system topic individually, in pairs and whole class discussion. Data were recorded from students' CoRes, student reflective journals, interviews, and field notes recorded in the researcher's reflective journal. Pre-service teachers' comments from interviews and reflective journals were coded in relation to references about: (1) the effectiveness of variety strategies in building the knowledge bases required to design a CoRes and (2) their awareness and/or development of tentative components of future PCK for a digestive system topic as a result of CoRes construction. Observational data were examined for indications of increasing independence and competency on the part of student teachers when locating appropriate information for designing their CoRes. From this study, it is hoped that the pre-service science teachers are able to build knowledge and then transform it into a form of PCK for digestive system topic for their first classroom planning and teaching to teach digestive system contents effectively.

  17. Facilitators and barriers to using treadmill workstations under real working conditions: a qualitative study in female office workers.

    PubMed

    Cifuentes, Manuel; Qin, Jin; Fulmer, Scott; Bello, Anila

    2015-01-01

    Characterize barriers and facilitators to use treadmill workstations in real work sites. For 6 months, workers tried a sit-stand-walk treadmill workstation at will with expert ergonomic support. Qualitative data were collected monthly. Administrative and academic departments at a higher education institution in Massachusetts, United States. Five female administrative office workers. One monthly group interview and one personal interview per participant during 6 months. Emerging topics from previous interviews were used in successive data gatherings. Transcribed data were manually coded according to the predefined topics of usability, comfort, safety, and productivity. The setup of the work station, communication difficulties while walking (disrespectful, noisy), and peer pressure to maximize use were the main usability barriers. There was no event of falls. Trips were minimized. About comfort, subjects reported it hard to get used to prolonged standing position during the first month. Treadmill speed affected productivity mostly while drawing and working in spreadsheets. Lack of job autonomy was revealed as a generic barrier. In this female group, treadmill workstations had serious design problems for workers with not enough control of their jobs. The early identification and removal of barriers likely needs to be considered when offering these workstations to workers with low job autonomy.

  18. Beyond money and survival: the meaning of paid work among older women.

    PubMed

    Altschuler, Joanne

    2004-01-01

    This article explores the meaning and experiences of paid work for older women. Taped, in-person interviews were conducted with 53 ethnically and economically diverse women, 55 to 84 years old. The interview guide contained open-ended questions regarding the meaning of work, reasons for working, and the centrality of work to personal identity. Participants discussed the following topics: independence from men; lost dreams and regrets related to paid work and educational opportunities; being responded to as mother by co-workers and supervisors; and working above and beyond the call of duty.

  19. Diagnosis and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): an interview with Richard Legro.

    PubMed

    Legro, Richard

    2015-03-27

    In this podcast, we talk to Professor Richard Legro about the recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) based on clinical practice guidelines and discuss the challenges of diagnosis PCOS at specific age groups. The controversies associated with treatment of PCOS, including therapies for infertility as this is a problem commonly observed in PCOS subjects, are highlighted together with future directions on the topic. The podcast for this interview is available at. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/supplementary/s12916-015-0299-2-s1.mp3.

  20. Understanding the Snake Venom Metalloproteinases: An Interview with Jay Fox and José María Gutiérrez.

    PubMed

    Fox, Jay W; Gutiérrez, José María

    2017-01-16

    Jay W. Fox and José María Gutiérrez recently finished editing a Special Issue on the topic "Snake Venom Metalloproteinases" in Toxins . The Special Issue covers a wide range of topics, including the molecular evolution and structure of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs), the mechanisms involved in the generation of diversity of SVMPs, the mechanism of action of SVMPs, and their role in the pathophysiology of envenomings, with implications for improving the therapy of envenomings. In this interview, we discussed with Jay W. Fox and José María Gutiérrez their research on the SVMPs and their perspectives on the future trends and challenges for studying snake venoms.

  1. Case Studies of Factors Affecting the Motivation of Musical High Achievers to Learn Music in Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leung, Bo Wah; McPherson, Gary E.

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on the personal beliefs and attitudes of highly motivated Hong Kong school-age subjects who studied music. A total of 24 participants who demonstrated high achievement and interest in learning music were interviewed. Content analysis of the interview data was performed to elucidate four topics: background information about the…

  2. Health Care Service Needs and Correlates of Quality of Life: A Case Study of Elderly Chinese Immigrants in Canada

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chow, Henry P. H.

    2012-01-01

    This study explored the health care service needs and the major correlates of quality of life among 127 community-dwelling elderly Chinese immigrants in a western Canadian city. Participants were interviewed in their homes by trained, bilingual interviewers employing a structured questionnaire that covered a wide range of topics including health…

  3. Last Interview with W. Eugene Smith on the Photo Essay.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kobre, Ken

    An interview with W. Eugene Smith, well-known photographer and photographic essayist, is presented in this paper. The introductory section of the paper contains a biographical sketch of Smith and a discussion of his photographic essays on a number of topics, including World War II scenes, life in a Spanish village, the work of a black midwife in…

  4. Gene Technology: Also a Gender Issue. Views of Dutch Informed Women on Genetic Screening and Gene Therapy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Berkel, Dymphie; Klinge, Ineke

    1997-01-01

    The views of Dutch women on the implications of the analysis of the human genome were studied by questionnaire and interview. Although a serious lack of knowledge about the topic was found, interviews produced a broad range of problematic issues. Attention to gender implications of gene technology is needed. (Author/EMK)

  5. The Nation's Memory: The United States National Archives and Records Administration. An Interview with Don W. Wilson, Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brodhead, Michael J.; Zink, Steven D.

    1993-01-01

    Discusses the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) through an interview with the Archivist of the United States, Don Wilson. Topics addressed include archival independence and congressional relations; national information policy; expansion plans; machine-readable archival records; preservation activities; and relations with other…

  6. An Interview with Allan Wigfield: A Giant on Research on Expectancy Value, Motivation, and Reading Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bembenutty, Hefer

    2012-01-01

    This article presents an interview with Allan Wigfield, professor and chair of the Department of Human Development and distinguished scholar-teacher at the University of Maryland. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on children's motivation and other topics. He is a fellow of Division 15 (Educational…

  7. Insights from an Editor's Journey: An Interview with Gert Biesta

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Teschers, Christoph

    2017-01-01

    Gert J. J. Biesta is a widely known and respected scholar in the field of education. He has published a large number of articles, books, chapters and other work. He is currently professor of Education in the Department of Education at Brunel University London. This interview with Biesta touched on a wide range of topics. This article is a…

  8. Qualitative Investigation of the "Cooking with Kids" Program: Focus Group Interviews with Fourth-Grade Students, Teachers, and Food Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lukas, Catherine V.; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie

    2011-01-01

    Objective: Focus group (FG) interviews with students and adults were used to obtain a rich understanding of the "Cooking with Kids" classroom experience from the child and adult participant perspectives. Methods: FG topics included students' cooking experiences at school and home and perceptions of "Cooking with Kids". Verified transcripts of…

  9. Medical Students' Acquisition of Adolescent Interview Skills after Coached Role Play.

    PubMed

    Kaul, Paritosh; Fisher, Jennifer H; Hanson, Janice L

    2018-04-01

    To develop and evaluate an educational activity designed to teach the adolescent Home, Education and employment, Eating, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide/depression, and Safety (HEADS) examination. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, INTERVENTIONS, AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were third-year medical students in their pediatric clerkships. Students received an article on the HEADS interview and attended an adolescent medicine educational session. The session included individualized goal-setting and coached role play. Students' skills in doing a HEADS interview were evaluated through a standardized patient encounter (SPE) with a checklist and a retrospective pre- and post-test survey. The SPE checklist was used to assess whether the students included questions in 6 key areas of a HEADS interview. One hundred fifty-two students participated. During the SPE, 90% of students queried the adolescent's home life, 91% education, 82% activities, 84% drug/substance abuse, 95% sexual history, and 61% symptoms of depression. Pre- and postintervention data were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis Test and showed a statistically significant difference in the students' ability to list key topic areas of the HEADS exam (P < .001) and to use the skills needed for an adolescent interview using the HEADS exam (P < .001). After an introduction to the HEADS examination, most students covered almost all of the topic areas of this screening interview during a SPE. Only three-fifths of the students, however, included questions about symptoms of depression. Coached role play with goal-setting facilitated effective learning of this approach to adolescent interviewing. Copyright © 2017 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Topical ocular anesthetic abuse among Iranian welders: time for action.

    PubMed

    Sharifi, Ali; Sharifi, Hamid; Karamouzian, Mohammad; Mokhtari, Mahmoud; Esmaeili, Hamidreza Hosein; Nejad, Afshin Sarafi; Rahmatian, Mohammad

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of topical ocular anesthetic abuse among welders in Iran and suggest public health solutions for this issue. In this cross-sectional study, 390 welders were randomly recruited and queried on the use of anesthetic drops. A questionnaire was administered through structured one-on-one interviews conducted by the first author. A total of 314 welders (80.5%) declared that they had used topical anesthetics at least once during their working lives. Almost 90% of them stated a preference for self-treatment over seeking help from a physician due to cultural and financial reasons. The most commonly used topical anesthetic was tetracaine. Most of the subjects (97.4%) had obtained the drugs from pharmacies without a prescription. The prevalence of topical ocular anesthetic abuse among welders in Iran is alarmingly high and may partially be due to cultural issues. Although most physicians are aware that topical anesthetics should only be used as a diagnostic tool, there is a crucial need to re-emphasize the ocular risks associated with chronic use of these medications. Educational programs for both physicians and the public are necessary to address the problem.

  11. Topical Ocular Anesthetic Abuse Among Iranian Welders: Time for Action

    PubMed Central

    Sharifi, Ali; Sharifi, Hamid; Karamouzian, Mohammad; Mokhtari, Mahmoud; Esmaeili, Hamidreza Hosein; Nejad, Afshin Sarafi; Rahmatian, Mohammad

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of topical ocular anesthetic abuse among welders in Iran and suggest public health solutions for this issue. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 390 welders were randomly recruited and queried on the use of anesthetic drops. A questionnaire was administered through structured one-on-one interviews conducted by the first author. Results: A total of 314 welders (80.5%) declared that they had used topical anesthetics at least once during their working lives. Almost 90% of them stated a preference for self-treatment over seeking help from a physician due to cultural and financial reasons. The most commonly used topical anesthetic was tetracaine. Most of the subjects (97.4%) had obtained the drugs from pharmacies without a prescription. Conclusions: The prevalence of topical ocular anesthetic abuse among welders in Iran is alarmingly high and may partially be due to cultural issues. Although most physicians are aware that topical anesthetics should only be used as a diagnostic tool, there is a crucial need to re-emphasize the ocular risks associated with chronic use of these medications. Educational programs for both physicians and the public are necessary to address the problem. PMID:24339685

  12. Unifying concepts in the high school biology curriculum, one or many: An investigation of rural, suburban, and urban schools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Judith Ann

    2000-10-01

    Nine high school biology teachers from rural, suburban, and urban school settings, were interviewed about what idea, topic, or concept, if any, they use to unify their high school biology curriculum. Professional scientists and educational organizations have proposed that high school biology teachers use "biological evolution" as a unifying concept of their curriculum. Interviews, concept maps, and classroom syllabi and outlines were provided as data for these nine case studies. Each teacher was asked what topics were included in their curriculum to determine if a wide enough content was taught to warrant unification. The teachers' responses were compared to content and concepts listed in the National Science Content Standards, the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements for Science, and a paper (Hurd, Bybee, Kahle, and Yager, 1980) that proposed what and how topics should be taught in the high school biology class by the year 2000. The nine teachers were asked to draw a concept map showing how these topics were interrelated and what concept, if any, "unified" them. A unifying concept is defined as a concept introduced early in the year and referred back to whenever new topics are introduced illustrating how the new topic is related to the previous ones through this unifying concept. Seven of the nine teachers did use at least one unifying concept. Two use evolution or natural selection, two use the web of life, two use the characteristics of life, and one uses scientific inquiry. The data collected in this study indicate high school teachers use these concepts such as the web of life and the characteristics of life because they believe they are easily understood by their students and less controversial than the theory of evolution. This study also presents evidence that school setting has minimal influence on what concept teachers use to unify their curriculum and that teachers have a significant amount of academic freedom to choose what they want to teach and how they want to teach it. The data suggests that teachers choose their unifying concept based on their personal beliefs of what their students will accept and on their past interactions with parents, students, and administrators when various unifying concepts were used.

  13. Menstrual Support for Females with Developmental Disabilities: Survey and Interview of Parents or Caretakers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Park, Hye Ran

    2013-01-01

    Menstruation is a difficult topic to address with as females with or without disabilities. It is a more significant challenge for females with developmental disabilities (DD) because it stimulates a variety of physical and psychological changes. Thus, some females with DD might have a qualitatively different experience compared to the general…

  14. University Teachers' Perspectives on the Role of the Laplace Transform in Engineering Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmberg, Margarita; Bernhard, Jonte

    2017-01-01

    The Laplace transform is an important tool in many branches of engineering, for example, electric and control engineering, but is also regarded as a difficult topic for students to master. We have interviewed 22 university teachers from five universities in three countries (Mexico, Spain and Sweden) about their views on relationships among…

  15. British Female Converts to Islam: Choosing Islam as a Rejection of Individualism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soutar, Louise

    2010-01-01

    Voluntary religious conversion is a topic of great interest and fascination. However, this fascination is increased when the religion is Islam and the convert is female. Through the use of three in-depth interviews, this research hopes to answer the following questions: how much does a dissatisfaction with typical British individualism contribute…

  16. Parents as Educators of Sex and Relationship Education: The Role for Effective Communication in British Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turnbull, Triece; van Wersch, Anna; van Schaik, Paul

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To identify how British families discuss sexual matters and to determine if the use of a multimedia computer program increases knowledge to promote communication about sexual topics. Design: A mixed-method approach in which families were interviewed within the family environment. Method: Twenty families from the north east of England…

  17. Teachers' Critical Evaluations of Dynamic Geometry Software Implementation in 1:1 Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ware, Jennifer; Stein, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    Although the use of dynamic software in high school mathematics in the United States has emerged as a research topic, little research has been conducted on how teachers integrate new software in relation to at-home technology networks. Interviews with eight mathematics teachers from four North Carolina counties participating in 1:1 laptop…

  18. Elicitation Techniques: Getting People to Talk about Ideas They Don't Usually Talk About

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barton, Keith C.

    2015-01-01

    Elicitation techniques are a category of research tasks that use visual, verbal, or written stimuli to encourage participants to talk about their ideas. These tasks are particularly useful for exploring topics that may be difficult to discuss in formal interviews, such as those that involve sensitive issues or rely on tacit knowledge. Elicitation…

  19. Physics of non-Newtonian fluids and interdisciplinary relations (biology and criminology)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holubova, R.

    2018-03-01

    The aim of the paper is the presentation of an interdisciplinary topic that allows applying content knowledge in physics, mathematics and biology in real life environment. Students use to play games and view crime scenes but in common they have little knowledge about the science used during crime scene investigation. In this paper the science background of blood spatter analysis is presented—the physics of non-Newtonian fluids, the biology of blood and mathematics—the measurement and calculation of the angle of inpact, the relationship between height and spatter diameter. This topic was choosen according to the analysis of interviews with secondary and high school learners realized at four schools in Moravia, Czech Republic. The topic can be taught at secondary schools so as at a higher level at high schools. Hands-on activities are included. The teaching strategy supports group work. The appropriateness and reasonableness of the topic was checked in the real teaching process and the activities have had a positive feedback.

  20. "We're as Good as Anybody Else": A Comparative Study of Working-Class University Students' Experiences in England and Ireland

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finnegan, Fergal; Merrill, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    This article is based on a comparative study of working-class students' experiences in English and Irish higher education. It highlights the lack of comparative studies on this topic based on qualitative research and why filling this gap is important in understanding access and widening participation. Drawing on biographical interviews with 139…

  1. Supporting Faculty Learning About Teaching: The On the Cutting Edge Website

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fox, S.; Iverson, E. A.; Manduca, C. A.; Kirk, K. B.; McDaris, J. R.; Ormand, C. J.; Bruckner, M. Z.

    2011-12-01

    The On the Cutting Edge website captures information about teaching geoscience from workshop participants and leaders. Designed to both support workshop participants in making use of ideas developed at the workshop and to allow a broader audience to access these ideas, the site includes more than 4900 pages of content in 39 topical collections with more than 1400 community-contributed teaching activities. The site is well used: in 2010, 850,000 visitors made more than one million visits to the site viewing more than 2.1 million pages. To obtain a more detailed understanding of site use within our target population, we interviewed a sample of 30 geoscience faculty. Five primary uses were described repeatedly and in depth: finding ideas for teaching, understanding what colleagues are doing in specific teaching situations, learning about methods, tools, or topic in education or geoscience, finding visualizations, and networking or career planning. Interviewees could describe particular instances where they made use of teaching materials and could cite reasons why they believed this improved student learning. To understand how these uses are manifest in the weblogs, a sample of 73 sessions that lasted at least 10 minutes, and viewed 10 or more pages were selected from March 2009 logs. Sessions were selected to sample heavy use of one or more topical collections, and to sample the diversity of log characteristics. The sessions were described qualitatively and the resulting descriptions categorized. Four recognizable use patterns emerged: activity browsing in some cases combined with study of a pedagogic method, browsing visualizations and associated topical content, digging deep within a particular topical collection, and cross-site browsing. These patterns seem consistent with the uses reported in the interviews. An analysis of characteristics of all sessions in 2008 viewing 10 or more pages indicate that the major uses described in the interview study by 30 faculty are in fact widespread among the 16,000 users seeing 10 or more pages. The most widespread identifiable use is finding teaching activities or finding out what colleagues are doing in a particular teaching situation (20-40% of use). Roughly 30% of use appears to be related to seeking visualizations for class. Another 20% of use includes learning about pedagogic methods, though that may not be the users' intention when they enter the site. As in the interview study, use associated with finding career information is significant though less common (10% of use). The relative distribution of page views across modules is well aligned with the reported uses, and offers further confirmation that these uses are widely represented in the deep sessions.

  2. What Students Think About (Nuclear) Radiation – Before and After Fukushima

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Neumann, S.

    Preparing successful science lessons is very demanding. One important aspect a teacher has to consider is the students' previous knowledge about the specific topic. This is why research about students' preconceptions has been, and continues to be, a major field in science education research. Following a constructivistic approach [R. Duit et al., International handbook of research on conceptual change, p. 629 (2008)], helping students learn is only possible if teachers know about students' ideas beforehand. Studies about students' conceptions regarding the major topics in physics education (e.g. mechanics, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics), are numerous and well-documented. The topic radiation, however, hasmore » seen very little empirical research about students' ideas and misconceptions. Some research was conducted after the events of Chernobyl [P. Lijnse et al., International Journal of Science Education 12, 67 (1990); B. Verplanken, Environment and Behavior 21, 7 (1989)] and provided interesting insight into some of the students' preconceptions about radiation. In order to contribute empirical findings to this field of research, our workgroup has been investigating the conceptions students have about the topic radiation for several years [S. Neumann et al., Journal of Science Education and Technology 21, 826 (2012)]. We used children's drawings and conducted short follow-up interviews with students (9 – 12 years old) and more detailed interviews with 15-year-old students. Both studies were originally done before the events in Fukushima and replicated a year later. We not only asked students about their general associations and emotions regarding the term radiation, but also examined the students' risk perceptions of different types of radiation. Through the use of open-ended questions we were able to examine students' conceptions about different types of radiation (including nuclear) that could be a hindrance to student learning. Our results show that students' associations with the term radiation are almost exclusively related to nuclear radiation. Their emotions concerning the word radiation are predominately negative, and the idea that radiation is something to be avoided is widespread among students. Since most students were not familiar with the idea of naturally occurring nuclear radiation, it does not seem surprising that a lot of them generally described radiation as something artificial and man-made. Also, none of the students interviewed mentioned applications of nuclear radiation in medicine or technology (besides its use in nuclear power plants). All of these results have shown to be even more prevalent in the interview session that was conducted after the tragic events in Fukushima in 2011. In this article, we will also include suggestions for improving the teaching of the topic radiation in school.« less

  3. Forced migrants involved in setting the agenda and designing research to reduce impacts of complex emergencies: combining Swarm with patient and public involvement.

    PubMed

    Brainard, Julii Suzanne; Al Assaf, Enana; Omasete, Judith; Leach, Steve; Hammer, Charlotte C; Hunter, Paul R

    2017-01-01

    The UK's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response was asked to undertake research on how to reduce the impact of complex national/international emergencies on public health. How to focus the research and decide on priority topics was challenging, given the nature of complex events. Using a type of structured brain-storming, the researchers identified the ongoing UK, European and international migration crisis as both complex and worthy of deeper research. To further focus the research, two representatives of forced migrant communities were invited to join the project team as patient and public (PPI) representatives. They attended regular project meetings, insightfully contributed to and advised on practical aspects of potential research areas. The representatives identified cultural obstacles and community needs and helped choose the final research study design, which was to interview forced migrants about their strategies to build emotional resilience and prevent mental illness. The representatives also helped design recruitment documents, and undertake recruitment and interviewer training. Many events with wide-ranging negative health impacts are notable for complexity: lack of predictability, non-linear feedback mechanisms and unexpected consequences. A multi-disciplinary research team was tasked with reducing the public health impacts from complex events, but without a pre-specified topic area or research design. This report describes using patient and public involvement within an adaptable but structured development process to set research objectives and aspects of implementation. An agile adaptive development approach, sometimes described as swarm , was used to identify possible research areas. Swarm is meant to quickly identify strengths and weaknesses of any candidate project, to accelerate early failure before resources are invested. When aspects of the European migration crisis were identified as a potential priority topic area, two representatives of forced migrant communities were recruited to explore possible research ideas. These representatives helped set the specific research objectives and advised on aspects of implementation, still within the swarm framework for project development. Over ten months, many research ideas were considered by the collaborative working group in a series of six group meetings, supplemented by email contact in between. Up to four possible research ideas were scrutinised at any one meeting, with a focus on identifying practical or desirable aspects of each proposed project. Interest settled on a study to solicit original data about successful strategies that forced migrants use to adapt to life in the UK, with an emphasis on successfully promoting resilience and minimizing emotional distress. "Success in resettlement" was identified to be a more novel theme than "barriers to adaption" research. A success approach encourages participation when individuals may find discussion of mental illness stigmatising. The patient representatives helped with design of patient-facing and interview training materials, interviewer training (mock interviews), and aspects of the recruitment. Using patient and public involvement (PPI) within an early failure development approach that itself arises from theory on complex adaptive systems, we successfully implemented a dynamic development process to determine research topic and study design. The PPI representatives were closely involved in setting research objectives and aspects of implementation.

  4. Learning Pathways, Learning Progression--The Process Matters: An Interview with Prof. Hans Niedderer about His Work as a Physics Education Researcher in Germany

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kulgemeyer, Christoph

    2014-01-01

    Hans Niedderer has contributed a lot to German physics education research. His work includes quantitative and qualitative studies about topics like the learning of physics concepts or the history and philosophy of science in science teaching, he has worked on theoretical issues as well as on textbooks. But it is not only his work that is…

  5. Opinion survey: materials management and purchasing habits.

    PubMed

    1988-01-01

    This opinion survey was undertaken to gauge the current status of materials management and purchasing departments at hospitals throughout the southern and southeastern United States. The survey was based on lengthy telephone interviews (from 30 to 60 minutes) and followup discussions with materials managers, purchasing agents and administrators. Interviews covered a variety of topics, including: cost-containment strategies; group purchasing and consignment purchasing; and current and anticipated trends in materials management. Many questions were left open-ended, so the survey could gauge attitudes, as well as determine contemporary practices and procedures. (In some cases, respondents were also given the opportunity to comment on the statements of their peers, in order to corroborate and substantiate data.)

  6. An Interview with Peter McLaren: Comments on the State of the World-2005

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaughnessy, Michael F.

    2006-01-01

    Some of the wide range of thoughtful topics discussed in this interview with Peter McLaren include: (1) The top five points that McLaren tried to make in his book, "Capitalists and Conquerors: A Critical Pedagogy Against Empire"; (2) McLaren's thoughts on what he thinks the George Bush legend will be; (3) What led McLaren to ask,…

  7. Choosing Content and Methods: Focus Group Interviews with Faculty Teachers in Norwegian Pre-Service Subject Teacher Education in Design, Art, and Crafts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gulliksen, Marte S.; Hjardemaal, Finn R.

    2016-01-01

    The study is aimed at generating knowledge on how faculty teachers reflect and justify their choice of subject content logic in teacher education, exemplified by a concurrent pre-service Subject Teacher Education in design, art, and crafts. Focus-group interviews generated data. Three topics were discussed: too many choices, different logics, and…

  8. Super Searchers Go to the Source: The Interviewing and Hands-On Information Strategies of Top Primary Researchers--Online, on the Phone, and in Person. Super Searchers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sacks, Risa

    This book presents interviews with 12 of the best primary researchers in the business. These research professionals reveal their strategies for integrating online and offline resources, identifying experts, and getting past gatekeepers to obtain information that exists only in someone's head. Topics include how searchers use a combination of…

  9. Emotional Risks to Respondents in Survey Research: Some Empirical Evidence

    PubMed Central

    Labott, Susan M.; Johnson, Timothy P.; Fendrich, Michael; Feeny, Norah C.

    2014-01-01

    Some survey research has documented distress in respondents with pre-existing emotional vulnerabilities, suggesting the possibility of harm. In this study, respondents were interviewed about a personally distressing event; mood, stress, and emotional reactions were assessed. Two days later, respondents participated in interventions to either enhance or alleviate the effects of the initial interview. Results indicated that distressing interviews increased stress and negative mood, although no adverse events occurred. Between the interviews, moods returned to baseline. Respondents who again discussed a distressing event reported moods more negative than those who discussed a neutral or a positive event. This study provides evidence that, among nonvulnerable survey respondents, interviews on distressing topics can result in negative moods and stress, but they do not harm respondents. PMID:24169422

  10. The Interest of Bavarian Primary School Pupils in Geographical Topics and Methods--Selected Results of an Empirical Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lorenz, Aline; Roth, Anna; Priese, Carolin; Peukert, Eva; Mertel, Stefanie; Bloß, Susanne; Mehren, Rainer

    2017-01-01

    Interest is a central learning prerequisite for teaching. The article deals with a survey among 1600 primary school pupils in forms 2, 3 and 4 (ages 7-10) in the German federal state of Bavaria who were interviewed on their interest in geographical topics and working methods. They were given a questionnaire including 40 items to indicate their…

  11. Helping students revise disruptive experientially supported ideas about thermodynamics: Computer visualizations and tactile models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark, Douglas; Jorde, Doris

    2004-01-01

    This study analyzes the impact of an integrated sensory model within a thermal equilibrium visualization. We hypothesized that this intervention would not only help students revise their disruptive experientially supported ideas about why objects feel hot or cold, but also increase their understanding of thermal equilibrium. The analysis synthesizes test data and interviews to measure the impact of this strategy. Results show that students in the experimental tactile group significantly outperform their control group counterparts on posttests and delayed posttests, not only on tactile explanations, but also on thermal equilibrium explanations. Interview transcripts of experimental and control group students corroborate these findings. Discussion addresses improving the tactile model as well as application of the strategy to other science topics. The discussion also considers possible incorporation of actual kinetic or thermal haptic feedback to reinforce the current audio and visual feedback of the visualization. This research builds on the conceptual change literature about the nature and role of students' experientially supported ideas as well as our understanding of curriculum and visualization design to support students in learning about thermodynamics, a science topic on which students perform poorly as shown by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) studies.

  12. Drawing conclusions: The effect of instructions on children's confabulation and fantasy errors.

    PubMed

    Macleod, Emily; Gross, Julien; Hayne, Harlene

    2016-01-01

    Drawing is commonly used in forensic and clinical interviews with children. In these interviews, children are often allowed to draw without specific instructions about the purpose of the drawing materials. Here, we examined whether this practice influenced the accuracy of children's reports. Seventy-four 5- and 6-year-old children were interviewed one to two days after they took part in an interactive event. Some children were given drawing materials to use during the interview. Of these children, some were instructed to draw about the event, and some were given no additional instructions at all. Children who were instructed to draw about the event, or who were interviewed without drawing, made few errors. In contrast, children who drew without being given specific instructions reported more errors that were associated with both confabulation and fantasy. We conclude that, to maximise accuracy during interviews involving drawing, children should be directed to draw specifically about the interview topic.

  13. Strategic leadership will be essential for dietitian eHealth readiness: A qualitative study exploring dietitian perspectives of eHealth readiness.

    PubMed

    Maunder, Kirsty; Walton, Karen; Williams, Peter; Ferguson, Maree; Beck, Eleanor

    2018-05-16

    To explore dietitians' perspectives on the eHealth readiness of Australian dietitians, and to identify strategies to improve eHealth readiness of the profession. Dietitians who met the criteria for nutrition informatics experts participated in semi-structured interviews between June 2016 and March 2017. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis using coding was undertaken until consensus was reached by the researchers regarding key themes, topics and exemplar quotes. Interviews with 10 nutrition informatics experts revealed 25 discussion topics grouped into four main themes: benefits of eHealth for dietitians; risks of dietitians not being involved in eHealth; dietitians are not ready for eHealth; and strategies to improve eHealth readiness. The strategies identified for improving eHealth readiness included: collaboration and representation, education, offering of incentives and mentoring, as well as development of a national strategy, organisational leaders, nutrition informatics champions and a supportive environment. These findings suggest that dietitians may not be ready for eHealth. Strategic leadership and the actioning of other identified strategies will be imperative to preparing dietitians for eHealth to ensure the profession can practice effectively in the digital age, optimise nutrition care and support research for eHealth. If dietitians do not engage in eHealth, others may take their place, or dietitians may be forced to use eHealth in ways that are not the most effective for practice or maximising patient outcomes. © 2018 Dietitians Association of Australia.

  14. The impact of self-interviews on response patterns for sensitive topics: a randomized trial of electronic delivery methods for a sexual behaviour questionnaire in rural South Africa.

    PubMed

    Harling, Guy; Gumede, Dumile; Mutevedzi, Tinofa; McGrath, Nuala; Seeley, Janet; Pillay, Deenan; Bärnighausen, Till W; Herbst, Abraham J

    2017-08-17

    Self-interviews, where the respondent rather than the interviewer enters answers to questions, have been proposed as a way to reduce social desirability bias associated with interviewer-led interviews. Computer-assisted self-interviews (CASI) are commonly proposed since the computer programme can guide respondents; however they require both language and computer literacy. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using electronic methods to administer quantitative sexual behaviour questionnaires in the Somkhele demographic surveillance area (DSA) in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We conducted a four-arm randomized trial of paper-and-pen-interview, computer-assisted personal-interview (CAPI), CASI and audio-CASI with an age-sex-urbanicity stratified sample of 504 adults resident in the DSA in 2015. We compared respondents' answers to their responses to the same questions in previous surveillance rounds. We also conducted 48 cognitive interviews, dual-coding responses using the Framework approach. Three hundred forty (67%) individuals were interviewed and covariates and participation rates were balanced across arms. CASI and audio-CASI were significantly slower than interviewer-led interviews. Item non-response rates were higher in self-interview arms. In single-paper meta-analysis, self-interviewed individuals reported more socially undesirable sexual behaviours. Cognitive interviews found high acceptance of both self-interviews and the use of electronic methods, with some concerns that self-interview methods required more participant effort and literacy. Electronic data collection methods, including self-interview methods, proved feasible and acceptable for completing quantitative sexual behaviour questionnaires in a poor, rural South African setting. However, each method had both benefits and costs, and the choice of method should be based on context-specific criteria.

  15. Parker discusses vision. Interview by Donald E. L. Johnson.

    PubMed

    Parker, S S

    1990-09-01

    What special challenges face a major multi-hospital network as it enters the 1990s, offering care to diverse communities? What problems will its CEO have to deal with in an era of cutbacks and change? Scott S. Parker, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Health Care, Inc., (IHC), a not-for-profit health care delivery system of 24 hospitals in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, plus an array of other medical facilities and services, discusses the challenges and accomplishments with Donald E. L. Johnson, publisher of Health Care Strategic Management. In the following interview, he talks about strategies and opportunities among many other topics.

  16. Learning in First-Year Biology: Approaches of Distance and On-Campus Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Quinn, Frances Catherine

    2011-01-01

    This paper aims to extend previous research into learning of tertiary biology, by exploring the learning approaches adopted by two groups of students studying the same first-year biology topic in either on-campus or off-campus "distance" modes. The research involved 302 participants, who responded to a topic-specific version of the Study Process Questionnaire, and in-depth interviews with 16 of these students. Several quantitative analytic techniques, including cluster analysis and Rasch differential item functioning analysis, showed that the younger, on-campus cohort made less use of deep approaches, and more use of surface approaches than the older, off-campus group. At a finer scale, clusters of students within these categories demonstrated different patterns of learning approach. Students' descriptions of their learning approaches at interview provided richer complementary descriptions of the approach they took to their study in the topic, showing how deep and surface approaches were manifested in the study context. These findings are critically analysed in terms of recent literature questioning the applicability of learning approaches theory in mass education, and their implications for teaching and research in undergraduate biology.

  17. Changing Occupational Profiles in the Hotel Industry: Case Studies in France, Italy and Spain. Synthesis Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gatti, Mario; Grazia Mereu, Maria; Tagliaferro, Claudio

    Changing occupational profiles in the hotel industry in France, Italy, and Spain were examined in case studies that included interviews with hotel managers, human resource managers, and individuals employed in hotel occupations identified as new or entailing new skills. The study focused on the following topics: (1) changes in the hotel industry…

  18. Factors that Influence Mental Health Stigma among 8th Grade Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chandra, Anita; Minkovitz, Cynthia S.

    2007-01-01

    Unmet mental health need is a significant problem for adolescents. Although stigma is identified as a major barrier to the use of mental health services among youth, there is limited research on this topic. In-depth interviews (n = 57) among a sample of 8th grade students in a suburban, mid-Atlantic community portray adolescent mental health…

  19. Informal Learning of Seniors in Canadian Society. NALL Working Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Margaret

    Informal learning by Canadian seniors was examined through semi-structured interviews with a purposefully selected group of 51 older Canadians (28 women and 23) who ranged in age from 58 to 95 years (average age, 73.7). All were retired or semi-retired, and all had engaged in several learning projects over the previous year in topics such as the…

  20. Patient-Centered Tools for Medication Information Search

    PubMed Central

    Wilcox, Lauren; Feiner, Steven; Elhadad, Noémie; Vawdrey, David; Tran, Tran H.

    2016-01-01

    Recent research focused on online health information seeking highlights a heavy reliance on general-purpose search engines. However, current general-purpose search interfaces do not necessarily provide adequate support for non-experts in identifying suitable sources of health information. Popular search engines have recently introduced search tools in their user interfaces for a range of topics. In this work, we explore how such tools can support non-expert, patient-centered health information search. Scoping the current work to medication-related search, we report on findings from a formative study focused on the design of patient-centered, medication-information search tools. Our study included qualitative interviews with patients, family members, and domain experts, as well as observations of their use of Remedy, a technology probe embodying a set of search tools. Post-operative cardiothoracic surgery patients and their visiting family members used the tools to find information about their hospital medications and were interviewed before and after their use. Domain experts conducted similar search tasks and provided qualitative feedback on their preferences and recommendations for designing these tools. Findings from our study suggest the importance of four valuation principles underlying our tools: credibility, readability, consumer perspective, and topical relevance. PMID:28163972

  1. Patient-Centered Tools for Medication Information Search.

    PubMed

    Wilcox, Lauren; Feiner, Steven; Elhadad, Noémie; Vawdrey, David; Tran, Tran H

    2014-05-20

    Recent research focused on online health information seeking highlights a heavy reliance on general-purpose search engines. However, current general-purpose search interfaces do not necessarily provide adequate support for non-experts in identifying suitable sources of health information. Popular search engines have recently introduced search tools in their user interfaces for a range of topics. In this work, we explore how such tools can support non-expert, patient-centered health information search. Scoping the current work to medication-related search, we report on findings from a formative study focused on the design of patient-centered, medication-information search tools. Our study included qualitative interviews with patients, family members, and domain experts, as well as observations of their use of Remedy, a technology probe embodying a set of search tools. Post-operative cardiothoracic surgery patients and their visiting family members used the tools to find information about their hospital medications and were interviewed before and after their use. Domain experts conducted similar search tasks and provided qualitative feedback on their preferences and recommendations for designing these tools. Findings from our study suggest the importance of four valuation principles underlying our tools: credibility, readability, consumer perspective, and topical relevance.

