Evaluating the effectiveness of a radiation safety training intervention for oncology nurses: a pretest – intervention – posttest study

BACKGROUND: Radiation, for either diagnosis or treatment, is used extensively in the field of oncology. An understanding of oncology radiation safety principles and how to apply them in practice is critical for nursing practice. Misconceptions about radiation are common, resulting in undue fears and concerns that may negatively impact patient care. Effectively educating nurses to help overcome these misconceptions is a challenge. Historically, radiation safety training programs for oncology nurses have been compliance-based and behavioral in philosophy. METHODS: A new radiation safety training initiative was developed for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) adapting elements of current adult education theories to address common misconceptions and to enhance knowledge. A research design for evaluating the revised training program was also developed to assess whether the revised training program resulted in a measurable and/or statistically significant change in the knowledge or attitudes of nurses toward working with radiation. An evaluation research design based on a conceptual framework for measuring knowledge and attitude was developed and implemented using a pretest-intervention-posttest approach for 15% of the study population of 750 inpatient registered oncology nurses. RESULTS: As a result of the intervention program, there was a significant difference in nurse's cognitive knowledge as measured with the test instrument from pretest (58.9%) to posttest (71.6%). The evaluation also demonstrated that while positive nursing attitudes increased, the increase was significant for only 5 out of 9 of the areas evaluated. CONCLUSION: The training intervention was effective for increasing cognitive knowledge, but was less effective at improving overall attitudes. This evaluation provided insights into the effectiveness of training interventions on the radiation safety knowledge and attitude of oncology nurses

From problem-solving to research utilization: How operations research and program evaluation can make programs better

HIV treatment, care, and support, and PMTCT programs are most effective when based on the best available research evidence. This is the fundamental premise of evidence-based medicine. Equally well known is the dilemma of transforming evidence into practice, which is the subject of knowledge translation and implementation science. Even when the findings of clinical trials make their way into international and national program guidelines, they run up against competing priorities within public health and community programs, resource constraints, and institutional and human inertia. Understanding how to effectively change the approach used in program operations requires understanding how programs work in the first place. Policymakers, program managers, and service providers routinely confront two fundamental and interrelated questions: Is the program working? Could the program work better? Answering these requires information, as does deciding the way forward. Most decisions are based on a combination of factors including personal experience, common sense, political realities, and program and/or research data. Operations research and program evaluation approaches can help managers be more systematic in examining existing program information, collecting new data if needed, and looking for alternative solutions. This technical brief examines this process

Competency-based Education Through the Lens of Personalized Learning in a Large Public High School

When students end the chapter of high school, the question education must ask is, “What does it take for a student to walk across the stage and receive their high school diploma?” Is it a transcript full of passing letters ranging from A–D or is it a known belief that students do not have gaps in their knowledge and can apply their knowledge in real-world situations? This study identifies the problem and the basis of research in the program evaluation. It also focuses on identifying a policy that best supports competency-based education (CBE). Lastly, the study utilizes Wagner et al.’s (2006) change leadership model to assess the culture, context, conditions, and competencies of a large, suburban school district. It focuses on the ability to create and implement a CBE program. Semistructured interviews were conducted with teachers of the CBE program. Results indicated the need for a structure for CBE to exist in schools. Strategies for implementation include: Developing an understanding of CBE and how it can impact student learning. Ensuring staff receives job-embedded professional development. Planning for a shift in policy to implement a standards-based approach to grading. Assessing facilities to foster adequate space to support a growing CBE program. Using metrics to assess the sustainability and success of the program for students

A Natural Language Dialog System Based on Active Ontologies

Abstract: Programming today requires years of training. With natural language, programming would become available to everyone and enable end users to program their devices or extend their functionality without any knowledge of programming languages. We present an assistant usable in technical domains that uses natural language understanding, programming step-by-step and an active dialog management system. It allows users to manipulate spreadsheet data by using natural language. We extend our previous system with active ontologies. By adding additional information to an ontology, such as a rule evaluation system and a fact store, it becomes an execution environment instead of just being a representation of knowledge. Sensor nodes register certain events and store them in the fact store. An evaluation mechanism tests the new facts against the existing rules and performs the associated action if one or more rules apply to the stored facts. The system also handles references to previous results and expressions, allowing the construction of complex expressions step-by-step. It also creates new formulas by using End-User Programming concepts and supports the use of repetitive tasks that involve use of conditions and negations. An evaluation shows that the active ontology-based approach resolves 90% of the input tasks which is an increase of 10% over the pattern matching approach

Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) : science plan

The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformations that have brought the Arctic Ocean to the top of international political agendas. Predicting future conditions of the Arctic Ocean system requires scientific knowledge of its present status as well as a process-based understanding of the mechanisms of change. The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) initiative is an integrative, international, interdisciplinary pan-Arctic program to study changes and feedbacks among the physical and biogeochemical components of the Arctic Ocean and their ultimate impacts on biological productivity. The goal of ART is to develop priorities for Arctic marine science over the next decade. Three overarching questions form the basis of the ART science plan: (1) How were past transitions in sea ice connected to energy flows, elemental cycling, biological diversity and productivity, and how do these compare to present and projected shifts? (2) How will biogeochemical cycling respond to transitions in terrestrial, gateway and shelf-to-basin fluxes? (3) How do Arctic Ocean organisms and ecosystems respond to environmental transitions including temperature, stratification, ice conditions, and pH? The integrated approach developed to answer the ART key scientific questions comprises: (a) process studies and observations to reveal mechanisms, (b) the establishment of links to existing monitoring programs, (c) the evaluation of geological records to extend time-series, and (d) the improvement of our modeling capabilities of climate-induced transitions. In order to develop an implementation plan for the ART initiative, an international and interdisciplinary workshop is currently planned to take place in Winnipeg, Canada in October 2010

