Improving teaching with research: the role for theory-driven evaluation

For the last five years universities in Australia and New Zealand have experimented with the use of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge in their first-year engineering courses. In evaluating the initiative we asked 'What works for whom under what circumstances?' Here we report specifically on the third phase of the project which examined three attempts to embed the findings of the evaluation in the next year's teaching: one concerned adjustments to assessment to improve alignment; another concerned the use of the EWB Challenge projects in a multidisciplinary subject outside of engineering; and the third set of changes revolved around attempts to make sure a large teaching team was implementing the projects in a consistent way. In all of these cases it emerged that maintaining communication and collaboration amongst stakeholders was critically important and practically difficult. We conclude that embedding the results of research may require as much time and attention as actually doing the research and reflect on how practical strategies may be developed

Curriculum development and educational research: the barriers to good practice and what to do about them

Curriculum change is acknowledged to be a difficult process to initiate and maintain (Graham 2012). Over the last two years we conducted an ALTC-funded evaluation of the use of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge projects in first-year engineering. We asked the question 'what works for whom under what circumstances' in recognition of the complexity of curriculum development, and given that different aspects of the process play out differently in different settings. Phase 2 of the project involved three University participants' trialling implementation recommendations resulting from the earlier stage of the evaluation. Results indicate that knowledge of best practice methods does not always directly relate to successful implementation. Thus, consideration needs to be given regarding how knowledge is translated into practice

Improving teaching with research: the role for theory-driven evaluation

For the last five years universities in Australia and New Zealand have experimented with the use of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge in their first-year engineering courses. In evaluating the initiative we asked "What works for whom under what circumstances?" Here we report specifically on the third phase of the project which examined three attempts to embed the findings of the evaluation in the next year's teaching: one concerned adjustments to assessment to improve alignment; another concerned the use of the EWB Challenge projects in a multidisciplinary subject outside of engineering; and the third set of changes revolved around attempts to make sure a large teaching team was implementing the projects in a consistent way. In all of these cases it emerged that maintaining communication and collaboration amongst stakeholders was critically important and practically difficult. We conclude that embedding the results of research may require as much time and attention as actually doing the research and reflecton how practical strategies may be developed

Clinician experience, perceptions, and acceptance of paediatric complex care nurse practitioner roles

Background: Nurse practitioner (NP) roles are implemented to increase access to care in response to rising demands and pressures in the health system, yet little evaluation is undertaken to assess how these new roles integrate with services. Aim: To identify health professionals’ experiences, perceptions, and acceptance of NP roles in complex care medical subspecialties within a paediatric tertiary hospital and health services. Methods: The AUSPRAC validated survey was distributed in both electronic and paper forms to a purposeful cohort of multidisciplinary health professionals (n = 208) working directly or collaboratively with both established NPs and novice/in training NPs. Nine medical subspecialties were represented including metabolic, immunisation and oncology. Two reminders were sent to non-responders. All NP roles within nine medical specialties were evaluated. Data were tabulated and descriptively analysed. Findings: Ninety-two responses were received (response rate 44%). Services with highest representation were Immunisation (71%), Metabolic Medicine and Palliative Care (45%) each. Responses were received from medical (42%) nursing (30%) and other healthcare providers (27%) including allied health clinicians. Most respondents agreed they understood NP roles (89%), agreed their introduction into the service had been a success (85%) and that NP services met the needs of the patients (91%). Some (9%) respondents reported they feared NP prescribing increased the risk of incorrect treatment with 7% not trusting NPs to diagnose correctly and some (15%) worried that NPs did not have the necessary knowledge to prescribe. Free text comments were generally positive and supportive of the roles, with few negative statements. Discussion: While most NP roles were positively viewed, breakdowns in communication processes affected understanding and acceptance of some NP roles. Clearly defining the scope, purpose and benefits of NP roles should be communicated to individual teams and across whole organisations. Conclusion: NP roles are largely well accepted within this paediatric tertiary service, which demonstrates a shift in culture from research undertaken at the turn of the century. Attention to implementation factors may improve successful integration of new roles into services.</p