Measuring change in professionalism attitudes during the gross anatomy course

By design or default, anatomy educators are often responsible for introducing students to medical professionalism. Although much has been said about the role of anatomical education, there are no published reports suggesting how to measure change. This study investigated what professionalism attitudes, if any, change during a gross anatomy course. Additionally, the influence of four dichotomous variables related to student identity and preparation for medical school were analyzed for their effect on professionalism attitudes. A cross‐sectional time‐one (T1; beginning of the course), time‐two (T2; end of the course) study using the Penn State College of Medicine Survey of Professionalism was conducted. A multivariate analysis of variance identified the main effects and interaction effects of categorical variables. A Mann Whitney U test verified significant differences. This study found a reprioritization of professionalism attitudes in favor of altruism (P = 0.04 with a Cohen's d = 0.26) at T2. Female students (P = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.38) and students from a science background (P = 0.04, Cohen's d = 0.36) changed the most in favor of altruism. Interestingly, though several factors correlated with dissimilarities in professionalism values at T1, gender was the only factor to show a significant difference in professionalism attitudes at T2. This cohort of students reported a statistically significant increase in altruism and no significant decreases in other professionalism attitudes concurrent with the gross anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ 3:12–16, 2010. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists     

The Influence of Teachers’ Efficacy and Beliefs Regarding Mathematics Instruction in the Early Childhood Classroom

This was a correlational study conducted with a population of prekindergarten educators from a large, metropolitan school district. The purpose was to examine if there were relationships between and among early childhood teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, their beliefs about the importance of mathematics, and their mathematics instructional practices. Examining teachers’ efficacy and beliefs can inform educational practice and help to differentiate between more and less successful instructional practices when teaching mathematics in the early childhood classroom. Data were collected on teacher efficacy and teacher beliefs about the importance of mathematics with two self-report questionnaires. The hypothesis that the teachers higher in efficacy will rate the importance of mathematics higher on the teacher-belief scale than the teachers with lower efficacy was found to be true with this sample, but the correlation was weak. The level of efficacy of the early childhood teachers in this sample confirmed that in assessing their capabilities, they rate themselves high in instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. The early childhood teachers did not rate their belief in mathematics as high as their efficacy. Observations of mathematics instructional practices were conducted with twenty teachers. It was hypothesized that the combination of high teacher efficacy and high teacher mathematics beliefs would show alignment with the presence of standards-based mathematics instructional practices. The results were not statistically significant. No correlation signals a need for more research to explore what other personal or external factors relate to mathematics instructional practices in the early childhood classroom. The research may inform pre kindergarten teachers and teacher educators about effective instructional strategies and knowledge needed to launch early childhood students on a developmentally appropriate pathway to mathematical literacy.     

The promise of action research for critically reflective teacher education

Abstract

This paper is an analysis of the potential that action research theory and practice hold for educating preservice teachers to become more critically reflective. First, action research theory, especially as it informs current notions of educational research and practice, is reviewed. Then critically reflective teaching is described by grounding the term in critical social science views supportive of the social reconstructionist reform tradition in teacher education. Special attention is given in this review to the claims made by action research advocates regarding the power of action research to promote critically reflective teaching. Finally, to examine the empirical basis for these claims, a brief survey is made of several reports of the use of action research by teacher educators. The analysis reveals cautious optimism for the promise action research holds for critically reflective teacher education.     

Building a Successful Adult Life: Findings From Youth-Directed Research

Abstract

Although transition outcomes for youth with disabilities have shown some improvement and transition support practices have been identified, many young people continue to face transition barriers that preclude their full participation in key adult life activities. While research efforts have largely been professionally driven, there is emerging literature suggesting that the use of participatory, empowerment methodologies may bolster the identification of appropriate research methods and useful solutions to problems, as well as promoting the application of findings to accomplishing practice and policy improvements. The purpose of this study was to use a youth-directed, participatory action methodology to investigate youths' perceptions of the value of transition promotion experiences identified as effective by professionals, and to examine the level at which youth with disabilities participate in those experiences. A survey was developed and administered to 202 young people with disabilities by leaders from the National Youth Leadership Network. Findings indicated that youth generally endorse the importance of validated transition promotion practices; however, they reported having limited opportunity to participate in them. Implications related to the use of participatory action methodologies and needed practice and policy improvements are discussed.     

Influence of Verbal Working Memory Depends on Vocabulary: Oral Reading Fluency in Adolescents With Dyslexia

Most research on dyslexia to date has focused on early childhood, while comparatively little is known about the nature of dyslexia in adolescence. The current study had two objectives. The first was to investigate the relative contributions of several cognitive and linguistic factors to connected‐text oral reading fluency in a sample of adolescents with dyslexia (n = 77). The second was to test the hypothesis that the effect of verbal working memory on connected‐text oral reading fluency is moderated by word‐level skills and/or vocabulary knowledge. The results suggest that many deficits associated with childhood dyslexia remain prominent in adolescence, but the nature of the relationships between key cognitive and linguistic predictors (i.e., word‐level reading, vocabulary, verbal working memory) and reading fluency appear to be different in adolescence. For example, while word‐level skills remain a significant predictor, the strength of the effect is relatively weak. In contrast, the data support an increased role for vocabulary and verbal working memory, including an interaction between these factors. The presence of an interaction can be interpreted as evidence that the influence of verbal working memory on connected‐text oral reading fluency in adolescents with dyslexia depends on individual differences in vocabulary knowledge. These results offer support for the changing nature of dyslexia across development, and suggest that researchers should study dyslexia in adolescents on its own terms, rather than treating it as an extension of reading problems in early childhood.     