SUPERVISI AKADEMIK KEPALA SEKOLAH DALAM IMPLEMENTASI KURIKULUM JARINGAN SEKOLAH ISLAM TERPADU

This study aims to describe (1) planning, (2) implementation, and (3) evaluation of academic supervision in the implementation of the JSIT curriculum. The research was carried out at SMA IT Daarul Hikmah Bontang. The data collection techniques were through observation interviews and documentation techniques. Data analysis was carried out through data reduction, data display, and verification or concluding stages. The results showed that: (1) Planning for the supervision of SMA IT Daarul Hikmah Bontang in implementing the JSIT curriculum was based on the background, goals, and indicators of academic supervision success. (2) The implementation of the supervision of SMA IT Daarul Hikmah Bontang's implementation of the JSIT curriculum can be seen in the academic supervision instrument. There are indicators regarding the use of the INTEGRATED approach in teaching and learning activities to implement the JSIT curriculum. (3) The evaluation of the principal's academic supervision contained in the report on the results of academic supervision resulted in a follow-up program for teachers to increase knowledge and understanding of the JSIT curriculu

An Early Start to Self-Regulation: Investigating Educators’ Beliefs and Practices for Supporting Early Self-Regulation

The emerging ability to regulate one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours represents a hallmark of early childhood development. Recent findings have identified developmental trajectories for self-regulation as considerably heterogeneous, with variability in the early years a significant predictor for later educational, social, financial and health outcomes. Research suggests that targeted interventions in the early years might have the greatest potential for creating pronounced and stable change. Efforts to effect change in this early childhood period often look to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings, given increasingly high rates of attendance by large numbers of children. Such interventions routinely use educators as the mediators for achieving child-level change, yet few studies evaluate the extent to which educator-level change has been achieved. Moreover, there is little evidence about educators’ current self-regulation conceptions and practices, on which to build intervention efforts. Embedded within and expanding upon a broader study by Howard et al. (2020), this program of PhD research sought to contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) Program. Through this research, the candidate sought to: (1) explore educators’ understandings and practices for supporting self-regulation development in Australian ECEC settings; (2) develop educator-focused components of the PRSIST intervention (whereas the broader project focused exclusively on the child-focused components of the PRSIST program and child outcomes as a consequence of its implementation), and engage educators in a collaborative process of intervention piloting and refinement; and, (3) evaluate the effects of the intervention on educator beliefs around self-regulation and explore perceptions of change to knowledge and practice. To ensure program development was compatible with educators’ current understanding, needs and realities in the area of self-regulation, Phase 1 of this research involved a qualitative investigation of educators’ understandings of self-regulation and current practices for supporting its development among six Australian ECEC services. Findings from this study suggested educator understandings of self-regulation that where largely consistent with control-based definitions (i.e., self-regulation as the ability to supress and overcome salient maladaptive impulses), yet also revealed a tendency to focus on manifest behaviour and emotion. Observed and self-reported practices were largely consistent with those suggested in the literature to be beneficial for children’s self-regulation development (such as minimising factors that may undermine self-regulation, engaging skills central to self-regulation) yet did not reflect the adoption of a systematic or consistent approach between or within ECEC services. Intervention components were developed from these findings (as well as findings from theoretical and empirical literature) and were then piloted by a broader sample of educators from 14 ECEC services. Based on educator feedback, revisions were undertaken to several intervention components to ensure suitability, sustainability and scalability of the developed program. Following program development and piloting, the candidate and co-authors sought to evaluate the impact of PRSIST program implementation on educators’ beliefs about self-regulation, which can yield important insights into intervention efficacy and long-term sustainability of practice change. In response to a dearth of valid and reliable tools for measuring educator beliefs–including those related to self-regulation–the candidate and co-authors first undertook to develop and evaluate a quantitative measure capturing educators’ perceived knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy around self-regulation. Evaluation of the Self-Regulation Knowledge, Attitudes and Self-Efficacy (Self-Regulation KASE) scale yielded a valid and reliable 25-item scale, comprising three distinct yet related subscales: confidence in knowledge; attitudes; and, self-efficacy. To evaluate the effects of the PRSIST Program on educator beliefs, the Self-Regulation KASE scale was administered to the large and geographically dispersed sample of 152 educators, from 50 ECEC services across NSW, Australia that were recruited to participate in the broader project’s cluster RCT evaluation. Findings from the educator evaluation– which was an extension to the core project as part of this PhD–revealed significant improvement to educators’ confidence in their self-regulation knowledge following the 6-month intervention period. No significant changes to educators’ attitudes or self-efficacy around supporting self-regulation were found. In this study, the candidate additionally sought to explore educators’ perceptions of change to their knowledge and practice qualitatively, supplementing the quantitative results. Findings from these educator interviews suggested a positive perceived change to educators’ knowledge of self-regulation, specifically related to its nature, development and importance. Educators and their directors also noted a positive perceived change to educator practice for supporting self-regulation, with educators largely attributing this change to an enhanced understanding of self-regulation and its development. This PhD research made an important contribution to the development and evaluation of this specific ECEC-embedded program for supporting early self-regulation in Australian ECEC settings, by providing key insights around the impact of the PRSIST Program on educator beliefs and educator experiences of change to knowledge and practice. This program of PhD research additionally provides broader contributions to the literature, namely novel insights into: status and importance of educators’ self-regulation beliefs; susceptibility of educator beliefs to change; and educators’ knowledge of self-regulation and embedded practice. These each represent important advances upon current knowledge and have likely implications for further theorising and future research