  2. Glaucoma Drug Therapy in Pregnancy: Literature Review and Teratology Information Service (TIS) Case Series.

    PubMed

    Pellegrino, Marcella; D'Oria, Luisa; De Luca, Carmen; Chiaradia, Giacomina; Licameli, Angelo; Neri, Caterina; Nucci, Marta; Visconti, Daniela; Caruso, Alessandro; De Santis, Marco

    2018-01-01

    There are many contradictions about pregnancy and fetal/neonatal outcomes after topical use of timolol alone or timolol in combination with other antiglaucoma medications. Seventy-five pregnant women exposed to antiglaucoma medications were followed prospectively by phone interviews. 27 women used timolol as monotherapy, 48 women used timolol as a part of multidrug therapy. We selected a control group of 187 healthy pregnant women. Topical use of timolol alone or timolol in combination with other antiglaucoma medications does not influence pregnancy or fetal/neonatal outcomes. Beta-blocker is the first choice treatment for glaucoma in pregnancy but, when necessary, multidrug therapy should not to be excluded. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  3. Language barriers and professional identity: A qualitative interview study of newly employed international medical doctors and Norwegian colleagues.

    PubMed

    Skjeggestad, Erik; Gerwing, Jennifer; Gulbrandsen, Pål

    2017-08-01

    To explore how language barriers influence communication and collaboration between newly-employed international medical doctors and Norwegian health personnel. Interviews were conducted with 16 doctors who had recently started working in Norway and 12 Norwegian born health personnel who had extensive experience working with international medical doctors. Analyses were consistent with principles of systematic text condensation. All participants experienced that language barriers caused difficulties in their everyday collaboration. Furthermore, the participants' descriptions of "language barriers" encompassed a wide range of topics, including semantics (e.g., specialized professional vocabulary, system knowledge), pragmatics (e.g., using language in doctor-patient and interprofessional interactions), and specific culturally sensitive topics. All participants described that language barriers provoked uncertainty about a doctor's competence. Newly employed international medical doctors and their colleagues are concerned by ineffective communication due to language barriers. Experiences of language barriers threaten professional identity as a competent and effective doctor. Newly employed doctors who are non-native speakers could benefit from support in understanding and handling the array of barriers related to language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. An Interview with Crosby Bonsall: A Writer for Beginning Readers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cox, Carole

    1985-01-01

    Crosby Bonsall, a prolific author-illustrator for young readers, comments on many topics related to writing, illustrating, and young children's initial independent encounters with print in books. (HOD)

  5. TRAC-Monterey FY16 Work Program Development and Report of Research Elicitation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-01-01

    any changes to priorities or additional projects that require immediate research. Work Program; Research Elicitation Unclassified UU UU UU UU 35 MAJ...conduct analysis for the Army. 1 Marks, Chris, Nesbitt, Peter. TRAC FY14 Research Requirements Elicitation . Technical Report TRAC-M-TM-13-059. 700 Dyer... Requirements Elicitation Interviews Interview Guide: 1. Describe a research requirement in the areas of topics, techniques, and methodologies. 2

  6. HEROs: Design of a Mixed-Methods Formative Research Phase for an Ecocultural Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating and Activity Behaviors in Rural Families With Preschoolers.

    PubMed

    Bellows, Laura L; McCloskey, Morgan; Clark, Lauren; Thompson, Darcy A; Bekelman, Traci A; Chamberlin, Barbara; Johnson, Susan L

    2018-04-10

    To describe the mixed-methods formative research phase in the development of the Healthy Environments Study (HEROs), a technology-based, interactive family intervention to promote healthy eating and activity behaviors for young children in the home environment. A mixed-method iterative approach, using ecocultural theory as a framework, will guide the development of both quantitative and qualitative formative research assessments. Rural eastern Colorado. Low-income families (n = 200) with preschool-aged children enrolled at 6 Head Start/preschool centers. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies will garner insights into 4 key topic areas: (1) food behaviors and environments (Remote Food Photography Method, parent focus group, and survey), (2) physical activity behaviors and environments (parent interview and survey), (3) mobile device use (parent survey and interview), and (4) daily life (ecocultural family interview and teacher/staff group discussions). Results will be interpreted in combination to allow for a holistic understanding of participant behaviors, beliefs, attitudes and values related to each of the 4 topic areas. Collectively, outcomes will provide a comprehensive picture of preschoolers' daily life and inform intervention design and strategies to enhance preschoolers' eating and activity behaviors in the home environment. Copyright © 2018 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. How we use online broadcasting - Web TV - for community engagement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allison, M. L.; Conway, F. M.; Matti, J.; Palmer, R.

    2013-12-01

    The Arizona Geological Survey uses online broadcasting (Webcast or 'Web TV') to help fulfill our statutory mission to 'Inform, advise and assist the public in matters concerning the geological processes, materials and landscapes and the development and use of the mineral resources of this state.' We launched a monthly online broadcast called 'Arizona Mining Review' via Livestream, a low-cost or free video streaming service. The show provides news, interviews, and discussions about mining and mineral resources topics of interest in Arizona, the nation's second largest non-fuel mining state. The costs to set up and broadcast are minor. Interviews with local guests are held in a corner of the AZGS conference room with easy chairs and a couch; long-distance interviews are held via Skype. The broadcast originates from a desktop computer with a webcam, a $60 microphone, three sets of earbud headphones and a powered amplifier. During broadcasts, we supplement interview footage with slides, photos, or video clips that we have or are provided by guests. Initial broadcasts were live; recordings of these were later uploaded to our YouTube channel. Because scheduling and executing a live Internet broadcast is stressful and demanding for both the production team and guests, we recently elected to record and produce episodes prior to broadcasting them. This allows us more control over supplementary materials used during the broadcast; it also permits us to record the broadcast using a high-definition digital video camera that cannot be used for streaming video. In addition to the Arizona Mining Review, we record conferences and workshops and special presentations on topical issues. A video on the recently discovered Little Chino fault has drawn over 3,000 views. Our latest presentations are short 1-2 minute 'video abstracts' delivered by authors of new publications released by the Survey. These include maps and graphics from the reports to help illustrate the topics and their importance. We envision online broadcasts as a viable emergent tool that offers a wide range of opportunities at low cost to aid in distributing our message.

  8. Students' integration of multiple representations in a titration experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kunze, Nicole M.

    A complete understanding of a chemical concept is dependent upon a student's ability to understand the microscopic or particulate nature of the phenomenon and integrate the microscopic, symbolic, and macroscopic representations of the phenomenon. Acid-base chemistry is a general chemistry topic requiring students to understand the topics of chemical reactions, solutions, and equilibrium presented earlier in the course. In this study, twenty-five student volunteers from a second semester general chemistry course completed two interviews. The first interview was completed prior to any classroom instruction on acids and bases. The second interview took place after classroom instruction, a prelab activity consisting of a titration calculation worksheet, a titration computer simulation, or a microscopic level animation of a titration, and two microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) titration experiments. During the interviews, participants were asked to define and describe acid-base concepts and in the second interview they also drew the microscopic representations of four stages in an acid-base titration. An analysis of the data showed that participants had integrated the three representations of an acid-base titration to varying degrees. While some participants showed complete understanding of acids, bases, titrations, and solution chemistry, other participants showed several alternative conceptions concerning strong acid and base dissociation, the formation of titration products, and the dissociation of soluble salts. Before instruction, participants' definitions of acid, base, and pH were brief and consisted of descriptive terms. After instruction, the definitions were more scientific and reflected the definitions presented during classroom instruction.

  9. A longitudinal study of conversations with parents about sex and dating during college.

    PubMed

    Morgan, Elizabeth M; Thorne, Avril; Zurbriggen, Eileen L

    2010-01-01

    Emerging adulthood is a time of sexual and romantic relationship development as well as change in the parent-child relationship. This study provides a longitudinal analysis of 30 young adults' (17 women, 13 men) sexual experiences, attitudes about sexuality and dating, and reported conversations with parents about sexuality and dating from the 1st and 4th years of college. Self-report questionnaires revealed increases in general closeness with parents, increases in sexual and dating experiences, and more sexually permissive as well as more gender stereotyped attitudes. Qualitative analyses of individual interviews indicated a movement from unilateral and restrictive sex-based topics to more reciprocal and relationship-focused conversations over time. Gender analyses revealed that young women reported more restrictive sex messages and young men more positive sex messages. Participants also described increased openness and comfort in talking about sexual topics with both mothers and fathers from the 1st to 4th year of college. Overall, the results suggest that prior findings of increased mutuality with parents during the college years extend to the traditionally taboo topic of sexuality. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. Study of Methods for Assessing Research Topic Elicitation and pRioritization (SMARTER): Study Protocol to Compare Qualitative Research Methods and Advance Patient Engagement in Research

    PubMed Central

    Comstock, Bryan

    2017-01-01

    Background Involving patients as partners in research is a defining characteristic of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR). While patients’ experiential knowledge of a health condition or treatment may yield research priorities not reflected by researchers and policy makers, the methods for identifying and effectively collaborating with patients are still evolving. Patient registries and crowdsourcing may offer ease of access and convenience to both researchers and patients. Surveys and focus groups, including online modalities, have been described for prioritizing research topics. However, little is known about how these different methods compare in producing consistent priorities and similar perceptions of engagement quality among participants. Objective The aims of this study are (1) to compare how different engagement methods used to elicit patient priorities for research perform as measured by rankings for priorities generated and participant satisfaction; and (2) to determine characteristics of individuals choosing to participate in research prioritization activities. Methods Participants in the Back pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) patient registry, established to evaluate the natural history of back pain among individuals 65 years and older, and participants on the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) crowdsourcing platform, to provide input on priorities for research via a questionnaire, are invited. For BOLD participants, we subsequently randomize interested respondents to 1 of 3 interactive prioritization activities to further develop priorities: a Delphi panel, an online crowd voting activity, or an in-person facilitated prioritization activity using nominal group technique (NGT). Participants involved in each activity complete a survey to evaluate the quality of the experience and a subset of these participants discuss their experience further in an interview. Descriptive statistics are used to characterize the rankings produced by each method and compare the top 5 rated topics resulting from each prioritization activity. We use rank-ordered logistic regression models to identify associations of the ranked priority topics with baseline patient characteristics. We analyze responses to the evaluation using a mixed-methods approach wherein we tabulate responses to Likert-scale questions and use content analysis to enumerate themes emerging from interviews for the 3 activities. Results In Phase I, we invite approximately 3000 BOLD participants and 500 Amazon MTurk workers to complete a research topic prioritization survey. Based on these results, we include additional topics into a subsequent prioritization survey. In Phase II, we invite BOLD participants to join 1 of 3 activities: 90 participants for Delphi panel, 100 participants for crowd voting, and 60 participants for focus groups. Of the Phase II participants, 30 will be interviewed to evaluate the activities. Conclusions This study informs decisions about how to conduct outreach to patient registry participants for providing input on research priorities, how individuals 65 years and older wish to participate in engagement activities, and how different research prioritization methods compare in terms of rankings generated and participant satisfaction. PMID:28882810

  11. Reading Sources and Academic Freedom as Determinants of Trends in English Language Teacher Research in Egypt: An Interview-Based Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.

    2015-01-01

    Little attention has been given to investigating the experiences of teacher researchers while undertaking their studies. In an attempt to explore what accounts for the stereotyped and imitative trends in the studies conducted by English language teachers in Egypt, the present study has explored how they select research topics and the factors…

  12. Owners' perceptions of the health and performance of Pony Club horses in Australia.

    PubMed

    Buckley, Petra; Dunn, Tony; More, Simon J

    2004-04-30

    Pony Club is one of the leading junior equestrian organisations in the world, and was established to teach young people the many aspects of horsemanship. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the health and performance of Pony Club horses from the perspective of their owners. In-depth interviews were conducted with Pony Club members at two sites in Australia, and topics relating to participants' background with horses, horse attributes valued by participants, horse health and performance, and Pony Club-related matters. The in-depth interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed, by describing the themes and issues recorded in the dialogue and conducting cross-case analysis (finding similarities and dissimilarities between participants with respect to each of the above-mentioned topics). A total of 32 interviews were conducted. The participants' background with horses varied greatly. The horse attributes valued by > or =59% of participants included temperament, size, ability and suitability for riders. A range of issues relating to health and performance were important to > or =53% of participants, including horse temperament, nutrition, internal parasites, lameness and foot-care, and colic. Soundness and preventive health measures were rarely mentioned (< or =16% of participants). Friends or knowledgeable horse people were identified as the first point of contact for horse-health matters, and veterinarians were only used as a last resort or for serious problems. Members of Pony Club learned about their horses by trial and error. Optimal performance was described as a horse that was willing to do as the rider asked. Poor performance was usually the result of the horse misbehaving, and could include a resistance to rider commands, pigrooting and bucking.

  13. What is the Effect of Case-Based Learning on the Academic Achievement of Students on the Topic of "Biochemical Oxygen Demand?"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Günter, Tuğçe; Alpat, Sibel Kılınç

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the case-based learning (CBL) method used in "biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)," which is a topic taught in the environmental chemistry course, at Dokuz Eylul University, on the academic achievement and opinions of students. The research had a quasi-experimental design and the study group consisted of 4th and 5th grade students (N = 18) attending the Chemistry Teaching Program in a university in Izmir. The "Biochemical Oxygen Demand Achievement Test (BODAT)" and the structured interview form were used as data collection tools. The results of BODAT post-test showed the higher increase in the achievement scores of the experimental group may be an indication of the effectiveness of the CBL method in improving academic achievement in the relevant topic. In addition, the experimental and control group students had positive opinions regarding the method, the scenario, and the material. The students found the method, the scenario, and the material to be interesting, understandable/instructional, relatable with everyday life, suitable for the topic, and enhancing active participation.

  14. Unleashing the Power of Learning. An Interview with British Petroleum's John Browne.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prokesch, Steven E.

    1997-01-01

    British Petroleum's chief executive officer explains how the organization was redesigned to foster learning. Key topics include clear purpose, shared knowledge, distinctive relationships, breakthrough thinking, and peer team structure. (SK)

  15. A phenomenographic case study: Concept maps from the perspectives of middle school students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saglam, Yilmaz

    The objective of this study was to investigate the experiences of middle school students when concept maps were used as a learning tool. Twenty-nine students' written responses, concept maps and videotapes were analyzed. Out of 29 students, thirteen students were interviewed using a semi-structured and open-ended interview protocol. The students' initial written responses provided us with the students' initial reactions to concept maps. The videotapes captured the students' behavior, and interpersonal interactions. The interviews probed students': (1) knowledge about drawing concept maps, (2) perception of the meaning and usefulness of concept maps, and (3) attitudes towards concept maps. The results indicated that the students viewed concept maps as useful tools in learning science. They believed that concept maps organized and summarized the information, which thereby helped them understand the topic easily. They also believed that concept maps had some cognitive benefits. However, the students viewed concept maps as hard to construct because it was difficult for the students to think of related concepts. The students' initial written responses, interviews and videotapes indicated that the students seemed to see both positive and negative aspects of concept maps. Some students' had more positive and some had more negative attitudes.

  16. Telephone health services in the field of rare diseases: a qualitative interview study examining the needs of patients, relatives, and health care professionals in Germany.

    PubMed

    Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Pauer, Frédéric; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Rosenfeldt, Daniel; Lührs, Verena; Biehl, Lisa; Hartz, Tobias; Storf, Holger; Schauer, Franziska; Wagner, Thomas O F; Graf von der Schulenburg, J-Matthias

    2018-02-09

    Rare diseases are, by definition, very serious and chronic diseases with a high negative impact on quality of life. Approximately 350 million people worldwide live with rare diseases. The resulting high disease burden triggers health information search, but helpful, high-quality, and up-to-date information is often hard to find. Therefore, the improvement of health information provision has been integrated in many national plans for rare diseases, discussing the telephone as one access option. In this context, this study examines the need for a telephone service offering information for people affected by rare diseases, their relatives, and physicians. In total, 107 individuals participated in a qualitative interview study conducted in Germany. Sixty-eight individuals suffering from a rare disease or related to somebody with rare diseases and 39 health care professionals took part. Individual interviews were conducted using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews were analysed using the qualitative content analysis, triangulating patients, relatives, and health care professionals. The fulfilment of qualitative data processing standards has been controlled for. Out of 68 patients and relatives and 39 physicians, 52 and 18, respectively, advocated for the establishment of a rare diseases telephone service. Interviewees expected a helpline to include expert staffing, personal contact, good availability, low technical barriers, medical and psychosocial topics of counselling, guidance in reducing information chaos, and referrals. Health care professionals highlighted the importance of medical topics of counselling-in particular, differential diagnostics-and referrals. Therefore, the need for a national rare diseases helpline was confirmed in this study. Due to limited financial resources, existing offers should be adapted in a stepwise procedure in accordance with the identified attributes.

  17. Biotechnology risks and benefits: Science instructor perspectives and practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardner, Grant Ean

    Developing scientifically literate students who understand the socially contextualized nature of science and technology is a national focus of science education reform. Understanding teachers' views on this topic is of equal importance. This document focuses on the topic of risks and benefits posed by science and technology as an important topic for which the socially contextualized nature of science and technology readily emerges. Following introduction of a theoretical model and a review of the literature, two research studies are described that examined teachers' perceptions of the risks posed by biotechnology and the role of risk topics in an undergraduate science course. The first research study examines four groups of science educators; pre-service science teachers, in-service science teachers, science graduate teaching assistants, and science professors (n = 91). The participants completed a survey and card sort task to determine their perceptions of the risks of biotechnology. The results show that teacher perceptions were shaped by the risk severity, regulation processes, public acceptance, fear, reciprocal benefits, and whether the applications would impact humans or the environment. Factors determining risk perception included personal worldviews, trust in communicating institutions, and personal experiences with biotechnology. The different types of science teachers were compared and contrasted in light of these factors and the implications of instructor perceptions on science pedagogy are discussed. The second research manuscript describes a case study in which six biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) were observed teaching as lesson on the potential risks and benefits of biotechnology. The data sources included classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis reveals that GTAs framed the instruction of risk in one of three ways: analytical, focus on perspectives and biases, and promotion of individual reflection. Interview results suggest that GTAs had a much richer understanding of the importance of the teaching of social aspects of science and technology than emerged in their teaching. Results are discussed in the context of the disconnect between the GTA's teaching practice and perspectives.

  18. The Development of the Planet Formation Concept Inventory: A Preliminary Analysis of Version 1

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simon, Molly; Impey, Chris David; Buxner, Sanlyn

    2018-01-01

    The topic of planet formation is poorly represented in the educational literature, especially at the college level. As recently as 2014, when developing the Test of Astronomy Standards (TOAST), Slater (2014) noted that for two topics (formation of the Solar System and cosmology), “high quality test items that reflect our current understanding of students’ conceptions were not available [in the literature]” (Slater,2014, p. 8). Furthermore, nearly half of ASTR 101 enrollments are at 2 year/community colleges where both instructors and students have little access to current research and models of planet formation. In response, we administered six student replied response (SSR) short answer questions on the topic of planet formation to n = 1,050 students enrolled in introductory astronomy and planetary science courses at The University of Arizona in the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters. After analyzing and coding the data from the SSR questions, we developed a preliminary version of the Planet Formation Concept Inventory (PFCI). The PFCI is a multiple-choice instrument with 20 planet formation-related questions, and 4 demographic-related questions. We administered version 1 of the PFCI to six introductory astronomy and planetary science courses (n ~ 700 students) during the Fall 2017 semester. We provided students with 7-8 multiple-choice with explanation of reasoning (MCER) questions from the PFCI. Students selected an answer (similar to a traditional multiple-choice test), and then briefly explained why they chose the answer they did. We also conducted interviews with ~15 students to receive feedback on the quality of the questions and clarity of the instrument. We will present an analysis of the MCER responses and student interviews, and discuss any modifications that will be made to the instrument as a result.

  19. Reproductive Health Care Priorities and Barriers to Effective Care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer People Assigned Female at Birth: A Qualitative Study.

    PubMed

    Wingo, Erin; Ingraham, Natalie; Roberts, Sarah C M

    2018-04-13

    Little research documents the self-identified reproductive health priorities and health care experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ)-identified individuals who may be in need of services. We conducted in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 39 female-assigned-at-birth individuals (ages 18-44) who also identified as lesbian, bisexual, queer, and/or genderqueer, or transmasculine. Interviews were primarily conducted in person in the Bay Area of California, and Baltimore, Maryland, with 11 conducted remotely with participants in other U.S. We asked participants about their current reproductive health care needs, topics they felt researchers should pursue, and past reproductive health care experiences. Data were analyzed using a framework method, incorporating deductive and inductive thematic analysis techniques. Reproductive health care needs among participants varied widely and included treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome and irregular menses, gender-affirming hysterectomies, and fertility assistance. Many faced challenges getting their needs met. Themes related to these challenges cross-cutting across identity groups included primary focus on fertility, provider lack of LGBTQ health competency relevant to reproductive health priorities and treatment, and discriminatory comments and treatment. Across themes and identity groups, participants highlighted that sexual activity and reproduction were central topics in reproductive health care settings. These topics facilitated identity disclosures to providers, but also enhanced vulnerability to discrimination. Reproductive health priorities of LGBTQ individuals include needs similar to cisgender and heterosexual groups (e.g., abortion, contraception, PCOS) as well as unique needs (e.g., gender affirming hysterectomies, inclusive safer sex guidance) and challenges in pursuing care. Future reproductive health research should pursue health care concerns prioritized by LGBTQ populations. Copyright © 2018 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. HIV-related needs for safety among male-to-female transsexuals (mak nyah) in Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Koon Teh, Yik

    2008-12-01

    This research, commissioned by the Malaysian AIDS Council in 2007, is qualitative and descriptive in nature. In depth face-to-face interviews were carried out with 15 mak nyah respondents from five major towns. The interviews were guided by an interview schedule that had seven main topics: brief background; hormone-taking behaviour; safe sex; health care; substance abuse; harassment from authorities; and HIV prevention. The HIV problem among the mak nyah, mak nyah sex workers and their clients is critical. Many do not have in-depth HIV/AIDS knowledge and do not practise safe sex. The problem gets worse when most mak nyah do not consider HIV/AIDS as a primary concern because of other pressing problems like employment and discrimination. There are also no HIV prevention activities in many parts of Malaysia. Mak nyah also face constant harassment from enforcement authorities for prostitution. This hampers HIV prevention work.

  1. Factors that influence disclosure of hearing loss in the workplace.

    PubMed

    Southall, Kenneth; Jennings, Mary Beth; Gagné, Jean-Pierre

    2011-10-01

    The objective of the study was to identify factors that lead individuals to conceal or disclose their hearing loss in the workplace. A qualitative research paradigm called qualitative description was selected to address this issue. Twelve people who had an adult onset hearing loss, and were gainfully employed, participated in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews designed to probe issues related to disclosure of hearing loss. A photo elicitation interview technique was employed during the interviews. Content analyses were used to extract pertinent information from verbatim transcripts. Five recurring themes emerged as important considerations in relation to this topic: (1) perceived importance of the situation; (2) perceived sense of control; (3) community affiliation; (4) burden of communication; and (5) coexisting issues related to hearing loss. The findings are discussed in relation to other concealable stigmatizing traits, stigma-theory, and social-cognitive theory. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed, with particular emphasis placed on worker self-efficacy.

  2. How common is "common knowledge" about child witnesses among legal professionals? Comparing interviewers, public defenders, and forensic psychologists with laypeople.

    PubMed

    Buck, Julie A; Warren, Amye R; Bruck, Maggie; Kuehnle, Kathryn

    2014-01-01

    The present study evaluates the knowledge of jury-eligible college students (n = 192), investigative interviewers (n = 44), forensic psychologists (n = 39), and public defenders (n = 137) in regard to the research on interviewing children. These groups' knowledge was compared with the scientific research on the impact of interview techniques and practices on the accuracy of child witnesses. Jury-eligible students were the least knowledgeable, but their accuracy varied widely across items. Both interviewers and public defenders performed better than jury-eligible students, but they lacked substantial knowledge about the research on interviewing children on certain topics (e.g., using anatomically detailed dolls); forensic psychologists were the most knowledgeable. These findings suggest that professionals in the legal system need substantial professional development regarding the research on interviewing strategies with child witnesses. They also highlight the need for experts to provide case-relevant information to juries who lack basic information about the validity and reliability of children's reports. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Professional Use of Social Media by Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study.

    PubMed

    Benetoli, Arcelio; Chen, Timothy Frank; Schaefer, Marion; Chaar, Betty B; Aslani, Parisa

    2016-09-23

    Social media is frequently used by consumers and health care professionals; however, our knowledge about its use in a professional capacity by pharmacists is limited. Our aim was to investigate the professional use of social media by pharmacists. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with practicing pharmacists (N=31) from nine countries. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook were the main social media platforms used. Professional use of social media included networking with peers, discussion of health and professional topics, accessing and sharing health and professional information, job searching, and professional promotion. Wikipedia was the participants' first choice when seeking information about unfamiliar topics, or topics that were difficult to search for. Very few pharmacy-related contributions to Wikipedia were reported. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was used for self-education. University lectures, "how-to" footage, and professionally made videos were commonly watched. No professional contribution was made to YouTube. Facebook, a general social networking site, was used for professional networking, promotion of achievements, and job advertisements. It also afforded engagement in professional discussions and information sharing among peers. Participants used social media in a professional capacity, specifically for accessing and sharing health and professional information among peers. Pharmacists, as medicines experts, should take a leading role in contributing to health information dissemination in these user-friendly virtual environments, to reach not only other health care professionals but also health consumers.

  4. NASA y Tú (NASA and You) - NASA's partnership with UNIVISION to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers among Hispanic youth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colon-Robles, M.; Gilman, I.; Verstynen, S.; Jaramillo, R.; Bednar, S.; Shortridge, T.; Bravo, J.; Bowers, S.

    2010-12-01

    NASA is working with Univision Communications Inc. in support of the Spanish-language media outlet's initiative to improve high school graduation rates, prepare Hispanic students for college, and encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. A total of 52 Public Service Announcements (PSAs) named “Visión NASA” or “Vision: NASA” are being developed by NASA centered on current innovative technologies from all four NASA mission directorates (Science, Exploration Systems, Space Operations, and Aerodynamics). Public service announcements are being produced from scratch in both English and Spanish for a total of 26 announcements in each language. Interviews were conducted with NASA Hispanic Scientists or Engineers on the selected PSAs topics to both supply information on their subject matter and to serve as role models for Hispanic youth. Each topic selected for the PSAs has an accompanying website which includes the announcements, interviews with a Hispanic scientists or engineers, background information on the topic, and educational resources for students, parents and teachers. Products developed through this partnership will be presented including the websites of each PSA and their accompanying educational resources. The use of these educational resources for professional development, outreach and informal events, and for in-classroom uses will also be presented. This collaboration with Univision complements NASA's current education efforts to engage underrepresented and underserved students in the critical STEM fields.

  5. Professional Use of Social Media by Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study

    PubMed Central

    Benetoli, Arcelio; Chen, Timothy Frank; Schaefer, Marion; Chaar, Betty B

    2016-01-01

    Background Social media is frequently used by consumers and health care professionals; however, our knowledge about its use in a professional capacity by pharmacists is limited. Objective Our aim was to investigate the professional use of social media by pharmacists. Methods In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with practicing pharmacists (N=31) from nine countries. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Results Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook were the main social media platforms used. Professional use of social media included networking with peers, discussion of health and professional topics, accessing and sharing health and professional information, job searching, and professional promotion. Wikipedia was the participants’ first choice when seeking information about unfamiliar topics, or topics that were difficult to search for. Very few pharmacy-related contributions to Wikipedia were reported. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was used for self-education. University lectures, “how-to” footage, and professionally made videos were commonly watched. No professional contribution was made to YouTube. Facebook, a general social networking site, was used for professional networking, promotion of achievements, and job advertisements. It also afforded engagement in professional discussions and information sharing among peers. Conclusions Participants used social media in a professional capacity, specifically for accessing and sharing health and professional information among peers. Pharmacists, as medicines experts, should take a leading role in contributing to health information dissemination in these user-friendly virtual environments, to reach not only other health care professionals but also health consumers. PMID:27663570

  6. Increasing the uptake of long-acting and permanent methods of family planning: A qualitative study with village midwives in East Java and Nusa Tenggara Barat Provinces, Indonesia.

    PubMed

    Titaley, Christiana R; Wijayanti, Ratna U; Damayanti, Rita; Setiawan, Agus Dwi; Dadun; Dachlia, Dini; Siagian, Ferdinand; Suparno, Heru; Saputri, Dwi Astuti Yunita; Harlan, Sarah; Wahyuningrum, Yunita; Storey, Douglas

    2017-10-01

    this analysis aims to explore midwives' insights into the provision of long-acting and permanent methods of contraception (LAPMs) in the selected areas of East Java and Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) Provinces, Indonesia. a qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted with 12 village midwives from 12 villages, to explore their perceptions and experiences in delivering family planning services. the study was carried out in May-June 2013, as part of the baseline assessment in the Improving Contraceptive Method Mix (ICMM) study. We interviewed 12 village midwives working in 12 villages in six study districts: Tuban, Kediri, and Lumajang Districts in East Java Province; and Lombok Barat, Lombok Timur, and Sumbawa Districts in NTB Province. an interview guideline was used in all interviews. It covered several topics, such as community perceptions of LAPMs, availability of contraception and related equipment, availability of human resources, and midwives' efforts to improve LAPM coverage. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Content and thematic analyses were carried out by grouping and coding the information based on the identified themes and topics. according to village midwives interviewed in this study, community-level acceptance of LAPMs has increased over time; however, some still prefer using short-acting methods for a long period. The reasons include lack of awareness about the benefits and side effects of LAPMs, fear of surgical procedures, rumored consequences (for example, that LAPMs would limit women's ability to perform hard physical labor), and religious beliefs. There were several challenges reported by village midwives in delivering LAPM services, such as confusion about midwives' eligibility to provide LAPM services, lack of Contraceptive Technology Update (CTU) and counseling trainings, and shortage of supporting equipment (such as exam tables and IUD and implant insertion kits). There were several strategies implemented by village midwives to improve LAPM use, including strengthening the counseling services, accompanying clients to higher health facilities to obtain LAPM services, and providing services for groups of clients. All village midwives emphasized the importance of strengthening collaboration among stakeholders to increase the uptake of LAPM services. as midwives are the main family planning providers in Indonesia, efforts to address their challenges is essential. Enabling a supportive policy environment, strengthening promotional activities, increasing the number of training programs designed for village midwives-in addition to enhancing inter-sectoral collaboration-are some recommendations to improve LAPM uptake in study areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. People with Intellectual Disabilities Talk About Sexuality: Implications for the Development of Sex Education.

    PubMed

    Schaafsma, D; Kok, G; Stoffelen, J M T; Curfs, L M G

    2017-01-01

    Existing sex education programmes have failed in involving people with intellectual disabilities in the development of these programmes. Not involving the target population decreases the likelihood that the sex education programme will be effective. This study was conducted to assess the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities on several sexuality-related topics. Semi-structured interviews were held with 20 people with intellectual disabilities covering topics such as: sex education, relationships, sex, social media, parenthood and support. The reported frequency of sex education the participants receive is low. Their knowledge regarding sex education is mainly limited to topics such as safe sex, contraception and STI's and tends to be superficial. Additionally, knowledge on safe sex does not always translate to safe sex behaviour. Finally, relationships are important for most participants; mainly because they don't want to be alone. Findings from both this study and literature shows that there seems to be a need for high quality sex education. Topics to consider to include are: online relationships, social media and parenthood. It would also be beneficial to focus on sexuality-related skills. Finally, to increase the effectiveness of a sex education programme, it is advisable that a theory-and evidence-based framework, such as Intervention Mapping, is used for its development.

  8. Some managers' viewpoints on campers and campground operation

    Treesearch

    Herbert E. Echelberger; Elwood L., Jr. Shafer

    1968-01-01

    Nine managers of public campgrounds comment on their relations with their campers and some of the management problems they have. Topics include camping fees, reactions to survey interviews, registration procedures, campers' pets, and maintenance of facilities.

  9. Books for the Career Counselor's Bookshelf.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, 1990

    1990-01-01

    This special issue contains 29 signed book reviews on the following topics: job search, educational planning (financial aid and college guides), career counseling, interview preparation, career planning and development, outplacement, and retirement preparation. Publishers' addresses are provided. (SK)

  10. Fifth-Graders' Ideas about the Westward Expansion of the United States Prior to the Civil War, Expressed before and after Studying the Topic within a U.S. History Course. Elementary Subjects Center Series No. 82.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brophy, Jere; And Others

    The study that is the subject of this document focused on how fifth-graders' knowledge and thinking about the westward expansion of the pre-Civil War United States was affected by students' participation in a curriculum unit on the topic. A stratified sample of 10 students was interviewed before and after they participated in the unit to…

  11. Teacher argumentation in the secondary science classroom: Images of two modes of scientific inquiry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gray, Ron E.

    The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine scientific arguments constructed by secondary science teachers during instruction. The analysis focused on how arguments constructed by teachers differed based on the mode of inquiry underlying the topic. Specifically, how did the structure and content of arguments differ between experimentally and historically based topics? In addition, what factors mediate these differences? Four highly experienced high school science teachers were observed daily during instructional units for both experimental and historical science topics. Data sources include classroom observations, field notes, reflective memos, classroom artifacts, a nature of science survey, and teacher interviews. The arguments were analyzed for structure and content using Toulmin's argumentation pattern and Walton's schemes for presumptive reasoning revealing specific patterns of use between the two modes of inquiry. Interview data was analyzed to determine possible factors mediating these patterns. The results of this study reveal that highly experienced teachers present arguments to their students that, while simple in structure, reveal authentic images of science based on experimental and historical modes of inquiry. Structural analysis of the data revealed a common trend toward a greater amount of scientific data used to evidence knowledge claims in the historical science units. The presumptive reasoning analysis revealed that, while some presumptive reasoning schemes remained stable across the two units (e.g. 'causal inferences' and 'sign' schemes), others revealed different patterns of use including the 'analogy', 'evidence to hypothesis', 'example', and 'expert opinion' schemes. Finally, examination of the interview and survey data revealed five specific factors mediating the arguments constructed by the teachers: view of the nature of science, nature of the topic, teacher personal factors, view of students, and pedagogical decisions. These factors influenced both the structure and use of presumptive reasoning in the arguments. The results have implications for classroom practice, teacher education, and further research.

