Teaching root cause analysis in healthcare management with Grey's Anatomy

Over the past 20 years, root cause analysis (RCA) has become one of the most widely used retrospective methods for detecting safety hazards in medicine and healthcare. Despite its wide use in management practice and growing popularity in academic research, there is currently a dearth of coverage of RCA in popular healthcare management textbooks and pedagogical publications. This paper addresses this gap by presenting innovative instructional materials and recommendations for teaching RCA in healthcare management. Using an episode of Grey's Anatomy TV show, this experiential learning exercise takes students through the steps of RCA and makes use of a range of RCA tools, including high-level flowchart, fishbone diagram, “five whys”, corrective action plan, and others. The exercise, which was classroom tested and received positive student feedback, can be adapted to a range of healthcare management classes. Because RCA can have widespread, lifesaving consequences, healthcare management courses can significantly benefit from integrating this exercise into classroom pedagogies.     

An observational study of social exclusion under varied conditions: gender and developmental differences

To investigate social exclusion, 146 dyads of close friends (N = 292, ages 10, 12, and 14) were observed as they played a board game with a same-gender confederate actor, trained to be a difficult play partner. Verbalizations and gestures were coded for verbal and nonverbal social exclusion, verbal aggression, and verbal assertion. The results indicated few developmental differences. For verbal responses in the presence of the actor, boys were more socially exclusive and verbally aggressive than were girls. Girls engaged in more nonverbal social exclusion in the presence of the actor than did boys. Girls' socially exclusive behaviors were unrelated to other negative behaviors and more strongly related between friends in the actor's absence.     

A Comparative Analysis of the Function of Coordination of Early Childhood Education and Care in France and Italy

In several European countries professionals are in charge of the coordination of Early Childhood Education and Care provision at local community level. For the past 20 years the number of this personnel has grown considerably in Italy and in France. This study provides a comparative analysis of the function of coordinating Early Childhood Education and Care services in these two countries as emerges from two surveys carried out in French and Italian municipalities on the status, training, and tasks of early childhood coordinators. The implications of the coordination function in the promotion of the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care are discussed. Dans plusieurs pays europe´ens, il existe des professionnels charge´s de la coordination de la petite enfance au niveau des communes. Au cours de ces vingt dernie ¤ res anne´es, le nombre de ces personnels a conside´rablement augmente´ en Italie et en France. Cette e´tude fournit une analyse comparative de la fonction de coordination des services de la petite enfance dans ces deux pays a ¤ partir de deux enquetes mene´es dans des municipalite´s italiennes et franc¸aises sur le statut, la formation et les taches des coordinateurs de la petite enfance. Les implications de la fonction de coordination dans la promotion de la qualite´ des soins et de l'e´ducation dans les services de la petite enfance seront discute´es. En varios pa L ´ses europeos, hay profesionales responsables de la coordinacio´n de la educacio´n de la primera infancia y de la provisio´n del cuidado de nin ¨ os a nivel de la comunidad local. Durante los u´ltimos veinte an ¨ os el nu´mero de este personal ha crecido considerablemente en Italia y en Francia. Este estudio proporciona un ana´lisis comparativo de la funcio´n de coordinacio´n de los servicios de la educacio´n de la primera infancia y del cuidado de nin ¨ os en estos dos pa L ´ses como ha sido presentado en dos estudios realizados en municipios franceses e italianos sobre el estado, entrenamiento, y tareas de los coordinadores de la primera nin ¨ ez. Las implicaciones de la funcio´n de coordinacio´n en la promocio´n de la calidad de coordinacio´n de la educacio´n de la primera infancia y del cuidado de nin ¨ os sera´n discutidas.     

Amidst exclusion,promise, and violence: rural normal school students in Mexico and the disappearance of 43

ABSTRACT

On 26 and 27 September 2014, 43 students from the “Profesor Isidro Burgos” Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Mexico, disappeared, and six people died. In this article, I analyse the event as the result of long-term historical processes, from the perspective of the social mobilisation that caused the students’ disappearance on the one hand, and from the history of rural normal schools on the other. The starting point is to relocate political history within the history of education in order to understand the agency of political actors in the definition of educational processes, and the questioning of the reciprocal relations of school and state. The study is based on widely diverse sources: official documents from schools, statistics, news items from newspapers and social networks, and observations of the mobilisations of 2014. The disappearance of the 43 rural normal students is the result of a long process of abandonment in the countryside, of discrimination against young people of rural origin and Indians, all in the framework of a process of state dismantling which places teachers and normal students in positions of severe vulnerability.     