Governing indigenous recreation at a distance: a critical analysis of an after school active health intervention

Within the Canadian context, the physical activity levels of children and youth in the after school time period has become a source of public health concern. We argue that this concern is informed by broader public health crises, in particular the ‘global obesity epidemic’ and the closely related ‘global pandemic of physical inactivity', and that these so-called ‘crises’ operate as part of a discursive regime that serves to justify after school interventions aimed at increasing the physical activity practices of children and youth. Although the objectives of such interventions are seemingly well intentioned, we suggest that such interventions nonetheless harbor difficult to discern, but potentially pernicious consequences, for the communities in which they are implemented. We focus our attention on the place-specific effects of one Public Health Agency of Canada-funded after school physical activity intervention – After the School Bell Rings (ASBR) – that was implemented in the mostly Indigenous, northern community of Placid, Manitoba. Based on a critical analysis of the ASBR program itself, along with interviews and focus groups with children, parents and recreation providers (n?=?10) from the community of Placid, we contend that the ASBR serves to govern Indigenous recreation at a distance. We argue that when implemented in the place-specific context of Placid, the ASBR functions as part of a broader governmental assemblage composed of loosely connected discourses, institutions, socio-structural conditions and individuals that, when assembled, ultimately serve to govern geographically and culturally distinct communities. We conclude by suggesting that the objectives of broad-based health interventions, such as the goal of increasing after school physical activity levels, should not be universally implemented across diverse locales, but need to account for the diverse, place-specific priorities and needs of the communities into which they are implemented.     

Ready for digital learning? A mixed-methods exploration of surveyed technology competencies and authentic performance activity

The Digital Competency Profiler (DCP) is an online application for surveying the technology preferences and abilities of students in higher education. To explore the DCP as a digital-learning-readiness tool, a mixed-methods research design was developed for relating self-reported digital competencies and online-learning activity. To this end, three authentic scenarios, comprised of six tasks mapped to self-report items, were constructed. Having submitted their survey data, each of 15 participants visited the EILAB to complete a randomly-assigned scenario with a tablet. Both the performance activity and post-activity interviews were recorded digitally using a unique activity-station setup, and task artefacts were gathered as performance outcomes. Analysis was conducted in three phases. In Phase 1, both the audio-video performance data and activity artefacts were coded, assessed and scored. Exploratory correlational analyses showed a pattern of positive relationships at the task and scenario levels for two scenario groups, suggesting some predictive value for the DCP in this context. For the third group, a positive correlation was found at the scenario level, but negative correlations were found at the task level. In Phase 2, detailed case-studies were conducted, incorporating self-report data, coded performance timelines, and post-activity interviews. Several situational influencers related to problem-solving strategy, device comfort, task difficulty and motivation, beyond the purview of the DCP, were identified. In Phase 3, the findings were interpreted to position the DCP as a tool for identifying segments of students with members who, without support, will likely struggle to engage fully in technology-rich learning environments.     

A comparison of accelerometry analysis methods for physical activity in older adult women and associations with health outcomes over time

ABSTRACT

This study compared five different methods for analyzing accelerometer-measured physical activity (PA) in older adults and assessed the relationship between changes in PA and changes in physical function and depressive symptoms for each method. Older adult females (N = 144, M_age = 83.3 ± 6.4yrs) wore hip accelerometers for six days and completed measures of physical function and depressive symptoms at baseline and six months. Accelerometry data were processed by five methods to estimate PA: 1041 vertical axis cut-point, 15-second vector magnitude (VM) cut-point, 1-second VM algorithm (Activity Index (AI)), machine learned walking algorithm, and individualized cut-point derived from a 400-meter walk. Generalized estimating equations compared PA minutes across methods and showed significant differences between some methods but not others; methods estimated 6-month changes in PA ranging from 4 minutes to over 20 minutes. Linear mixed models for each method tested associations between changes in PA and health. All methods, except the individualized cut-point, had a significant relationship between change in PA and improved physical function and depressive symptoms. This study is among the first to compare accelerometry processing methods and their relationship to health. It is important to recognize the differences in PA estimates and relationship to health outcomes based on data processing method.

Abbreviation: Machine Learning (ML); Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB); Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); Physical Activity (PA); Activity Index (AI); Activities of Daily Living (ADL)     

Stakeholders’ perceptions and recommendations of a high school leadership development programme for athletes in Singapore

ABSTRACT

This study examined the perceptions of key stakeholders of a high school athlete leadership development training programme. Participants included 36 athletes (males = 23, females = 13) from two team sports (rugby n = 11 and volleyball n = 6) and two individual sports (bowling n = 8 and table tennis n = 11), as well as four coaches representing each of these sports and four teachers. Individual interviews were conducted for coaches, teachers, and athlete leaders, while athletes took part in focus group interviews. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse all data sets. Results showed that the athlete leadership programme developed qualities such as responsibility, role modelling, motivation, communication, perseverance, and team unity that would help athlete leaders perform their roles and responsibilities. The results also highlighted some limitations including earlier involvement from key stakeholders, tailored training for athlete leaders, and a more effective transfer of learning.