  12. Clinical decision making in dermatology: observation of consultations and the patients' perspectives.

    PubMed

    Hajjaj, F M; Salek, M S; Basra, M K A; Finlay, A Y

    2010-01-01

    Clinical decision making is a complex process and might be influenced by a wide range of clinical and non-clinical factors. Little is known about this process in dermatology. The aim of this study was to explore the different types of management decisions made in dermatology and to identify factors influencing those decisions from observation of consultations and interviews with the patients. 61 patient consultations were observed by a physician with experience in dermatology. The patients were interviewed immediately after each consultation. Consultations and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and their content analysed using thematic content analysis. The most common management decisions made during the consultations included: follow-up, carrying out laboratory investigation, starting new topical treatment, renewal of systemic treatment, renewal of topical treatment, discharging patients and starting new systemic treatment. Common influences on those decisions included: clinical factors such as ineffectiveness of previous therapy, adherence to prescribing guidelines, side-effects of medications, previous experience with the treatment, deterioration or improvement in the skin condition, and chronicity of skin condition. Non-clinical factors included: patient's quality of life, patient's friends or relatives, patient's time commitment, travel or transportation difficulties, treatment-related costs, availability of consultant, and availability of treatment. The study has shown that patients are aware that management decisions in dermatology are influenced by a wide range of clinical and non-clinical factors. Education programmes should be developed to improve the quality of decision making. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  13. Military Planning in the Twentieth Century

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-01-01

    Mehr sein als scheinen” (be more than you appear to be) was his principal motto. Single-mindedness that critics have at times labeled obsessiveness...interviewing nearly a hundred leading figures of the World War I era, the Schlieffen Plan and the eventuating Marne campaign were major topics of...rehabilitate him as a commander, he remains the chief whipping boy for the disaster of the Marne . Criticisms of Moltke’s generalship focus about

  14. Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) in Redox and Electrochemistry of Experienced Teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Brien, Stephanie

    Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) is the basis by which knowledge of subject matter of a particular topic is conveyed to students. This includes students' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what makes a topic easy or difficult to teach, representations, and teaching strategies. The goal of this study is to assess the pedagogical content knowledge of chemistry teachers in a professional learning community in the areas of redox and electrochemistry, as this has been regarded in previous literature as conceptually challenging for students to learn. By acquiring information regarding the PCK development of experienced chemistry teachers, the education and practice of all science teachers can be advanced. This study builds upon previous research that developed validated instruments to evaluate TSPCK. The research questions sought to determine which components of TSPCK were evidenced by the instructional design decisions teachers made, what shared patterns and trends were evident, and how TSPCK related to student learning outcomes. To answer the research questions subjects completed a background questionnaire, a TSPCK assessment, and interview tasks to elicit information about pedagogical decision making and processes that influenced student learning in their classrooms. The TSPCK exam and interview responses were coded to align with thematic constructs. To determine the effect of TSPCK on student learning gains, pre/post-assessment data on redox and electrochemistry were compared to teachers' TSPCK. The chemistry teachers displayed varying levels of TSPCK in redox and electrochemistry, as evidenced by their knowledge of student learning obstacles, curricular saliency, and teaching methodologies. There was evidence of experienced teachers lacking in certain areas of TSPCK, such as the ability to identify student misconceptions, suggesting the need for programmatic improvements in pre-service and in-service training to address the needs of current and future chemistry teachers. While the current educational system requires teachers to complete separate exams in pedagogy and content, this research provides a rationale for changing the means by which teachers are evaluated through the completion of TSPCK assessments. In-service teacher TSPCK training is limited yet desired by the teachers. To facilitate TSPCK development, new methods need to be explored to connect chemistry education research to practice.

  15. Senior Medical Student Mock Interview Program in Pediatrics.

    PubMed

    Multerer, Sara; Carothers, Becky; Patel, Pradip D; Ziegler, Craig; Rowland, Michael; Davis, Deborah Winders

    2016-02-01

    Residency interviews play an integral part in medical residency placement. We aimed to develop and evaluate a mock interview program for fourth-year medical students interested in a pediatric specialty. A mock interview program for fourth-year medical students interested in pediatrics was developed and implemented. Preinterview quantitative data and postinterview qualitative data were collected. Fifty-nine students completed the program across three consecutive academic years. Preinterview surveys were completed regarding comfort and confidence levels specific to aspects of the interview process. Descriptive analyses were used. In addition, a focus group was held with nine of the participating students to obtain qualitative data via a paper blog process. Themes in student responses were identified through constant comparative analysis. Before the mock interview, students were most uncomfortable with introductory and closing remarks and their confidence levels varied by topic. A thematic analysis of focus group data identified five themes (preparation, stress reduction, interview process familiarity, confidence of skills, and receiving feedback) for which the mock interviews were most helpful. Implementation of a mock interview program was feasible and acceptable for senior medical students and may improve comfort and confidence levels in the residency interview process. Further longitudinal research is needed.

  16. Concept cartoons for diagnosing student’s misconceptions in the topic of buffers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kusumaningrum, I. A.; Ashadi; Indriyanti, N. Y.

    2018-05-01

    Student’s misconceptions have been concerned over twenty years in the chemistry education research. It influences students to learn new knowledge and gain a correct concept. The buffer solution is found as a difficult topic due to student’s misconception. However, the research related this subject are still rare. Concept cartoon has been used as one of the effective tools to diagnose misconceptions. This study aims to identify the effectiveness of concept cartoon to diagnose them. The concept cartoon consists of three concept questions. 98 students of grade 11 as respondents of this research and followed by interview for selected students. The data obtain of the study are analyzed by using a scoring key. The detected misconceptions are about what buffers do, what buffers are, and how buffers are able to do what they do. Concept cartoon is potential as a basic tool for remedial teaching.

  17. Current Research in Southeast Asia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beh, Yolanda

    1992-01-01

    Summaries of eight language-related research projects are presented from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Topics include a sociolinguistic profile, teacher and learner views of language lessons, Malay-accented English and employability, reading difficulties, language culture disjunction, placement interviews, and…

  18. EAWAG: An Environmental Science and Engineering Resource.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Stanton

    1980-01-01

    Interviewed is the director of a Swiss research and teaching institute in the field of water resources, water pollution control, and waste management. Topics include lake studies, research programs and priorities, advisory services, and the organizational structure of EAWAG. (BT)

  19. ESA on RAINEWS24: A Case Study of Television Communication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sandrelli, S.

    2005-12-01

    In May 2000, ESRIN, the Italian establishment of the European Space Agency (ESA), started a collaboration with the television channel Rainews24. Rainews24 is the "allnews" channel of Italian public television (RAI) and is now about 10 years old. It transmits 24 hours a day and is the most watched all-news satellite channel in Italy. Each Thursday an ESA representative (Stefano Sandrelli) is interviewed by a professional RAI journalist in a 5-6 minute long slot that follows the 5 pm news bulletin. The broadcast is repeated late at night or in the early hours of Thursday and Friday. Interviews are strictly linked to the weekly news and are prepared on the morning of the same day by the ESA representative in collaboration with a RAI journalist. The subject is chosen from the most topical news items of the week: video, images and animations are provided by the ESA television service and by press agencies (Reuters etc.). The interviews are largely informal and resemble a dialogue rather than an academic discussion "from space". Even though they focus on ESA activities, they are not advertisements: space science and research is dealt with as a human activity, so both the positive and negative aspects of space exploration and exploitation may emerge. Although this outreach activity began as an experiment, the ESA interviews have become a fixed feature. As a result of five years of uninterrupted collaboration, over 200 interviews have been recorded, with about 30% of the interviews dedicated to pure astronomy. A welcome positive feature is that the interviews are seen by Rainews24 as an open source of daily news.

  20. Follow-Up of Young Adults With ADHD in the MTA: Design and Methods for Qualitative Interviews.

    PubMed

    Weisner, Thomas S; Murray, Desiree W; Jensen, Peter S; Mitchell, John T; Swanson, James M; Hinshaw, Stephen P; Wells, Karen; Hechtman, Lily; Molina, Brooke S G; Arnold, L Eugene; Sorensen, Page; Stehli, Annamarie

    2017-06-01

    Qualitative interviews with 183 young adults (YA) in the follow-up of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With and Without ADHD (MTA) provide rich information on beliefs and expectations regarding ADHD, life's turning points, medication use, and substance use (SU). Participants from four MTA sites were sampled to include those with persistent and atypically high SU, and a local normative comparison group (LNCG). Respondents were encouraged to "tell their story" about their lives, using a semistructured conversational interview format. Interviews were reliably coded for interview topics. ADHD youth more often desisted from SU because of seeing others going down wrong paths due to SU. Narratives revealed very diverse accounts and explanations for SU-ADHD influences. Qualitative methods captured the perspectives of YAs regarding using substances. This information is essential for improving resilience models in drug prevention and treatment programs and for treatment development for this at-risk population.

  1. Frontiers in Ecosystem Science: Energizing the Research Agenda

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weathers, K. C.; Groffman, P. M.; VanDolah, E.

    2014-12-01

    Ecosystem science has a long history as a core component of the discipline of Ecology, and although topics of research have fluctuated over the years, it retains a clear identity and continues to be a vital field. As science is becoming more interdisciplinary, particularly the science of global environmental change, ecosystem scientists are addressing new and important questions at the interface of multiple disciplines. Over the last two years, we organized a series of workshops and discussion groups at multiple scientific-society meetings, including AGU to identify frontiers in ecosystem research. The workshops featured short "soapbox" presentations where speakers highlighted key questions in ecosystem science. The presentations were recorded (video and audio) and subjected to qualitative text analysis for identification of frontier themes, attendees completed surveys, and a dozen additional "key informants" were interviewed about their views about frontiers of the discipline. Our effort produced 253 survey participants; the two largest groups of participants were full professors (24%) and graduate students (24%); no other specific group was > 10%. Formal text analysis of the soapbox presentations produced three major themes; "frontiers," "capacity building," and "barriers to implementation" with four or five sub-themes within each major theme. Key "frontiers" included; 1) better understanding of the drivers of ecosystem change, 2) better understanding of ecosystem process and function, 3) human dimensions of ecosystem science, and 4) problem-solving/applied research. Under "capacity building," key topics included: holistic approaches, cross-disciplinary collaboration, public support for research, data, training, and technology investment. Under "barriers" key topics included: limitations in theoretical thinking, insufficient funding/support, fragmentation across discipline, data access and data synthesis. In-depth interviews with 13 experts validated findings from analysis of soapbox presentations and surveys and also resulted in a conceptual model for understanding disciplinary frontiers.

  2. Results of a population-based-assessment: we need better communication and more profound patient involvement.

    PubMed

    Sendlhofer, Gerald; Pregartner, Gudrun; Leitgeb, Karina; Hoffmann, Magdalena; Berghold, Andrea; Smolle, Christian; Brunner, Gernot; Kamolz, Lars Peter

    2017-04-01

    In Austria several regulations were published in order to support initiatives to increase patient safety. Since then, many patient safety projects were implemented in Austrian hospitals; therefore, it was the aim of the current survey to examine the perceptions of Austrian citizens with respect to topics relevant to patient safety. Between 8 and 22 October 2015 a qualitative cross-sectional telephone interview study was performed. A sample of citizens above 14 years of age was randomly drawn. The survey contained 6 questions. In each of the nine states of Austria, a representative number of citizens were interviewed. In total 1021(female: 52.3%) telephone interviews were performed and 249 (24.7%) citizens stated that trust/confidence in patient safety is very high, 571 (55.9%) assessed the reputation of a hospital as very important and 739 (72.4%) stated that a detailed explanation of the treatment as well as information on associated risk factors and possibilities of further treatments is very important. Of the respondents 722 (70.7%) stated that patient safety measures in a given hospital are very important, 807 (79.0%) stated that it is important to be informed about patient safety measures and 547 (53.6%) stated that if something did not satisfactorily function they would complain to the hospital. Significant differences occurred for states with and without university hospitals. The results of the survey give cause for concern as the majority of interviewed citizens have medium or low trust/confidence in patient safety. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of Austrian citizens revealed that detailed explanation of treatment, information on associated risk factors, information about patient safety measures to predict medical errors and information about patient safety measures which are in place in a hospital are very important. The study showed that patient safety is an important topic for Austrian citizens and they want to be informed and involved. The study also indicated the need to promote patient safety aspects and to decrease the number of people who are not confident concerning patient safety in Austrian hospitals.

  3. Junior doctors' experiences of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Yon, Katherine; Nettleton, Sarah; Walters, Kate; Lamahewa, Kethakie; Buszewicz, Marta

    2015-12-01

    To explore junior doctors' knowledge about and experiences of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and to seek their recommendations for improved future training on this important topic about which they currently receive little education. Qualitative study using in-depth interviews analysed using the framework method. Participants were recruited from three North Thames London hospitals within the UK. Twenty-two junior doctors undertaking the UK foundation two-year training programme (FY1/FY2). The junior doctors interviewed identified a significant gap in their training on the topic of MUS, particularly in relation to their awareness of the topic, the appropriate level of investigations, possible psychological comorbidities, the formulation of suitable explanations for patients' symptoms and longer term management strategies. Many junior doctors expressed feelings of anxiety, frustration and a self-perceived lack of competency in this area, and spoke of over-investigating patients or avoiding patient contact altogether due to the challenging nature of MUS and a difficulty in managing the accompanying uncertainty. They also identified the negative attitudes of some senior clinicians and potential role models towards patients with MUS as a factor contributing to their own attitudes and management choices. Most reported a need for more training during the foundation years, and recommended interactive case-based group discussions with a focus on providing meaningful explanations to patients for their symptoms. There is an urgent need to improve postgraduate training about the topics of MUS and avoiding over-investigation, as current training does not equip junior doctors with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively and confidently manage patients in these areas. Training needs to focus on practical skill development to increase clinical knowledge in areas such as delivering suitable explanations, and to incorporate individual management strategies to help junior doctors tolerate the uncertainty associated with MUS. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  4. Impact of a Neighborhood-Based Curriculum on the Helpfulness of Pediatric Residents' Anticipatory Guidance to Impoverished Families.

    PubMed

    Real, Francis J; Beck, Andrew F; Spaulding, Jeanne R; Sucharew, Heidi; Klein, Melissa D

    2016-11-01

    Introduction Neighborhood location has been shown to impact childhood health and well-being. It follows that neighborhood context-the risks and assets present within a patient's neighborhood-may be an important consideration during provision of primary care. Pediatric residents often serve as the primary care physicians for high risk populations though are often unfamiliar with local neighborhoods. As such, education interventions that deepen residents' understanding of a patient's neighborhood context may allow for targeted care provision. A neighborhood-based curriculum was therefore created to improve residents' familiarity with local neighborhoods. Methods The neighborhood-based curriculum utilized a shared interactive presentation to address the topics of housing, nutrition, safe play, pharmacies, and transportation. Education modules included introduction to readily available on-line resources. A pre-post survey assessed resident self-perceived competence on the curricular topics of interest. Caregivers were interviewed in the post-curriculum period to rate the helpfulness of resident-administered advice. Results Following the curriculum, residents reported improved competence on the topics of safe play and transportation (p < 0.05). When addressed in the clinical setting, the large majority of families felt that residents' advice on curricular topics was helpful; however, individual curricular topics were not consistently addressed during clinical encounters. Discussion A neighborhood-based education curriculum can be effective in teaching pediatric residents about the social determinants of health and local neighborhood resources. As research increasingly demonstrates the impact of neighborhood on health, we expect further educational focus on neighborhood as a means from which to educate residents who often care for an impoverished population.

  5. Study of Methods for Assessing Research Topic Elicitation and pRioritization (SMARTER): Study Protocol to Compare Qualitative Research Methods and Advance Patient Engagement in Research.

    PubMed

    Lavallee, Danielle C; Comstock, Bryan; Scott, Mary R; Avins, Andrew L; Nerenz, David R; Edwards, Todd C; Patrick, Donald L; Lawrence, Sarah O; Bauer, Zoya; Truitt, Anjali R; Jarvik, Jeffrey G

    2017-09-07

    Involving patients as partners in research is a defining characteristic of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR). While patients' experiential knowledge of a health condition or treatment may yield research priorities not reflected by researchers and policy makers, the methods for identifying and effectively collaborating with patients are still evolving. Patient registries and crowdsourcing may offer ease of access and convenience to both researchers and patients. Surveys and focus groups, including online modalities, have been described for prioritizing research topics. However, little is known about how these different methods compare in producing consistent priorities and similar perceptions of engagement quality among participants. The aims of this study are (1) to compare how different engagement methods used to elicit patient priorities for research perform as measured by rankings for priorities generated and participant satisfaction; and (2) to determine characteristics of individuals choosing to participate in research prioritization activities. Participants in the Back pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) patient registry, established to evaluate the natural history of back pain among individuals 65 years and older, and participants on the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) crowdsourcing platform, to provide input on priorities for research via a questionnaire, are invited. For BOLD participants, we subsequently randomize interested respondents to 1 of 3 interactive prioritization activities to further develop priorities: a Delphi panel, an online crowd voting activity, or an in-person facilitated prioritization activity using nominal group technique (NGT). Participants involved in each activity complete a survey to evaluate the quality of the experience and a subset of these participants discuss their experience further in an interview. Descriptive statistics are used to characterize the rankings produced by each method and compare the top 5 rated topics resulting from each prioritization activity. We use rank-ordered logistic regression models to identify associations of the ranked priority topics with baseline patient characteristics. We analyze responses to the evaluation using a mixed-methods approach wherein we tabulate responses to Likert-scale questions and use content analysis to enumerate themes emerging from interviews for the 3 activities. In Phase I, we invite approximately 3000 BOLD participants and 500 Amazon MTurk workers to complete a research topic prioritization survey. Based on these results, we include additional topics into a subsequent prioritization survey. In Phase II, we invite BOLD participants to join 1 of 3 activities: 90 participants for Delphi panel, 100 participants for crowd voting, and 60 participants for focus groups. Of the Phase II participants, 30 will be interviewed to evaluate the activities. This study informs decisions about how to conduct outreach to patient registry participants for providing input on research priorities, how individuals 65 years and older wish to participate in engagement activities, and how different research prioritization methods compare in terms of rankings generated and participant satisfaction. ©Danielle C Lavallee, Bryan Comstock, Mary R Scott, Andrew L Avins, David R Nerenz, Todd C Edwards, Donald L Patrick, Sarah O Lawrence, Zoya Bauer, Anjali R Truitt, Jeffrey G Jarvik. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 07.09.2017.

  6. Communication Strategies in the Practice of Lawyering. Proceedings of the 1983 Summer Conference on Communication Strategies in the Practice of Lawyering (Oracle, AZ, June 24-27, 1983).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matlon, Ronald J., Ed.; Crawford, Richard J., Ed.

    Drawn from a conference intended as a step toward reuniting the disciplines of behavioral sciences and law, the items in this compilation were prepared by practitioners and educators in the areas of law, communication, social psychology, and sociology. The items are arranged in five sections according to these topics: interviewing and counseling,…

  7. 'No man is an island'. Testing the specific role of social isolation in formal thought disorder.

    PubMed

    de Sousa, Paulo; Spray, Amy; Sellwood, William; Bentall, Richard P

    2015-12-15

    Recent work has focused on the role of the environment in psychosis with emerging evidence that specific psychotic experiences are associated with specific types of adversity. One risk factor that has been often associated with psychosis is social isolation, with studies identifying isolation as an important feature of prodromal psychosis and others reporting that social networks of psychotic patients are smaller and less dense than those of healthy individuals. In the present study, we tested a prediction that social isolation would be specifically associated with formal thought disorder. 80 patients diagnosed with psychosis-spectrum disorder and 30 healthy participants were assessed for formal thought disorder with speech samples acquired during an interview that promoted personal disclosure and an interview targeting everyday topics. Social isolation was significantly associated with formal thought disorder in the neutral interview and in the salient interview, even when controlling for comorbid hallucinations, delusions and suspiciousness. Hallucinations, delusions and suspiciousness were not associated with social isolation when formal thought disorder was controlled for. Formal thought disorder is robustly and specifically associated with social isolation. Social cognitive mechanisms and processes are discussed which may explain this relationship as well as implications for clinical practice and future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Heterogeneity in the treatment of moderately severe scalp psoriasis in Scotland - results of a survey of Scottish health professionals.

    PubMed

    Smith, Douglas R W; Bottomley, Julia M; Auland, Merran; Jackson, Peter; Sharp, Judith

    2011-01-01

    Scalp psoriasis is a chronic recalcitrant condition. An aging literature for topical treatments used in clinical practice and no treatment guidelines means there is no current gold standard for its management in Scotland. There are no Scottish data on the resources and costs of treatment of the scalp psoriasis patient. Conduct a survey of Scottish healthcare professionals to understand how patients are typically managed to support the development of a model estimating the cost-effectiveness of a new treatment for moderately severe scalp psoriasis in Scotland. Experts from primary and secondary care were invited to participate in an interview programme to collect information on the management of scalp psoriasis in Scotland. This was further informed by Scottish prescribing statistics. Simple descriptive statistics were performed. Forty-three healthcare professionals (33 from primary care and ten in secondary care) completed the survey which illuminated national prescribing statistics. While an overall 72% response rate was achieved, representation from five of 14 Health Boards was not available. There was significant variation in stated patient pathways but some common themes. Most patients were treated initially with coal tar preparations and shampoos, then often progressing to topical potent corticosteroids. There was no consensus on the order patients might receive topicals thereafter although if referred for specialist review they would typically have been treated with three topicals in primary care first. Treatment in secondary care comprised application of topicals available in primary care or alternative preparations with nurse assistance to improve compliance. Phototherapy and systemic agents were not given to patients with scalp psoriasis alone. Study limitations are not considered to impact on the study observations. There was a large variety in first-, second- and third-line agents in primary care in scalp psoriasis although our interview programme and prescribing data confirmed which treatments were most frequently prescribed. Treatment heterogeneity reflects the limitations in current therapies, paucity of evidence-based effectiveness data and lack of clinical guidelines. Experts agreed 'current standard practice' in Scotland was best described as an average across five plausible treatment pathways.

  9. Marketing therapeutic precision: Potential facilitators and barriers to adoption of n-of-1 trials.

    PubMed

    Kravitz, Richard L; Paterniti, Debora A; Hay, M Cameron; Subramanian, Saskia; Dean, Dionne Evans; Weisner, Thomas; Vohra, Sunita; Duan, Naihua

    2009-09-01

    N-of-1 trials may enhance therapeutic precision by predicting the long-term effectiveness of medical treatment on an individual basis. However, the n-of-1 approach has gained little traction with the clinical community. To learn why, we interviewed physicians and patients, focusing on the perceived benefits and drawbacks of n-of-1 trials and factors influencing these perceptions. We convened focus groups and individual interviews with 21 physicians and 32 patients, most with chronic conditions. The study employed qualitative interview methods to explore and analyze subjects' views of n-of-1 trials. Analysis involved an iterative process of review and data abstraction after specific topics for coding, definitions of codes, and strategies for abstraction had been established. Previously defined domains and topics were then expanded and enriched, with key themes emerging during the analytic process. Physicians and patients remarked on 4 salient aspects of n-of-1 trials: scientific, relational, clinical, and logistical. Neither physicians nor patients were highly familiar with the n-of-1 concept, but both groups readily grasped the fundamental logic and appreciated the potential scientific benefits. Physicians saw n-of-1 trials as promoting an exciting but possibly threatening paradigm shift in the doctor-patient relationship, while patients viewed the relational consequences as modest. The best n-of-1 candidates were felt to be proactive, cognitively intact, reliable, motivated, and engaged in a trusting physician-patient relationship. Researchers interested in expanding the appeal of n-of-1 trials will need to address these concerns by carefully explaining the approach, emphasizing the benefits, and minimizing the effort required of doctors and patients.

  10. Barriers to Incorporating Climate Change Science into High School and Community College Energy Course Offerings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Howell, C.

    2013-05-01

    In reviewing studies evaluating trends in greenhouse gasses, weather, climate and/or ecosystems, it becomes apparent that climate change is a reality. It has also become evident that the energy sector accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions with worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide increasing by 31 percent from 1990 to 2005, higher than in the previous thousands of years. While energy courses and topics are presented in high school and community college classes the topic of Climate Change Science is not always a part of the conversation. During the summer of 2011 and 2012, research undergraduates conducted interviews with a total of 39 national community college and 8 high school instructors who participated in a two week Sustainable Energy Education Training (SEET) workshop. Interview questions addressed the barriers and opportunities to the incorporation of climate change as a dimension of an energy/renewable energy curriculum. Barriers found included: there is not enough instruction time to include it; some school administrators including community members do not recognize climate change issues; quality information about climate change geared to students is difficult to find; and, most climate change information is too scientific for most audiences. A Solution to some barriers included dialogue on sustainability as a common ground in recognizing environmental changes/concerns among educators, administrators and community members. Sustainability discussions are already supported in school business courses as well as in technical education. In conclusion, we cannot expect climate change to dissipate without humans making more informed energy and environmental choices. With global population growth producing greater emissions resulting in increased climate change, we must include the topic of climate change to students in high school and community college classrooms, preparing our next generation of leaders and workforce to be equipped to find solutions, (such as renewable energy and sustainability practices), to climate change and environmental sustainability.

  11. Surviving testicular cancer: the Lebanese lived experience.

    PubMed

    Saab, Mohammad; Noureddine, Samar; Abu-Saad Huijer, Huda; Dejong, Jocelyn

    2014-01-01

    Testicular cancer is thought to have a great impact on its survivors, yet there has been limited literature on the topic globally and no literature on the topic in Lebanon and the Arab region. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of Lebanese testicular cancer survivors and gain an in-depth understanding of the psychosexual aspect of their experience. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach with semistructured digitally recorded interviews and observational field notes was utilized. A purposive sample of Lebanese testicular cancer survivors, aged between 18 and 50 years, in remission for at least 3 years, and willing to share personal information was recruited. Interviews were transcribed verbatim in Arabic. Data saturation was achieved at the seventh interview; a total of eight informants were recruited. The opening question was, "Tell me about your life since you got treated for testicular cancer," and was followed by probing questions. Two to three weeks after the initial interview, informants were called to validate the investigators' primary analysis. Six core themes emerged: cancer perception in the Lebanese culture; "do not show, do not tell"; cancer experience is a turning point; fertility, manhood, and relationships; coping with cancer; and preserved aspects of life. The findings provide an in-depth understanding of the experience of Lebanese testicular cancer survivors with a focus on the psychosexual aspect of this experience. The results suggest the need to educate patients about testicular cancer and its effect on their fertility.

  12. Topic models: A novel method for modeling couple and family text data

    PubMed Central

    Atkins, David C.; Rubin, Tim N.; Steyvers, Mark; Doeden, Michelle A.; Baucom, Brian R.; Christensen, Andrew

    2012-01-01

    Couple and family researchers often collect open-ended linguistic data – either through free response questionnaire items or transcripts of interviews or therapy sessions. Because participant's responses are not forced into a set number of categories, text-based data can be very rich and revealing of psychological processes. At the same time it is highly unstructured and challenging to analyze. Within family psychology analyzing text data typically means applying a coding system, which can quantify text data but also has several limitations, including the time needed for coding, difficulties with inter-rater reliability, and defining a priori what should be coded. The current article presents an alternative method for analyzing text data called topic models (Steyvers & Griffiths, 2006), which has not yet been applied within couple and family psychology. Topic models have similarities with factor analysis and cluster analysis in that topic models identify underlying clusters of words with semantic similarities (i.e., the “topics”). In the present article, a non-technical introduction to topic models is provided, highlighting how these models can be used for text exploration and indexing (e.g., quickly locating text passages that share semantic meaning) and how output from topic models can be used to predict behavioral codes or other types of outcomes. Throughout the article a collection of transcripts from a large couple therapy trial (Christensen et al., 2004) is used as example data to highlight potential applications. Practical resources for learning more about topic models and how to apply them are discussed. PMID:22888778

  13. Topic models: a novel method for modeling couple and family text data.

    PubMed

    Atkins, David C; Rubin, Timothy N; Steyvers, Mark; Doeden, Michelle A; Baucom, Brian R; Christensen, Andrew

    2012-10-01

    Couple and family researchers often collect open-ended linguistic data-either through free-response questionnaire items, or transcripts of interviews or therapy sessions. Because participants' responses are not forced into a set number of categories, text-based data can be very rich and revealing of psychological processes. At the same time, it is highly unstructured and challenging to analyze. Within family psychology, analyzing text data typically means applying a coding system, which can quantify text data but also has several limitations, including the time needed for coding, difficulties with interrater reliability, and defining a priori what should be coded. The current article presents an alternative method for analyzing text data called topic models (Steyvers & Griffiths, 2006), which has not yet been applied within couple and family psychology. Topic models have similarities to factor analysis and cluster analysis in that they identify underlying clusters of words with semantic similarities (i.e., the "topics"). In the present article, a nontechnical introduction to topic models is provided, highlighting how these models can be used for text exploration and indexing (e.g., quickly locating text passages that share semantic meaning) and how output from topic models can be used to predict behavioral codes or other types of outcomes. Throughout the article, a collection of transcripts from a large couple-therapy trial (Christensen et al., 2004) is used as example data to highlight potential applications. Practical resources for learning more about topic models and how to apply them are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. The use of semi-structured interviews for the characterisation of farmer irrigation practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Keeffe, J.; Buytaert, W.; Mijic, A.; Brozovic, N.; Sinha, R.

    2015-08-01

    Generating information on the behaviours, characteristics and drivers of users, as well on the resource itself, is vital in developing sustainable and realistic water security options. In this paper we present a methodology for collecting qualitative and quantitative data on water use practices through semi-structured interviews. This approach facilitates the collection of detailed information on actors' decisions in a convenient and cost-effective manner. The interview is organised around a topic guide, which helps lead the conversation in a standardised way while allowing sufficient opportunity to identify relevant issues previously unknown to the researcher. In addition, semi-structured interviews can be used to obtain certain types of quantitative data. While not as accurate as direct measurements, it can provide useful information on local practices and farmers' insights. We present an application of the methodology on two districts in the State of Uttar Pradesh in North India. By means of 100 farmer interviews, information was collected on various aspects of irrigation practices, including irrigation water volumes, irrigation cost, water source and their spatial variability. A statistical analysis of the information, along with some data visualisation is also presented, which highlights a significant variation in irrigation practices both within and between the districts. Our application shows that semi-structured interviews are an effective and efficient method of collecting both qualitative and quantitative information for the assessment of drivers, behaviours and their outcomes in a data scarce region. The collection of this type of data could significantly improve insight on water resources, leading to more realistic management options and increased water security in the future.

  15. Special Issue: Competencies from the Individual's Viewpoint.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, 2003

    2003-01-01

    Ten articles in this special issue deal with competencies and how their use is revolutionizing human resource management and the work of career practitioners. Topics include competency technology, models, and mapping; behavioral interviewing; talent management; emotional intelligence; succession planning; and lifelong learning. (JOW)

  16. Vinton Cerf: Poet-Philosopher of the Net.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Educom Review, 1996

    1996-01-01

    Presents the first part of an interview with Vinton Cerf, senior vice president of data architecture for MCI Engineering, on the growth and future of the Internet. Topics include: pornography; commercialization; security; government role; content found on the Internet; and convergence of technologies. (DGM)

  17. Cyberspace: The Community Frontier.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Albanese, Andrew Richard

    2002-01-01

    This interview with John Perry Barlow (Grated Dead lyricist / technology expert) addresses issues concerning cyberspace, technology, and culture. Topics include the idea of community; the Internet; the Electronic Frontier Foundation; the role of libraries; print materials; concepts of information; peer-to-peer technology; file sharing; and…

  18. Unconventional Therapist: Albert Ellis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weinrach, Stephen G.

    1980-01-01

    Albert Ellis is one of counseling's most prolific authors, mostly on the topic of Rational Emotive Therapy. He has been a moving force in the cognitive behavior movement. In this interview Ellis discusses his theory and its application, and aspects of his personal and family life. (Author)

  19. Adolescent Sociopaths. Revised.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chapple, Eliot D.

    Presented is the final report of a research project on the programed training and placement of nonpsychotic disturbed adolescents. Eleven chapters cover topics which include the following: psychiatry and the sociopaths and psychopaths; boys dealt with in the project; development of the programed interaction diagnostic interview; disturbances to…

  20. Yemeni Arabic II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Qafisheh, Hamdi A.

    Instructional materials for advanced Sanaani Arabic, a dialect used predominantly for oral communication, include 25 units consisting of text derived from recordings of spontaneous conversations of native speakers in various communication situations. Some of the topics are: medical services, marriage, jobs, an interview, a car accident, proverbs…

  1. Development of the Solar System Concept Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hornstein, S.; Prather, E.

    2009-12-01

    Concept inventories can provide useful insight into students’ understanding of key physical concepts. Knowing what your students have learned during a course is a valuable tool for improving your own teaching. Unfortunately, current astronomy concept inventories are not suitable for an introductory solar system course because they either cover too broad of a range of topics (e.g. Astronomy Diagnostic Test) or are too narrowly focused (e.g. Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory, Lunar Phase Concept Inventory). We have developed the Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to cover those topics commonly taught in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. SSCI topics include formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric effects, and small solar system bodies. Student interviews were conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. The SSCI has been through two semesters of national, multi-institutional field-testing, involving over 1500 students. After the first semester of testing, question statistics were used to flag ineffective questions and flagged questions were revised or eliminated. We will present an overall outline of the SSCI development as well as our question-flagging criteria and question analyses from the latest round of field-testing. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  2. Electronic health records. A systematic review on quality requirements.

    PubMed

    Hoerbst, A; Ammenwerth, E

    2010-01-01

    Since the first concepts for electronic health records (EHRs) in the 1990s, the content, structure, and technology of such records were frequently changed and adapted. The basic idea to support and enhance health care stayed the same over time. To reach these goals, it is crucial that EHRs themselves adhere to rigid quality requirements. The present review aims at describing the currently available, mainly non-functional, quality requirements with regard to electronic health records. A combined approach - systematic literature analysis and expert interviews - was used. The literature analysis as well as the expert interviews included sources/experts from different domains such as standards and norms, scientific literature and guidelines, and best practice. The expert interviews were performed by using problem-centric qualitative computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATIs) or face-to-face interviews. All of the data that was obtained was analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques. In total, more than 1200 requirements were identified of which 203 requirements were also mentioned during the expert interviews. The requirements are organized according to the ISO 9126 and the eEurope 2002 criteria. Categories with the highest number of requirements found include global requirements, (general) functional requirements and data security. The number of non-functional requirements found is by contrast lower. The manuscript gives comprehensive insight into the currently available, primarily non-functional, EHR requirements. To our knowledge, there are no other publications that have holistically reported on this topic. The requirements identified can be used in different ways, e.g. the conceptual design, the development of EHR systems, as a starting point for further refinement or as a basis for the development of specific sets of requirements.

  3. Feminist methodologies and engineering education research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beddoes, Kacey

    2013-03-01

    This paper introduces feminist methodologies in the context of engineering education research. It builds upon other recent methodology articles in engineering education journals and presents feminist research methodologies as a concrete engineering education setting in which to explore the connections between epistemology, methodology and theory. The paper begins with a literature review that covers a broad range of topics featured in the literature on feminist methodologies. Next, data from interviews with engineering educators and researchers who have engaged with feminist methodologies are presented. The ways in which feminist methodologies shape their research topics, questions, frameworks of analysis, methods, practices and reporting are each discussed. The challenges and barriers they have faced are then discussed. Finally, the benefits of further and broader engagement with feminist methodologies within the engineering education community are identified.

  4. Conversational Behaviors in Youth with High-functioning ASD and Asperger Syndrome

    PubMed Central

    Orlovski, Stephanie Miles; Marcinko, Hillary Chuba; Volkmar, Fred

    2010-01-01

    Twenty-nine youth with autism spectrum disorders and 26 with typical development between 12 and 18 years of age were engaged in structured interviews (ADOS). The interviews were videotaped and rated for atypical conversational behaviors by trained raters, using the Pragmatic Rating Scale (Landa et al. Psychol Med 22:245–254, 1992). The ASD group was divided into AS and HFA/PDD-NOS subgroups. Significant differences were found among groups on approximately one-third of the PRS items. These items involved primarily the management of topics and information, reciprocity, intonation, and gaze management. The only differences to reach significance between the AS and HFA/PDD-NOS group were a greater tendency for overly formal speech on the part of the AS group, and more difficulty with gaze management on the part of the group with HFA/PDD-NOS. The implications of these findings for understanding and treating conversational deficits in ASD are discussed. PMID:18607708

  5. Socioscientific Argumentation: The effects of content knowledge and morality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sadler, Troy D.; Donnelly, Lisa A.

    2006-10-01

    Broad support exists within the science education community for the incorporation of socioscientific issues (SSI) and argumentation in the science curriculum. This study investigates how content knowledge and morality contribute to the quality of SSI argumentation among high school students. We employed a mixed-methods approach: 56 participants completed tests of content knowledge and moral reasoning as well as interviews, related to SSI topics, which were scored based on a rubric for argumentation quality. Multiple regression analyses revealed no statistically significant relationships among content knowledge, moral reasoning, and argumentation quality. Qualitative analyses of the interview transcripts supported the quantitative results in that participants very infrequently revealed patterns of content knowledge application. However, most of the participants did perceive the SSI as moral problems. We propose a “Threshold Model of Knowledge Transfer” to account for the relationship between content knowledge and argumentation quality. Implications for science education are discussed.

  6. Human sexuality education in the middle grades classroom: A review of curricula in a sample of Florida school districts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Myrick, Melinda D.