Mexican-American and Anglo-American Children's Responsiveness to a Theory-Centered AIDS Education Program

Third, fifth, and seventh graders, most of them Mexican-American, were exposed to an empirically based and culturally sensitive AIDS curriculum designed to replace their intuitive theories with a coherent, scientific account of the causal processes that lead from risk behavior to AIDS symptomatology. Compared to students in control classes, experimental students knew more about AIDS risk factors and AIDS generally, displayed more conceptual understanding of the causes of AIDS and flu, and were more willing to interact with people who have AIDS (although not less worried about AIDS) at posttest and typically at follow-up 10–11 months later. The findings point to the potential value of adopting an intuitive theories approach in assessing and modifying children's concepts of health and illness and suggest, contrary to Piagetian formulations, that even relatively young children can, with appropriate instruction, grasp scientific theories of disease.     

Celebrating the Past,Creating the Future: 50 Years of Community College Research

The Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. This article summarizes the establishment of the Council and sets it in the context of the development of the community college movement. Highlights of research conducted by CSCC members to address contemporary issues facing community colleges are described. A summary of insights offered by members during a 2008 plenary session, research presented at the 50th annual conference, and key community college leaders are described in the context of the historical evolution of community college research and future directions.     

The Measurement of Postures

Abstract

Thirty-three college men doing the toe-touch test were used as subjects to ascertain the relative contribution of the back and hamstring muscles to hip joint flexibility. The subjects, performing six tests over a 5-week period, were photographed during each of their tests. Anthropometric measurements were taken prior to testing to determine if there was any relationship to flexibility. Making use of concentric circles and marking reference points on the subject prior to testing, it was possible to ascertain the curvature of the back, the angle of straight back flexibility, and the angle of bent back flexibility.

Results indicate that the extensibility of the hamstring muscles appeared to be one of the main contributing factors to hip joint flexion, and since the warm-up did not affect the flexibility of the back, one might conclude that the back made no increased contribution to hip joint flexion, as measured in this study. There was no significant relationship to the angle of bent back flexibility.     

Causal relationships of sport and exercise involvement with goal orientations,perceived competence and intrinsic motivation in physical education: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Little information exists about the causal relationships of sport and exercise participation with goal orientations, perceived athletic competence and intrinsic motivation in physical education. A longitudinal study was conducted involving 882 Greek students who completed questionnaires on three occasions: 3 – 5 weeks into the academic year, 3 – 6 weeks before the end of the academic year, and 7 months later. The data were analysed using structural equation models, controlling for age. Task orientation and intrinsic motivation in physical education at the beginning of the academic year predicted sport and exercise participation 7 and 14 months later. Perceived athletic competence both at the beginning and end of the academic year predicted sport and exercise participation 7 and 14 months later, while ego orientation did not predict sport and exercise involvement at either time. Previous sport and exercise participation had positive effects on task orientation and perceived athletic competence 3 – 6 weeks before the end of the academic year and predicted all cognitive-affective constructs 7 months later. These results imply that the cultivation of task orientation, intrinsic motivation in physical education and perceived athletic competence will help to promote sport and exercise participation in adolescence.     

The Impact of Model Misspecification on Parameter Estimation and Item‐Fit Assessment in Log‐Linear Diagnostic Classification Models

Using a complex simulation study we investigated parameter recovery, classification accuracy, and performance of two item‐fit statistics for correct and misspecified diagnostic classification models within a log‐linear modeling framework. The basic manipulated test design factors included the number of respondents (1,000 vs. 10,000), attributes (3 vs. 5), and items (25 vs. 50) as well as different attribute correlations (.50 vs. .80) and marginal attribute difficulties (equal vs. different). We investigated misspecifications of interaction effect parameters under correct Q‐matrix specification and two types of Q‐matrix misspecification. While the misspecification of interaction effects had little impact on classification accuracy, invalid Q‐matrix specifications led to notably decreased classification accuracy. Two proposed item‐fit indexes were more strongly sensitive to overspecification of Q‐matrix entries for items than to underspecification. Information‐based fit indexes AIC and BIC were sensitive to both over‐ and underspecification.     

A longitudinal study of handwriting skills in pre-schoolers: the acquisition of syllable oriented programming strategies

Previous studies have shown the relevance of the syllable as a programming unit in handwriting production, both in adults and elementary school children. This longitudinal study focuses on the acquisition of writing skills in a group of preschoolers. It examines how and when the syllable structure of the word starts regulating motor programming in handwriting. Eighteen five year old preschoolers copied six-letter Catalan words (disyllabic and trisyllabic) on a digitiser at three different times over the academic year (January, March, and May). The words were written in uppercase letters. We measured the duration of the inter-letter intervals (ILI) to gather information on the timing of motor programming. The results indicated that from January to March the children were mostly focused on movement proficiency. The results also showed different profiles of ILI duration for the two types of words over the three sessions. For disyllabic words, the syllable regulated movement programming in January; for trisyllabic words, this happened in March. This suggests that the syllable already plays a role in the programming of handwriting movements in kindergarten.