658,252 research outputs found

    Engaging Communities in Nursing Education

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    This article highlights the efforts of a nursing program at a faith-based university to implement community engagement learning experiences in an undergraduate curriculum with the aim of preparing nurses to contribute to reducing health disparities, value cross-cultural efficacy, and develop a commitment to serving diverse populations.  Students participated in community engagement learning experiences over five semesters in the same community organization, which was either a church, school, or other organization that served diverse populations.  Both survey and focus groups were used to determine community partner, student, and faculty perceptions of community engagement learning experiences over the five semesters. Implications of evaluation data were used to revise both the structure and process of community engagement strategies.  Revisions included strengthening orientation strategies; offering additional support for students in establishing relationships in their community organization; providing guidelines for communication between students, faculty, and community partners; and creating a plan for faculty oversight of student experiences

    Strategies Employed by Community-Based Service Providers to Address HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Challenges: A Qualitative Study

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    Background: HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and other causes of neurocognitive challenges experienced by people living with HIV (PLWH) persist as public health concerns in developed countries. Consequently, PLWH who experience neurocognitive challenges increasingly require social support and mental health services from community-based providers in the HIV sector. Methods: Thirty-three providers from 22 AIDS service organizations across Ontario, Canada, were interviewed to determine the strategies they used to support PLWH experiencing neurocognitive difficulties. Thematic analysis was conducted to determine key themes from the interview data. Results: Three types of strategies were identified: (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) organizational. Intrapersonal strategies involved learning and staying informed about causes of neurocognitive challenges. Interpersonal strategies included providing practical assistance, information, counseling, and/or referrals to PLWH. Organizational strategies included creating dedicated support groups for PLWH experiencing neurocognitive challenges, partnering with other organizations with services not available within their own organization, and advocating for greater access to services with expertise and experience working with PLWH. Conclusion: Through concerted efforts in the future, it is likely that empirically investigating, developing, and customizing these strategies specifically to address HIV-associated neurocognitive challenges will yield improved social support and mental health outcomes for PLWH

    Students’ Self-Directed Learning at Language University

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    The article is devoted to the problem of self-directed learning of students of Language University. Self-organization is an integral characteristic of personality development. The authors studied the components of self-organization: self-assessment, some personal qualities, etc. Some peculiarities of self-organization of Language University students were revealed with the standardized questionnaires and questionnaires based on self-assessment. It turned out that students with high cognitive capacity have insufficient level of self-organization, low cognitive activity. Self-organization is formed in the process of independent work and autonomous learning. The authors consider the problem of educational autonomy development of students while learning foreign languages as an interdisciplinary problem, as a subject area of linguopedagogics. The research also studied methodological strategies for learning new vocabulary. The development of learning style activity depends on certain personal qualities related to native traits. The research about self-directed leaning of students is the basis for the development of pedagogical activities with the aim of developing the optimal style of educational methods. The content of this research is both theoretical and practical; we are creating conditions for effective cognitive activity

    Effective management of a learning organization: creating opportunities for informal learning

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    Changes in innovation and technology, globalization processes, increasing competition determine changes in the activities of learning organizations (educational institutions). Effective management helps manage these changes and meet emerging challenges. The concept of learning organizations is closely related to future perspectives, perceptions of an institution that is constantly evolving and changing. Those changes affect not only the institution itself but also its employees who need to change, improve, and meet the challenges that arise with it. In order to overcome such changes, not only the purposeful lifelong learning is important, but also the self-directed learning. In both cases, this can only be achieved with innovative and focused leadership that facilitates a variety of forms of employee learning. The essence of effective management in learning organizations is related to the goals pursued jointly both by the organization itself and its employees because otherwise it will be difficult to improve and change. With this in mind, the aim of the article is to identify effective management solutions that help to improve the self-learning of employees in this case the teachers. To achieve the goal, the tasks are formulated to discuss the concepts of effective management and learning organization, to describe the theoretical aspects of self-learning; to reveal the self-learning strategies of the learning organization which is the school. Thus, the research highlighted the opportunities provided by the effective management of learning organizations, reflected in self-learning, for the development of employees so that their skills and knowledge are constantly updated. Emphasized self-learning strategies - practical work, observation, communication and collaboration, reflection, reading - are preliminary guidelines for creating a suitable learning environment within the organization

    Strategic Learning in Practice: A Case Study of the Kauffman Foundation

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    Increasingly, foundations and nonprofits are seeking to engage their staff in learning and reflection activities that assess successes and challenges, and then generate insights that can improve programs and funding strategies. Yet, despite the intuitive benefits, there are common challenges that often stand in the way of promoting strategic learning for continuous improvement. For the past year, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has been focused on creating more systematic and intentional strategic learning across our organization. As part of this work we cultivated a select cohort of staff to be “learning champions,” created simple tools and processes that can more easily capture lessons generated internally and externally, and provided training in facilitation techniques to ensure insights are connecting back into our strategies to drive decision-making. Through the cohort, we are also developing new approaches to building a culture of learning and trust that supports transparent reflection. This article provides guidance to help other foundations and nonprofits create stronger internal learning systems, including specific tools and practices, insights gained from our experiences, examples of programs and strategies utilizing evidence to improve, and critical lessons that we’ve learned along the way

