Perinatal Nurses Respond to Shared Decision-Making Education: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Women describe a loss of autonomy during childbirth as a contributing factor to labor dissatisfaction. Shared decision-making with choice, option, and decision talk may improve satisfaction. Nurses (n = 29) received education on supporting women''s autonomy with a standardized communication tool (SUPPORT) to facilitate shared decision-making and create an evolving birth plan. This quasi-experimental pre-/post-test design evaluated participant responses to the education module. Participants supported the use of the SUPPORT tool for shared decision-making and developing evolving birth plans. Most recommended initiation between 13- and 26-weeks'' gestation. Nurses'' willingness to advocate for women''s autonomy increased significantly after education (p = .022). Shared decision-making with standardized perinatal communication may support a woman''s perinatal education and her satisfaction with labor.     

A comparative study of students' and their teacher's perceptions of laboratory work in secondary schools

This article reports on a study of student and teacher perceptions of the purpose and effectiveness of laboratory work in science at the Year 10 level of secondary school. The main focus of the study was a comparison between the perceptions of one class of students and their teacher at each of six different schools with regard to the aims, regularity, conduct and assessment of laboratory work. The study identified a number of areas of mismatch between students and their teachers. The findings of the study will be of use to teachers in developing and improving their science curriculum, particularly with regard to laboratory work.     

Rethinking Assessment Design: Evidence-Informed Strategies to Boost Educational Impact in the Anatomical Sciences

University assessment is in the midst of transformation. Assessments are no longer designed solely to determine that students can remember and regurgitate lecture content, nor in order to rank students to aid with some future selection process. Instead, assessments are expected to drive, support, and enhance learning and to contribute to student self-assessment and development of skills and attributes for a lifetime of learning. While traditional purposes of certifying achievement and determining readiness to progress remain important, these new expectations for assessment can create tensions in assessment design, selection, and deployment. With the recognition of these tensions, three contemporary approaches to assessment in medical education are described. These approaches include careful consideration of the educational impact of assessment—before, during (test or recall enhanced learning) and after assessments; development of student (and staff) assessment literacy; and planning of cohesive systems of assessment (with a range of assessment tools) designed to assess the various competencies demanded of future graduates. These approaches purposefully straddle the cross purposes of assessment in modern health professions education. The implications of these models are explored within the context of medical education and then linked with contemporary work in the anatomical sciences in order to highlight current synergies and potential future innovations when using evidence-informed strategies to boost the educational impact of assessments.     

Cost-Benefit Analysis Versus Cost-Consequences Analysis

Cost-consequences analysts Kaufman and Watkins (1996) have proposed cost-consequences analysis (CCA) as a means for leaders and decision-makers to estimate whether the value of results obtained is worth the investment. They argue that CCA offers a “coarse-grain” estimate of return-on-investment when there is not the necessity nor time and/or resources available for a complete determination of all of the variables that actually go into a return-on-investment analysis. They further contend that CCA differs from other evaluation tools in that it emphasizes outcomes, whereas the other tools utilize incomplete measures of both costs and returns. This paper contends, after assessing the theoretical underpinnings of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), together with its use in practice, that there is no substantive difference between CCA and CBA. In other words, CCA does not add anything new to the evaluation tools available to program evaluators. In arguing this, the paper also addresses some issues of what is required for good program evaluation, no matter which tool is used.     

Improving Physics Teaching through Collaborative Research

For one semester a team of researchers observed, recorded and discussed the manner in which physics knowledge was being transmitted by the teacher and acquired by a class of Year 11 students (aged 15‐16 years) and the role of the students' textbooks in this process. The collaboration provided an environment in which the teacher, as a member of the research team, could reflect on practice and initiate changes in his teaching. The results of the study are presented as two assertions. First, the collaborative approach enhanced the teacher's philosophical basis for his physics teaching and created an environment in which changes in teaching could occur. Secondly, deficiencies in students' use of the required textbooks were identified, and more effective means for student learning from text were adopted and evaluated.     

Preschool Self-Regulation and Preacademic Skills as Mediators of the Long-Term Impacts of an Early Intervention

This study explores children's early academic and self-regulatory skills as potential pathways through which a preschool enrichment program—the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP)—may contribute to low-income children's long-term outcomes (N = 466; M_age at baseline = 4.10 years). We find that CSRP's impact on high school grades may be partially explained by early gains in vocabulary and math skills. Although impacts on high school executive function (EF) were more equivocal, our results suggest that early improvements in math skills attributable to the intervention may, in turn, predict long-term gains in EF skills. These results complement the existing literature on preschool fade out, while also shedding light on the cross-domain relations between academic and self-regulatory skills.     

Promoting Positive Family Interactions: Evaluating a Free Early Childhood Book Distribution Program

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) program encourages reading among families of preschool children by mailing age-appropriate books, once per month, until the child reaches the age of five. An evaluation of a DPIL program in a southern state in the U.S. was conducted to assess the impact on enrolled children. Focus groups were conducted and a survey was administered to over 100 parents of children in the program to determine parents’ satisfaction with–and assessment of–the program relative to its activities and stated outcomes. To what extent the program promoted reading in the family, and children’s enjoyment of reading and school readiness was explored. In addition, family communication styles and relationships were assessed relative to these outcomes. The parents reported that the program introduced more diverse reading choices, fostered their children’s love of reading, promoted cognitive development and readiness for school, increased use of public libraries, and encouraged family interaction. Some differences in reading activities based on family communication styles were found. As well, parents provided recommendations for outreaching to underserved children. Implications of these findings for groups that sponsor this program and for further research are presented.