Leveraging microgrants to support capacity-building workshops in low- and middle-income countries for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals

Twenty fifteen marked the year of assessment for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs that achieved the greatest success were those where evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions were implemented. The ability to practice evidence-based medicine is grounded in the creation of and access to medical literature that synthesizes research findings. The role that global health literature played in the success of the MDGs demonstrates that medical libraries and librarians have a role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Librarians can hold capacity-building workshops that provide instruction on how to access evidence-based literature and also train health professionals to conduct synthesis research. Research findings conducted by in-country health professionals are more likely to address issues being faced by local communities and will afford the possibility of obtaining the necessary evidence-based answers that can then be used to implement policies to resolve public health issues identified in the SDGs.This paper discusses how an international team of librarians leveraged funding from a Medical Library Association/Librarians without Borders/Elsevier Foundation/Research4Life grant to hold a capacity-building workshop in Zimbabwe and follow-up online trainings. The workshop focused on accessing evidence-based resources and conducting synthesis research. Outcomes included the creation and policy implementation of evidence-based knowledge products in alignment with local needs and galvanizing a multisectoral group of key individuals who have gone on to collaborate toward the vision of creating a Zimbabwe innovation hub. Looking ahead, such grants can be leveraged to conduct capacity-building to support knowledge translation and other local training needs.     

A “Deleterious” Driver: The “First Teacher” Reform in Sweden

This article investigates the implementation of the “förstelärare” or “First teacher” reform in Sweden. We draw upon the insights of a superintendent, union official, principal, three First teachers, and two of their colleagues in one school, and recent literature on career development reform. We employ Michael Fullan’s overview of the “right” and “wrong” drivers of educational reform to analyse the extent to which the First Teacher initiative cultivated productive “professional capital.” The research reveals: how broader national policy aims were in clear tension with municipal-wide school development, and school-level development efforts; the perverse effects of a strong focus upon salary on professional conduct; and how an emphasis upon teachers’ roles per se undermined the espoused policy focus on enhancing teaching. The research cautions against the problematic effects of the initiative on more profession-oriented prerogatives, and how more external, “deleterious,” drivers of reform militate against more productive professional capital.     

International football tournaments,emotional entrainment and the reproduction of symbolic boundaries. A case study in Germany

Understanding the social consequences of major soccer events is important for social science researchers and policy-makers alike. On the one hand, socially integrative effects are ascribed to these events. On the other hand, they are suspected of increasing the devaluation of minorities and disadvantaged groups. Sociological theories in a Durkheimian tradition suggest that the emotional entrainment that goes along with football-related rituals might play a role. We thus investigated the effects of the World Cup 2010 on the derogation of minorities and disadvantaged groups in Germany and hypothesized that the emotional entrainment is a predictor of changes in derogation. Results of our naturalistic study show significant increases in derogative attitudes after the World Cup. Contrary to our expectations, emotional entrainment is not associated with this increase. We discuss possible alternative explanations, in particular the influence of public discourse.     

Institutionalized incentives for ingenuity—Patent value and the German Employees’ Inventions Act

Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only determined by negotiations between employer and employee-inventor, but also by relatively precise legal provisions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of the German Employees’ Inventions Act (GEIA) and discuss which incentives it creates. We rely on responses from a recent survey of 3350 German inventors to test hypotheses regarding this institution. We conclude from our data that the law creates substantial monetary rewards for productive inventors. The qualitative responses from our survey confirm this view, but also point to a number of dysfunctional effects.     

The Accuracy and Consistency of a Series of IRT True Score Equatings

This study investigates a sequence of item response theory (IRT) true score equatings based on various scale transformation approaches and evaluates equating accuracy and consistency over time. The results show that the biases and sample variances for the IRT true score equating (both direct and indirect) are quite small (except for the mean/sigma method). The biases and sample variances for the equating functions based on the characteristic curve methods and concurrent calibrations for adjacent forms are smaller than the biases and variances for the equating functions based on the moment methods. In addition, the IRT true score equating is also compared to the chained equipercentile equating, and we observe that the sample variances for the chained equipercentile equating are much smaller than the variances for the IRT true score equating with an exception at the low scores.     

Home and preschool learning environments and their relations to the development of early numeracy skills

This study examined the influence of the quality of home and preschool learning environments on the development of early numeracy skills in Germany, drawing on a sample of 532 children in 97 preschools. Latent growth curve models were used to investigate early numeracy skills and their development from the first (average age: 3 years) to the third year (average age: 5 years) of preschool. Several child and family background factors (e.g., gender, maternal education, socioeconomic status), measures of the home learning environment (e.g., literacy- and numeracy-related activities), and measures of preschool structural and process quality (e.g., ECERS-E, ECERS-R) were tested as predictors of numeracy skills and their development. The analyses identified child and family background factors that predicted numeracy skills in the first year of preschool and their development over the three points of measurement—particularly gender, parental native language status (German/other), socioeconomic status, and mother's educational level. The quality of the home learning environment was strongly associated with numeracy skills in the first year of preschool, and this advantage was maintained at later ages. In contrast, the process quality of the preschool was not related to numeracy skills at the first measurement, but was significantly related to development over the period observed. The results underline the differential impact of the two learning environments on the development of numeracy skills. Interaction effects are explored and discussed.     

Fiatland: An Analogy between Mathematics and Physics

Before the 19th century the idea of more than three dimensions was exceptional. During the 19th century, however, geometry was revolutionized and new branches were developed. This revolution also created the idea of the possibility of a n-dimensional geometry or space; flatland, i.e. n = 2, was a consequence of this new thinking. In 1884 the clergyman Edwin Abbott and the mathematician Charles Hinton published their still-famous flatland stories. In the 20th century authors also included modern physics as well as computer science in flatland stories.     

A randomized controlled trial of a home-visiting intervention aimed at preventing relationship problems in depressed mothers and their infants

This study examined the effect of a mother–baby intervention on the quality of mother–child interaction, infant–mother attachment security, and infant socioemotional functioning in a group of depressed mothers with infants aged 1–12 months. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group ( n = 35) receiving the intervention (8–10 home visits) with a control group ( n = 36) receiving parenting support by telephone. There were assessments pre, post, and follow-up after 6 months. The intervention had positive effects on the quality of mother–infant interaction. Infants in the experimental group had higher scores for attachment security and for one aspect of socioemotional functioning, namely, competence. The intervention proved successful in preventing deterioration of the quality of mother–child interaction.     

Teacher self-efficacy moderates the relations between imposed pressure from imposed curriculum changes and teacher stress

Based on the Job Demands-resources (RD-R) model, the aim of the current study was to examine how pressure arising from imposed curriculum changes and teacher self-efficacy relate to perceived stress in teachers. Participants (839 teachers working in English schools) completed an online survey that contained questions about demographics, self-reported pressure from imposed curriculum changes, teacher self-efficacy, and perceived stress. Pressure from imposed curriculum changes was positively, and teacher self-efficacy negatively, related to perceived stress. Teacher-self efficacy moderated relations between pressure from imposed curriculum changes and perceived stress. High teacher self-efficacy was associated with lower perceived stress, relative to low teacher self-efficacy, when pressure from imposed curriculum changes was low. The differential advantage offered by high self-efficacy declined as pressure from imposed curriculum changes increased.