    Motivation to Learn, Quality of Life and Estimated Academic Achievement: Medical Students Studying in New Zealand

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    The quality of life of medical students and their motivation to learn are critical factors that have an impact on their ability to learn. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between medical students' perceptions of their quality of life, motivation to learn, and estimated grade at the end of the academic year. Two hundred and seventy-four medical students at years four and five of medical school participated in the study. Students filled in a demographic survey form, and shortened versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Significant correlations between quality of life and motivation to learn measures were obtained. Second, students who scored high on aspects of quality of life and motivation to learn also scored significantly higher on estimates of written grade. In conclusion, the results suggest that medical students’ perceptions about quality of life and motivation to learn are linked to estimation of academic achievement. The findings of this study further resonate with a key conceptual model in the motivation literature, which promotes the importance of creating opportunities for mastery learning, engaging task value, producing optimal learning contexts, and creating mechanisms for coping with and managing the inevitable anxiety-provoking learning experiences that medical students face.The quality of life of medical students and their motivation to learn are critical factors that have an impact on their ability to learn. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between medical students‟ perceptions of their quality of life, motivation to learn, and estimated grade at the end of the academic year. Two hundred and seventy-four medical students at years four and five of medical school participated in the study. Students filled in a demographic survey form, and shortened versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Significant correlations between quality of life and motivation to learn measures were obtained. Second, students who scored high on aspects of quality of life and motivation to learn also scored significantly higher on estimates of written grade. In conclusion, the results suggest that medical students‟ perceptions about quality of life and motivation to learn are linked to estimation of academic achievement. The findings of this study further resonate with a key conceptual model in the motivation literature, which promotes the importance of creating opportunities for mastery learning, engaging task value, producing optimal learning contexts, and creating mechanisms for coping with and managing the inevitable anxiety-provoking learning experiences that medical students face

    Leveraging Community Partnerships to Engage Digitally Foreign Learners in Response to COVID-19

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    This practitioner perspective discusses how creating and leveraging community partnerships in response to COVID-19 enhanced remote learning with science curriculum in an urban middle school with digitally foreign learners. The term digitally foreign learners was coined by the authors to contextualize the experiences of students with limited digital learning both at home and in school as a result of the digital divide. By developing a partnership with the nonprofit organization, I AM not the MEdia, Inc., along with parents and an external educator, the authors describe how a classroom blog site was created that enhanced remote learning engagement with students and families in a high poverty community. Strategies for addressing technology inequities and engaging digitally foreign learners through digital curriculum is provided

    Queering Education: Creating Inclusive and Affirming Learning Environments for Sexually Diverse Students

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    This inquiry draws upon a variety of theoretical perspectives and leadership approaches, including critical and queer theories, and the transformative leadership approach, for the purposes of identifying an appropriate solution to creating inclusive and identity affirming learning environments for sexually diverse students. This inquiry provides insight that will help to further understand the experiences of sexually diverse students in the education system, while exploring strategies for creating learning environments that affords these students value, dignity, and respect. It is proposed that a transformative leadership approach, as it is grounded in social justice efforts, may serve to stimulate the conversation amongst stakeholders, including school leaders, with the goal of transforming the organization into one that responds to the needs of marginalized students, including the sexually diverse. The relevant literature and reflections suggest that schools are categorically heterosexist institutions that exclude sexually diverse students, rendering them inferior, while inflicting significant harm. The findings of this inquiry project have serious implications for the urgency of educational institutions to address the harmful heteronormative and heterosexist practices that are rampant in the school system, while holding such institutions to account

    Sustainable change: knowledge absorption as a factor of absorptive capacity theory among green industry consultants

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    2011 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Researchers and practitioners have been interested in organizational learning as a means to improve performance (Gilley, Dean, & Bierema, 2001; Senge, 1990). The diversity of individuals comprising the context of an organization requires response to change to continue competitive organizational development. When influences and triggers pressure an organization to change, a niche is created for the external consultant. Consultants assist organizations to become more conscious of their own capabilities to successfully address, acknowledge, and use knowledge from internal and external environments. The purpose of this study is to assess the use of knowledge types identified within ACAP theory by consultants guiding clients on a path toward sustainable change. This study enhances existing research regarding absorptive capacity by looking for evidence of new knowledge through the lens of sustainable change. The research goal is to ascertain the active use of key factors of knowledge absorption by green consultants. Findings of this study support a relationship among the consultant's role and the client's capabilities. Utilizing sustainable change strategies and the consultant's complex set of skills the consultant works with a client exhibiting existing strategies supportive of sustainable change. Determining the types of knowledge already present within the organization, green consultant's focus on a customized approach offered through tactics for sustainable change to achieve organizational objectives creating lasting and sustainable change
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