    2007-12-01

    This study examined the extent to which human sexuality topics are covered in Florida middle school science classrooms and the process by which curricular decisions are made regarding human sexuality education on a county-wide basis. Primary data included interviews with county-level administrators who oversee curricular decisions related to the middle-grades science curriculum or health curriculum in twelve school districts within the state. These districts represented four geographic locations and districts of various sizes. Administrators from four of the twelve studies in the sample chose to provide information regarding their human sexuality education curriculum. In two cases, teacher leads were identified and were interviewed to understand the implementation of the curriculum within the classroom. Additional data were collected from the district curriculum guides for human sexuality education and the adopted middle-grades science textbook for each county. The interview and documentary data were analyzed by comparison to established criteria for a comprehensive human sexuality education curriculum. The analysis revealed that the scope of human sexuality education varied considerably within the sample and that much of the curricula in place failed to include topics and activities that have been identified as important in a successful human sexuality education program. These findings are limited because few counties chose to fully participate. Additional research is clearly needed to examine the effectiveness of existing human sexuality education curricula in Florida. In addition, research is needed to understand the characteristics, values, and beliefs of successful human sexuality education instructors across the state.

  7. Contraceptive counselling for women with multiple unintended pregnancies: the abortion client's perspective.

    PubMed

    Loeber, Olga E; Muntinga, Maaike E

    2017-04-01

    Some women have multiple unintended pregnancies. Appropriate interventions could prevent some of the abortions that follow. This article presents the opinions of some abortion clients about their contraception and the counselling they received. It also formulates suggestions for counselling strategies of health care providers (HCPs) and other interventions that can support effective contraceptive behaviour. A mixed method approach was used. A quantitative survey was carried out in one clinic in the Netherlands (N = 201), assessing topics related to contraceptive use and counselling. Semi-structured interviews (n = 11) were conducted with women who had had at least three unintended pregnancies. Interview topics included the type of contraceptive counselling, experience with contraceptive counselling and preferences regarding access to contraceptive information. Women who had had multiple abortions were more likely to express a need for contraceptive counselling and more often discussed contraception with their HCP compared with women who had had one abortion. Several themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews that had partially contributed to further unplanned pregnancies: experience with counselling, acceptability of the contraceptive method, sources of information and cultural influences. Many women with multiple unintended pregnancies could not find suitable advice and stated preferences for future decision making. This study offers insight into the motives for contraceptive use of women with multiple unintended pregnancies. Contraceptive efficacy could be improved by implementing counselling that is adapted to individual needs. The respondents stated that they would appreciate other sources of information, such as support through other forms of communication. The formation of a working group would be helpful in developing these services.

  8. Perceptions of Empowerment Within and Across Partnerships in Community-Based Participatory Research: A Dyadic Interview Analysis.

    PubMed

    Paradiso de Sayu, Rebecca; Chanmugam, Amy

    2016-01-01

    Although the concept of empowerment is a key principle of community-based participatory research (CBPR), little is known about how academic and community partners perceive empowerment during a CBPR process. CBPR partners' perceptions of the process were explored using semi-structured interviews with both partners in 10 CBPR partnerships that had completed projects addressing social determinants of health. Dyadic interview analysis was employed to understand dynamics within and across partnerships. Five partnerships showed no differences in perceptions of empowerment. Four had minor discrepancies. Only one partnership varied considerably between partners, where the community partner perceived less empowerment regarding determining the study topic and overall control, influence, and respect throughout the process. This article discusses implications of findings for CBPR. Evaluating partners' perceived empowerment throughout a CBPR project might reveal areas to adjust, as not all projects with quantifiably successful outcomes involve processes that are successful in terms of empowerment. © The Author(s) 2015.

  9. Patients' experiences of the impact of chronic back pain on family life and work.

    PubMed

    De Souza, Lorraine; Frank, Andrew Oliver

    2011-01-01

    The emotional distress caused by pain is one of the most disruptive aspects of living with the condition. This study investigates how individuals experience pain and its consequences for family life and work. Unstructured interviews, using the 'Framework' approach with topic guide, were recorded and transcribed. Patients were sampled for age, sex, ethnicity and occupation from new referrals with spinal pain (SP) to a rheumatology outpatient clinic. Eleven patients (five males and six females) were interviewed in English (n = 9) or their preferred language (n = 2). Interviews were read in depth twice to identify the topics. Data were extracted in phrases and sentences using thematic content analysis. Emergent themes reported were relationships with: spouses and partners (n = 7), children/parents (n = 6), with other family and friends (n = 7) and work-related issues (n = 11). Patients valued support from family but expressed concerns about causing them worry. Work-related issues included physical and emotional efforts to keep working when in pain, fear of losing employment and financial problems. Patients expressed anxiety about how their pain affected other family members, regret at losing full work capacity and worry about financial consequences. The lived experience of chronic SP has ramifications that go beyond the individual, reaching into work and social relationships.

  10. Employed and expecting in Germany: A qualitative investigation into pregnancy-related occupational stress and coping behavior.

    PubMed

    Lojewski, Julia; Flothow, Annegret; Harth, Volker; Mache, Stefanie

    2018-01-01

    Previous studies demonstrate a higher risk for pregnant women to experience stressors within the work context and therefore suggest a higher risk for occupational stress. However, the interaction between work and pregnancy in Germany is currently an area without much active research, even though it is a common occurrence. This qualitative study explores stressors, coping behaviors and related consequences for pregnant employees in Germany. Furthermore, the study researches intervention possibilities for the purpose to prevent the target group from negative health outcomes. Thirteen semi-standardized interviews with employed pregnant women living and working in Germany were conducted. The interviews were recorded and verbatim transcribed. Data was analyzed by Mayring's structuring qualitative content analysis. Compounding the results, the interviewed women noted most frequently stressors in relation to their employer/line manager due to their pregnant condition. Even though the women showed various adaptive coping behaviors, the identified negative consequences, mainly on their emotional wellbeing. Various intervention possibilities to improve the pregnant employee's situation were mentioned. This study was able to explore broad insights into the topic of pregnant employees in Germany. Therefore, this study underlines the actuality and relevance of the topic and is able to contribute to a scientific discussion about pregnancy at the workplace.

  11. Internet Witch-Hunt: Digitizing Salem Village.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferris, William R.; Ray, Benjamin

    2000-01-01

    Presents an interview with Benjamin Ray, a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville), focusing on Ray's work with the Salem Witchcraft Project. Addresses how Ray became interested in the topic and the use of the Internet within the discipline of history. (CMK)

  12. Subsurface Scenarios: What are We Trying to Model?

    EPA Science Inventory

    In collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (George Moridis and team),and after a thorough review of the scientific literature and data and interviews with a selection of experts on the topic, a finite number of plausible scenarios were selected for more quantitative...

  13. The eclipse of the Sun from 20 May 2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tiron, S. D.

    2015-04-01

    The interview of the Radio Moldova with astronomer about the coming Eclipse of the Sun, included the following topics: 1) The circumstances of the Total eclipse 2) The circumstances of the Partial Eclipse in the Republic of Moldova 3) Protection of eyes during Observations

  14. Amityville: An Overview.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howlett, Charles F., Ed.; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Secondary level student historians used oral history interviews, local records, newspapers, and personal events to depict the story of their town, Amityville, New York. Students chose their own topics, researched available materials, and wrote the papers. Many of the articles are enhanced with interesting local photography. An illuminating picture…

  15. Evaluation of School Library Media Centers: Demonstrating Quality.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Everhart, Nancy

    2003-01-01

    Discusses ways to evaluate school library media programs and how to demonstrate quality. Topics include how principals evaluate programs; sources of evaluative data; national, state, and local instruments; surveys and interviews; Colorado benchmarks; evaluating the use of electronic resources; and computer reporting options. (LRW)

  16. Conversation on African Music.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saunders, Leslie R.

    1985-01-01

    A voice and music education teacher at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, talks about African music in this interview. Topics discussed include differences between African and Western music, African melody, rules for composing African music, the theory of counterpoint, and the popularity of classical composers in Nigeria. (RM)

  17. Designing Public Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connections, 2002

    2002-01-01

    Presents an interview with Steven Bingler, an expert on community-based planning and design, about the design of public schools. Topics include the contribution of architecture to student learning, mega- versus small schools, the authentic economics of design decisions, and the role of the community in the design process. (EV)

  18. Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 1995.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ford, Bridgie Alexis, Ed.

    1995-01-01

    This first serial issue addresses topics and issues impacting educational services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners. The issue contains three research-into-practice articles, an interview section called "In the Oral Tradition," and three teacher-generated articles which delineate learner-enhancing practices for…

  19. Perspectives on procedure-based assessments: a thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with 10 UK surgical trainees.

    PubMed

    Shalhoub, Joseph; Marshall, Dominic C; Ippolito, Kate

    2017-03-24

    The introduction of competency-based training has necessitated development and implementation of accompanying mechanisms for assessment. Procedure-based assessments (PBAs) are an example of workplace-based assessments that are used to examine focal competencies in the workplace. The primary objective was to understand surgical trainees' perspective on the value of PBA. Semistructured interviews with 10 surgical trainees individually interviewed to explore their views. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed; following this, they were open and axial coded. Thematic analysis was then performed. Semistructured interviews yielded several topical and recurring themes. In trainees' experience, the use of PBAs as a summative tool limits their educational value. Trainees reported a lack of support from seniors and variation in the usefulness of the tool based on stage of training. Concerns related to the validity of PBAs for evaluating trainees' performance with reports of 'gaming' the system and trainees completing their own assessments. Trainees did identify the significant value of PBAs when used correctly. Benefits included the identification of additional learning opportunities, standardisation of assessment and their role in providing a measure of progress. The UK surgical trainees interviewed identified both limitations and benefits to PBAs; however, we would argue based on their responses and our experience that their use as a summative tool limits their formative use as an educational opportunity. PBAs should either be used exclusively to support learning or solely as a summative tool; if so, further work is needed to audit, validate and standardise them for this purpose. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  20. Development of a Solar System Concept Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hornstein, Seth D.; Duncan, D.; S, C. A. T.

    2009-01-01

    Concept inventories can provide useful insight into students’ understanding of key physical concepts. Knowing what your students have learned during a course is a valuable tool for improving your own teaching. Unfortunately, current astronomy concept inventories are not suitable for an introductory solar system course because they either cover too broad of a range of topics (e.g. Astronomy Diagnostic Test) or are too narrowly focused (e.g. Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory, Lunar Phase Concept Inventory). We have developed the Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to cover those topics commonly taught in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. SSCI topics include formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric effects, and small solar system bodies. Student interviews were conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. Preliminary development of the SSCI was completed at the University of Colorado and involved over 400 students. A larger, national, multi-institutional field test is planned for Spring 2009 as a Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) research project. We present here the results from the preliminary development and proposed changes for the next stage of research. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  1. The presence of a perseverative iterative style in poor vs. good sleepers.

    PubMed

    Barclay, N L; Gregory, A M

    2010-03-01

    Catastrophizing is present in worriers and poor sleepers. This study investigates whether poor sleepers possess a 'perseverative iterative style' which predisposes them to catastrophize any topic, regardless of content or affective valence, a style previously found to occur more commonly in worriers as compared to others. Poor (n=23) and good sleepers (n=37) were distinguished using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), from a sample of adults in the general population. Participants were required to catastrophize 2 topics: worries about sleep, and a current personal worry; and to iterate the positive aspects of a hypothetical topic. Poor sleepers catastrophized/iterated more steps to a greater extent than good sleepers to these three interviews, (F(1, 58)=7.35, p<.05). However, after controlling for anxiety and worry, this effect was reduced to non-significance for the 'sleep' and 'worry' topics, suggesting that anxiety may mediate some of the association between catastrophizing and sleep. However there was still a tendency for poor sleepers to iterate more steps to the 'hypothetical' topic, after controlling for anxiety and worry, which also suggests that poor sleepers possess a cognitive style which may predispose them to continue iterating consecutive steps to open-ended tasks regardless of anxiety and worry. Future research should examine whether the presence of this cognitive style is significant in leading to or maintaining insomnia.

  2. Healthcare professionals' views of the experiences of individuals living with Crohn's Disease in Spain. A qualitative study.

    PubMed

    García-Sanjuán, Sofía; Lillo-Crespo, Manuel; Richart-Martínez, Miguel; Sanjuán-Quiles, Ángela

    2018-01-01

    Crohn's Disease (CD) in Spain lacks of a unified National Clinical Pathway and not even any early detection program and professional follow-up outpatient attention once it has been diagnosed. Little is known about the Spanish health professionals' views of the experiences of individuals living with Crohn's Disease nationwide and also about how the Spanish Health System faces this situation. A qualitative research method was conducted to explore this topic through in-depth interviews with eleven healthcare professionals, who represented different clinics treating people with CD from the province of Alicante (Spain). Three topics and seven sub-topics were derived from the analysis of the content emerging from the interviews. The three main topics were: the healthcare system as a hindrance for ongoing treatment of CD, the impact of the disease, support networks. The knowledge of CD gained by healthcare professionals, in the contexts studied here within, with regards to the psychosocial aspects and the experience of those living with the disease and their immediate circles, is poor, if not null on an academic level, becoming experiential on their incorporation into the professional field. Additionally, a priori, they lack the tools to address the doubts and concerns of patients from the moment of diagnosis through the ongoing care of the patient. Organizational hindrances, such as the lack of time and consensual guidelines for adequately monitoring CD patients in Alicante (Spain), further restrict the patient-professional relationship. Due to the consensus established by the National Agency regulating the contents of the Health Professions' Education and Training across the country, we are assuming that the phenomenon highlighted may be similar in other parts of Spain. Therefore, it can be said that healthcare professionals have a limited understanding of the impact of CD on the day-to-day life of those affected, not being considered a part of the CD patients' formal support network. Nonetheless, they are conscious of this limitation and advocate for multidisciplinary teams as the best means of attending to people living with CD. Our study outcomes may represent the first step onto identifying strategies and best practices for establishing an effective therapeutic relationship, as well as any hindering factors.

  3. Healthcare professionals’ views of the experiences of individuals living with Crohn’s Disease in Spain. A qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    Richart-Martínez, Miguel; Sanjuán-Quiles, Ángela

    2018-01-01

    Crohn’s Disease (CD) in Spain lacks of a unified National Clinical Pathway and not even any early detection program and professional follow-up outpatient attention once it has been diagnosed. Little is known about the Spanish health professionals’ views of the experiences of individuals living with Crohn’s Disease nationwide and also about how the Spanish Health System faces this situation. A qualitative research method was conducted to explore this topic through in-depth interviews with eleven healthcare professionals, who represented different clinics treating people with CD from the province of Alicante (Spain). Three topics and seven sub-topics were derived from the analysis of the content emerging from the interviews. The three main topics were: the healthcare system as a hindrance for ongoing treatment of CD, the impact of the disease, support networks. The knowledge of CD gained by healthcare professionals, in the contexts studied here within, with regards to the psychosocial aspects and the experience of those living with the disease and their immediate circles, is poor, if not null on an academic level, becoming experiential on their incorporation into the professional field. Additionally, a priori, they lack the tools to address the doubts and concerns of patients from the moment of diagnosis through the ongoing care of the patient. Organizational hindrances, such as the lack of time and consensual guidelines for adequately monitoring CD patients in Alicante (Spain), further restrict the patient-professional relationship. Due to the consensus established by the National Agency regulating the contents of the Health Professions’ Education and Training across the country, we are assuming that the phenomenon highlighted may be similar in other parts of Spain. Therefore, it can be said that healthcare professionals have a limited understanding of the impact of CD on the day-to-day life of those affected, not being considered a part of the CD patients’ formal support network. Nonetheless, they are conscious of this limitation and advocate for multidisciplinary teams as the best means of attending to people living with CD. Our study outcomes may represent the first step onto identifying strategies and best practices for establishing an effective therapeutic relationship, as well as any hindering factors. PMID:29360881

  4. Context dependence of students' views about the role of equations in understanding biology.

    PubMed

    Watkins, Jessica; Elby, Andrew

    2013-06-01

    Students' epistemological views about biology--their ideas about what "counts" as learning and understanding biology--play a role in how they approach their courses and respond to reforms. As introductory biology courses incorporate more physics and quantitative reasoning, student attitudes about the role of equations in biology become especially relevant. However, as documented in research in physics education, students' epistemologies are not always stable and fixed entities; they can be dynamic and context-dependent. In this paper, we examine an interview with an introductory student in which she discusses the use of equations in her reformed biology course. In one part of the interview, she expresses what sounds like an entrenched negative stance toward the role equations can play in understanding biology. However, later in the interview, when discussing a different biology topic, she takes a more positive stance toward the value of equations. These results highlight how a given student can have diverse ways of thinking about the value of bringing physics and math into biology. By highlighting how attitudes can shift in response to different tasks, instructional environments, and contextual cues, we emphasize the need to attend to these factors, rather than treating students' beliefs as fixed and stable.

  5. Patients' and clinicians' experiences of wound care in Canada: a descriptive qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Woo, K Y; Wong, J; Rice, K; Coelho, S; Haratsidis, E; Teague, L; Rac, V E; Krahn, M

    2017-07-01

    This study sought to explore patients' and clinicians' perceptions and experiences with the provision of standard care by a home care nurse alone or by a multidisciplinary wound care team. The interviews were conducted using an in-depth semi structured format; following a funnel idea of starting out broad and narrowing down, ensuring that all the necessary topics were covered by the end of the interview. A purposive sample of 16 patients with different wound types were interviewed to ensure that the data would reflect the range and diversity of treatment and care experience. To reflect the diversity of experiences 12 clinicians from various clinical backgrounds were interviewed. Based on the analysis of the interviews, there are four overarching themes: wound care expertise is required across health-care sectors, psychosocial needs of patients with chronic wounds are key barriers to treatment concordance, structured training, and a well-coordinated multidisciplinary team approach. Results of this qualitative study identified different barriers and facilitators that affect the experiences of community-based wound care.

  6. PhenoLines: Phenotype Comparison Visualizations for Disease Subtyping via Topic Models.

    PubMed

    Glueck, Michael; Naeini, Mahdi Pakdaman; Doshi-Velez, Finale; Chevalier, Fanny; Khan, Azam; Wigdor, Daniel; Brudno, Michael

    2018-01-01

    PhenoLines is a visual analysis tool for the interpretation of disease subtypes, derived from the application of topic models to clinical data. Topic models enable one to mine cross-sectional patient comorbidity data (e.g., electronic health records) and construct disease subtypes-each with its own temporally evolving prevalence and co-occurrence of phenotypes-without requiring aligned longitudinal phenotype data for all patients. However, the dimensionality of topic models makes interpretation challenging, and de facto analyses provide little intuition regarding phenotype relevance or phenotype interrelationships. PhenoLines enables one to compare phenotype prevalence within and across disease subtype topics, thus supporting subtype characterization, a task that involves identifying a proposed subtype's dominant phenotypes, ages of effect, and clinical validity. We contribute a data transformation workflow that employs the Human Phenotype Ontology to hierarchically organize phenotypes and aggregate the evolving probabilities produced by topic models. We introduce a novel measure of phenotype relevance that can be used to simplify the resulting topology. The design of PhenoLines was motivated by formative interviews with machine learning and clinical experts. We describe the collaborative design process, distill high-level tasks, and report on initial evaluations with machine learning experts and a medical domain expert. These results suggest that PhenoLines demonstrates promising approaches to support the characterization and optimization of topic models.

  7. Primary Grade Students' Knowledge and Thinking about Transportation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brophy, Jere; Alleman, Janet

    2005-01-01

    Very little information exists about children's prior knowledge and thinking (including misconceptions) about transportation, a topic commonly taught in elementary social studies. To develop such information, individual interviews were conducted with 96 K-3 students, stratified according to grade level, achievement level, and gender. The students…

  8. ADHD in Adults. [DVD

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barkley, Russell A.

    2006-01-01

    From leading ADHD authority Dr. Russell A. Barkley, this instructive program integrates information about ADHD with the experiences of adults from different walks of life who suffer from the disorder. Including interviews with these individuals, their family members, and the clinicians who treat them, the program addresses such important topics as…

  9. True or Not True.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fields, Joyce I.

    1993-01-01

    Ascertained seven- and eight-year-olds' understanding of advertising, the role of the buyer and seller, and the role of real estate agents. Interviewed an experimental group of students who had been exposed, and a control group of students who had not been exposed, to classroom presentations concerning these topics. (MDM)

  10. Brotherhood and College Latinos: A Phenomenological Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Estrada, Fernando; Mejia, Araceli; Hufana, Alyssa Mae

    2017-01-01

    An understudied topic is the social experiences of college Latinos. In this study, six men shared their experience of brotherhood or "hermandad". Individual interviews yielded qualitative data that were subjected to inductive coding resulting in seven descriptive themes conveying the essence of brotherhood. The findings and implications…

  11. How Technology Teachers Understand Technological Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norström, Per

    2014-01-01

    Swedish technology teachers' views of technological knowledge are examined through a written survey and a series of interviews. The study indicates that technology teachers' understandings of what constitutes technological knowledge and how it is justified vary considerably. The philosophical discussions on the topic are unknown to them. This lack…

  12. The Adult Experience.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Belsky, Janet

    The 14 chapters of this textbook chronicle adult development from youth through old age, emphasizing both research and interviews with adults at various stages in their lives. Topics covered include the following: (1) the academic field of adult development; (2) theories and research methods; (3) aging and disease prevention; (4) sexuality and…

  13. Analysis of Students' Arguments on Evolutionary Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Basel, Nicolai; Harms, Ute; Prechtl, Helmut

    2013-01-01

    A qualitative exploratory study was conducted to reveal students' argumentation skills in the context of the topic of evolution. Transcripts from problem-centred interviews on secondary students' beliefs about evolutionary processes of adaptation were analysed using a content analysis approach. For this purpose two categorical systems were…

  14. Challenges older adults face in detecting deceit: the role of emotion recognition.

    PubMed

    Stanley, Jennifer Tehan; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

    2008-03-01

    Facial expressions of emotion are key cues to deceit (M. G. Frank & P. Ekman, 1997). Given that the literature on aging has shown an age-related decline in decoding emotions, we investigated (a) whether there are age differences in deceit detection and (b) if so, whether they are related to impairments in emotion recognition. Young and older adults (N = 364) were presented with 20 interviews (crime and opinion topics) and asked to decide whether each interview subject was lying or telling the truth. There were 3 presentation conditions: visual, audio, or audiovisual. In older adults, reduced emotion recognition was related to poor deceit detection in the visual condition for crime interviews only. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  15. First Contact: interprofessional education based on medical students' experiences from their nursing internship

    PubMed Central

    Eich-Krohm, Astrid; Kaufmann, Alexandra; Winkler-Stuck, Kirstin; Werwick, Katrin; Spura, Anke; Robra, Bernt-Peter

    2016-01-01

    Goal: The aim of the course “interprofessional communication and nursing” is to reflect medical students’ experiences from the nursing internship. The content of the course focuses on barriers and support of interprofessional communication as a foundation for teamwork between nursing professionals and physicians. The nursing internship is for most medical students the first contact with nursing professionals and can lead to perceptions about the other group that might hinder interprofessional teamwork and consequently harm patients. To meet the demographic challenges ahead it is important to emphasize interprofessional education in the study of medicine and better prepare future physicians for interprofessional collaboration. Method: The design of the course includes an assessment of a change in the students’ perceptions about nursing and interprofessional communication. The first class meeting presents the starting point of the assessment and visualizes students’ perceptions of nursing and medicine. The content of the following class meetings serve to enhance the students’ knowledge about nursing as a profession with its own theories, science and scholarship. In addition, all students have to write a research paper that entails to interview one nursing professional and one physician about their ideas of interprofessional communication and to compare the interviews with their own experiences from the nursing internship. To access what students learned during the course a reflective discussion takes place at the last meeting combined with an analysis of the students’ research papers. Results: The assessment of the students’ perceptions about the nursing profession and the importance of successful interprofessional communication showed a new and deeper understanding of the topic. They were able to identify barriers and support measures of interprofessional communication and their own responsibilities as part of a team. Conclusion: Interprofessional education is an important part of medical education and should be a topic from the beginning. The assessment of the course shows that it is possible and important to integrate the topic early in the curriculum. PMID:27280131

  16. First Contact: interprofessional education based on medical students' experiences from their nursing internship.

    PubMed

    Eich-Krohm, Astrid; Kaufmann, Alexandra; Winkler-Stuck, Kirstin; Werwick, Katrin; Spura, Anke; Robra, Bernt-Peter

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the course "interprofessional communication and nursing" is to reflect medical students' experiences from the nursing internship. The content of the course focuses on barriers and support of interprofessional communication as a foundation for teamwork between nursing professionals and physicians. The nursing internship is for most medical students the first contact with nursing professionals and can lead to perceptions about the other group that might hinder interprofessional teamwork and consequently harm patients. To meet the demographic challenges ahead it is important to emphasize interprofessional education in the study of medicine and better prepare future physicians for interprofessional collaboration. The design of the course includes an assessment of a change in the students' perceptions about nursing and interprofessional communication. The first class meeting presents the starting point of the assessment and visualizes students' perceptions of nursing and medicine. The content of the following class meetings serve to enhance the students' knowledge about nursing as a profession with its own theories, science and scholarship. In addition, all students have to write a research paper that entails to interview one nursing professional and one physician about their ideas of interprofessional communication and to compare the interviews with their own experiences from the nursing internship. To access what students learned during the course a reflective discussion takes place at the last meeting combined with an analysis of the students' research papers. The assessment of the students' perceptions about the nursing profession and the importance of successful interprofessional communication showed a new and deeper understanding of the topic. They were able to identify barriers and support measures of interprofessional communication and their own responsibilities as part of a team. Interprofessional education is an important part of medical education and should be a topic from the beginning. The assessment of the course shows that it is possible and important to integrate the topic early in the curriculum.

  17. Who trusts scientists for information about climate change? Nuclear power? Vaccines?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, L.

    2015-12-01

    US public acceptance/rejection of science on the topic of climate change has become highly polarized, with a demographic profile well established through survey research. Trust in scientists for information about climate change tends to increase with education, decrease with age, and is higher among self-identified liberals and moderates than among conservatives. Demographic profiles of people who do or do not trust scientists regarding other disputed topics are less well established. Some observers have argued that certain domains such as vaccines, nuclear power or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could present a mirror image of climate change, with liberals instead of conservatives disproportionately rejecting science on that topic. Evidence for this mirror-image hypothesis has been mainly anecdotal, however. Here we test it systematically using statewide survey data on more than 1200 interviews, comparing five similarly worded questions that ask respondents whether they trust, don't trust, or are unsure about scientists as a source of information about ... climate change, vaccines, evolution, nuclear power safety, or GMOs. Climate change proves to be the most polarized of these topics, but all five exhibit roughly similar age, education and ideological effects -- contrary to the mirror-image hypothesis. The common patterns across five science domains, chosen for their hypothetical contrasts, map out an unexpectedly cohesive picture of who trusts scientists for information, and who does not. Implications of these survey results for public outreach and science communication are explored.

  18. The use of semi-structured interviews for the characterisation of farmer irrigation practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Keeffe, Jimmy; Buytaert, Wouter; Mijic, Ana; Brozović, Nicholas; Sinha, Rajiv

    2016-05-01

    For the development of sustainable and realistic water security, generating information on the behaviours, characteristics, and drivers of users, as well as on the resource itself, is essential. In this paper we present a methodology for collecting qualitative and quantitative data on water use practices through semi-structured interviews. This approach facilitates the collection of detailed information on actors' decisions in a convenient and cost-effective manner. Semi-structured interviews are organised around a topic guide, which helps lead the conversation in a standardised way while allowing sufficient opportunity for relevant issues to emerge. In addition, they can be used to obtain certain types of quantitative data. While not as accurate as direct measurements, they can provide useful information on local practices and users' insights. We present an application of the methodology on farmer water use in two districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. By means of 100 farmer interviews, information was collected on various aspects of irrigation practices, including irrigation water volumes, irrigation cost, water source, and their spatial variability. Statistical analyses of the information, along with data visualisation, are also presented, indicating a significant variation in irrigation practices both within and between districts. Our application shows that semi-structured interviews are an effective and efficient method of collecting both qualitative and quantitative information for the assessment of drivers, behaviours, and their outcomes in a data-scarce region. The collection of this type of data could significantly improve insights on water resources, leading to more realistic management options and increased water security in the future.

  19. Knowledge, Attitude and Advice-Giving Behaviour of Community Pharmacists Regarding Topical Corticosteroids

    PubMed Central

    Lau, Wing Man

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the relationship between community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitudes to information provision and self-reported counselling behaviours in relation to topical corticosteroids and adjunct therapy in atopic eczema. A mixed-methods approach was used whereby data from interviews with community pharmacists were used to design a structured questionnaire that a larger sample of community pharmacists completed anonymously. The questionnaire was completed and returned by 105 pharmacists (36% response rate). Pharmacists showed gaps in their knowledge on the use of topical corticosteroids in atopic eczema but had good understanding on the use of emollients. There was a significant correlation between pharmacists’ attitudes to information provision and their self-reported counselling behaviour for most themes except in relation to corticosteroid safety where less advice was given. Improving attitudes to information provision should correlate with increased counselling behaviour. However, for the theme of corticosteroid safety, further studies are needed to examine why in practice pharmacists are not providing patient counselling on this topic even though most agreed this is a topic patients should know about. PMID:28970453

  20. Knowledge, Attitude and Advice-Giving Behaviour of Community Pharmacists Regarding Topical Corticosteroids.

    PubMed

    Lau, Wing Man; Donyai, Parastou

    2017-07-25

    This study examines the relationship between community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes to information provision and self-reported counselling behaviours in relation to topical corticosteroids and adjunct therapy in atopic eczema. A mixed-methods approach was used whereby data from interviews with community pharmacists were used to design a structured questionnaire that a larger sample of community pharmacists completed anonymously. The questionnaire was completed and returned by 105 pharmacists (36% response rate). Pharmacists showed gaps in their knowledge on the use of topical corticosteroids in atopic eczema but had good understanding on the use of emollients. There was a significant correlation between pharmacists' attitudes to information provision and their self-reported counselling behaviour for most themes except in relation to corticosteroid safety where less advice was given. Improving attitudes to information provision should correlate with increased counselling behaviour. However, for the theme of corticosteroid safety, further studies are needed to examine why in practice pharmacists are not providing patient counselling on this topic even though most agreed this is a topic patients should know about.

  1. Perspectives of policy and political decision makers on access to formal dementia care: expert interviews in eight European countries.

    PubMed

    Broda, Anja; Bieber, Anja; Meyer, Gabriele; Hopper, Louise; Joyce, Rachael; Irving, Kate; Zanetti, Orazio; Portolani, Elisa; Kerpershoek, Liselot; Verhey, Frans; Vugt, Marjolein de; Wolfs, Claire; Eriksen, Siren; Røsvik, Janne; Marques, Maria J; Gonçalves-Pereira, Manuel; Sjölund, Britt-Marie; Woods, Bob; Jelley, Hannah; Orrell, Martin; Stephan, Astrid

    2017-08-03

    As part of the ActifCare (ACcess to Timely Formal Care) project, we conducted expert interviews in eight European countries with policy and political decision makers, or representatives of relevant institutions, to determine their perspectives on access to formal care for people with dementia and their carers. Each ActifCare country (Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom) conducted semi-structured interviews with 4-7 experts (total N = 38). The interview guide addressed the topics "Complexity and Continuity of Care", "Formal Services", and "Public Awareness". Country-specific analysis of interview transcripts used an inductive qualitative content analysis. Cross-national synthesis focused on similarities in themes across the ActifCare countries. The analysis revealed ten common themes and two additional sub-themes across countries. Among others, the experts highlighted the need for a coordinating role and the necessity of information to address issues of complexity and continuity of care, demanded person-centred, tailored, and multidisciplinary formal services, and referred to education, mass media and campaigns as means to raise public awareness. Policy and political decision makers appear well acquainted with current discussions among both researchers and practitioners of possible approaches to improve access to dementia care. Experts described pragmatic, realistic strategies to influence dementia care. Suggested innovations concerned how to achieve improved dementia care, rather than transforming the nature of the services provided. Knowledge gained in these expert interviews may be useful to national decision makers when they consider reshaping the organisation of dementia care, and may thus help to develop best-practice strategies and recommendations.

  2. The Reliability of Psychiatric Diagnosis Revisited

    PubMed Central

    Rankin, Eric; France, Cheryl; El-Missiry, Ahmed; John, Collin

    2006-01-01

    Background: The authors reviewed the topic of reliability of psychiatric diagnosis from the turn of the 20th century to present. The objectives of this paper are to explore the reasons of unreliability of psychiatric diagnosis and propose ways to improve the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis. Method: The authors reviewed the literature on the concept of reliability of psychiatric diagnosis with emphasis on the impact of interviewing skills, use of diagnostic criteria, and structured interviews on the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis. Results: Causes of diagnostic unreliability are attributed to the patient, the clinician and psychiatric nomenclature. The reliability of psychiatric diagnosis can be enhanced by using diagnostic criteria, defining psychiatric symptoms and structuring the interviews. Conclusions: The authors propose the acronym ‘DR.SED,' which stands for diagnostic criteria, reference definitions, structuring the interview, clinical experience, and data. The authors recommend that clinicians use the DR.SED paradigm to improve the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses. PMID:21103149

  3. Exploring science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in the teaching of genetics in Swaziland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mthethwa-Kunene, Khetsiwe Eunice Faith

    Recent trends show that learners' enrolment and performance in science at secondary school level is dwindling. Some science topics including genetics in biology are said to be difficult for learners to learn and thus they perform poorly in examinations. Teacher knowledge base, particularly topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), has been identified by many researchers as an important factor that is linked with learner understanding and achievement in science. This qualitative study was an attempt to explore the PCK of four successful biology teachers and how they developed it in the context of teaching genetics. The purposive sampling technique was employed to select the participating teachers based on their schools' performance in biology public examinations and recommendations by science specialists and school principals. Pedagogical content knowledge was used as a theoretical framework for the study, which guided the inquiry in data collection, analysis and discussion of the research findings. The study adopted the case study method and various sources of evidence including concept maps, lesson plans, pre-lesson interviews, lesson observations, post-teaching teacher questionnaire, post-lesson interviews and document analysis were used to collect data on teachers' PCK as well as how PCK was assumed to have developed. The data were analysed in an attempt to determine the individual teachers' school genetics' content knowledge, related knowledge of instructional strategies and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The analysis involved an iterative process of coding data into PCK categories of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The findings of the study indicate that the four successful biology teachers generally have the necessary content knowledge of school genetics, used certain topic-specific instructional strategies, but lacked knowledge of genetics-related learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties despite having taught the topic for many years. There were some instructional deficits in their approaches and techniques in teaching genetics. The teachers failed to use physical models, teacher demonstration and/or learner experimentation in their lessons (or include them in their lesson plans) to assist learners in visualizing or internalizing the genetics concepts or processes located at the sub-microscopic level. The teachers' PCK in genetics teaching was assumed to have developed mainly through formal university education programmes, classroom teaching experiences, peer support and participation in in-service workshops. The implications for biology teacher education are also discussed.

  4. Perceptions and experiences of elderly residents in a nursing home.

    PubMed

    Evangelista, Renata Alessandra; Bueno, Alexandre de Assis; Castro, Paulo Alexandre de; Nascimento, Jessica Neto; Araújo, Neilene Teixeira de; Aires, Graciele Pereira

    2014-12-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of the elderly residents of a long-stay nursing home on the process of institutionalization. We interviewed 14 subjects, five women and nine men, aged between 60 and 92 years. Data collection was conducted with a semi-structured sociodemographic interview, which presented the guiding question: "Tell me about how is your life, what do you do and how did you come to live here". From the analysis, we found topics related to feelings of abandonment, loneliness, anger, ingratitude, living with chronic pain, satisfaction of property in the nursing home, productivity and social relationship. Given the thematic analysis, it was possible to group them into three categories such as: what the elderly feel, what the elderly perceive and what the elderly desire. As a result, we need public policies that addresses to the service provided by institutions regarding elderly expectations.

  5. ["Great jobs"-also in psychiatry?].

