Financial and psychosocial challenges reported by social work students: Findings from a cross-sectional online survey: English

Although field education is social work’s signature pedagogy, few studies explore student perspectives surrounding the challenges and costs of field practicum (Aguilera et al., 2022). Available research indicates that many social work students experience role conflict and financial stress as they attempt to balance caregiving and employment responsibilities with coursework and field requirements (Hemy et al., 2016). While prior research found that part-time and non-traditional students are disproportionately likely to experience such challenges, the extant literature is limited to a handful of studies, with most of these focusing on social work education in Australia (Smith et al., 2021). To address this literature gap, the current study analyzes data from 408 current and former students who participated in a cross-sectional online survey. Administered by the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the survey asked respondents about the financial and psychosocial challenges they encountered while pursuing a social work degree. Respondents with any history of part-time enrollment, those in unpaid field practicums, gender nonconforming respondents, and respondents of color reported significantly more challenges than did their counterparts. Findings offer insights for professional accrediting bodies, universities, and field placement organizations seeking to understand and address the concerns of contemporary social work students.Bien que la formation sur le terrain soit la pédagogie signature du travail social, peu d’études explorent les perspectives des étudiants concernant les défis et les coûts du stage sur le terrain (Aguilera et al., 2022). Les recherches disponibles indiquent que de nombreux étudiants en travail social éprouvent des conflits de rôles et un stress financier lorsqu’ils tentent de trouver un équilibre entre les responsabilités d’aidant et d’emploi et les exigences des cours et du terrain (Hemy et coll., 2016). Bien que des recherches antérieures aient révélé que les étudiants à temps partiel et non traditionnels sont disproportionnellement susceptibles de rencontrer de tels défis, la littérature existante se limite à une poignée d’études, la plupart d’entre elles se concentrant sur la formation en travail social en Australie (Smith et al., 2021). Pour combler cette lacune dans la littérature, la présente étude analyse les données de 408 élèves actuels et anciens qui ont participé à un sondage transversal en ligne. Administrée par la section de Pennsylvanie de la National Association of Social Workers, l’enquête a interrogé les répondants sur les défis financiers et psychosociaux qu’ils ont rencontrés lors de leurs études en travail social. Les répondants ayant des antécédents d’inscription à temps partiel, ceux qui participent à des stages sur le terrain non rémunérés, les répondants non conformes au genre et les répondants de couleur ont signalé beaucoup plus de défis que leurs homologues. Les résultats offrent des perspectives aux organismes d’accréditation professionnelle, aux universités et aux organismes de stage qui cherchent à comprendre et à répondre aux préoccupations des étudiants contemporains en travail social

Examining the Leadership Role of Registered Nurses in Relation to Using Informatics and Health Technology to Enhance Patient Safety

As healthcare systems evolve to meet healthcare practitioner and client needs, the integration of computer health technology has redefined nursing roles and responsibilities. This, in return, influences patient safety outcomes as technologies are mediators in clinical processes and activities. The combination of nursing knowledge and computer science technology has led to many initiatives to improve healthcare quality. In this paper, we explore the significance of technology and informatics in improving patient safety through automated assistive processes and their ability to generate information about safety challenges. Registered nurses have key roles as informatics leaders in both formal and informal settings and must be able to use transformational leadership strategies to engage, inspire, and motivate nurses to embrace health technologies and to engage in the development and implementation of such technologies to ensure they support safe practice. Despite some resistance to technological advancement, it is the future of healthcare, and developing robust informatics competencies in nursing education and practice is necessary to ensure the nursing workforce can use health technology to its greatest advantage

Students’ Perceptions of Self and Peers Predict Self-Reports of Cheating

Academic dishonesty and how to address it are common concerns across higher education disciplines, but engineering students admit to higher rates of academic dishonesty than other students. However, first-year students may be particularly receptive to prevention efforts. Considering self-perception, social norming, and behavioral choice theories, we hypothesized that 1.) Students who perceived themself as ethical and more knowledgeable of the consequences for misconduct would be less likely to self-report cheating and 2.) Students who perceived cheating and plagiarism to be common would be more likely to self-report cheating. For this study, freshmen engineering students (N=703) reported their self-perception, perception of cheating and plagiarism among peers, their knowledge of the consequences for cheating, and if they had cheated. A backward elimination logistic regression model determined significant predictors of having cheated. Participants were more likely to report their cheating when they perceived cheating as common. There were significant interactions between self-ethics and perceived plagiarism, and between knowledge of consequences and perceived plagiarism interactions. Results are discussed within the context of social norming and future efforts to reduce misconduct

[Podcast Review]: The 3QTL Podcast by Derritt Mason

Review of the 3QTL Podcast, by executive producer Dr. Derritt Maso

Beyond Disability and Disaster: The Affect of Debilitation in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People

            While Indra Sinha’s 2007 novel Animal’s People has been commonly interpreted as a disability novel and/or a disaster novel, this article examines how Sinha explores the affect of debilitation through Animal’s unpleasant feelings, bodily responses and reactions, and unruly sexual urges. Theorizing debilitation as a consequence of forms of violence that are stretched across vast time and space, I argue that Sinha obfuscates the ability-disability binary and highlights the porosity between concepts such as the human, the animal, and the subhuman. Illustrating the complex affective dynamics between Animal and other characters, the novel shows that disindentification is a response of the marginalized subjects to debilitation engendered by neoliberal capitalism. Further, I suggest that Sinha captures the persistence of debilitation in Khaufpur through the ever-present and recurrent possibility of apocalypse. At the same time, Animal’s People foregrounds the possibility of subaltern solidarities, thereby complicating the binary between optimism and pessimism and calling for a broader understanding of debilitation in the twenty-first century

