Building capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice—an evaluation

Objective:An innovative funding scheme for health care librarians to attend an intensive short course in teaching evidence-based practice was established in the West of England in 2016. This evaluation aims to understand the value of the scheme and the impact of the training opportunity for the librarians, establish an evidence base for continuing with the funding scheme, and inform the development of plans to build additional capacity among health care librarians to provide critical appraisal training.Methods:Seven librarians working in health care system settings were funded by the scheme between 2016 and 2018. Post-course feedback forms gathered initial views on course content and delivery, which informed the development of questions for the qualitative phase of the evaluation. All seven librarians participated in group discussions and individual interviews.Results:The course boosted confidence, provided valuable new skills, and positively impacted careers of the librarians through access to new opportunities. It inspired the development of new approaches to critical appraisal training. An important need was identified among the librarians for more education in teaching. Librarians funded by the scheme have successfully cascaded the training to their colleagues.Conclusion:This evaluation supports the continuation of the funding scheme to further build capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice. It suggests additional investment in this type of specialist training, as well as in education in teaching skills, would be beneficial for health care librarians. Evidence from this evaluation is informing new plans to support these professionals with the vital service they provide, which contributes to the evidence-based culture of their organizations and to patient outcomes.     

Bidirectional Relations between Parenting Practices and Child Externalizing Behaviors in Formerly Homeless Families: A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

SYNOPSIS

Objective . This study examined the bidirectional relations between effective parenting practices and externalizing problems in children in homeless families. Design . The sample comprised 223 children (M = 8.12 years) in 137 families living in temporary supportive housing, who participated in the Early Risers conduct problems prevention program lasting 2 years. Video-recorded observations of parent-child interactions were collected and rated by trained observers to assess effective parenting practices. Child externalizing problems were reported by their school teachers. Both variables were assessed at baseline prior to intervention and at 1- and 2-year post-baseline. Results . Child externalizing problems at baseline were negatively associated with effective parenting from baseline to year 1 as well as from year 1 to year 2. Observed effective parenting practices at year 1 were negatively associated with child externalizing problems from year 1 to year 2. Conclusions . These findings underscore the presence of bidirectional influence processes between parents and children in high-risk families. Implications for intervention programs for high-risk families are discussed.     

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN INTEGRATED,PROBLEM-BASED ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM IN AN AMERICAN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM

The South Carolina Advanced Technological (SC ATE) Center of Excellence is establishing a model for postsecondary reform of mathematics, science, engineering technology, and communications education through its mission of increasing the quantity, quality, and diversity of engineering technology graduates from two-year technical colleges. An integrated, problem-based curriculum, collaborative teaching strategies, and extensive active learning techniques - together with faculty and student teams - form the cornerstone of the SC ATE approach. Two major instructional components have been developed: Technology Gateway, also known as pre-engineering technology, and the first-year engineering technology core (ET Core). Just-in-time delivery of mathematics concepts and other subject matter is an important component of the integrated curriculum. The SC ATE approach to technician education is greatly improving student retention in challenging engineering technology programs. Student confidence in mathematical ability is increasing, along with student capabilities in working in teams in an integrated curriculum setting. SC ATE is partially funded by the National Science Foundation and the South Carolina State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education.     

Teachers' attitudes towards adolescent sexuality and life skills education in rural South Africa

This study investigated the attitudes of 43 teachers and school administrators towards sex education, young people's sexuality and their communities in 19 secondary schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and how these attitudes affect school-based HIV prevention and sex education. In interviews, teachers expressed judgemental attitudes towards young people's sexuality and pregnant students, and focused on girls' perceived irresponsible behaviour instead of strategies to minimise HIV risk. Despite general awareness of the HIV epidemic, few teachers perceived it as an immediate threat, and teachers' own HIV risk was infrequently acknowledged. Teachers perceived themselves to have higher personal standards and moral authority than members of the communities and schools they served. Male administrators' authority to determine school policies and teachers' attitudes towards sexuality fundamentally affect the content and delivery of school-based sexuality education and HIV prevention activities. Opportunities to create a supportive educational environment for students and for female teachers are frequently missed. Improving teachers' efficacy to deliver impartial, non-judgemental and accurate information about sex and HIV is essential, as are efforts to acknowledge and address their own HIV risks.     

A survey of augmentative and alternative communication used in an inner city special school

This study surveyed staff use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) within a large inner city special school for children with complex needs and learning disabilities. A questionnaire asked 72 staff members about the range of AAC strategies they typically used during the working day and how often they used it; training they had received about AAC; and which AAC approaches they found easy to use and those they found difficult. A range of AAC approaches were identified by staff. Participant confidence and understanding of the reasons for using identified AAC strategies was reported to be one of the key barriers to implementing AAC effectively. The implications in relation to how children with complex needs receive support for their receptive and expressive communication within an education environment are discussed.     

Who Cares About Caring in Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs?

The ability to care for oneself, near and distant others, animals, plants, human-made objects, and even ideas is an antidote for violence in its many forms as experienced in childhood as well as adulthood. This article makes a case for facilitating the development of the ability to care as children develop. The authors emphasize the importance of teachers facilitating this development. However, early education teachers may not be able to nurture the ability to care in others without the ability to care being facilitated in their own development. This article emphasizes the importance of creating caring teacher education programs as a model to foster its development in preservice early education teachers.     

School Psychologists' Sense of Self-Efficacy for Consultation

The Consultation Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) was developed and validated to assess school psychologists' perceptions of self-efficacy for engaging in school-based consultation. A pilot study with graduate students (N = 92) indicated high internal consistency (α = .99) and provided evidence of discriminant validity, as a group with more consultation experience had significantly higher total self-efficacy scores (M = 512.25) than a moderately experienced group (M = 437.35). Subsequently, a sample of 347 practicing school psychologists completed a revised CSES, consistently endorsing moderate to high levels of consultation self-efficacy (M = 404.08, SD = 51.73). Although consultation self-efficacy was hypothesized to be a multidimensional construct, exploratory factor analysis indicated a single-factor structure. Construct validity of the instrument was supported by significant correlations between school psychologists' consultation self-efficacy ratings and perceptions of their ability to respond to hypothetical consultation referral problems (r = .69, p < .01), and regression analysis found that years of experience and time spent consulting with teachers predicted psychologists' self-efficacy scores.     

Getting Buzzed In the Library: The Use of Restaurant-Style Pagers for Reserves Checkout in an Academic Library

In 2004, the Social Sciences and Humanities Library at the University of California–San Diego implemented restaurant-style pagers to notify waiting patrons that the reserve collection materials they needed were available. The authors describe the university libraries’ process for implementing the pagers and the success staff has had with pagers over the past four years, list other libraries that use pagers, suggest other library uses for pagers, and offer guidance to institutions that might consider this service enhancement.