    PubMed

    Spiessl, H; Hübner-Liebermann, B

    2003-09-01

    Against the background of a beginning shortage of psychiatrists, results from interviews with 112 employees of an automotive company with the topic "Great Job" are presented to discuss their relevance to psychiatry. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Most employees assigned importance to great pay, constructive collaboration with colleagues, and work appealing to personal interests. Further statements particularly relevant to psychiatry were: successful career, flexible working hours, manageable job, work-life balance, well-founded training, no bureaucracy within the company, and personal status in society. The well-known economic restrictions in health care and the still negative attitude towards psychiatry currently reduce the attraction of psychiatry as a profession. From the viewpoint of personnel management, the attractors of a great job revealed in this study are proposed as important clues for the recruitment of medical students for psychiatry and the development of psychiatric staff.

  6. Soviet Space Stations as Analogs, Second Edition

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bluth, B. J.; Helppie, Martha

    1986-01-01

    The available literature that discusses the various aspects of the Soviet Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 space staions are examined as related to human productivity. The methodology for this analog was a search of unclassified literature. Additional information was obtained in interviews with the cosmonauts and some Soviet space personnel. Topics include: general layout and design of the spacecraft system; cosmonauts role in maintenance and repair; general layout and design of the Mir complex; effects of the environment on personnel; information and computer systems; organization systems; personality systems; and physical conditin of the cosmonaut.

  7. Talking with patients and peers: medical students' difficulties with learning communication skills.

    PubMed

    Lumma-Sellenthin, Antje

    2009-06-01

    Patient-centered communication skills, such as an empathic attitude towards patients and a holistic perspective on health, are difficult to acquire. Designing effective courses requires better understanding of the difficulties that students perceive with learning to talk with patients The study aimed at exploring students' common difficulties with learning patient-centered communication skills. Group discussions about student-patient interviews were videotaped and analyzed with regard to issues that students perceived as difficult and to their reflections about these difficulties. The students reported feeling intrusive as they explored the patient's psychosocial situation. They avoided being empathic and felt insecure about coping adequately with emotionally loaded topics. Their difficulties were mainly due to insufficient understanding of the functional relations between psychosocial issues and health conditions. Moreover, students were insecure concerning the function of affective feedback in the diagnostic process. However, the group discussions generated a language for analyzing and structuring interviews that helped develop the students' professional identities. Students experienced moral qualms about applying major aspects of patient-centered interviewing. Instruction in communication skills should aim at filling the students' knowledge gaps and fostering their awareness and expression of emotional perceptions. Long-term relationships with patients could help develop patient-centered communication.

  8. Continued Development of the Solar System Concept Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hornstein, Seth D.; Prather, E. E.; English, T. R.; Desch, S. M.; Keller, J. M.; CATS

    2010-01-01

    The Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) was developed in order to provide a pre-/post-instruction assessment instrument suitable for use in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI focus on formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric and surface effects, and small solar system bodies. These topics were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. Student interviews were then conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. As of December 2009, the SSCI has been through four semesters of both pre- and post-instruction classroom testing, involving over 2000 students and 11 institutions (ranging from two-year colleges to doctoral/research universities). After each semester of testing, item analysis statistics such as point biserial, percentage correct on pre- or post-testing, and frequently-chosen distracters (incorrect answers) were used to flag ineffective questions. Flagged questions were revised or eliminated. We present an overall outline of the SSCI development as well as our question-flagging criteria and question analyses from the latest round of field-testing. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  9. Exploring youth and caregiver preferences for asthma education video content.

    PubMed

    Geryk, Lorie L; Arrindell, Courtney C; Sage, Adam J; Blalock, Susan J; Reuland, Daniel S; Coyne-Beasley, Tamera; Lee, Charles; Sleath, Betsy L; Carpenter, Delesha M

    2016-01-01

    This study examines (1) whether youth and their caregivers have different preferences for asthma education video topics and (2) if education topic preferences vary by youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics. Youth (n = 83) ages 7-17 years with persistent asthma and their caregivers were recruited at two pediatric practices in North Carolina. Sociodemographic information and youth and caregiver preferences for nine asthma video education topics were collected during in-person interviews. Bonferroni-corrected Chi-square or McNemar tests (α = 0.0056) were used to compare youth and caregivers differences in topic preferences and topic preferences by youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, and age. Youth were primarily male (52%) and from low-income families (74%; caregiver annual income less than $30,000) and many were Hispanic (45%). Youth and parents expressed the most interest in the following two topics: "how to deal with triggers" (90% and 95%, respectively) and "how to keep asthma under control" (87% and 96%, respectively). Caregivers and children were discordant for two topics: "the difference between a rescue and controller medicine" and "how to [help your child] talk to your [his/her] friends about asthma." No differences were found between youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics and video topic preferences. Youth with persistent asthma and their caregivers differed in their asthma education topic preferences, but preferences did not vary by caregiver or youth sociodemographic characteristics. Studies examining the effectiveness of interventions tailored to differences in educational preferences of youth with asthma and their caregivers are needed.

  10. Enhancement of Self Efficacy of Vocational School Students in Buffer Solution Topics through Guided Inquiry Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    M, Ardiany; W, Wahyu; A, Supriatna

    2017-09-01

    The more students who feel less confident in learning, so doing things that are less responsible, such as brawl, drunkenness and others. So researchers need to do research related to student self efficacy in learning, in order to reduce unwanted things. This study aims to determine the effect of guided inquiry learning on improving self-efficacy of learners in the buffer solution topics. The method used is the mixed method which is the two group pretest postest design. The subjects of the study are 60 students of class XI AK in one of the SMKN in Bandung, consisting of 30 experimental class students and 30 control class students. The instruments used in this study mix method consist of self-efficacy questionnaire of pretest and posttest learners, interview guides, and observation sheet. Data analysis using t test with significant α = 0,05. Based on the result of inquiry of guided inquiry study, there is a significant improvement in self efficacy aspect of students in the topic of buffer solution. Data of pretest and posttest interview, observation, questionnaire showed significant result, that is improvement of experimental class with conventionally guided inquiry learning. The mean of self-efficacy of student learning there is significant difference of experiment class than control class equal to 0,047. There is a significant relationship between guided inquiry learning with self efficacy and guided inquiry learning. Each correlation value is 0.737. The learning process with guided inquiry is fun and challenging so that students can expose their ideas and opinions without being forced. From the results of questionnaires students showed an attitude of interest, sincerity and a good response of learning. While the results of questionnaires teachers showed that guided inquiry learning can make students learn actively, increased self-efficacy.

  11. Questions for Surveys

    PubMed Central

    Schaeffer, Nora Cate; Dykema, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    We begin with a look back at the field to identify themes of recent research that we expect to continue to occupy researchers in the future. As part of this overview, we characterize the themes and topics examined in research about measurement and survey questions published in Public Opinion Quarterly in the past decade. We then characterize the field more broadly by highlighting topics that we expect to continue or to grow in importance, including the relationship between survey questions and the total survey error perspective, cognitive versus interactional approaches, interviewing practices, mode and technology, visual aspects of question design, and culture. Considering avenues for future research, we advocate for a decision-oriented framework for thinking about survey questions and their characteristics. The approach we propose distinguishes among various aspects of question characteristics, including question topic, question type and response dimension, conceptualization and operationalization of the target object, question structure, question form, response categories, question implementation, and question wording. Thinking about question characteristics more systematically would allow study designs to take into account relationships among these characteristics and identify gaps in current knowledge. PMID:24970951

  12. Ethics teaching in European veterinary schools: a qualitative case study.

    PubMed

    Magalhães-Sant'Ana, M

    2014-12-13

    Veterinary ethics is recognised as a relevant topic in the undergraduate veterinary curriculum. However, there appears to be no widely agreed view on which contents are best suited for veterinary ethics teaching and there is limited information on the teaching approaches adopted by veterinary schools. This paper provides an inside perspective on the diversity of veterinary ethics teaching topics, based on an in-depth analysis of three European veterinary schools: Copenhagen, Lisbon and Nottingham. The case study approach integrated information from the analysis of syllabi contents and interviews with educators (curricular year 2010-2011). These results show that the curriculum of veterinary ethics is multidimensional and can combine a wide range of scientific, regulatory, professional and philosophical subjects, some of which may not be explicitly set out in the course descriptors. A conceptual model for veterinary ethics teaching is proposed comprising prominent topics included within four overarching concepts: animal welfare science, laws/regulations, professionalism, and theories/concepts. It is intended that this work should inform future curriculum development of veterinary ethics in European schools and assist ethical deliberation in veterinary practice. British Veterinary Association.

  13. German health interview and examination survey for adults (DEGS) - design, objectives and implementation of the first data collection wave

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS) is part of the recently established national health monitoring conducted by the Robert Koch Institute. DEGS combines a nationally representative periodic health survey and a longitudinal study based on follow-up of survey participants. Funding is provided by the German Ministry of Health and supplemented for specific research topics from other sources. Methods/design The first DEGS wave of data collection (DEGS1) extended from November 2008 to December 2011. Overall, 8152 men and women participated. Of these, 3959 persons already participated in the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 (GNHIES98) at which time they were 18–79 years of age. Another 4193 persons 18–79 years of age were recruited for DEGS1 in 2008–2011 based on two-stage stratified random sampling from local population registries. Health data and context variables were collected using standardized computer assisted personal interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and standardized measurements and tests. In order to keep survey results representative for the population aged 18–79 years, results will be weighted by survey-specific weighting factors considering sampling and drop-out probabilities as well as deviations between the design-weighted net sample and German population statistics 2010. Discussion DEGS aims to establish a nationally representative data base on health of adults in Germany. This health data platform will be used for continuous health reporting and health care research. The results will help to support health policy planning and evaluation. Repeated cross-sectional surveys will permit analyses of time trends in morbidity, functional capacity levels, disability, and health risks and resources. Follow-up of study participants will provide the opportunity to study trajectories of health and disability. A special focus lies on chronic diseases including asthma, allergies, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes mellitus, and musculoskeletal diseases. Other core topics include vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization status, nutritional deficiencies, health in older age, and the association between health-related behavior and mental health. PMID:22938722

  14. Handling Stereotypes of Religious Professionals: Strategies Hospice Chaplains Use When Interacting with Patients and Families.

    PubMed

    Lindholm, Kristin

    2017-12-01

    Stereotypes of religious professionals can create barriers for those who provide spiritual/pastoral care. Through interviews and journal entries, hospice chaplains ( n = 45) identified the following stereotypes that affected their work: chaplains as people whom others try to impress, who only talk about spiritual and religious topics, who are male, and who try to convert others. Participants reported using a variety of communication strategies to counteract stereotypes and make meaningful connections with the people they serve.

  15. I’m Sorry to Hear That: Empathic Communication in Virtual Education for Nurses

    PubMed Central

    Strekalova, Yulia A.; Krieger, Janice L.; Kleinheksel, A.J.; Kotranza, Aaron

    2016-01-01

    The current study examined the communication strategies used by undergraduate nursing students (N = 343) to express empathy during simulated health history interviews. Interacting with a virtual patient, students encountered up to 9 information disclosures that warranted the expression of empathy but recognized few (33.54%). Sophistication of language to express empathy varied depending on the disclosure topic. These findings suggest that empathy as a learned skill can be incorporated into a variety of nursing contexts. PMID:27490312

  16. New Directions and Challenges in Preventing Conduct Problems in Early Childhood.

    PubMed

    Shaw, Daniel S; Taraban, Lindsay E

    2017-06-01

    In this article, we review advances in developing and preventing conduct problems in early childhood and identify challenges. Among the topics we address are expanding the targets of prevention programs beyond improving parenting skills, implementing family-based interventions during early childhood for families living in impoverished communities, making greater use of community platforms that serve young children at risk for early conduct problems, and incorporating techniques such as motivational interviewing to improve families' engagement in nontraditional mental health settings.

  17. THE COMMAND OF THE TREND: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON IN THE INFORMATION AGE

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-01

    and a bot network) based on the analysis within this case study . Table 3. ISIS Case Study Analysis Propaganda Narratives 1. ISIS is strong...get started with an interview and included me in a cyber think-tank for the study of ISIS activity on social media. Additionally, I am still... study demonstrates how social media is a tool for modern warfare in the information age. The report builds on analysis of three distinct topics

  18. Empathic Communication in Virtual Education for Nursing Students: I'm Sorry to Hear That.

    PubMed

    Strekalova, Yulia A; Krieger, Janice L; Kleinheksel, A J; Kotranza, Aaron

    The current study examined the communication strategies used by undergraduate nursing students (N = 343) to express empathy during simulated health history interviews. Interacting with a virtual patient, students encountered up to 9 information disclosures that warranted the expression of empathy but recognized few (33.54%). Sophistication of language to express empathy varied depending on the disclosure topic. These findings suggest that empathy as a learned skill can be incorporated into a variety of nursing contexts.

  19. JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Kommunist, no. 15, October 1989.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-12-11

    Fots] 43 SPIRITUAL LIFE OF SOCIETY Mankind and Civilization on the Threshold of the New Millennium 45 A Name on the Map ; Topical Interview [O...34 Describing the Provisional Government as a " wolf in sheep’s clothing," a group of soldiers from the Western Front demanded that it be replaced... medieval poet: JPRS-UKO-89-021 11 December 1989 15 "I did not become wealthy, nor learned; I did not acquire the merits of a saint, and my time ran

  20. MADE 2. Marketing and Distributive Education Competency Based Curriculum Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New Jersey State Dept. of Education, Trenton. Div. of Vocational Education.

    This curriculum guide is one in a series of three competency-based instructional materials dealing with marketing and distributive education (MADE). Covered in the individual sections of the guide are the following topics: job orientation (personal appearance, job opportunities, job interviews, basic skills, training plans, legal requirements, and…

  1. Economic and Societal Factors Instructional Guide. Student Materials.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hendrix, Mary W.

    These student materials are designed to accompany the Economic and Societal Factors Instructional Guide. Page numbers are consistent with the numbering in that guide. The guide's nine units deal with the following topics: (1) job acquisition (sources of employment, job application, completing the application form, resume, job interview, follow-up…

  2. Perspectives on Library Public Services from Four Leaders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dallis, Diane

    2017-01-01

    This article explores and examines the state of library services through interviewing a small group of directors, associate deans, and associate university librarians of public services and identifying common themes and insightful views on this area of librarianship. The participants respond to the same set of questions that cover topics including…

  3. Reaching the Top in Canadian Librarianship: A Biographical Study of Sex Differences in Career Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Roma M.; Tague, Jean M.

    1989-01-01

    Presents results of intensive biographical interviews with male and female directors of academic, government, and large public library systems across Canada to examine differences in career paths. Topics discussed include publication record; professional associations; mobility; preprofessional library work experience; administrative preparation;…

  4. Chinese Language Video Clips. [CD-ROM].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fleming, Stephen; Hipley, David; Ning, Cynthia

    This compact disc includes video clips covering six topics for the learner of Chinese: personal information, commercial transactions, travel and leisure, health and sports, food and school. Filmed on location in Beijing, these naturalistic video clips consist mainly of unrehearsed interviews of ordinary people. The learner is lead through a series…

  5. Student Inquiry in the Research Process, Part 4: Inquiry Research Investigation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Preddy, Leslie B.

    2003-01-01

    Explains a hands-on, classroom teacher/library media specialist collaborative model for implementing the inquiry approach to the research process into the classroom and school library media center. Topics include the investigation phase; source notes; primary sources; interviews; community resources; storyboards; and peer conferences. (LRW)

  6. Jobs: Finding and Keeping = Empleos: Buscandolos y Manteniendolos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Private Industry Council of Lehigh Valley, Inc., Allentown, PA.

    This document consists of the English and Spanish versions of a booklet to aid individuals in finding and keeping jobs for which they are best suited. Topics covered include analyzing personal requirements (abilities, interests), where to look for jobs, letters of application, resumes, application forms, employment interviews, and job keeping…

  7. NSF Director Bloch Stresses Effectiveness and Efficiency.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lepkowski, Wil

    1985-01-01

    The text of an interview with Erich Bloch, National Science Foundation (NSF) director, is provided. Among the topics/issues explored are NSF's role in policy research, mission and goals of NSF, establishment of NSF Engineering Research Centers, and national security issues involving access to supercomputers in universities that NSF is funding. (JN)

  8. The Helicopter Parent (Part 2): International Arrivals and Departures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Somers, Patricia; Settle, Jim

    2010-01-01

    The phenomenon of helicopter parenting has been widely reported, yet the research literature is anemic on the topic. Based on interviews and focus groups involving 190 academic and student services professionals, this article continues by discussing the social, psychological, economic, and cultural factors that influence helicoptering; exploring…

  9. Distance Education and Virtual Reference: Where Are We Headed?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coffman, Steve

    2001-01-01

    Discusses changes in distance education and considers the resulting need for new types of library services. Topics include new Web-based contact center software; how to conduct virtual reference interviews; online reference service; the role of the physical library; staffing changes; and future possibilities, including impacts on costs of library…

  10. Des Machines pour ecrire (Writing Machines).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mirande, Corinne

    1996-01-01

    A variety of formats for writing news articles and announcements on a variety of common topics (current events, cultural events, sports, surveys, interviews, travelogs, and classified advertising) is presented in fill-in-the-blank form. Suggestions are offered for using these formats to teach French usage at all levels. (MSE)

  11. Forest Fire: A Crisis Reality for Camp.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Don; Mickelson, Rhonda

    2002-01-01

    Two camp directors were interviewed about evacuations from their camps due to forest fires. Topics covered include descriptions of the events; actions taken; aspects of advance planning that proved helpful; unexpected portions of the experience and resultant changes made in plans; relations with outside agencies, the media, and parents; working…

  12. New Directions in Higher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conger, Darius

    In view of the current demand for curriculum development and evaluation, relevance in source offerings, and overall accountability, Central Michigan University studied the literature on curriculum changes and conducted interviews on the topics. The report has two major objectives: to identify the projected needs of society (i.e., the numbers of…

  13. Aller au cinema. Pratiques langagieres et habitudes culturelles (Going to the Movies. Language Practice and Cultural Customs).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fargeot-Mauche, Marie-Claude

    1984-01-01

    A technique for illustrating to foreign language students how diversity can exist within a given culture uses taped interviews on a specific topic with different individuals. Students have a chance to analyze sociocultural patterns and make linguistic comparisons and generalizations. (MSE)

  14. Parenting the Chinese Way in America

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wu, Echo H.; Hertberg-Davis, Holly

    2009-01-01

    This paper illustrates a case study on two Chinese American families with gifted children, and the major topic focuses on the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children's talent development. In-depth interviews were employed to collect data from the Chinese parents who lived in America, and research questions include the daily…

  15. "Don't Do's": Strategies for Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Terrell, Shandra R.

    This paper explores the schooling experiences of nine African American male inmates. The researcher conducted face-to-face interviews with inmates to obtain accounts of their schooling experiences, then grouped recurring topics into four themes. The themes included: their discomfort with being embarrassed or shamed in school; their feeling of…

  16. Peut-on ne pas etre eclectique? (Can We Not Be Eclectic?)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Le Goffic, Pierre

    1977-01-01

    An interview with Jean-Claude Chevalier in which the advantages and dangers of eclecticism are discussed. Some topics covered are: the role of traditional grammar; recent linguistic research in French; the development of teaching methods; Chomsky's theory of universal grammar. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

  17. How Student Affairs Professionals Learn to Advocate: A Phenomenological Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harrison, Laura M.

    2014-01-01

    This phenomenological study examined how student affairs professionals learn advocacy skills and what they learn in their education on this topic. Findings based on 22 interviews show participants felt underprepared by their graduate programs for the myriad challenges involved with advocating for students. Findings indicate participants found…

  18. Factors influencing campground use in the Superior National Forest of Minnesota.

    Treesearch

    David W. Lime

    1971-01-01

    From a study of campground use in 1967 and 1968 relationships were determined between the intensity of use and 74 onsite and location characteristics. Campers were interviewed to learn what factors influenced their choice of a particular campground. Recommendations to management and topics for further research are discussed.

  19. Building a Vita for the Clinical Practice.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tentoni, Stuart C.

    Vita review is used by most prospective employers to determine which applicants will be interviewed for a particular position opening in clinical practice. Most graduate students have little knowledge and no training in this topic, which is vital for professional development. Specific examples of vitae construction are provided for one of the…

  20. From Down House Landlord to Brazilian High School Students: What Happened to Evolutionary Knowledge on the Way?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bizzo, Neilo Marco Vincenzo

    1994-01-01

    Reports results of interviews and tests carried out with students after they had been taught the topic of evolution. Different interpretations of Charles Darwin's theories are also analyzed. Results revealed that students show a poor understanding of evolutionary theories. (ZWH)

  1. College Psychotherapy at a Korean University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chae, Soo Eun; Choi, Mi Hwa

    2016-01-01

    In the online interview presented in this article, two Korean counselors offer comments to questions regarding issues faced at a Korean University. They reflected on their roles and some of the many topics faced that included: (1) student misunderstanding about counseling needs, and how counseling questionnaires and the counselor helps them; (2)…

  2. A Theoretical Concept of Educational Upward Mobility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kupfer, Antonia

    2012-01-01

    This paper's topic is the educational upward mobility of members of the working class. It seeks to find out what makes educational success possible and aims to build a theory of educational upward mobility. Data have been collected through biographical-narrative interviews of Austrian graduates from working-class backgrounds. Their narratives have…

  3. The Teacher Trainer, 1994.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodward, Tessa, Ed.

    1994-01-01

    This document consists of the three issues of the journal "The Teacher Trainer" published in 1994. This journal is designed for those interested in modern language teacher training. It makes use of a variety of formats: article, letter, comment, quotation, cartoon, interview, spoof, Haiku ideas. Typical article topics during 1994 included:…

  4. Topics for Lehigh County Seniors.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lehigh County Community Coll., Schnecksville, PA.

    Lehigh County Community College (Pennsylvania) and the Lehigh County Senior Citizens' Center collaborated on a project to assess the learning needs of the senior center's 1,600 members. A needs assessment completed by 68 center members and interviews of an additional 38 center members established that senior citizens preferred short-term workshops…

  5. Did We Have Science before 1988?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peacock, Alan; Dunne, Mick

    2014-01-01

    In this "Primary Science" interview, science educators Alan Peacock and Mick Dunne reflect on their own experiences of what science was like in England before a National Curriculum was introduced. Among the topics covered are: earliest memories of science in school, teaching science before 1988 (pre-science curriculum for primary…

  6. Grassroots Journalism in the City: Cleveland's Neighborhood Newspapers. Monograph No. 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jeffres, Leo W.; And Others

    The first section of this monograph on community newspapers describes the patterns and trends of "grassroots journalism" in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. Based on interviews with 37 newspaper editors, the following topics are covered: origins and history, goals, organization and structure, method of production, advertising, content,…

  7. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    KNOWLES, LAURENCE W.; THOMSON, W. SCOTT

    QUESTIONNAIRES (1,000) WERE MAILED TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE 50 STATES. THE FINAL SAMPLE GROUP CONSISTED OF 350 USABLE RESPONSES. THE STUDY DEALT WITH THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS SUPPLEMENTED THE QUESTIONNAIRES. THE MAJOR TOPICS OF INQUIRY WERE (1) FREEDOM OF…

  8. Commodification of care and its effects on maternal health in the Noun division (West Region - Cameroon).

    PubMed

    Moungbakou, Ibrahim Bienvenu Mouliom

    2018-06-15

    Since the mid-1980s, there has been a gradual ethical drift in the provision of maternal care in African health facilities in general, and in Cameroon in particular, despite government efforts. In fact, in Cameroon, an increasing number of caregivers are reportedly not providing compassionate care in maternity services. Consequently, many women, particularly the financially vulnerable, experience numerous difficulties in accessing these health services. In this article, we highlight the unequal access to care in public maternity services in Cameroon in general and the Noun Division in particular. For this study, in addition to documentary review, two qualitative data collection techniques were used: direct observation and individual interviews. Following the field work, the observation data were categorized and analyzed to assess their relevance and significance in relation to the topics listed in the observation checklist. Interviews were recorded using a dictaphone; they were subsequently transcribed and the data categorized and coded. After this stage, an analysis grid was constructed for content analysis of the transcripts, to study the frequency of topics addressed during the interviews, as well as divergences and convergences among the respondents. The results of this data analysis showed that money has become the driving force in service provision. As such, it is the patient's economic capital that counts. Considered "clients", pregnant women without sufficient financial resources wait long hours in corridors; some die in pain under the indifferent gaze of the professionals who are supposed to take care of them. In sharp contrast, the findings revealed that financially privileged patients are able to bribe caregivers to attract their favour and obtain prompt, careful, and effective care. These ethical abuses observed in the Noun public health facilities drive women to use, from the beginning of their pregnancies to the delivery, only healthcare delivered by traditional health attendants.

  9. A linguistic study of patient-centered interviewing: emergent interactional effects.

    PubMed

    Hesson, Ashley M; Sarinopoulos, Issidoros; Frankel, Richard M; Smith, Robert C

    2012-09-01

    To evaluate interactional effects of patient-centered interviewing (PCI) compared to isolated clinician-centered interviewing (CCI). We conducted a pilot study comparing PCI (N=4) to CCI (N=4) for simulated new-patient visits. We rated interviews independently and measured patient satisfaction with the interaction via a validated questionnaire. We conducted interactional sociolinguistic analysis on the interviews and compared across three levels of analysis: turn, topic, and interaction. We found significant differences between PCI and CCI in physician responses to patients' psychosocial cues and concerns. The number and type of physician questions also differed significantly across PCI and CCI sets. Qualitatively, we noted several indicators of physician-patient attunement in the PCI interviews that were not present in the CCI interviews. They spanned diverse aspects of physician and patient speech, suggesting interactional accommodation on the part of both participants. This small pilot study highlights a variety of interactional variables that may underlie the effects associated with patient-centered interviewing (e.g., positive relationships, health outcomes). Question form, phonological accommodation processes, and use of stylistic markers are relatively unexplored in controlled studies of physician-patient interaction. This study characterizes several interactional variables for larger scale studies and contributes to models of patient-centeredness in practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. A survey of Canadian regulated complementary and alternative medicine schools about research, evidence-based health care and interprofessional training, as well as continuing education

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background While some effort has been made to integrate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) information in conventional biomedical training, it is unclear whether regulated Canadian CAM schools’ students are exposed to research activities and continuing education, or whether topics such as evidence-based health care and interprofessional collaboration (IPC) are covered during their training. Since these areas are valued by the biomedical training field, this may help to bridge the attitudinal and communication gaps between these different practices. The aim of this study was to describe the training offered in these areas and gather the perceptions of curriculum/program directors in regulated Canadian CAM schools. Methods A two-phase study consisting of an electronic survey and subsequent semi-structured telephone interviews was conducted with curriculum/program (C/P) directors in regulated Canadian CAM schools. Questions assessed the extent of the research, evidence-based health care, IPC training and continuing education, as well as the C/P directors’ perceptions about the training. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the schools’, curriculum’s and the C/P directors’ characteristics. Content analysis was conducted on the interview material. Results Twenty-eight C/P directors replied to the electronic survey and 11 participated in the interviews, representing chiropractic, naturopathy, acupuncture and massage therapy schools. Canadian regulated CAM schools offered research and evidence-based health care training as well as opportunities for collaboration with biomedical peers and continuing education to a various extent (58% to 91%). Although directors were generally satisfied with the training offered at their school, they expressed a desire for improvements. They felt future CAM providers should understand research findings and be able to rely on high quality research and to communicate with conventional care providers as well as to engage in continuing education. Limited length of the curriculum was one of the barriers to such improvements. Conclusions These findings seem to reinforce the directors’ interest and the importance of integrating these topics in order to ensure best CAM practices and improve communication between CAM and conventional providers. PMID:24373181

  11. Effective teaching in the contexts of Internet science projects: American and Russian teachers' perspectives of best practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mumma, Brian

    Statement of the problem. Science education literature had agreed that an important goal in students' learning is the development of scientific and technological literacy. One effort that teachers have integrated into their practices for addressing this goal has been teaching within the contexts of Internet Science Projects. Greater awareness of teachers' perspectives of their best practices and their beliefs and reasons for these practices in the contexts of Internet Science Projects can improve the quality of science education programs. Methods. A series of pilot interviews was conducted during the 2000--2001 school year to develop the guiding questions for inquiring into teachers' perspectives of their best practices within the contexts of Internet Science Projects. This series of interviews resulted in the understanding of the need to select teachers with experiences with Internet Science Projects and to conduct in-depth phenomenological interviews for learning from their voices. Two teachers were purposefully selected as the participant-informants for this study, one an American elementary teacher from Walker County, Georgia, and one a Russian teacher from St. Petersburg, Russia. The study was conducted from October through December 2001. The data collected for this qualitative study consisted of a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews, classroom observations, and the collection and analysis of various artifacts including teacher journals, student products, and e-mail/bulletin board transcripts. The interview structure was based upon a modification of expanding Seidman's (1998) three interview series into multiple interviews concluded upon the determination of saturation of the topic. The series of interviews were composed of (1) life history focus; (2) the details of the experience of teaching within the contexts of Internet Science Projects; and (3) reflection on the meanings. The data analysis consisted of applying Strauss & Corbin's (1990) open coding structure. Results. The results of this study revealed that these teachers carried their best practices from traditional teaching into their practices in the contexts of Internet Science Projects. The teachers created student-centered learning environments by focusing upon their classroom structure over that of the Internet Science Project. The teachers created strong local learning experiences inside an outside of their classroom environments where students were able to build strong understandings of the topic area before becoming engaged in virtual collaborations and Internet communications. This engagement allowed success in the face of any contingencies that might prevent or limit the ability for the teachers' classrooms to actively collaborate across the Internet. The teachers built their practices in Internet Science Projects upon questions prompted by their students' real world experiences, developed local understandings before progressing into exchanges for global collaborations, and built worldview perspectives.

  12. Provider and patient expectations for dietary supplement discussions.

    PubMed

    Tarn, Derjung M; Guzmán, Jennifer R; Good, Jeffrey S; Wenger, Neil S; Coulter, Ian D; Paterniti, Debora A

    2014-09-01

    Dietary supplement use in the United States is common. Patients can procure supplements without a prescription, and often do not disclose supplement use to their healthcare providers. Providers and patients may be uncertain about what would be appropriate or helpful in discussions of supplements during routine office visits. To explore provider and patient expectations for discussions of dietary supplements. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of healthcare providers from three specialties and their patients who reported taking supplements. Thirty-five outpatient providers (14 primary care, six integrative medicine, and 15 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers) and 107 of their patients. Qualitative analysis of transcripts using grounded theory and iterative review. Both providers and patients raised twelve common topics about dietary supplements that they felt were important to discuss during office visits, such as: supplements taken; supplement risks (interactions, safety/harm, side effects/adverse events); treatment benefits; efficacy; alternative treatments; and patient expectations/preferences for treatment. Some topics were mentioned more frequently by providers than patients, such as how to take, reason for taking, and evidence for use. Providers raised several topics that were mentioned infrequently by patients. Supplement costs and regulations were not brought up by any patients, even though consideration of these topics could influence patient decisions to take supplements. Complementary healthcare providers brought up topics not mentioned by primary care providers, such as the importance of supplement brands and supplement mega-dosing. Patients and providers have concordant views about the need to discuss patient supplement use and ensure patient safety. Patients may undervalue, be unaware of, or discount information about cost or regulations that could affect their decision-making about supplement use. Future studies could examine the value, acceptability, and influence of a more comprehensive approach to discussions to help patients appropriately evaluate supplements.

  13. Factors affecting decision making about fertility preservation after cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Peddie, V L; Porter, M A; Barbour, R; Culligan, D; MacDonald, G; King, D; Horn, J; Bhattacharya, S

    2012-08-01

    To increase our understanding of factors underlying the decision to store gametes after the diagnosis of cancer. Qualitative interview study. Andrology, Haematology, and Oncology Departments of a Scottish teaching hospital, and patients' own homes. Sixteen men and 18 women aged 17-49 years recently diagnosed with cancer; 15 health professionals concerned in cancer care. Audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Topics included perceptions of diagnosis; prognosis; future reproductive choices; priorities; quality of information received; communication and decisions made about future reproductive choices; and the role of partners, family, friends and healthcare professionals. Professional interviews examined their role in decision making and that of protocols and guidelines, together with information emerging from patient interview analysis. Themes identified following analysis of interview transcripts. The primary barriers to pursuing fertility preservation were the way in which information was provided and the 'urgent need for treatment' conveyed by staff. Survival was always viewed as paramount, with future fertility secondary. Sperm banking was viewed as 'part and parcel' of oncology care, and the majority of men quickly stored sperm as 'insurance' against future infertility. Few women were afforded the opportunity to discuss their options, reflecting clinicians' reservations about the experimental nature of egg and ovarian tissue cryopreservation, and the need for partner involvement in embryo storage. Significant gaps in the information provided to young women diagnosed with cancer suggest the need for an early appointment with a fertility expert. © 2012 The Authors BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology © 2012 RCOG.

  14. Perspectives on whistleblowing: faculty member viewpoints and suggestions for organizational change.

    PubMed

    Mecca, Jensen T; Giorgini, Vincent; Medeiros, Kelsey; Gibson, Carter; Devenport, Lynn; Connelly, Shane; Mumford, Michael

    2014-01-01

    Given the prevalence of unethical behavior in research, whistleblowing may serve an important policing function. Despite this potential value of whistleblowing to organizations, engaging in this type of activity often has negative ramifications for those who choose to blow the whistle. Organizations may fail to provide adequate support for these individuals. In order to help inform best practices for organizations in terms of whistleblowing support infrastructure, the present effort content analyzed interviews with university faculty members regarding ethical decision making in which whistleblowing was a topic. Relevant themes in these interviews are discussed.

  15. Rheumatology education for undergraduate nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students in the UK: standards, challenges and solutions.

    PubMed

    Hewlett, S; Clarke, B; O'Brien, A; Hammond, A; Ryan, S; Kay, L; Richards, P; Almeida, C

    2008-07-01

    Rheumatological conditions are common, thus nurses (Ns) occupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists (PTs) require at least basic rheumatology knowledge upon qualifying. The aim of this study was to develop a core set of teaching topics and potential ways of delivering them. A modified Delphi technique was used for clinicians to develop preliminary core sets of teaching topics for each profession. Telephone interviews with educationalists explored their views on these, and challenges and solutions for delivering them. Inter-professional workshops enabled clinicians and educationalists to finalize the core set together, and generate methods for delivery. Thirty-nine rheumatology clinicians (12N, 14OT, 13PT) completed the Delphi consensus, proposing three preliminary core sets (N71 items, OT29, PT26). Nineteen educationalists (6N, 7OT, 6PT) participated in telephone interviews, raising concerns about disease-specific vs generic teaching and proposing many methods for delivery. Three inter-professional workshops involved 34 participants (clinicians: N12, OT9, PT5; educationalists: N2, OT3, PT2; Patient 1) who reached consensus on a single core set comprising six teaching units: Anatomy and Physiology; Assessment; Management and Intervention; Psychosocial Issues; Patient Education; and the Multi-disciplinary Team, recommending some topics within the units receive greater depth for some professions. An innovative range of delivery options was generated plus two brief interventions: a Rheumatology Chat Show and a Rheumatology Road Show. Working together, clinicians and educationalists proposed a realistic core set of rheumatology topics for undergraduate health professionals. They proposed innovative delivery methods, with collaboration between educationalists, clinicians and patients strongly recommended. These potential interventions need testing.

  16. Rheumatology education for undergraduate nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students in the UK: standards, challenges and solutions

    PubMed Central

    Clarke, B.; O’Brien, A.; Hammond, A.; Ryan, S.; Kay, L.; Richards, P.; Almeida, C.