The Intersection of French Immersion Teachers’ Identities and Teaching French Immersion

This scoping review explores how French Immersion (FI) teachers in Canada construct their professional identities within the sociopolitical landscape of official bilingualism. Drawing on published scholarship between 2012 and 2022 (n=15), the review surfaces central themes, including tensions in content and language integration, program accessibility, shifting roles of educators, and contested notions of linguistic authenticity. Across these themes, FI teachers often navigate systemic barriers including limited preparation, resource scarcity, and ideologically charged narratives about language and identity that shape pedagogical decisions and self-understanding. The findings underscore the need for more inclusive and culturally responsive practices, as well as institutional support for teachers in holding complexity rather than simplifying it. Broader research that includes multiple interest-holder perspectives and French as a Second Language (FSL) program types to respond to and consider  the layered realities of bilingual individuals and education in Canada

Northern Corridor Research Program: Phase 2 Final Report

The Canadian Northern Corridor is an idea that responds to Canada’s need to increase interregional and international trade, provide services to northern communities, and establish a broadly accepted approach to large-scale infrastructure development. Since 2015, the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary has undertaken research and public engagement sessions to study the feasibility, acceptability, and desirability of a coherent and unified approach to national and regional infrastructure development in Canada. This paper stands as a final abbreviated summary report of the research and engagement program to date. The entire program comprises well over 40 individual studies conducted by over 50 contributing researchers and authors across eight research themes over the past 8 years. As such, this summary final report provides only a very basic overview of the research program. At the most fundamental level, the research conducted under this program suggests that a large-scale corridor concept is challenging to conceive, in both theory and practice for mid- and northern Canada. For that reason, we recommend a segmented corridor approach focused on development initiatives which are already gaining public acceptance and that communities identify as key priorities, such as digital infrastructure. One early priority could be the digitization of highways and roadways to enhance safety while travelling and to digitally connect communities. As such, a corridor approach must reflect a holistic strategy addressing the existing shortcomings related to the infrastructure gap in mid- and northern Canada which contributes to problems around unreliable transportation pathways, digital connectivity, food insecurity, inadequate housing, and lack of healthcare and education services

Challenges and Stakeholder Perspectives in the Referral Process for Suspected Uveal Melanoma: A Cross-Sectional Mixed Methods Study

Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare but deadly eye cancer with a survival rate of 45% within 15 years of diagnosis (1). This is likely due to a lack of early treatment, a key characteristic of positive cancer outcomes (2). In fact, the risk of death due to UM increases by 1% for every 10-day delay in treatment (2). We surveyed and interviewed three major stakeholder groups in the UM referral process – ocular oncologists, primary eye care providers, and UM patients – to determine existing barriers in care that delay treatment. Ocular oncologists reported that many UM cases are referred too late, resulting in poor prognoses. They also identified a lack of information in referrals, leading to difficulties in triaging patients. Primary eye care providers lack confidence in differentiating between low- and high-risk lesions and are uncertain over where to send UM referrals. They stated that there is a lack of ocular oncologists needed to monitor suspicious lesions. Patients experienced initial misdiagnoses of their UM and described logistical barriers such as extensive travel and costly eye care that reduces accessibility of care. These challenges imply that there is a need for streamlining the UM referral process to achieve timely care

Tenurable Teaching-Focused Faculty Streams and Ranks in Canadian Universities: A Review of Collective Agreements

As in several other countries, Canada’s research-focused universities have seen an expansion in recent decades of tenurable or tenure-like teaching-focused faculty (TTFF) roles. TTFF streams are not new in Canada, but they have experienced growth in number and re-definition in scope at many universities. Despite its definitive impact in university/faculty relations, the language of negotiated collective agreements (contracts) has not been considered on a national scale. This study examined collective agreements in place on January 1, 2023, at 15 medical/doctoral and 15 comprehensive universities in Canada to determine whether they had TTFF positions. We investigated how these positions compared across institution types based on key features including definitions, duties, and workloads, promotion and tenure criteria, professional mobility and complement limits, sabbatical leave, and salary provisions. Findings indicate that TTFF streams were present in eight of the medical/doctoral universities and seven of the comprehensive universities. We conclude that tenurable or tenure-like teaching streams are no longer anomalous in Canada, and that while many universities construct these positions as teaching-only, TTFF contract language increasingly encompasses scholarly and curricular work outside the classroom with an identifiable impact on teaching and learning beyond one’s own students

Autonomy-Supportive Teacher Behaviours and Their Impact on Student Attendance at University Level

Previous research on the motivation types located along a self-determination continuum revealed that the autonomy in students’ motivation has a positive impact on getting favourable results and underlined the importance of autonomy-supportive environments. Given that teacher behaviour is addressed as one of the forms of autonomy-supportive environments, the present study aimed to understand the nature of teacher behaviours in a mass course where the students explained the teacher as the most important motivational drive for their attendance in lectures. To this end, 101 first-year students studying at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences participated in semi-structured interviews. The content analysis of qualitative data showed that the students were motivated by the teachers’ structured guidance, promotion of active participation, and acknowledgement of their ideas. Most importantly, their responses showed that lively teaching performance with use of humour and changing the tone of voice were the most important factors influencing their attendance behaviour. The results indicated that attendance was autonomously motivated by not only teachers’ informative, interactive, and caring behaviours but also teaching performance with some desired characteristics for university level students