    2008-01-01

    Objectives. Rheumatological conditions are common, thus nurses (Ns) occupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists (PTs) require at least basic rheumatology knowledge upon qualifying. The aim of this study was to develop a core set of teaching topics and potential ways of delivering them. Methods. A modified Delphi technique was used for clinicians to develop preliminary core sets of teaching topics for each profession. Telephone interviews with educationalists explored their views on these, and challenges and solutions for delivering them. Inter-professional workshops enabled clinicians and educationalists to finalize the core set together, and generate methods for delivery. Results. Thirty-nine rheumatology clinicians (12N, 14OT, 13PT) completed the Delphi consensus, proposing three preliminary core sets (N71 items, OT29, PT26). Nineteen educationalists (6N, 7OT, 6PT) participated in telephone interviews, raising concerns about disease-specific vs generic teaching and proposing many methods for delivery. Three inter-professional workshops involved 34 participants (clinicians: N12, OT9, PT5; educationalists: N2, OT3, PT2; Patient 1) who reached consensus on a single core set comprising six teaching units: Anatomy and Physiology; Assessment; Management and Intervention; Psychosocial Issues; Patient Education; and the Multi-disciplinary Team, recommending some topics within the units receive greater depth for some professions. An innovative range of delivery options was generated plus two brief interventions: a Rheumatology Chat Show and a Rheumatology Road Show. Conclusions. Working together, clinicians and educationalists proposed a realistic core set of rheumatology topics for undergraduate health professionals. They proposed innovative delivery methods, with collaboration between educationalists, clinicians and patients strongly recommended. These potential interventions need testing. PMID:18443005

  17. Evolving minds: Helping students with cognitive dissonance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bramschreiber, Terry L.

    Even 150 years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, public school teachers still find themselves dealing with student resistance to learning about biological evolution. Some teachers deal with this pressure by undermining, deemphasizing, or even omitting the topic in their science curriculum. Others face the challenge and deliver solid scientific instruction of evolutionary theory despite the conflicts that may arise. The latter were the topic of this study. I interviewed five teachers that had experience dealing with resistance to learning evolution in their school community. Through these in-depth interviews, I examined strategies these teachers use when facing resistance and how they help students deal with the cognitive dissonance that may be experienced when learning about evolution. I selected the qualitative method of educational criticism and connoisseurship to organize and categorize my data. From the interviews, the following findings emerged. Experienced teachers increased their confidence in teaching evolution by pursuing outside professional development. They not only learned more about evolutionary theory, but about creationist arguments against evolution. These teachers front-load their curriculum to integrate the nature of science into their lessons to address misunderstandings about how science works. They also highlight the importance of learning evolutionary theory but ensure students they do not have an agenda to indoctrinate students. Finally these experienced teachers work hard to create an intellectually safe learning environment to build trusting and respectful relationships with their students.

  18. Establishing a good dentist-patient relationship: skills defined from the dental faculty perspective.

    PubMed

    Orsini, Cesar A; Jerez, Oscar M

    2014-10-01

    The importance of developing good dentist-patient relationships has been well documented, but previous studies have focused on social techniques, not considering the psychological and behavioral characteristics of patients, and have used definitions and instruments that were not dental-specific. Therefore, the aims of this study were to propose a definition of dentist-patient relationship skills, derived from dental faculty members' criteria and informed by Emotional Intelligence concepts, and to propose a preliminary dental-specific, face-valid, and reliable self-assessment instrument. The study was conducted in three phases. Phases I and II defined dentist-patient relationship competence through literature analysis and semi-structured interviews with expert key informants, establishing the outcome skills. In Phase III, the instrument was constructed and piloted. Communication skills and basic psychological tools resulted in core topics for use in practice. The definition both specifies and broadens social interactions in dentistry by including dental faculty members' criteria and topics such as psychological tools and pre-, intra-, and postoperative topics appropriate for use during consultation, examination, and treatment. The instrument was found suitable, reasonable, and accessible with a Cronbach's alpha level of 0.95. Future studies are needed to confirm the definition, as well as the instrument's validity, reliability, transference, and sensitivity to the dental educational environment.

  19. Intermingling and disordered logic as influences on schizophrenic 'thought disorders'.

    PubMed

    Harrow, M; Prosen, M

    1978-10-01

    A technique was devised to elicit bizarre or idiosyncratic responses from 30 young schizophrenics, who were then re-interviewed a week later to determine the reasons for each patient's idiosyncratic verbalizations. Taped interviews of the schizophrenics, scored along a series of rating scales, indicated: (1) An overt mechanism involved in bizarre schizophrenic language is a tendency to intermingle into their responses material from their current and past experiences. (2) Careful analysis suggests that the seemingly bizarre intermingled material of schizophrenics usually is close to the original "correct" topic. (3) The bizarre intermingled material is related to the patients' personal lives. (4) The intermingled material does not usually represent a failure to screen out or repress primitive drive dominated sexual or aggressive material. (5) Disordered logic was not a major factor in accounting for bizarre schizophrenic language.

  20. How to Solve Polyhedron Problem?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wijayanti, A.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Suhendra

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this research is to know the possible strategies to solve the problem in polyhedron topic with Knilsey’s Learning Model as scaffolding for the student. This research was conducted by using mixed method with sequential explanatory design. Researchers used purposive sampling technique to get two classes for Knisley class and conventional class and an extreme case sampling technique to get interview data. The instruments used are tests, observation sheets and interview guidelines. The result of the research shows that: (1) students’ strategies to solve polyhedron problem were grouped into two steps: by partitioning the problem to find out the solution and make a mathematical model of the mathematical sentence given and then connect it with the concept that the students already know; (2) students ‘mathematical problem solving ability in Knisley class is higher than those in conventional class.

  1. Use of topical anesthetic and non-medical alternatives in welding workers regarding ophthalmic problems.

    PubMed

    Aslan, Lokman; Sucakli, Mustafa Haki; Bozkurt, Selim; Aslankurt, Murat; Aksoy, Adnan; Celik, Mustafa

    2014-06-01

    Welding workers' ophthalmic problems resulting from their professions are frequently observed in ophthalmic emergencies and can cause severe visual impairment. We aimed to investigate the use of topical anesthetic and non-medical alternatives of this population regarding ophthalmic problems in this study. The study included 204 welding workers randomly selected from a population of 1852 people who had at least one-year experience as a welding worker and who were members of a chamber of welding workers. Data were collected at face to face interviews with a questionnaire composed of questions about ophthalmic problems caused by their profession and about how they eliminated these problems. Obtained data were analyzed with SPSS. Of 204 workers, 38.7% preferred non-medical alternatives including application of potatoes (22%), dressing with tea (17%), rinsing with cold water (3.4%) and closing eyes (2%). 30.5% of the participants used topical anesthetics (72% commercial and 28% prepared in pharmacies). There was a significant relation between use of non-medical methods and topical anesthetics, and workers' education, duration of work experience and receiving training from their seniors (p < 0.05). Use of non-medical methods and topical anesthetics by welding workers was found to be associated with low-education levels and insufficient knowledge about ophthalmologic problems due their professions and their treatment. They should be provided with appropriate training for the issue and precautions should be taken to prevent people from buying drugs without a prescription.

  2. Topics of internal medicine for undergraduate dental education: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Kunde, A; Harendza, S

    2015-08-01

    Due to the ageing population, internal medicine has become increasingly important for dental education. Although several studies have reported dentists' dissatisfaction with their internal medicine training, no guidelines exist for internal medicine learning objectives in dental education. The aim of this study was to identify topics of internal medicine considered to be relevant for dental education by dentists and internists. Eight dentists from private dental practices in Hamburg and eight experienced internal medicine consultants from Hamburg University Hospital were recruited for semi-structured interviews about internal medicine topics relevant for dentists. Internal diseases were clustered into representative subspecialties. Dentists and internists were also asked to rate medical diseases or emergencies compiled from the literature by their relevance to dental education. Coagulopathy and endocarditis were rated highest by dentists, whilst anaphylaxis was rated highest by internists. Dentists rated hepatitis, HIV, organ transplantation and head/neck neoplasm significantly higher than internists. The largest number of different internal diseases mentioned by dentists or internists could be clustered under cardiovascular diseases. The number of specific diseases dentists considered to be relevant for dental education was higher in the subspecialties cardiovascular diseases, haematology/oncology and infectiology. We identified the internal medicine topics most relevant for dental education by surveying practising dentists and internists. The relevance of these topics should be confirmed by larger quantitative studies to develop guidelines how to design specific learning objectives for internal medicine in the dental curriculum. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Evaluating Teach One Reach One-An STI/HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention to Enhance Adult-Youth Communication About Sex and Reduce the Burden of HIV/STI.

    PubMed

    Dave, Gaurav; Ritchwood, Tiarney; Young, Tiffany L; Isler, Malika Roman; Black, Adina; Akers, Aletha Y; Gizlice, Ziya; Blumenthal, Connie; Atley, Leslie; Wynn, Mysha; Stith, Doris; Cene, Crystal; Ellis, Danny; Corbie-Smith, Giselle

    2017-11-01

    Parents and caregivers play an important role in sexual socialization of youth, often serving as the primary source of information about sex. For African American rural youth who experience disparate rates of HIV/sexually transmitted infection, improving caregiver-youth communication about sexual topics may help to reduce risky behaviors. This study assessed the impact of an intervention to improve sexual topic communication. A Preintervention-postintervention, quasi-experimental, controlled, and community-based trial. Intervention was in 2 rural North Carolina counties with comparison group in 3 adjacent counties. Participants (n = 249) were parents, caregivers, or parental figures for African American youth aged 10 to 14. Twelve-session curriculum for participating dyads. Audio computer-assisted self-interview to assess changes at 9 months from baseline in communication about general and sensitive sex topics and overall communication about sex. Multivariable models were used to examine the differences between the changes in mean of scores for intervention and comparison groups. Statistically significant differences in changes in mean scores for communication about general sex topics ( P < .0001), communication about sensitive sex topics ( P < .0001), and overall communication about sex ( P < .0001) existed. Differences in change in mean scores remained significant after adjusting baseline scores and other variables in the multivariate models. In Teach One Reach One intervention, adult participants reported improved communication about sex, an important element to support risk reduction among youth in high-prevalence areas.

  4. Employing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework to capture user feedback in the design and testing stage of development of home-based arm rehabilitation technology.

    PubMed

    Sivan, Manoj; Gallagher, Justin; Holt, Ray; Weightman, Andrew; O'Connor, Rory; Levesley, Martin

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework to ensure that key aspects of user feedback are identified in the design and testing stages of development of a home-based upper limb rehabilitation system. Seventeen stroke survivors with residual upper limb weakness, and seven healthcare professionals with expertise in stroke rehabilitation, were enrolled in the user-centered design process. Through semi-structured interviews, they provided feedback on the hardware, software and impact of a home-based rehabilitation device to facilitate self-managed arm exercise. Members of the multidisciplinary clinical and engineering research team, based on previous experience and existing literature in user-centred design, developed the topic list for the interviews. Meaningful concepts were extracted from participants' interviews based on existing ICF linking rules and matched to categories within the ICF Comprehensive Core Set for stroke. Most of the interview concepts (except personal factors) matched the existing ICF Comprehensive Core Set categories. Personal factors that emerged from interviews e.g. gender, age, interest, compliance, motivation, choice and convenience that might determine device usability are yet to be categorised within the ICF framework and hence could not be matched to a specific Core Set category.

  5. Evaluating the patient experience after implantation of a 0.4 mg sustained release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert (Dextenza™): results of a qualitative survey.

    PubMed

    Gira, Joseph P; Sampson, Reginald; Silverstein, Steven M; Walters, Thomas R; Metzinger, Jamie Lynne; Talamo, Jonathan H

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the patient experience of sustained release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert (Dextenza™) following cataract surgery as part of a Phase III clinical trial program. This cross-sectional, qualitative evaluation involved individual interviews lasting approximately 45 minutes. Patients from four US investigational study sites who had previously received an insert were enrolled. There were no predesignated end points; this was a qualitative survey seeking a deeper understanding of patient experience. Twenty-five patients were interviewed. Most patients (92%) reported the highest level of satisfaction grade with regard to overall product satisfaction. All patients described the insert as comfortable. Most patients (96%) described their overall experience with the insert as very convenient or extremely convenient. Twenty-two of 23 (96%) participants rated their experience with the insert as "very" or "extremely convenient", compared to previous topical therapy, and 88% of patients stated that if they were to undergo cataract surgery again, they would request the insert. When asked if they would recommend the insert to family members or friends, 92% stated they would. The survey found that 84% of participants would be willing to pay more for the insert than for eye drop therapy. The dexamethasone insert was found by patients to be highly favorable with regard to overall satisfaction, convenience, and comfort. The insert was well received and largely preferred over topical therapy alternatives following surgery. More extensive evaluation of the patient experience is warranted, and future studies should help inform design of the next generation of sustained release drug delivery systems.

  6. Feasibility Study of Engaging Barbershops for Prostate Cancer Education in Rural African-American Communities.

    PubMed

    Luque, John S; Roy, Siddhartha; Tarasenko, Yelena N; Ross, Levi; Johnson, Jarrett; Gwede, Clement K

    2015-12-01

    The barbershop is a promising setting where African-American men might receive information and education about prostate cancer. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of engaging rural barbershops as venues for barbers to deliver a prostate cancer education intervention to increase informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening among customers. Twelve barbershops were recruited from two separate micropolitan areas in Georgia as intervention and control sites. Structured interviews were conducted with 11 barbers in both sites about customer characteristics as well as their willingness to participate in the study. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed for analysis. In the intervention site, six barbers completed a survey and a pre-/posttest prostate cancer knowledge instrument following training classes. Barbers reported a wide average range of customers served per week (50 to 300). African-American men made up an average of 87% of customers. Barbers thought prostate cancer was an important discussion topic, felt they would be comfortable discussing it, and supported the participation of their barbershop in the study. For intervention group barbers, there was a statistically significant difference between the average pretest knowledge score of 72% (mean 12.2, SD=3.2) and the posttest knowledge score of 89% (mean 15.2, SD=1.1) (P=0.03) on the 17-item prostate cancer knowledge instrument. Based on the multiple interactions with the barbers, there was high receptivity to the topic and consensus about the importance of addressing prostate cancer with their customers. Rural barbershops represent feasible venues for delivering a prostate cancer education intervention.

  7. Feasibility Study of Engaging Barbershops for Prostate Cancer Education in Rural African-American Communities

    PubMed Central

    Roy, Siddhartha; Tarasenko, Yelena N.; Ross, Levi; Johnson, Jarrett; Gwede, Clement K.

    2014-01-01

    Background The barbershop is a promising setting where African-American men might receive information and education about prostate cancer. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of engaging rural barbershops as venues for barbers to deliver a prostate cancer education intervention to increase informed decision making for prostate cancer screening among customers. Methods Twelve barbershops were recruited from two separate micropolitan areas in Georgia as intervention and control sites. Structured interviews were conducted with 11 barbers in both sites about customer characteristics as well as their willingness to participate in the study. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. In the intervention site, six barbers completed a survey and a pre-/posttest prostate cancer knowledge instrument following training classes. Results Barbers reported a wide average range of customers served per week (50 to 300). African-American men made up an average of 87% of customers. Barbers thought prostate cancer was an important discussion topic, felt they would be comfortable discussing it, and supported the participation of their barbershop in the study. For intervention group barbers, there was a statistically significant difference between the average pretest knowledge score of 72% (mean 12.2, SD = 3.2) and the posttest knowledge score of 89% (mean 15.2, SD = 1.1) (P = 0.03) on the 17-item prostate cancer knowledge instrument. Conclusion Based on the multiple interactions with the barbers, there was high receptivity to the topic and consensus about the importance of addressing prostate cancer with their customers. Rural barbershops represent feasible venues for delivering a prostate cancer education intervention. PMID:25288347

  8. Podcasting the Anthropocene: Student engagement, storytelling and the rise of a new model for outreach and interdisciplinary science communication training

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osborne, M. C.; Traer, M. M.; Hayden, T.

    2012-12-01

    Generation Anthropocene is a student-driven audio podcast series and ongoing project initiated by Michael Osborne, co-produced by Miles Traer, and overseen by Thomas Hayden, all from Stanford University's School of Earth Sciences. The project began as a seminar course where students conducted long-form one-on-one interviews with faculty at Stanford's college radio station, KZSU. Conversation topics covered a range of interdisciplinary issues related to the proposed new geologic boundary delineating "the age of man," including biodiversity loss, historical perceptions of the environment, urban design, agricultural systems, and human-environment interaction. Students researched and selected their own interview subjects, proposed interviewees and questions to the group and solicited critical feedback through small-group work-shopping. Students then prepared interview questionnaires, vetted by the instructors, and conducted in-depth, in-person interviews. Students work-shopped and edited the recorded interviews in a collaborative setting. The format of each interview is conversational, inter-generational, and driven by student interest. In addition to learning areas of academic expertise, advanced interviewing techniques and elements of audio production, the students also explored the diversity of career trajectories in the Earth sciences and allied fields, and the power of human-based stories to communicate complexity and uncertainty for a general audience. The instructors produced the final pieces, and released them online for general public consumption (http://www.stanford.edu/group/anthropocene/cgi-bin/wordpress/). Following the initial release, the Generation Anthropocene podcast series has subsequently been aired weekly at the leading environmental news outlet Grist (grist.org). The program has also expanded to include interviews with non-Stanford subjects, and is currently expanding to other campuses. The Generation Anthropocene program serves as a model for both interdisciplinary curriculum development and science communication outreach. We offer a conceptual framework for establishing similar programs at other institutions.

  9. A pill for the partner via the chlamydia patient? Results from a mixed method study among sexual health care providers in the Netherlands.

    PubMed

    Nanhoe, Anita C; Visser, Maartje; Omlo, Jurriaan J; Watzeels, Anita J C M; van den Broek, Ingrid V; Götz, Hannelore M

    2018-05-29

    Chlamydia prevalence in the Netherlands remains high despite targeted efforts. Effective Partner Notification (PN) and Partner Treatment (PT) can interrupt transmission and prevent re-infections. Patient Initiated Partner Treatment (PIPT) may strengthen chlamydia control. This study explores the current practice of PN and PT, and benefits of, and barriers and facilitators for PIPT among professionals in sexual health care in the Netherlands. A qualitative study was performed among GPs, GP-assistants (GPAs), physicians and nurses working at Sexual Health Clinics (SHC) and key-informants on ethnical diversity using topic lists in focus groups (N = 40) and semi-structured questionnaires in individual interviews (N = 9). Topics included current practices regarding PN and PT, attitude regarding PIPT, and perceived barriers and facilitators for PIPT. Interviews were taped, transcribed verbatim, and coded using ATLAS.ti. A quantitative online questionnaire on the same topics was sent to all physicians and nurses employed at Dutch SHC (complete response rate 26% (84/321)). The qualitative study showed that all professionals support the need for more attention to PN, and that they saw advantages in PIPT. Mentioned barriers included unwilling PN-behaviour, Dutch legislation, several medical considerations and inadequate skills of GPs. Also, concerns about limited knowledge of cultural sensitivity around PN and PT were raised. Mentioned facilitators of PIPT were reliable home based test-kits, phone-contact between professionals and notified partners, more consultation time for GPs or GPAs and additional training. The online questionnaire showed that SHC employees agreed that partners should be treated as soon as possible, but also that they were reluctant towards PIPT without counselling and testing. Professionals saw advantages in PIPT, but they also identified barriers hampering the potential introduction of PIPT. Improving PN and counselling skills with specific focus on cultural sensitivity is needed. PIPT could be considered for specific partners. PIPT in combination with home based testing and using e-healthcare should be further explored and developed.

  10. Preparation of Novel Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Electronic Device Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Franklin, Casey Gail

    This research evaluated the impact of energy information upon business owners' energy perceptions and behaviors within their architectural and social context. Specifically, it investigated if business owners were using an online electricity monitor, and how their perceptions related to engagement with energy information. The research sample consisted of ten small business owners who had participated in a free energy assessment program run by the local government. As part of the program, participants agreed to make one change the assessment suggested and attend two informational meetings. One meeting covering general energy efficiency topics and another instructing participants in use of an online electricity monitor. Data was gathered in the form of participant interviews, copies of the energy assessments, and screen shots of the electricity monitor. Interviews in context with the business owners covered topics such as how energy information impacted motivations, behaviors, and perceived limitations. Findings indicated that although each participant expressed an interest in conserving energy, none were regularly engaging with their electricity consumption information through the online monitor. Business owners did not find the monitor useful because it did not provide them information that was relevant to their business or architectural context. This indicates that future monitor designs should make a greater effort to incorporate information about users and their contexts into the representations of energy information. Doing this could make energy information more relevant and engaging so that users can relate to it and integrate it into their behavioral routines.

  11. A qualitative study of conceptions and attitudes regarding maternal mortality among traditional birth attendants in rural Guatemala.

    PubMed

    Rööst, Mattias; Johnsdotter, Sara; Liljestrand, Jerker; Essén, Birgitta

    2004-12-01

    To explore conceptions of obstetric emergency care among traditional birth attendants in rural Guatemala, elucidating social and cultural factors. design Qualitative in-depth interview study. Rural Guatemala. Thirteen traditional birth attendants from 11 villages around San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. Interviews with semi-structured, thematic, open-ended questions. Interview topics were: traditional birth attendants' experiences and conceptions as to the causes of complications, attitudes towards hospital care and referral of obstetric complications. Conceptions of obstetric complications, hospital referrals and maternal mortality among traditional birth attendants. Pregnant women rather than traditional birth attendants appear to make the decision on how to handle a complication, based on moralistically and fatalistically influenced thoughts about the nature of complications, in combination with a fear of caesarean section, maltreatment and discrimination at a hospital level. There is a discrepancy between what traditional birth attendants consider appropriate in cases of complications, and the actions they implement to handle them. Parameters in the referral system, such as logistics and socio-economic factors, are sometimes subordinated to cultural values by the target group. To have an impact on maternal mortality, bilateral culture-sensitive education should be included in maternal health programs.

  12. Pre-Service Special Education Teachers' Professionalism and Preparation in Terms of Child Sexual Abuse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Zboon, Eman; Ahmad, Jamal

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed at examining Jordanian pre-service special education teachers' professionalism and preparation on the topic of child sexual abuse (CSA). Qualitative research data from interviews with 20 pre-service special education teachers were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that these participants generally hold avoiding…

  13. Preservice Science and Technology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Cell Topics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Usak, Muhammet

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to explain prospective science and technology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) about the cell. Lesson preparation, laboratory plan, interview with teacher candidates, and concept mapping were used to collect the data for prospective teacher's PCK. The study was conducted with six prospective science and…

  14. Umberto Eco, l'esperanto, et le plurilinguisme de l'avenir (Umbert Eco, Esperanto, and the Multilingualism of the Future).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ertl, Istvan; Lo Jacomo, Francois

    1994-01-01

    An interview with Umberto Eco, novelist and linguist, addresses issues in international communication of the future, and particularly the role of Esperanto in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse world society. Topics discussed include translation, native language and multilingualism, and politics of language. (MSE)

  15. Colleges and Universities Want to Be Your Friend: Communicating via Online Social Networking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wandel, Tamara L.

    2008-01-01

    This article presents a compilation of data regarding the role of online social networks within campus communities, specifically for nonacademic purposes. Both qualitative and quantitative data methodologies are used to provide a unique perspective on a constantly evolving topic. Interviews of students and administrators allow for candid…

  16. Failing to Fulfill Tasks of Social Justice Weakens Country.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    USA Today, 1981

    1981-01-01

    Presents excerpts from an interview with Walter Mondale in which the former vice president expressed fears that the United States will be weakened by current policies of removing government from the tasks of social justice. Topics discussed include social security cuts, reduction of student loans, and elimination of the legal aid program. (DB)

  17. Exceptional Children and Microcomputers, A Survey of Public School Applications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crowner, T. Timothy

    Telephone interviews on the use of microcomputers in special education were administered to personnel in 25 districts (drawn from a random sample of the largest school districts in the United States) on the following topics: coordination of microcomputers; numbers of microcomputers owned and used; pragmatic uses; funding; brands used; selection,…

  18. Diversity and Mentoring in the Workplace: A Conversation with Belle Rose Ragins

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chandler, Dawn E.; Ellis, Rebecca

    2011-01-01

    Given projected increases in workplace diversity, an understanding of diversity's intersection with mentoring is a critical topic in the literature. This article involved an interview with Belle Rose Ragins, one of the world's leading thinkers on diversity and mentoring in the workplace. After providing an overview of Ragins' key achievements and…

  19. Introducing the Concept of Spirit Injury in Education-to-Work Transitions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Persaud, Renu Sharma

    2009-01-01

    This paper introduces the topic of spiritual injury and the possible influences and relationships it might share with education-to-work transitions of young adults. Students of both dominant and minority cultural backgrounds were interviewed to gain a detailed understanding of how perceptions of transitions came about. Further, I sought to…

  20. An Investigation of Tertiary Students' Understanding of Evaporation, Condensation and Vapour Pressure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gopal, Hemant; Kleinsmidt, Jacques; Case, Jennifer; Musonge, Paul

    2004-01-01

    Based on a purposive sample of 15 second-year chemical engineering students, this study investigates students' conceptions of evaporation, condensation and vapour pressure. During individual interviews the students were questioned on three tasks that had been designed around these topics. Qualitative analysis of student responses showed a range of…

  1. An Investigation of Tertiary Students' Understanding of Evaporation, Condensation and Vapour Pressure. Research Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gopal, Hemant; Kleinsmidt, Jacques; Case, Jennifer; Musonge, Paul

    2004-01-01

    Based on a purposive sample of 15 second-year chemical engineering students, this study investigates students' conceptions of evaporation, condensation and vapour pressure. During individual interviews the students were questioned on three tasks that had been designed around these topics. Qualitative analysis of student responses showed a range of…

  2. Popular Science Journalism: Facilitating Learning through Peer Review and Communication of Science News

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuten, Holly; Temesvari, Lesly

    2013-01-01

    In a multisemester Popular Science Journalism course that met for 2 hours once a week at Clemson University, students produced science news articles for the university newspaper by using primary literature, the internet, and interviews with researchers. Short lectures were given on topic choice, story development, literature surveys, common…

  3. Focus on Practice-Relationships between Lessons on the Primary Instrument and Individual Practice in Conservatoire Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koopman, Constantijn; Smit, Nico; de Vugt, Adri; Deneer, Paul; den Ouden, Jeannette

    2007-01-01

    This article presents the results of research into the relationships between lessons on the primary instrument and individual practice in conservatoire education. Six cases were extensively investigated through observation, questionnaires, logbooks, and interviews. Regarding the lessons on the primary instrument, we examined aims, topics,…

  4. An Assessment of Illinois Area Vocational Centers, 1976.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamilton, James A. G.

    This 1976 study presents an update of a 1971 assessment of Illinois Area Vocational Centers (AVCs). The following topics are discussed in sections of this report: (1) methodology of the study which included meetings with an advisory committee of AVC directors, interviews at each of twenty-nine operating AVCs, distribution of 2,000 of eleven…

  5. The Researcher's Journey: Scholarly Navigation of an Academic Library Web Site

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCann, Steve; Ravas, Tammy; Zoellner, Kate

    2010-01-01

    A qualitative study of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library's Web site identified the ways in which students and faculty of the University of Montana used the site for research purposes. This study employed open-ended interview questions and observations to spontaneously capture a user's experience in researching topics in which they…

  6. Mathematics Undergraduates' Responses to Semantic Abbreviations, 'Geometric' Images and Multi-Level Abstractions in Group Theory.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nardi, Elena

    2000-01-01

    Identifies and explores the difficulties in the novice mathematician's encounter with mathematical abstraction. Observes 20 first-year mathematics undergraduates and extracts sets of episodes from the transcripts of the tutorials and interviews within five topics in pure mathematics. Discusses issues related to the learning of one mathematical…

  7. Learning Qualitative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gerhart, Lael

    2009-01-01

    In this article I explore through a narrative how I came to do a research project in East New York. I show how first contact was established, how local contacts were made, and how trust between my research participants and me was created. I then explore how the research topic evolved through informal conversations, open-ended interviews, and…

  8. Practical Men or Dreamers?.....A Study of how Farmers Learn.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniels, John; Chamala, Shankariah

    1989-01-01

    A study addressed the issue of farmers failing to see the relevance of research and researchers being frustrated by slow adoption of their findings. Interviews with 30 Queensland (Australia) farmers showed that their understanding of the topics was poor because the farmers saw no need for the information. (Author/JOW)

  9. Rehabilitative Learning: Education during Pscyhiatric Hospitalization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaked, Haim

    2014-01-01

    This article presents a case study of a school designed for youth hospitalized for mental disorders, aiming to reveal the educational approach of such a school, a topic on which nothing has been written so far. The study, which lasted a year, employed qualitative techniques: observations, document collection and interviews. The study has found…

  10. Discipline and Rules in Four Hong Kong Kindergarten Classrooms: A Qualitative Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ho, Joyce; Grieshaber, Susan Jane; Walsh, Kerryann

    2017-01-01

    Classroom discipline is a topic of international interest and teachers are bombarded with advice regarding how to and why they should manage children's behaviour in their classrooms. This paper draws on data related to classroom discipline gathered from a detailed classroom observation schedule, teacher interviews, and field notes with four…

  11. Culturally Competent Diabetes Self-Management Education for Mexican Americans: The Starr County Border Health Initiative.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Sharon A.; Garcia, Alexandra A.; Kouzekanani, Kamiar; Hanis, Craig L.

    2002-01-01

    In a culturally competent diabetes self-management intervention in Starr County, Texas, bilingual Mexican American nurses, dieticians, and community workers provided weekly instruction on nutrition, self-monitoring, exercise and other self-care topics. A biweekly support group promoted behavior change. Interviews and examinations with 256 Mexican…

  12. Cardio-Pulmonary Function Testing. Continuing Education Curriculum for Respiratory Therapy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saint Paul Technical Vocational Inst., MN.

    Compiled from interviews with personnel in pulmonary function testing (PFT) laboratories in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, this competency-based curriculum guide is intended to provide a knowledge of PFT for persons who provide respiratory care. The guide contains 20 sections covering the following topics: vital capacity, flow measurements,…

  13. What Are Drivers for Informal Learning?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schürmann, Eva; Beausaert, Simon

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The topic of informal learning at work has received increasing attention in the past years. The purpose of this study is to explore in which informal learning activities employees engage and what are the drivers for informal learning. Design/Methodology/Approach: Semi-structured interviews were taken from ten human resources (HR) and ten…

  14. The Ohio School Facilities Commission. Revamping the State's School Construction Projects.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Patta, Joe

    2001-01-01

    Presents an interview with the Ohio School Facilities Commission's (OSFC) Executive Director who discusses the OSFC's history and its work in managing K-12 school facilities throughout the state. Topics include its efforts to help school districts get bond measures on ballets, funding projects, and its "Partnering Program" for construction…

  15. Service Delivery for Native American Children in Los Angeles County, 1996.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Champagne, Duane; Goldberg-Ambrose, Carole; Machamer, Amber; Phillips, Bethany; Evans, Tessa

    A study explored the human services delivery system for American Indian children in Los Angeles County (California). Telephone interviews were conducted with 29 Indian organizations, 19 members of the American Indian community, and 14 government agencies that provide services for children. Topics discussed included Indian child welfare, education,…

  16. The Effect of Verbal and Visuo-Spatial Abilities on the Development of Knowledge of the Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kikas, Eve

    2006-09-01

    Difficulties in students’ understanding of the spherical model of the Earth have been shown in previous studies. One of the reasons for these difficulties lies in beliefs and preliminary knowledge that hinder the interpretation of the scientific knowledge, the other reason may lie in the low level of verbal and visuo-spatial abilities. The study aims to investigate the effect of verbal and visuo-spatial abilities, but also that of preliminary knowledge on the later development of the knowledge of the Earth in school. 176 schoolchildren (96 boys and 80 girls) from five schools were tested; the mean age of the children during the first interview was seven years and eight months. All students were interviewed twice in grades 1 and 2, before and after they had learnt the topic in school. Factual, scientific and synthetic knowledge was assessed. The facilitative effect of visuo-spatial and verbal abilities and preliminary factual and scientific knowledge on students’ knowledge of astronomy after having learnt the topic in school was shown. In contrast, the hindering effect of synthetic knowledge was not found.

  17. Motivational interviewing skills are positively associated with nutritionist self-efficacy.

    PubMed

    Marley, Scott C; Carbonneau, Kira; Lockner, Donna; Kibbe, Debra; Trowbridge, Frederick

    2011-01-01

    To examine the relationships between physical and social self-concepts, motivational interviewing (MI), and nutrition assessment skills with dimensions of counseling self-efficacy. Cross-sectional survey. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics. Sixty-five WIC nutritionists. Counseling self-efficacy on topics related to physical activity and nutritional behaviors and in the presence of language and cultural differences. Multiple linear regression. Nutritionists' perception of their own MI skills was positively associated with their self-efficacy for counseling clients of a culture different than their own, when counseling about physical activity, and when counseling about nutrition behavior. Hispanic ethnicity and social self-concept were positively associated with counseling self-efficacy when culture differences were present. Physical self-concept was positively associated with self-efficacy related to physical activity topics. Nutrition assessment skill was negatively associated with self-efficacy for working with non-English-speaking clients. Development of MI skills and strategies to improve social and physical self-concept may increase WIC nutritionists' counseling self-efficacy, particularly when counseling clients from diverse backgrounds. Copyright © 2011 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Context Dependence of Students’ Views about the Role of Equations in Understanding Biology

    PubMed Central

    Watkins, Jessica; Elby, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Students’ epistemological views about biology—their ideas about what “counts” as learning and understanding biology—play a role in how they approach their courses and respond to reforms. As introductory biology courses incorporate more physics and quantitative reasoning, student attitudes about the role of equations in biology become especially relevant. However, as documented in research in physics education, students’ epistemologies are not always stable and fixed entities; they can be dynamic and context-dependent. In this paper, we examine an interview with an introductory student in which she discusses the use of equations in her reformed biology course. In one part of the interview, she expresses what sounds like an entrenched negative stance toward the role equations can play in understanding biology. However, later in the interview, when discussing a different biology topic, she takes a more positive stance toward the value of equations. These results highlight how a given student can have diverse ways of thinking about the value of bringing physics and math into biology. By highlighting how attitudes can shift in response to different tasks, instructional environments, and contextual cues, we emphasize the need to attend to these factors, rather than treating students’ beliefs as fixed and stable. PMID:23737634

  19. Hope: A further dimension for engaging family members of people with ABI.

    PubMed

    Kuipers, Pim; Doig, Emmah; Kendall, Melissa; Turner, Ben; Mitchell, Marion; Fleming, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    Family member engagement is increasingly recognised as an influential factor in the rehabilitation continuum following Acquired Brain Injury, including the inpatient setting and longer-term community integration phases. To explore the experiences of patients and family members about their involvement in brain injury rehabilitation. This study comprised individual and group interviews with 14 ex-patients and family members. Interviews explored effects of inpatient rehabilitation on family relationships. Interview audio recordings were analysed using an interpretive approach by two independent researchers. Findings clearly confirmed the significance of engaging family members in inpatient rehabilitation, and specifically reinforced the importance of informational, emotional, practical and peer support. However, the key finding of the study was the importance of hope, and the need for rehabilitation professionals to foster hope. Despite not having included any questions on this topic, all interviewees noted the importance of hope, some saw it as fundamental to positive outcomes, and many were unconvinced of rehabilitation professionals' concern to avoid false hope. Various dimensions of hope are explored. The study notes that hope has been identified as highly important in many areas beyond brain injury rehabilitation. Based on this small preliminary study, the issue of hope is seen as a key focus for future research.

  20. The good doctor - strong and persevering.

    PubMed

    Hertzberg, Tuva Kolstad; Skirbekk, Helge; Tyssen, Reidar; Aasland, Olaf Gjerløw; Rø, Karin Isaksson

    2016-10-01

    In today’s society, doctors are confronted with a number of opposing interests, from other colleagues, patients and employers. The development and regulation of the medical profession have been widely studied. However, less research has been devoted to the doctors’ own perception of what it means to be a good doctor. We conducted eight focus-group interviews and three individual interviews among senior consultants and specialty registrars in the areas of surgery, psychiatry and internal medicine in two different hospitals. Total N = 48, of which 56  % were women. The interviews were analysed with the aid of systematic text condensation. «Professional dedication» demonstrated through «a high degree of attendance in the workplace» and «a high work capacity» were key topics for good doctors. Having a «high work capacity» was defined as being willing to go to great lengths, work overtime and work effectively. The senior consultants perceived their job as doctors more as a «lifestyle», while the specialty registrars more frequently regarded their work as a «job». Norwegian hospital doctors wish to appear dedicated to their profession. They can demonstrate this by showing great willingness to work intensively and effectively with patients, while also going to great lengths to be available beyond normal working hours.

  1. Amelogenesis Imperfecta and Early Restorative Crown Therapy: An Interview Study with Adolescents and Young Adults on Their Experiences

    PubMed Central

    Wickström, Anette; Hasselblad, Tove; Dahllöf, Göran

    2016-01-01

    Patients with Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) can present with rapid tooth loss or fractures of enamel as well as alterations in enamel thickness, color, and shape; factors that may compromise aesthetic appearance and masticatory function. The aim was to explore the experiences and perceptions of adolescents and young adults living with AI and receiving early prosthetic therapy. Seven patients with severe AI aged 16 to 23 years who underwent porcelain crown therapy participated in one-to-one individual interviews. The interviews followed a topic guide consisting of open-ended questions related to experiences of having AI. Transcripts from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis process identified three main themes: Disturbances in daily life, Managing disturbances, and Normalization of daily life. These themes explain the experiences of patients living with enamel disturbances caused by AI and receiving early crown therapy. Experiences include severe pain and sensitivity problems, feelings of embarrassment, and dealing with dental staff that lack knowledge and understanding of their condition. The patients described ways to manage their disturbances and to reduce pain when eating or drinking, and strategies for meeting other people. After definitive treatment with porcelain crown therapy, they described feeling like a normal patient. In conclusion the results showed that adolescents and young adults describe a profound effect of AI on several aspects of their daily life. PMID:27359125

  2. USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 7

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hooke, L. R. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor)

    1986-01-01

    This is the seventh issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 29 papers recently published in Russian language periodicals and bound collections and of 8 new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. Additional features include two interviews with the Soviet Union's cosmonaut physicians and others knowledgable of the Soviet space program. The topics discussed at a Soviet conference on problems in space psychology are summarized. Information about English translations of Soviet materials available to readers is provided. The topics covered in this issue have been identified as relevant to 29 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology. These areas are adaptation, biospherics, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, exobiology, genetics, habitability and environment effects, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, morphology and cytology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, and space medicine.

  3. Risk to researchers in qualitative research on sensitive topics: issues and strategies.

    PubMed

    Dickson-Swift, Virginia; James, Erica L; Kippen, Sandra; Liamputtong, Pranee

    2008-01-01

    Traditionally, risk assessments in research have been limited to examining the risks to the research participants. Although doing so is appropriate and important, there is growing recognition that undertaking research can pose risks to researchers as well. A grounded theory study involving a range of researchers who had undertaken qualitative health research on a sensitive topic was completed. Analysis of the in-depth, face-to-face unstructured individual interviews with 30 Australian public health researchers provided evidence that researchers do confront a number of physical and emotional risks when undertaking research. Training, preparation, and supervision must be taken into account so that the risk to researchers can be minimized. Researchers need to consider occupational health and safety issues in designing research projects that deal with physical and emotional risks. Recommendations for professional supervision, policy development, and minimum training standards for researchers are provided.

  4. Activation of a critical attitude in prospective teachers: From research investigations to guidelines for teacher education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viennot, Laurence; Décamp, Nicolas

    2018-06-01

    This paper is inspired by the widely accepted need to develop critical thinking in physics students and teachers. More specifically, it is focused on the development of a critical attitude in prospective physics teachers. The question of a possible interplay between the development of conceptual comprehension and that of a critical attitude prompted us to conduct a series of investigations with teachers at the end of their preparation. The goal of this paper is to provide a synthesis of five previously published papers on this topic in order to inform discussion about teacher preparation. Each investigation is centered on a particular aspect of physics, and all are based on in-depth interviews with different participants. We focus on prospective teachers' "intellectual dynamics," that is, the way their comprehension of nonobvious topics and their critical attitudes evolve during these interviews, taking into account metacognitive and affective aspects such as intellectual satisfaction and self-esteem. We characterize several types of intellectual dynamics: "early critique," "delayed critique," "unstable critique," and "expert anesthesia" and provide information on their frequency. An overall conclusion is that in this type of context, that is, a guided intellectual pathway of about an hour, the development of conceptual comprehension and critical attitude are most often deeply entangled. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and we advocate new objectives and strategies for physics teachers' preparation.

  5. Improving physician-patient communication in cancer care: outcome of a workshop for oncologists.

    PubMed

    Baile, W F; Lenzi, R; Kudelka, A P; Maguire, P; Novack, D; Goldstein, M; Myers, E G; Bast, R C

    1997-01-01

    Physicians caring for cancer patients receive little formal training in difficult communications such as breaking bad news, discussing life support, and addressing patients' emotional concerns. The authors conducted a three-day workshop in communication skills for nine oncology attendings and three fellows. Topics for the workshop were selected by participants by a pre-workshop questionnaire. Small groups of four to five participants interviewed simulated patients who role-played scripts based on the selected topics. Sessions on self-awareness and one on planning for continuing the work of the group after the workshop were included. Responses to pretest and posttest questionnaires showed that the workshop increased the participants' confidence in a number of communication areas and also in managing physician burnout. Process issues such as patient death and expectations for cure were also discussed. Interactive workshops offer a promising way of teaching communication skills and aspects of the physician-patient relationship to oncologists. Conclusions regarding outcome, however, are preliminary and tentative, and long-term results are uncertain.

  6. It would not have happened to me at home: qualitative exploration of sojourns abroad and eating disorders in young Czech women.

    PubMed

    Pavlova, Barbara; Uher, Rudolf; Papezova, Hana

    2008-05-01

    Eating disorders can be triggered by life events involving migration and acculturation. To explore associations between sojourns abroad and the onset and course of eating disorders. Six semi-structured interviews with women with an eating disorder and history of sojourn abroad and seven first-person Internet testimonies were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). We identified three trajectories relating eating disorders to sojourns abroad: (I) weight-gain when abroad associated with later development of an eating disorder; (II) development or worsening of an eating disorder when abroad; (III) stay abroad as an attempt to escape the illness. Three topics informed on the impact of sojourns abroad on mental health: (A) different food and eating habits; (B) negative emotions; (C) illness as attempt to achieve something valuable. The importance of the identified trajectories and topics relating eating disorders to sojourns abroad needs to be estimated in an epidemiological study. (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association

  7. 'Questerviews': using questionnaires in qualitative interviews as a method of integrating qualitative and quantitative health services research.

    PubMed

    Adamson, Joy; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael; Woolhead, Gillian; Donovan, Jenny

    2004-07-01

    Multi-method approaches are increasingly advocated in health services research (HSR). This paper examines the use of standardised self-completion questionnaires and questions, during in-depth interviews, a technique termed 'questerviews'. 'Questerview' techniques were used in four empirical studies of health perceptions conducted by the authors. The studies included both standardised self-completion questions or questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Respondents were tape-recorded while they completed the standardised questionnaires and were encouraged to discuss their definitions of terms and responses to items in-depth. In all studies, 'questerviews' were fully transcribed and data analysis involved the scrutinising of transcripts to identify emergent themes. Responses to the standardised items led to rich sources of qualitative data. They proved to be useful triggers as respondents discussed their understanding and definitions of terms, often explaining their responses with stories from their own experiences. The items triggered detailed exploration of the complex factors that comprise health, illness and healthcare seeking, and gave considerable insight into the ways in which people respond to standardised questions. Apparently simple questions and response categories conceal considerable complexity. Inclusion of standardised survey questions in qualitative interviews can provide an easy and fruitful method to explore research issues and provide triggers to difficult or contested topics. Well designed and validated questionnaires produce data of immense value to HSR, and this value could be further enhanced by their use within a qualitative interview. We suggest that the technique of 'questerviews' is a tangible and pragmatic way of doing this.

  8. Pregnant womens' concerns when invited to a randomized trial: a qualitative case control study.

    PubMed

    Oude Rengerink, Katrien; Logtenberg, Sabine; Hooft, Lotty; Bossuyt, Patrick M; Mol, Ben Willem

    2015-09-04

    Pregnant women were excluded from clinical trials until the 1990s, but the Food and Drug Administration nowadays allows--and even encourages--responsible inclusion of pregnant women in trials with adequate safety monitoring. Still, randomized trials in pregnant women face specific enrolment challenges. Previous studies have focused on barriers to trial participation in studies that had failed to recruit sufficient participants. Our aim was to identify barriers and motivators for participation in a range of clinical trials being conducted in the Netherlands, regardless of recruitment performance. We performed a qualitative case control study in women who had been asked in 2010 to participate in one of eight clinical trials during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth. Both participants and non-participants of these clinical trials were invited for a face-to-face interview that addressed motives for participation and non-participation. We started the interview in an open fashion, asking the women for their main motive for participation or non-participation. When no new information emerged in this open part, we continued with a semi-structured interview, guided by a topic list. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using a constant-comparative approach. Two researchers identified barriers and facilitators for participation, conjoined into main themes. Of 28 women invited for the interview, 21 agreed to be interviewed (12 participants and 9 non-participants). For 5 of the 12 participants, contribution to scientific research was their main motive, while 5 had participated because the intervention seemed favorable and was not available outside the trial. Key motives for non-participation (n = 9) were a negative association or a dislike of the intervention, either because it might do harm (n = 6) or for practical reasons (n = 3). Combining the open and topic list guided interviews we constructed seven main themes that influence the pregnant women's decision to participate: external influence, research and healthcare, perception own situation, study design, intervention, information and counselling, and uncertainty. Among seven main themes that influence pregnant women's decision to participate, uncertainty about scientific research or the intervention was reported to be of considerable importance. Measures should be taken to habituate pregnant women more to scientific research, and further evaluation of opt-out consent deserves attention.

  9. Maintaining Credibility with the Media and Public in Uncertain Times

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hosansky, D.

    2010-12-01

    The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is in a unique position with regard to the complex interface between science, policy makers, the media, and the general public. Because NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), it enjoys great credibility. At the same time, it is managed by a non-profit consortium of universities and therefore is free of the constraints that government scientists sometimes face when communicating with reporters and the public. The NCAR Media Office strategically works to protect the credibility of scientists. Its overriding goal is to ensure that the center and the larger scientific community remain a trusted source of information about weather and climate topics, including such controversial topics as climate change. Scientists are freely available to talk with reporters without needing any official clearance. A multi-tier approach is adopted for disseminating science news to the media and public, ranging from news releases for significant, peer-reviewed research results to online, non-technical summaries for research that is more specialized or still in process. The media office directs reporters not only to NCAR scientists, but also to researchers at federal agencies and universities. It works closely with media officers and researchers at other organizations, often helping scientific collaborators connect with reporters. These approaches have helped make NCAR well known in the media industry as an authoritative, credible, and accessible source of information. To further disseminate information about science, the NCAR Media Office is expanding its efforts into multimedia, including video interviews and other footage; animations; and still images. These efforts are often undertaken in collaboration with NSF and other scientific organizations. In addition, the office is putting a greater emphasis on social media, using such tools as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to communicate major scientific developments in a strategic fashion to retain public trust. The office is also developing a “media academy” to provide intensive media training to scientists on a number of topics. The academy will stress such themes as communicating more clearly in print, television, and radio interviews, and handling potentially adversarial media encounters. Such efforts can help frame public discussion about science while minimizing misinformation about research.

  10. Skin-to-Skin Contact Facilitates More Equal Parenthood - A Qualitative Study From Fathers' Perspective.

    PubMed

    Olsson, Emma; Eriksson, Mats; Anderzén-Carlsson, Agneta

    A descriptive design was used where 20 fathers of premature infants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview-guide. The guide contained the following five topics: the fathers' feelings about and experiences of using skin-to-skin contact (SSC), the physical environment at the Neonatal Intensive Care unit, staff attitudes, and whether SSC had any impact on the relationship with their partner and other children in the family. The interviews were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis and the results compared with those of a qualitative systematic review by Anderzén-Carlsson and colleagues. The result shows that the fathers' overall experience of SSC was positive and as in the aforementioned review, they described experiences that were both gratifying and challenging. They felt more included and just as important as the mother because SSC and the demands placed on them by the premature birth helped them to achieve more equal parenthood. The fathers' overall experiences of SSC were positive as they felt included in their infants' care and just as important as the mothers. To a great degree the theoretical model tested was supported, although some weaknesses and differences were identified. It is important to include fathers in neonatal care and recognize that they feel equally important as mothers in caring for premature infants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Plants or animals - which do junior high school students prefer to study?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wandersee, James H.

    This research addressed the following questions: (1) Which science topic do junior high school students prefer to study - plants or animals? (2) Is their preference related to the variables of grade level and sex of student? Public school students from grades 7, 8, and 9 in Avoca, New York participated in the study. Findings show that 9th grade students have a greater interest in biological science topics than do students in the other grades studied. Girls are more interested in biological science topics than boys are. Girls also showed a significant preference for animals over plants. As a group, junior high school students revealed that they prefer animal study over plant study. About half of the student responses categorized as biological science did not express a clear-cut preference for either plants or animals. A caution about generalizability is expressed. Interviews of students suggest that the following characteristics of animals are important determinants of preferences: Animals move, eat, have eyes for sight, communicate by sound, exhibit behaviors that are fun to watch, have short and observable live cycles, interact with humans, can learn, have mates, give birth, and raise their young. It was obvious that most students think of mammals when they hear the term animal.

  12. Practical Aspects of Discussing Marijuana in a New Era.

    PubMed

    Lenoue, Sean R; Wongngamnit, Narin; Thurstone, Christian

    2016-11-01

    The use of marijuana for the treatment of medical conditions is a highly controversial topic. Misconceptions by both patients and providers concerning the safety of and evidence-based indications for marijuana can complicate treatment planning and outcomes. Maintaining skills such as motivational interviewing, providing evidence-based informed consent, and increasing access to care remain top priorities for providing quality patient care. The goal of this article is to offer guidance to clinical providers who are adapting to the changing realities of medical marijuana and legalized recreational marijuana.

  13. The role and potential contribution of clinical research nurses to clinical trials.

    PubMed

    Spilsbury, Karen; Petherick, Emily; Cullum, Nicky; Nelson, Andrea; Nixon, Jane; Mason, Su

    2008-02-01

    This study explores the scope and potential contribution of the Clinical Research Nurse (CRN) role to clinical trials of a nursing-specific topic. Over the past two decades, there have been increases in the numbers of nurses working as CRNs because of the increasing global demand for clinical trials. CRNs can influence the quality of clinical trials but the scope and contribution of the role to clinical trials is not known. Qualitative focus group study. A focus group interview was carried out with CRNs (n = 9) employed on a large, multi-centre (six NHS Trusts) randomized controlled trial of pressure area care. The focus group interview was recorded, alongside field notes of participant interactions and behaviours, and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed for thematic content and process. CRNs described their transition to a clinical research role. They reported a lack of confidence, role conflict as researcher and nurse, the challenges of gaining cooperation of clinical nursing staff to comply with trial protocols and difficulties maintaining their own motivation. CRNs provided their perceptions and observations of pressure area care and prevention. They identified areas of inadequate treatment, management and care, influenced by organizational and clinical aspects of care delivery. The study reveals challenges associated with training and management of CRNs. CRNs are usually associated with trial recruitment and data collection. This study highlights the additional contributions of CRNs for the study of topics specific to nursing as the result of their unique placement in the research centres as informal 'participant observers.' Such observations enhance understanding of the contexts being studied. These findings are relevant to the design and conduct of research studies of nursing care and practice and present ways for investigators to optimize the skills and knowledge of nurses working as CRNs.

  14. Training addiction professionals in empirically supported treatments: perspectives from the treatment community.

    PubMed

    Hartzler, Bryan; Rabun, Carl

    2014-01-01

    Large-scale dissemination efforts seek to expand opportunities for the addiction treatment community to receive training in empirically supported treatments (ESTs). Prospective consumers of such training are valuable sources of input about content of interest, preferences for how training events are structured, and obstacles that deter receipt of training. In this mixed-method study, data were collected in 64 semistructured individual interviews with personnel during site visits to 16 community opioid treatment programs (OTPs). At each OTP, interviews were completed with the executive director, a clinical supervisor, and 2 direct-service clinicians. Topical interests were analyzed qualitatively in a cultural domain analysis. Likert ratings of training event preferences were analyzed via generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), and unstructured interviewee comments were analyzed via narrative analysis. Obstacles to training receipt were analyzed qualitatively with both content coding and narrative analysis. Based on topics of reported interest, cultural domain analysis suggests as ESTs of note: Multidimensional Family Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Relapse Prevention Therapy, "Seeking Safety," and broad addiction-focused pharmacotherapy. Regarding training event preferences, GLMMs and narrative analysis revealed clear preferences for time-distributed trainings and use of participatory activities (e.g., trainer demonstrations, role plays, small group exercises). Content coding identified cost as the primary obstacle to receipt of EST trainings, followed by lack of time, logistical challenges, and disinterest, and narrative analysis elaborated on contextual issues underlying these obstacles. As primary consumers of EST technologies, the treatment community has valuable input to offer. Dissemination efforts may be enhanced by greater consideration of their preferences for training content and event structure, as well as practical obstacles that challenge their receipt of training.

  15. Analysis of the interface and data transfer from ICU to normal wards in a German University Hospital.

    PubMed

    Vollmer, Anne-Maria; Skonetzki-Cheng, Stefan; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich

    2013-01-01

    Typically general wards and intensive care units (ICU) have very different labor organizations, structures and IT-systems in Germany. There is a need for coordination, because of the different working arrangements. Our team investigated the interface between ICU and general ward and especially the respective information transfer in the University hospital in Erlangen (Bavaria, Germany). The research team used a combination of interviews, observations and the analysis of transfer records and forms as part of a methodical triangulation. We identified 41 topics, which are discussed or presented in writing during the handover. In a second step, we investigate the requirements of data transmission in expert interviews. A data transfer concept from the perspective of the nurses and physicians was developed and we formulated recommendations for improvements of process and communication for this interface. Finally the data transfer concept was evaluated by the respondents.

  16. Mothers With Physical Disability: Child Care Adaptations at Home

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Diane L.; Iezzoni, Lisa I.

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVE. This study describes how women with physical disability experience caregiving for a new infant and how they adapt their home environment and care tasks. METHOD. In 2013, we conducted 2-hr telephone interviews with 22 women with significant physical disability who had delivered babies within the previous 10 yr. The semistructured, open-ended interview protocol addressed wide-ranging pregnancy-related topics. NVivo was used to sort the texts for content analysis. RESULTS. Night care, bathing, and carrying the baby were identified as the biggest challenges. Typical adaptations (with and without occupational therapy consultation) included use of a wrap for carrying the infant, furniture adaptations for mothers using wheelchairs, and assistance from caregivers. CONCLUSION. Women with physical disability can be fully capable of caring for an infant and can find ways to adapt their environment. Further research may determine the role of occupation therapy. PMID:27767945

  17. Discovering Self: Childbearing Adolescents' Maternal Identity.

    PubMed

    Macintosh, Janelle; Callister, Lynn Clark

    2015-01-01

    Adolescent pregnancy and motherhood have long been a topic of interest for many healthcare professionals. However, there are limited data on how childbearing adolescents incorporate motherhood identity into their sense of self. The purpose of this study was to explore how childbearing adolescents perceive motherhood as becoming part of their personal identity. This qualitative study using ethnographic data collection involved 7 months of observation, interaction, and interviews. Data were collected from nine expectant adolescents during in-depth interviews. All participants were patients at a teen mother and child clinic staffed by certified nurse midwives and a pediatrician. Narrative content analysis revealed the overall theme of discovering self, with three major themes: confirming the pregnancy, the loss of my body, and imagining my child in my arms. Adolescent mothers may need assistance to construct their maternal identity in order to strengthen self-perceptions and improve maternal/child outcomes.

  18. On the history of medicine in the United States, theory, health insurance, and psychiatry: an interview with Charles Rosenberg.

    PubMed

    Rosenberg, Charles; Mantovani, Rafael

    2016-01-01

    An interview with Charles Rosenberg conducted by Rafael Mantovani in November 2013 that addressed four topics. It first focused on the way in which Rosenberg perceived trends and directions in historical research on medicine in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. The second focus was on his experience with other important historians who wrote about public health. Thirdly, he discussed his impressions about the current debate on health policy in his country. Finally, the last part explores some themes related to psychiatry and behavior control that have appeared in a number of his articles.

  19. Open innovation in the European space sector: Existing practices, constraints and opportunities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Burg, Elco; Giannopapa, Christina; Reymen, Isabelle M. M. J.

    2017-12-01

    To enhance innovative output and societal spillover of the European space sector, the open innovation approach is becoming popular. Yet, open innovation, referring to innovation practices that cross borders of individual firms, faces constraints. To explore these constraints and identify opportunities, this study performs interviews with government/agency officials and space technology entrepreneurs. The interviews highlight three topic areas with constraints and opportunities: 1) mainly one-directional knowledge flows (from outside the space sector to inside), 2) knowledge and property management, and 3) the role of small- and medium sized companies. These results bear important implications for innovation practices in the space sector.

  20. School-Age Children Talk about Chess: Does Knowledge Drive Syntactic Complexity?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nippold, Marilyn A.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: This study examined language productivity and syntactic complexity in school-age children in relation to their knowledge of the topic of discussion--the game of chess. Method: Children (N = 32; mean age = 10;11 [years;months]) who played chess volunteered to be interviewed by an adult examiner who had little or no experience playing…

  1. Bringing up Gender: Academic Abjection?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Emily F.

    2014-01-01

    The principal questions raised in this article are: what does it mean to bring up the topic of gender in a space where it is not known, and how can this moment of bringing up gender--or not bringing it up--be conceptualised? The article departs from the thoughts and questions that were provoked by an interview conducted with a Gender Studies…

  2. Spotlight on SLA Members: An Interview with Paul O'Pecko, Librarian at the Mystic Seaport G.W. Blunt White Library.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Information Outlook, 1999

    1999-01-01

    Discusses the collection of this special library that contains materials concerning maritime commerce and related topics and is part of the Mystic Seaport Museum. Highlights include users; research; budgeting; staff; library collection size; vendors; online projects; marketing; and views on the Special Library Association. (LRW)

  3. The Usefulness of Different Types of Health Research: Perspectives from a Low-Income Country

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burchett, Helen; Mayhew, Susannah H.; Lavis, John N.; Dobrow, Mark J.

    2015-01-01

    This article explores the perceived value of public health research and the types of research considered useful in Ghana. Sixty-nine decision makers, researchers and stakeholders were interviewed. A broad range of research was highly valued. Two traits were important: an applied, relevant topic and quickly produced findings. Interviewees valued…

  4. Theory and Practice: How Filming "Learning in the Real World" Helps Students Make the Connection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Commander, Nannette Evans; Ward, Teresa E.; Zabrucky, Karen M.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes an assignment, titled "Learning in the Real World," designed for graduate students in a learning theory course. Students work in small groups to create high quality audio-visual films that present "real learning" through interviews and/or observations of learners. Students select topics relevant to theories we are discussing…

  5. Students' Ideas about Nuclear Radiation -- Before and After Fukushima

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumann, Susanne; Hopf, Martin

    2013-01-01

    This article presents the results of a trend study investigating what students associate with the term radiation and what ideas they have about this topic. The first part of the interview study was conducted in June 2010 and its results were reported in a previously published article (Neumann & Hopf, 2012). Two years later (June 2012, 15…

  6. Parent Communication about Sexual Issues with Adolescents in Vietnam: Content, Contexts, and Barriers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trinh, Thang; Steckler, Allan; Ngo, Anh; Ratliff, Eric

    2009-01-01

    This qualitative study examines parent-adolescent communication on sexual topics in Thai Binh province, Vietnam. Data were collected from 45 in-depth interviews and seven focus groups with parents and adolescents of high school age. Results indicate that parents were apprehensive when it comes to sexual communication. Parents warned their children…

  7. Transforming Libraries: Issues and Innovations in Electronic Scholarly Publishing. Transforming Libraries Series. SPEC Kit 223.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soete, George J.

    This issue covers the broad topic of electronic scholarly publication. Some 25 professionals in 20 libraries, consortia, and publishing enterprises were interviewed for this issue. A section on issues and trends for managers discusses the proliferation of roles and models; assembling the critical mass; licensing, copyright and interlibrary loan;…

  8. Development and Evaluation of the Diagnostic Power for a Computer-Based Two-Tier Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Jing-Wen

    2016-01-01

    This study adopted a quasi-experimental design with follow-up interview to develop a computer-based two-tier assessment (CBA) regarding the science topic of electric circuits and to evaluate the diagnostic power of the assessment. Three assessment formats (i.e., paper-and-pencil, static computer-based, and dynamic computer-based tests) using…

  9. State-Based Curriculum-Making: Approaches to Local Curriculum Work in Norway and Finland

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mølstad, Christina Elde

    2015-01-01

    This article investigates how state authorities in Norway and Finland design national curriculum to provide different policy conditions for local curriculum work in municipalities and schools. The topic is explored by comparing how national authorities in Norway and Finland create a scope for local curriculum. The data consist of interviews with…

  10. Secondary School Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching about Topics That Bridge Science and Religion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Billingsley, Berry; Riga, Fran; Taber, Keith S.; Newdick, Helen

    2014-01-01

    The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their…

  11. Higher Education Teachers' Attitudes towards English Medium Instruction: A Three-Country Comparison

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dearden, Julie; Macaro, Ernesto

    2016-01-01

    We report on a small scale study carried out in Austria, Italy and Poland which investigated the attitudes of university teachers engaged in teaching their academic subject through the medium of English. The data consisted of 25 teacher interviews. We focused on the topics of internationalisation of universities, on policy and resourcing, and on…

  12. Fostering Humane Care of Dying Persons in Long-Term Care. Guidebook for Staff Development Instructors.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Sarah A.; Daley, Barbara

    This guide is intended for staff development instructors responsible for inservice education on the topic of fostering humane care for dying persons in long-term care. The introduction discusses the guide's development based on input from administrators, staff, and families of residents in long-term care facilities and focus group interviews in…

  13. From Teachers to Testers: How Parents Talk to Novice and Expert Children in a Natural History Museum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmquist, Sasha; Crowley, Kevin

    2007-01-01

    Informed by literature on childhood expertise in high-interest topics and parent-child conversation in museum settings, this study explored how children's level of dinosaur expertise influences family learning opportunities in a natural history museum. Interviews identified children with high and low dinosaur knowledge and assigned them to expert…

  14. Creative Process and Experiences Leading to Creative Achievement in the Case of Accomplished Architects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Seon-Young; Lee, Ghang

    2017-01-01

    This study has identified factors stimulating creative ideas, transforming creative ideas to products, and continuing creative performance in the field of architecture based on interviews with 10 creative and successful architects. Having a penchant for liberal arts and reading books on a broad range of topics on arts, humanities, social sciences,…

  15. Reflective Teaching and Practice: Interview with Thomas Farrell

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pang, Alvin

    2017-01-01

    Thomas Farrell is widely known for his views and publications on the topic of Reflective Practice, which is key to the professional development of teachers in 21st century classrooms. He is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Brock University, Canada. Farrell has been a language teacher and teacher educator since 1978 and has worked in Korea,…

  16. Practitioners' Constructions of Love in Early Childhood Education and Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cousins, Sarah Bernadette

    2017-01-01

    Love is rarely mentioned in Early Childhood Education and Care and there is no agreed definition for love in this context. In order to explore love in settings practitioner views on the topic should be sought. Unstructured interviews were carried out with senior practitioners in five contrasting settings. A range of qualitative methods were…

  17. Making History: An Indiana Teacher Uses Technology to Feel the History

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Technology & Learning, 2008

    2008-01-01

    Jon Carl's vision is simple: get students passionate about history by turning them into historians. To accomplish this, he created a class centered on documentary film-making. Students choose a topic, conduct research at local libraries, write a script, film video interviews, and create video segments of four to 15 minutes. District technology…

  18. Succeeding in College with Attention Deficit Disorders: Issues and Strategies for Students, Counselors and Educators.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bramer, Jennifer S.

    This guide for students with Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) and their counselors and teachers offers practical advice for success in college. The 11 chapters cover the following topics: (1) the possibility of success; (2) definitions and characteristics of ADD; (3) diagnosis and treatment of ADD; (4) interviews with college students about their…

  19. Computerization of the Botswana National Library Service. Restricted Technical Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Underwood, Peter C.

    This report discusses the scope for and feasibility of introducing automated systems into the Botswana National Library Service (BNLS). The study was undertaken at the request of BNLS and was conducted by an outside consultant who interviewed staff, read internal documents and reports, and studied patterns of work. Topics of the report include:…

  20. WOW! Windows on the Wild: A Biodiversity Primer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braus, Judy, Ed.; And Others

    Windows on the Wild is an environmental education program of the World Wildlife Fund. This issue of WOW! focuses on biodiversity. Topics include: an interview with one of the world's leading experts on biodiversity; the lighter side of biodiversity through comics and cartoons; a species-scape that compares the number of species on the planet;…

  1. Adolescents' View on Smoking, Quitting and Health Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dijk, Froukje; de Nooijer, Jascha; Heinrich, Evelien; de Vries, Hein

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the beliefs of 15-17 year-old Dutch adolescents about starting or quitting smoking and to explore their preferences regarding education concerning this topic. Design/methodology/approach: The paper shows that a total of 12 group interviews were held with 101 students in the highest classes in secondary…

  2. The Contextual Nature of Scientists' Views of Theories, Experimentation, and Their Coordination

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sandoval, William A.; Redman, Elizabeth H.

    2015-01-01

    Practicing scientists' views of science recently have become a topic of interest to nature of science researchers. Using an interview protocol developed by Carey and Smith that assumes respondents' views cohere into a single belief system, we asked 15 research chemists to discuss their views of theories and experimentation. Respondents expressed a…

  3. A Radio Model: A Community Strategy To Address the Problems and Needs of Mexican American Women Farmworkers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lopez-Trevino, Maria Elena

    Interviews with 60 Mexican-American female farmworkers in the Coachella Valley (California) identified their major problems, needs, and suggestions of topics to be presented in a community-based educational radio program. Two major problems identified by these women were low wages and occupational exposure to pesticides. Contrary to cultural…

  4. Influences of Social and Style Variables on Adult Usage of African American English Features

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Craig, Holly K.; Grogger, Jeffrey T.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the influences of selected social (gender, employment status, educational achievement level) and style variables (race of examiner, interview topic) on the production of African American English (AAE) by adults. Method: Participants were 50 African American men and women, ages 20-30 years. The authors…

  5. "I Am Not a Babysitter": A Case Study of Five Chinese Mainland Early Childhood Teachers' Identity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Limin; Yu, Shulin

    2017-01-01

    Although studies on teacher identity have proliferated in recent years, and examinations of the said topic have been conducted under various educational contexts, limited focus has been given to teacher identity in the early childhood educational context. Drawing upon data from semi-structured interviews with five early childhood teachers, this…

  6. Child-Rearing Practices of Two Generations of Punjabis: Development of Personality and Independence.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dosanjh, J. S.; Ghuman, P. A. S.

    1998-01-01

    From 1970-73 and in 1995, data on child-rearing practices were collected through interviews with Punjabi mothers living in Britain; topics included development of children's personality and independence. Findings revealed that enculturation has brought many changes in attitudes of the 1990s generation of Punjabi mothers; however, they still hold…

  7. The Woman Physician: Recent Research Perspectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mandelbaum, Dorothy Rosenthal; And Others

    Data on the progress of the woman M.D. from admission to medical school and through practice are presented in summaries of four papers on the topic. In "Women in Academic Medicine," Judith Braslow argues that the medical school interview is particularly difficult for women and that there is a need for greater representation of women on medical…

  8. Using the Study of Inventions and Technologies to Interest Students in History.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beardsley, Donna A.

    This document suggests uses ways of using inventions and technologies to teach history. A list of inventions and technologies can suggest topics for student research. Books about inventions and technologies are plentiful and a good source of information for students. A field trip might be helpful, or students can interview people who are in a…

  9. Utilizing Concrete Manipulatives in Contextually Distinct Situations to Assess Middle School Students' Meanings of Force

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ozdemir, Gokhan

    2017-01-01

    Students' alternative conceptions of force are one of the most studied topics, important for both science assessment and instruction. Previous studies often described students' alternative conceptions of force with a small number of well-known frameworks by utilizing interviews and paper-pencil tests in their assessments. This study aims to…

  10. Highly Inventive Explorer of Creativity: An Interview with John Baer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henshon, Suzanna E.

    2009-01-01

    Dr. John Baer is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Rider University. Dr. Baer has published 10 books and scores of research articles and book chapters on creativity, cooperative learning, and other educational psychology topics. His research on the development of creativity and his teaching have both won national awards,…

  11. The involvement of older inpatients in medical student education.

    PubMed

    Aquilina, T; Thompson, S M; Metcalfe, K H M; Hughes, H; Sinclair, L; Batt, F

    2018-01-01

    To examine older inpatients' experiences with medical student education, their views on future interactions, and to seek their opinion on the most important curricular topics related to geriatric medicine. The study involved 112 non-confused inpatients older than 65 years of age, who completed a uniformed questionnaire on the day of their discharge from a teaching hospital. The mean age was 81 years, with equal number of male and female participants. 57% interacted with the students during their admission, the majority being interviewed and examined. Almost all (92%) of these patients described their experience as positive, some described it as time-consuming (23%), repetitive (19%) and tiresome (9%). 92% of all participants agreed that the older patients should be part of medical students' education. Dementia, cardiac conditions, cancer, arthritis, isolation/loneliness were highlighted as the most important topics to teach medical students related to geriatric medicine, while patience and listening were listed as important skills. They suggested practical, easily implemented advice for the improvement of the interaction between students and older patients; including allowing more time for interactions and for students to speak louder. Older patients felt positively about their interactions with medical students, and believed that older patients should be involved in medical student education. As well as medical conditions such as dementia, cardiac disease and cancer, these patients highlighted isolation and loneliness as important topics for undergraduate geriatric medical education, implying that students should learn about broader aspects of older patients' health and wellbeing.

  12. The current debate on cultural diversity in Sweden.

    PubMed

    Hamde, Kiflemariam

    2008-01-01

    The paper examines the conceptual context of cultural diversity in Sweden. It describes the background in which the former Social Democratic Government declared 2006 as the Year for Cultural Diversity. A related concern is scrutinizing whether in fact this year would be a starting point for more deeply engaged diversity programs or if such policy definitions remain mere symbolic acts of window dressing. The study is based on analysis of official documents, diversity events and agendas, and interviews with different actors and diversity consultants, and participation in seminars and conferences on the topic of diversity and integration as the main topics. A major concern is whether the current interest on cultural diversity may lead to its institutionalization in the Swedish cultural and social organizations (Hamde, 2002a) and address the virtues of diversity, such as diversity for profitability and competence in workplaces, social justice concerns, and finally, societal cohesion. Alternatively, the paper explores if the debate on diversity merely remains a 'traveling' idea to appear occasionally and then occur in fashion-like manner as many management ideas do, leaving little traces on peoples' lives.

  13. The Role of Inhibition in Age-related Off-Topic Verbosity: Not Access but Deletion and Restraint Functions.

    PubMed

    Yin, Shufei; Peng, Huamao

    2016-01-01

    The speech of older adults is commonly described as verbose and off-topic, which is thought to influence their social communication. This study investigated the role of inhibition in age-related off-topic verbosity (OTV). Inhibition consists of three functions: access, deletion, and restraint. The access function is responsible for preventing irrelevant information from accessing the attention center (pre-mechanism of inhibition); The deletion function is responsible for deleting previously relevant but currently irrelevant information from working memory, and the restraint function is responsible for restraining strong but inappropriate responses (post-mechanisms of inhibition). A referential communication task was used to determine whether OTV was influenced by the pre-mechanism of inhibition. A self-involved event interview task was used to investigate the effect of the post-mechanisms of inhibition on OTV. Results showed that the OTV of the elderly participants was associated with an age-related decline in the post-mechanisms of inhibition, while the OTV exhibited by young adults was most likely due to deficits in the pre-mechanism function of inhibition. This research contributed to fill gaps in the existing knowledge about the potential relationship between specific functions of inhibition and age-related OTV.

  14. "Do I really want to do this?" Longitudinal cohort study participants' perspectives on postal survey design: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Harcombe, Helen; Derrett, Sarah; Herbison, Peter; McBride, David

    2011-01-27

    Randomised controlled trials have investigated aspects of postal survey design yet cannot elaborate on reasons behind participants' decision making and survey behaviour. This paper reports participants' perspectives of the design of, and participation in, a longitudinal postal cohort survey. It describes strengths and weaknesses in study design from the perspectives of study participants and aims to contribute to the: 1) design of future cohort surveys and questionnaires generally and, 2) design of cohort surveys for people with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) specifically. In-depth interviews explored the design of postal surveys previously completed by participants. Interviews used open ended questioning with a topic guide for prompts if areas of interest were not covered spontaneously. Thematic data analysis was undertaken based on the framework method. A second researcher verified all coding. Data from fourteen interviews were analysed within three main themes; participation, survey design and survey content. One of the main findings was the importance of clear communication aimed at the correct audience both when inviting potential participants to take part and within the survey itself. Providing enough information about the study, having a topic of interest and an explanation of likely benefits of the study were important when inviting people to participate. The neutrality of the survey and origination from a reputable source were both important; as was an explanation about why information was being collected within the survey itself. Study findings included participants' impressions when invited to take part, why they participated, the acceptability of follow-up of non-responders and why participants completed the follow-up postal survey. Also discussed were participants' first impression of the survey, its length, presentation and participants' views about specific questions within the survey. Ideas generated in this study provide an insight into participants' decision making and survey behaviour and may enhance the acceptability of future surveys to potential participants. As well as clear communication, participants valued incentives and survey questions that were relevant to them. However, opinions varied as to the preferred format for responses with some advising more opportunity for open-ended feedback. We also found that some standard format questions can raise quandaries for individual participants.

  15. Providing health information for culturally and linguistically diverse women: priorities and preferences of new migrants and refugees.

    PubMed

    Lee, Susan K; Sulaiman-Hill, Cheryl M R; Thompson, Sandra C

    2013-08-01

    Preferences for topics and means of access to health information among newly arrived, culturally and linguistically diverse women in Perth, Western Australia, were explored. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Qualitative material obtained from focus groups and interviews with 22 service providers and 26 migrant women was used to develop a questionnaire, which was then administered to 268 newly arrived migrant and refugee women from 50 countries. Participants' information and support priorities were ascertained from a ranking exercise conducted in a non-threatening context. Responses of migrant and refugee women were compared quantitatively. Women's top priorities for information and support included employment advice, as well as information regarding mental health issues, women's health, exercise and nutrition, family violence and alcohol and other drug issues. Their preferred methods for receiving information were interactive talks or presentations, with written material support. Audiovisual and Web-based material were also considered useful. There were differences between refugee women's and other migrants' preferences for means of receiving information and topics of most concern. The use of a non-threatening ranking process encouraged women to prioritise sensitive topics, such as family violence, and revealed a need for such topics to be incorporated within general health information presentations. Internet-based technologies are becoming increasingly important methods for disseminating information to migrant women. SO WHAT? Differences between migrant and refugee women's priority health issues and their preferred methods for receiving information highlight the desirability of tailoring information to particular groups. Although advice on employment pathways and mental health concerns were top priorities, the study revealed a need for more discussion on other sensitive topics, such as family violence and alcohol-related issues, and that ideally these should be incorporated into general information sessions to destigmatise attendance The increasing relevance of computer technology and social media for information dissemination was also of note.

  16. Responsibility and risk: understanding how PSA messages can encourage condom use.

    PubMed

    Treise, D M; Weigold, M F; Gotthoffer, A R; Prolman, C

    1999-01-01

    This article qualitatively examines how female college students interpret their responsibility for maintaining healthy sexual behaviors. A series of nine in-depth interviews was conducted to assess their perceptions on a broad range of sexual health topics including personal fears, relationships, monogamy, and sexual relationships. In addition, the paper addresses how these women negotiate condom use, responsibility issues regarding this negotiation, and perceived risk for contracting AIDS during unprotected sex. This study has implications for health educators, as well as for designers of public service advertisements, as it provides an in-depth look at why college women do not use protection even when it is available to them.

  17. Cultural analysis of communication behaviors among juveniles in a correctional facility.

    PubMed

    Sanger, D D; Creswell, J W; Dworak, J; Schultz, L

    2000-01-01

    This study addressed communication behaviors of female juvenile delinquents in a correctional facility. Qualitative methodology was used to study 78 participants ranging in age from 13.1 to 18.9 (years; months), over a five-month period. Data collection consisted of observations, participant observation, interviews, and a review of documents. Additionally, participants were tested on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3. Listening and following rules, utterance types, topics of conversion, politeness, and conversational management emerged as themes. Findings indicated that as many as 22% of participants were potential candidates for language services. Implications for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) providing communication services will be provided.

  18. Nurse case management: negotiating care together within a developing relationship.

    PubMed

    Yamashita, Mineko; Forchuk, Cheryl; Mound, Bronwyn

    2005-01-01

    TOPIC/PROBLEM: The purpose of this study was to explicate the process of nurse case management involving clients afflicted with chronic mental illness. Grounded theory was the method of choice. Interviews were conducted with nurses in inpatient, transitional, and community settings in four cities in southern Ontario, Canada. Negotiating care together within a developing relationship emerged as the basic social process. "Building a trusting relationship" was identified as the foundation of case management. Salient differences were found between the three settings, yet the basic social process was consistent across settings. This underscores the therapeutic relationship as the basis for nurse psychiatric case management.

  19. NASA Software Engineering Benchmarking Study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rarick, Heather L.; Godfrey, Sara H.; Kelly, John C.; Crumbley, Robert T.; Wifl, Joel M.

    2013-01-01

    To identify best practices for the improvement of software engineering on projects, NASA's Offices of Chief Engineer (OCE) and Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) formed a team led by Heather Rarick and Sally Godfrey to conduct this benchmarking study. The primary goals of the study are to identify best practices that: Improve the management and technical development of software intensive systems; Have a track record of successful deployment by aerospace industries, universities [including research and development (R&D) laboratories], and defense services, as well as NASA's own component Centers; and Identify candidate solutions for NASA's software issues. Beginning in the late fall of 2010, focus topics were chosen and interview questions were developed, based on the NASA top software challenges. Between February 2011 and November 2011, the Benchmark Team interviewed a total of 18 organizations, consisting of five NASA Centers, five industry organizations, four defense services organizations, and four university or university R and D laboratory organizations. A software assurance representative also participated in each of the interviews to focus on assurance and software safety best practices. Interviewees provided a wealth of information on each topic area that included: software policy, software acquisition, software assurance, testing, training, maintaining rigor in small projects, metrics, and use of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) framework, as well as a number of special topics that came up in the discussions. NASA's software engineering practices compared favorably with the external organizations in most benchmark areas, but in every topic, there were ways in which NASA could improve its practices. Compared to defense services organizations and some of the industry organizations, one of NASA's notable weaknesses involved communication with contractors regarding its policies and requirements for acquired software. One of NASA's strengths was its software assurance practices, which seemed to rate well in comparison to the other organizational groups and also seemed to include a larger scope of activities. An unexpected benefit of the software benchmarking study was the identification of many opportunities for collaboration in areas including metrics, training, sharing of CMMI experiences and resources such as instructors and CMMI Lead Appraisers, and even sharing of assets such as documented processes. A further unexpected benefit of the study was the feedback on NASA practices that was received from some of the organizations interviewed. From that feedback, other potential areas where NASA could improve were highlighted, such as accuracy of software cost estimation and budgetary practices. The detailed report contains discussion of the practices noted in each of the topic areas, as well as a summary of observations and recommendations from each of the topic areas. The resulting 24 recommendations from the topic areas were then consolidated to eliminate duplication and culled into a set of 14 suggested actionable recommendations. This final set of actionable recommendations, listed below, are items that can be implemented to improve NASA's software engineering practices and to help address many of the items that were listed in the NASA top software engineering issues. 1. Develop and implement standard contract language for software procurements. 2. Advance accurate and trusted software cost estimates for both procured and in-house software and improve the capture of actual cost data to facilitate further improvements. 3. Establish a consistent set of objectives and expectations, specifically types of metrics at the Agency level, so key trends and models can be identified and used to continuously improve software processes and each software development effort. 4. Maintain the CMMI Maturity Level requirement for critical NASA projects and use CMMI to measure organizations developing software for NASA. 5.onsolidate, collect and, if needed, develop common processes principles and other assets across the Agency in order to provide more consistency in software development and acquisition practices and to reduce the overall cost of maintaining or increasing current NASA CMMI maturity levels. 6. Provide additional support for small projects that includes: (a) guidance for appropriate tailoring of requirements for small projects, (b) availability of suitable tools, including support tool set-up and training, and (c) training for small project personnel, assurance personnel and technical authorities on the acceptable options for tailoring requirements and performing assurance on small projects. 7. Develop software training classes for the more experienced software engineers using on-line training, videos, or small separate modules of training that can be accommodated as needed throughout a project. 8. Create guidelines to structure non-classroom training opportunities such as mentoring, peer reviews, lessons learned sessions, and on-the-job training. 9. Develop a set of predictive software defect data and a process for assessing software testing metric data against it. 10. Assess Agency-wide licenses for commonly used software tools. 11. Fill the knowledge gap in common software engineering practices for new hires and co-ops.12. Work through the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program with universities in strengthening education in the use of common software engineering practices and standards. 13. Follow up this benchmark study with a deeper look into what both internal and external organizations perceive as the scope of software assurance, the value they expect to obtain from it, and the shortcomings they experience in the current practice. 14. Continue interactions with external software engineering environment through collaborations, knowledge sharing, and benchmarking.

  20. To Share or Not to Share: Malaysian Healthcare Professionals' Views on Localized Prostate Cancer Treatment Decision Making Roles.

    PubMed

    Lee, Yew Kong; Lee, Ping Yein; Cheong, Ai Theng; Ng, Chirk Jenn; Abdullah, Khatijah Lim; Ong, Teng Aik; Razack, Azad Hassan Abdul

    2015-01-01

    To explore the views of Malaysian healthcare professionals (HCPs) on stakeholders' decision making roles in localized prostate cancer (PCa) treatment. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with HCPs treating PCa. Data was analysed using a thematic approach. Four in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted between December 2012 and March 2013 using a topic guide. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. The participants comprised private urologists (n = 4), government urologists (n = 6), urology trainees (n = 6), government policy maker (n = 1) and oncologists (n = 3). HCP perceptions of the roles of the three parties involved (HCPs, patients, family) included: HCP as the main decision maker, HCP as a guide to patients' decision making, HCP as a facilitator to family involvement, patients as main decision maker and patient prefers HCP to decide. HCPs preferred to share the decision with patients due to equipoise between prostate treatment options. Family culture was important as family members often decided on the patient's treatment due to Malaysia's close-knit family culture. A range of decision making roles were reported by HCPs. It is thus important that stakeholder roles are clarified during PCa treatment decisions. HCPs need to cultivate an awareness of sociocultural norms and family dynamics when supporting non-Western patients in making decisions about PCa.

  1. To Share or Not to Share: Malaysian Healthcare Professionals' Views on Localized Prostate Cancer Treatment Decision Making Roles

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Yew Kong; Lee, Ping Yein; Cheong, Ai Theng; Ng, Chirk Jenn; Abdullah, Khatijah Lim; Ong, Teng Aik; Razack, Azad Hassan Abdul

    2015-01-01

    Aim To explore the views of Malaysian healthcare professionals (HCPs) on stakeholders’ decision making roles in localized prostate cancer (PCa) treatment. Methods Qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with HCPs treating PCa. Data was analysed using a thematic approach. Four in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted between December 2012 and March 2013 using a topic guide. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. Findings The participants comprised private urologists (n = 4), government urologists (n = 6), urology trainees (n = 6), government policy maker (n = 1) and oncologists (n = 3). HCP perceptions of the roles of the three parties involved (HCPs, patients, family) included: HCP as the main decision maker, HCP as a guide to patients’ decision making, HCP as a facilitator to family involvement, patients as main decision maker and patient prefers HCP to decide. HCPs preferred to share the decision with patients due to equipoise between prostate treatment options. Family culture was important as family members often decided on the patient’s treatment due to Malaysia’s close-knit family culture. Conclusions A range of decision making roles were reported by HCPs. It is thus important that stakeholder roles are clarified during PCa treatment decisions. HCPs need to cultivate an awareness of sociocultural norms and family dynamics when supporting non-Western patients in making decisions about PCa. PMID:26559947

  2. Evaluating the patient experience after implantation of a 0.4 mg sustained release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert (Dextenza™): results of a qualitative survey

    PubMed Central

    Gira, Joseph P; Sampson, Reginald; Silverstein, Steven M; Walters, Thomas R; Metzinger, Jamie Lynne; Talamo, Jonathan H

    2017-01-01

    Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the patient experience of sustained release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert (Dextenza™) following cataract surgery as part of a Phase III clinical trial program. Methods This cross-sectional, qualitative evaluation involved individual interviews lasting approximately 45 minutes. Patients from four US investigational study sites who had previously received an insert were enrolled. There were no predesignated end points; this was a qualitative survey seeking a deeper understanding of patient experience. Results Twenty-five patients were interviewed. Most patients (92%) reported the highest level of satisfaction grade with regard to overall product satisfaction. All patients described the insert as comfortable. Most patients (96%) described their overall experience with the insert as very convenient or extremely convenient. Twenty-two of 23 (96%) participants rated their experience with the insert as “very” or “extremely convenient”, compared to previous topical therapy, and 88% of patients stated that if they were to undergo cataract surgery again, they would request the insert. When asked if they would recommend the insert to family members or friends, 92% stated they would. The survey found that 84% of participants would be willing to pay more for the insert than for eye drop therapy. Conclusion The dexamethasone insert was found by patients to be highly favorable with regard to overall satisfaction, convenience, and comfort. The insert was well received and largely preferred over topical therapy alternatives following surgery. More extensive evaluation of the patient experience is warranted, and future studies should help inform design of the next generation of sustained release drug delivery systems. PMID:28331295

  3. Validity and reliability of a structured interview for early detection and risk assessment of parenting and developmental problems in young children: a cross-sectional study

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Preventive child health care is well suited for the early detection of parenting and developmental problems. However, as far as the younger age group is concerned, there are no validated early detection instruments which cover both the child and its environment. Therefore, we have developed a broad-scope structured interview which assesses parents’ concerns and their need for support, using both the parental perspective and the experience of the child health care nurse: the Structured Problem Analysis of Raising Kids (SPARK). This study reports the psychometric characteristics of the SPARK. Method A cross-sectional study of 2012 18-month-old children, living in Zeeland, a province of the Netherlands. Inter-rater reliability was assessed in 67 children. Convergent validity was assessed by comparing SPARK-domains with domains in self-report questionnaires on child development and parenting stress. Discriminative validity was assessed by comparing different outcomes of the SPARK between groups with different levels of socio-economic status and by performing an extreme-groups comparison. The user experience of both parents and nurses was assessed with the aid of an online survey. Results The response rate was 92.1% for the SPARK. Self-report questionnaires were returned in the case of 66.9% of the remaining 1721 children. There was selective non-reporting: 33.1% of the questionnaires were not returned, covering 65.2% of the children with a high-risk label according to the SPARK (p < 0.001). Inter-rater reliability was good to excellent with intraclass correlations between 0.85 and 1.0 for physical topics; between 0.61 and 0.8 for social-emotional topics and 0.92 for the overall risk assessment. Convergent validity was unexpectedly low (all correlations ≤0.3) although the pattern was as expected. Discriminative validity was good. Users were satisfied with the SPARK and identified some topics for improvement. Conclusion The SPARK discriminates between children with a high, increased and low risk of parenting and developmental problems. It does so in a reliable way, but more research is needed on aspects of validity and in other populations. PMID:22697218

  4. Statistics for Learning Genetics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Charles, Abigail Sheena

    This study investigated the knowledge and skills that biology students may need to help them understand statistics/mathematics as it applies to genetics. The data are based on analyses of current representative genetics texts, practicing genetics professors' perspectives, and more directly, students' perceptions of, and performance in, doing statistically-based genetics problems. This issue is at the emerging edge of modern college-level genetics instruction, and this study attempts to identify key theoretical components for creating a specialized biological statistics curriculum. The goal of this curriculum will be to prepare biology students with the skills for assimilating quantitatively-based genetic processes, increasingly at the forefront of modern genetics. To fulfill this, two college level classes at two universities were surveyed. One university was located in the northeastern US and the other in the West Indies. There was a sample size of 42 students and a supplementary interview was administered to a select 9 students. Interviews were also administered to professors in the field in order to gain insight into the teaching of statistics in genetics. Key findings indicated that students had very little to no background in statistics (55%). Although students did perform well on exams with 60% of the population receiving an A or B grade, 77% of them did not offer good explanations on a probability question associated with the normal distribution provided in the survey. The scope and presentation of the applicable statistics/mathematics in some of the most used textbooks in genetics teaching, as well as genetics syllabi used by instructors do not help the issue. It was found that the text books, often times, either did not give effective explanations for students, or completely left out certain topics. The omission of certain statistical/mathematical oriented topics was seen to be also true with the genetics syllabi reviewed for this study. Nonetheless, although the necessity for infusing these quantitative subjects with genetics and, overall, the biological sciences is growing (topics including synthetic biology, molecular systems biology and phylogenetics) there remains little time in the semester to be dedicated to the consolidation of learning and understanding.

  5. Tolerability of high-dose topical tretinoin: the Veterans Affairs Topical Tretinoin Chemoprevention Trial.

    PubMed

    Geng, A; Weinstock, M A; Hall, R; Eilers, D; Naylor, M; Kalivas, J

    2009-10-01

    Topical tretinoin is a medication commonly used for acne that has potential application in the long-term treatment of photodamaged skin. However, there are few published data regarding the tolerability of high-dose tretinoin with long-term use. To assess the long-term tolerability of tretinoin 0.1% cream. A randomized, multicentre, double-blind, controlled trial for chemoprevention of keratinocyte carcinomas (i.e. basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas) using topical tretinoin cream to the face and ears was conducted. All participants were veterans and had a history of two or more keratinocyte carcinomas over the previous 5 years. Participants were examined (by a study dermatologist) and interviewed every 6 months (for up to 5.5 years to May 2004). Treatment comprised tretinoin 0.1% cream or vehicle control cream once daily, then twice daily as tolerated. Participants were instructed to step down application frequency to once daily or less if twice daily was not tolerated. The main outcome measures were reported side-effects, frequency of cream application and attendance at study visits. Appropriate data were available for four of the six clinical sites of this trial. Data from 736 randomized participants (mean age 71 years; 97% men) from four clinical sites were analysed. The tretinoin group more commonly reported one or more side-effects at the 6-month follow-up than the control group (61% vs. 42%, P < 0.0001). Side-effects decreased over time in both groups, but to a greater extent in the tretinoin group, and the difference became nonsignificant at 30 months. Burning was the most common side-effect (39% tretinoin vs. 17% control, P < 0.0001). There was no difference in severity of side-effects among those affected. Of the participants who reported burning in either group, most reported mild burning; only 11% of those with burning in the tretinoin group reported it as severe (mild 62% tretinoin vs. 70% placebo; severe 11% vs. 5%; P = 0.4). Itching (24% vs. 16%, P = 0.01) and other local cutaneous reactions (12% vs. 6%, P = 0.01) were also more commonly reported by the tretinoin group at 6 months. There was no difference in numbness (2% vs. 2%, P = 0.9). Participants in the tretinoin group were less likely to apply cream twice daily at 6 months (29% vs. 43%, P = 0.0002). This difference persisted over the entire duration of follow-up. There was little difference between groups in attendance at study visits or completion of telephone interviews (92% vs. 95%, P = 0.06). No unexpected adverse events were reported. Overall, the tolerability level of topical tretinoin was high in this study population, with almost 40% of the tretinoin group reporting no side-effects, and the majority (67%) tolerating at least once-daily dosing at 6-month follow-up. High-dose topical tretinoin is feasible for long-term use in this population.

  6. Interactions between youth and mental health professionals: The Youth Aware of Mental health (YAM) program experience.

    PubMed

    Wasserman, Camilla; Postuvan, Vita; Herta, Dana; Iosue, Miriam; Värnik, Peeter; Carli, Vladimir

    2018-01-01

    Youth stand at the core of much mental health promotion, yet little is written about their experiences of such efforts. We aimed to take this on by interviewing youth after they participated in Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), a universal mental health promotion program. YAM has a non-anticipatory methodology that provides youth with a safe space for reflection, role-play, and discussion. Addressing everyday mental health, YAM invites the experiences and issues relevant to the youth present to influence the program in a slightly different direction every time. The YAM instructor guides the participants but does not present the youth with given formulas on how to solve their problems. Like any mental health promotion, YAM appeals to some more than others in its intended audience and individuals engage with the program in many different ways. We set out to learn more about these experiences. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15-17 year olds in Estonia, Italy, Romania and Spain. In these interviews, the researchers made an effort to discuss mental health in terms relevant to youth. Still, wide-ranging levels of motivation, ease with engaging in dialogue with mental health professionals, and comfort with the format and content of YAM were detected. The youth were clustered in five different groups relating to their positioning vis-à-vis the researcher during the interview. The following evocative labels were used: "interested", "foot in the door", "respect for authority", "careful", and "not my topic". Corresponding labels were devised for their YAM experience: "engaged", "initially hesitant", "cautious", "eager to please", or "disengaged". We also observed that the researchers brought their own expectations and employed a variety of approaches that led to anticipating answers, stating the obvious, or getting along better with some of the youth. These modes of interaction were categorized under: "favoritism", "familiarity", "frustration", "out of sync", and "insecurity". Similar power dynamics likely transpire in other encounters between youth and researchers, including interventions such as YAM. As mental health professionals, we need to be aware of the professional habits and biases that sometimes obstruct us in understanding the experiences of youth. By initiating dialogue and listening closely to youth we can find a way to those experiences. Qualitative research can help bring the underlying interplay between mental health professionals and youth to the surface while also orienting the conversation towards topics that matter to youth. Some youth are more interested or feel more at ease in speaking openly with mental health professionals, while others find such exchanges less appealing or almost intolerable. Future mental health promotion initiatives would benefit from involving youth in the design of interventions to create an inclusive atmosphere and engage with topics that appeal to youth with diverse experiences of mental health.

  7. Consultant psychiatrists’ experiences of and attitudes towards shared decision making in antipsychotic prescribing, a qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Shared decision making represents a clinical consultation model where both clinician and service user are conceptualised as experts; information is shared bilaterally and joint treatment decisions are reached. Little previous research has been conducted to assess experience of this model in psychiatric practice. The current project therefore sought to explore the attitudes and experiences of consultant psychiatrists relating to shared decision making in the prescribing of antipsychotic medications. Methods A qualitative research design allowed the experiences and beliefs of participants in relation to shared decision making to be elicited. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants from a range of clinical backgrounds and with varying length of clinical experience. A semi-structured interview schedule was utilised and was adapted in subsequent interviews to reflect emergent themes. Data analysis was completed in parallel with interviews in order to guide interview topics and to inform recruitment. A directed analysis method was utilised for interview analysis with themes identified being fitted to a framework identified from the research literature as applicable to the practice of shared decision making. Examples of themes contradictory to, or not adequately explained by, the framework were sought. Results A total of 26 consultant psychiatrists were interviewed. Participants expressed support for the shared decision making model, but also acknowledged that it was necessary to be flexible as the clinical situation dictated. A number of potential barriers to the process were perceived however: The commonest barrier was the clinician’s beliefs regarding the service users’ insight into their mental disorder, presented in some cases as an absolute barrier to shared decision making. In addition factors external to the clinician - service user relationship were identified as impacting on the decision making process, including; environmental factors, financial constraints as well as societal perceptions of mental disorder in general and antipsychotic medication in particular. Conclusions This project has allowed identification of potential barriers to shared decision making in psychiatric practice. Further work is necessary to observe the decision making process in clinical practice and also to identify means in which the identified barriers, in particular ‘lack of insight’, may be more effectively managed. PMID:24886121

  8. Consultant psychiatrists' experiences of and attitudes towards shared decision making in antipsychotic prescribing, a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Shepherd, Andrew; Shorthouse, Oliver; Gask, Linda

    2014-05-01

    Shared decision making represents a clinical consultation model where both clinician and service user are conceptualised as experts; information is shared bilaterally and joint treatment decisions are reached. Little previous research has been conducted to assess experience of this model in psychiatric practice. The current project therefore sought to explore the attitudes and experiences of consultant psychiatrists relating to shared decision making in the prescribing of antipsychotic medications. A qualitative research design allowed the experiences and beliefs of participants in relation to shared decision making to be elicited. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants from a range of clinical backgrounds and with varying length of clinical experience. A semi-structured interview schedule was utilised and was adapted in subsequent interviews to reflect emergent themes.Data analysis was completed in parallel with interviews in order to guide interview topics and to inform recruitment. A directed analysis method was utilised for interview analysis with themes identified being fitted to a framework identified from the research literature as applicable to the practice of shared decision making. Examples of themes contradictory to, or not adequately explained by, the framework were sought. A total of 26 consultant psychiatrists were interviewed. Participants expressed support for the shared decision making model, but also acknowledged that it was necessary to be flexible as the clinical situation dictated. A number of potential barriers to the process were perceived however: The commonest barrier was the clinician's beliefs regarding the service users' insight into their mental disorder, presented in some cases as an absolute barrier to shared decision making. In addition factors external to the clinician - service user relationship were identified as impacting on the decision making process, including; environmental factors, financial constraints as well as societal perceptions of mental disorder in general and antipsychotic medication in particular. This project has allowed identification of potential barriers to shared decision making in psychiatric practice. Further work is necessary to observe the decision making process in clinical practice and also to identify means in which the identified barriers, in particular 'lack of insight', may be more effectively managed.

  9. Young parents: the role of housing in understanding social inequality.

    PubMed

    Smith, Debbie; Roberts, Ron

    2011-01-01

    Since publication of the Social Exclusion Report in 1999, the adverse outcomes associated with young pregnancy have been a focus for Government policy. The ensuing Teenage Pregnancy Strategy sought to reduce social exclusion of young parents and their children. In this exploratory study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with young mothers (n=16) and fathers (n = 5) from a variety of socioeconomic environments, to explore their experience of being a young parent and some of the influences on their sexual and reproductive behaviours. They were recruited from two "more deprived" and two "more affluent" areas (Index of Multiple Deprivation classification). Their personal deprivation was measured by their parents' occupation. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts and identified themes were explored. Although housing was not included as a topic in the interview guide, responses indicated that housing is a cause of stress for young parents throughout and beyond pregnancy. Findings suggest that existing policies on supportive housing units adversely affect the relationship between young parents and between young fathers and their children. It is suggested that existing policies on supportive housing units should be reviewed to produce more supportive environments for parents and child. It was noted that the semi-structured interview method was successful in enabling the researchers to more fully understand the world as experienced by these young parents, and the researchers suggest that this research method may be particularly useful for use with vulnerable groups to suggest effective interventions.

  10. The Hidden Ethics Curriculum in Two Canadian Psychiatry Residency Programs: A Qualitative Study.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Mona; Forlini, Cynthia; Lenton, Keith; Duchen, Raquel; Lohfeld, Lynne

    2016-08-01

    The authors describe the hidden ethics curriculum in two postgraduate psychiatry programs. Researchers investigated the formal, informal, and hidden ethics curricula at two demographically different postgraduate psychiatry programs in Canada. Using a case study design, they compared three sources: individual interviews with residents and with faculty and a semi-structured review of program documents. They identified the formal, informal, and hidden curricula at each program for six ethics topics and grouped the topics under two thematic areas. They tested the applicability of the themes against the specific examples under each topic. Results pertaining to one of the themes and its three topics are reported here. Divergences occurred between the curricula for each topic. The nature of these divergences differed according to local program characteristics. Yet, in both programs, choices for action in ethically challenging situations were mediated by a minimum standard of ethics that led individuals to avoid trouble even if this meant their behavior fell short of the accepted ideal. Effective ethics education in postgraduate psychiatry training will require addressing the hidden curriculum. In addition to profession-wide efforts to articulate high-level values, program-specific action on locally relevant issues constitutes a necessary mechanism for handling the impact of the hidden curriculum.

  11. A Transcription and Translation Protocol for Sensitive Cross-Cultural Team Research.

    PubMed

    Clark, Lauren; Birkhead, Ana Sanchez; Fernandez, Cecilia; Egger, Marlene J

    2017-10-01

    Assurance of transcript accuracy and quality in interview-based qualitative research is foundational for data accuracy and study validity. Based on our experience in a cross-cultural ethnographic study of women's pelvic organ prolapse, we provide practical guidance to set up step-by-step interview transcription and translation protocols for team-based research on sensitive topics. Beginning with team decisions about level of detail in transcription, completeness, and accuracy, we operationalize the process of securing vendors to deliver the required quality of transcription and translation. We also share rubrics for assessing transcript quality and the team protocol for managing transcripts (assuring consistency of format, insertion of metadata, anonymization, and file labeling conventions) and procuring an acceptable initial translation of Spanish-language interviews. Accurate, complete, and systematically constructed transcripts in both source and target languages respond to the call for more transparency and reproducibility of scientific methods.

  12. Differences in nativity, age and gender may impact health behavior and perspectives among Asian Indians.

    PubMed

    Dhar, Sohini; Gor, Beverly; Banerjee, Deborah; Krishnan, Sunil; Dorai, V K; Jones, Lovell; Kabad, Kanchan; Naik, Lakshmi Rai; Legha, Sewa S; Pande, Mala

    2017-07-03

    Identify health perspectives among Asian Indians in greater Houston area, to guide a tailored community wide survey. Four focus groups of different ages, gender, and nativity were conducted at which participants were asked for their opinions about specific health topics. Key informant interviews were conducted with ten community leaders to validate focus group responses. Recordings from focus groups and key informant interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Diabetes, cancer, and hypertension were primary health concerns. Common themes were sedentary lifestyle and poor health literacy. Older participants were more accepting of having familial hypertension and high cholesterol. Women were more concerned about health of family members and dietary habits. Perspectives differed on eating habits, physical activity, use of Western medicine, and smoking based on nativity. Responses from key informant interviews validated focus group findings. Perspectives on health may differ among Asian Indians depending on gender, age, and nativity.

  13. Philosophical Approaches of Religious Jewish Science Teachers Toward the Teaching of 'Controversial' Topics in Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dodick, Jeff; Dayan, Aliza; Orion, Nir

    2010-07-01

    This research examines the problems that religious Jewish science teachers in Israeli high schools have in coping with science subjects (such as geological time) which conflict with their religious beliefs. We do this by characterizing the philosophical approaches within Judaism that such teachers have adopted for dealing with such controversy. Thus, we surveyed 56 religious teachers using a Likert-type questionnaire developed for this research, as well as interviewed 11 teachers to more deeply probe their approaches. In addition, we surveyed 15 religious scientists, so that we could both contrast their views with our teacher samples as well as to better understand their coping strategies when confronted by scientific topics that challenge their beliefs. Results indicated that no single philosophical approach earned overwhelming support from the teachers or scientists. Instead, most of the subjects relate separately to each source of possible conflict in accordance with the philosophical approach that appears to be the most fruitful for resolving such conflicts. Moreover, both the scientists and the teachers felt less conflicted toward the specific subject of geological time, in comparison to issues connected to creation of the earth and (especially) evolution. The teachers did differ from the scientists in their preference toward philosophical approaches which help them better integrate the domains of science and religion. Based on our findings, we are able to suggest a set of strategies to help teachers overcome their difficulties in teaching 'controversial' science topics to a religiously oriented student population.

  14. How a science methods course may influence the curriculum decisions of preservice teachers in the Bahamas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wisdom, Sonya L.

    The purpose of this study was to examine how a science methods course in primary education might influence the curriculum decisions of preservice teachers in The Bahamas related to unit plan development on environmental science topics. Grounded in a social constructivist theoretical framework for teaching and learning science, this study explored the development of the confidence and competence of six preservice teachers to teach environmental science topics at the primary school level. A qualitative case study using action research methodologies was conducted. The perspectives of preservice teachers about the relevancy of methods used in a science methods course were examined as I became more reflective about my practice. Using constant comparative analysis, data from student-written documents and interviews as well as my field notes from class observations and reflective journaling were analyzed for emerging patterns and themes. Findings of the study indicated that while preservice teachers showed a slight increase in interest regarding learning and teaching environmental science, their primary focus during the course was learning effective teaching strategies in science on topics with which they already had familiarity. Simultaneously, I gained a deeper understanding of the usefulness of reflection in my practice. As a contribution to the complexity of learning to teach science at the primary school level, this study suggests some issues for consideration as preservice teachers are supported to utilize more of the national primary science curriculum in The Bahamas.

  15. Navigating HIV prevention policy and Islam in Malaysia: contention, compatibility or reconciliation? Findings from in-depth interviews among key stakeholders.

    PubMed

    Barmania, Sima; Aljunid, Syed Mohamed

    2016-07-07

    Malaysia is a multicultural society, predominantly composed of a Muslim majority population, where Islam is influential. Malaysia has a concentrated HIV epidemic amongst high risk groups, such as, Intravenous Drug Users (IVDU), sex workers, transgender women and Men who have sex with Men (MSM). The objective of this study is to understand how Islam shapes HIV prevention strategies in Malaysia by interviewing the three key stakeholder groups identified as being influential, namely the Ministry of Health, Religious leaders and People living with HIV. Thirty-Five in depth semi structured interviews were undertaken with religious leaders, Ministry of Health and People living with HIV in the last half of 2013 using purposive sampling. Interviews adhered to a topic guide, were audiotaped, and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a framework analysis. Themes including the importance of Islam to health, stakeholder relationships and opinions on HIV prevention emerged. Islam was seen to play a pivotal role in shaping strategies relating to HIV prevention in Malaysia both directly and indirectly. Stakeholders often held different approaches to HIV prevention, which had to be sensitively considered, with some favouring promotion of Islamic principles, whilst others steering towards a more public health centred approach. The study suggests that Islam indeed plays an important role in shaping health policies and strategies related to HIV prevention in Malaysia. Certainly, stakeholders do hold differing viewpoints, such as stances of what constitutes the right approach to HIV prevention. However there are also areas of broad consensus, such as the importance in Islamic tradition to prevent harm and disease, which can be crafted into existing and future HIV prevention strategies in Malaysia, as well as the wider Muslim world.

  16. Oman shows vision in leading Middle Eastern drilling

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ahmed-al Shanfari, S.B.

    1989-12-01

    Oman produced more than 600,000 bopd for the first time in 1988. The country led the Middle East in total wells drilled for the third consecutive year. This article presents an interview with H.E. Said bin Ahmed al-Shanfari, Oman's Minister of Petroleum and Minerals. Topics discussed include Oman's future production plans, Opec, future exploratory areas, and petroleum export levels.

  17. A Qualitative Study of Egyptian School Nurses' Attitudes and Experiences toward Sex and Relationship Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farrag, Shewikar; Hayter, Mark

    2014-01-01

    School nurses play a vital role in the promotion of sexual health. However, there is very limited evidence of how school nurses experience this topic in an Islamic cultural setting. Using an exploratory qualitative design, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted with Egyptian school nurses. Data were subject to thematic analysis. Four themes emerged…

  18. The Critical Shapes of Body Image: The Role of Culture and Family in the Production of Eating Disorders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haworth-Hoeppner, Susan

    2000-01-01

    Explores how the family mediates cultural ideas about thinness, and considers how these messages are conveyed to family members. Discusses open-ended interviews with 32 White, middle-class women on the topic of body image and eating problems. Determined that a critical family environment, coercive parental control, and a dominating discourse on…

  19. Insights into the Interactions between Educational Messages: Looking across Multiple Organizations Addressing Water Issues in Maricopa County, Arizona

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cutts, Bethany; Saltz, Charlene; Elser, Monica

    2008-01-01

    The public receives environmental information from a variety of sources. Evaluation of a single program or one organization's effort is incomplete. Through surveys and interviews, we evaluate the cumulative impact of outreach by 20 water-related organizations in Maricopa County, Arizona. Household water conservation is a topic addressed by 18…

  20. Does Offender Gambling on the inside Continue on the outside? Insights from Correctional Professionals on Gambling and Re-Entry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, D. J.; Walker, Gordon J.

    2009-01-01

    This study brings to light a neglected topic of particular importance--offender gambling issues within the context of re-entry into the community. Fifteen correctional professionals from Nevada (high gambling availability) and Utah (no legalized gambling) participated in semi-structured interviews to provide insights into how gambling may impact…

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