Delivery Matters—or Does It? A Snapshot of Online Versus In-Person Instruction

Online instruction and computer-based innovations in brick-and-mortar institutions are here to stay, but the study of distance delivery is lacking. Areas needing more attention include instructional effectiveness and student satisfaction. Educational quality, especially in online classes, should be monitored and evaluated to ensure learning, collaboration, and success, as well as to gain knowledge and improve practice. The purpose of this paper is to encourage scholar–practitioner dialogue on and comparison of issues pertaining to online and in-person instruction for adult learners. The research question guiding this exploratory qualitative study was, Are there any differences in the learning performance of two graduate cohorts—one online, the other in-person—taking the same course in a given semester? Teaching professors committed to innovative technology that facilitates student success likely find themselves weighing the pros and cons of teaching electronically as opposed to in-person. The anticipated contribution of this study is to inform faculty who may be hesitant to teach graduate courses or who are seeking ways to enhance their curriculum for online delivery. Researchers of instructional practice may find the structure of inquiry, results, and recommendations useful for their own purposes

Mining From the Middle: Making Resources Count at Work

As strategic middle managers, department chairs are at the nexus between their academic unit and college, and they must contend with the competing priorities of these different domains. These leaders are not only change agents but also fiscal agents tasked with budget and personnel responsibilities that can be turned into opportunities for ensuring the best return on investment, even in financially lean times. This workshop will focus on how to capitalize on financial opportunities that extend beyond one’s operating account and other allocations. How can we maximize opportunities to support and develop faculty, students and staff, given the inevitable constraints within public state institutions? One way is to produce greater efficiencies within the academic unit and identify resources from an array of campus constituents and extramurally with community partners and funding agents. Discussions will focus on promoting faculty development using targeted incentives and strategies. Examples include mining institutional support, networking with fiscal agents, proposing matched funding, creating faculty development grants, providing seed funding, negotiating hiring packages, collaborating with development officers, fostering strategic graduate assistantships, rewarding faculty productivity and sponsoring revenue-generating courses. Initiatives such as faculty development grant programs that build upon the procurement of funds, grants and contracts will make connections evident among funds, initiatives and outcomes. The presenter will use specific examples from her experiences of leading a department and school. Question prompts and case scenarios will be provided and dialogue will be a goal

A View of Professional Learning Communities Through Three Frames: Leadership, organization, and culture

In this discussion of professional learning communities (PLCs) in North American public schools, we examine three theoretical frames – leadership, organization, and culture. Issues related to learning are infused throughout our presentation of the frames. Based on our analysis of the current literature on this topic, PLCs offer a promising tool for system-wide change and collaborative mentorship in public schools. Implications for collaborative mentorship within PLCs are uncovered in relation to the professional learning of teachers and leaders and their community development. We dovetail the literature on learning, learning communities, and mentoring in order to identify such expanded possibilities for school teams that are supported by practical examples of change.Au sein de cette discussion sur les communautés d’apprentissages professionnelles (CAPs) dans les écoles publiques nord-américaines, nous faisons l’examen du phénomène via trois cadres théoriques – le leadership, l’organisation et la culture. Les problématiques reliées à l’apprentissage sont également introduites à travers les mêmes cadres. Suite à notre analyse de la littérature courante sur le sujet, les CAPs semblent un outil prometteur pour faciliter des changements systémiques étendus et des initiatives de mentorats collaboratifs dans les écoles publiques. Les tenants et aboutissants du mentorat collaboratifs sont dévoilés en mettant en évidence leurs liens avec les apprentissages professionnels des enseignants et des leaders en regard du développement de leur communauté. Ce faisant, nous combinons la littérature sur l’apprentissage, les communautés d’apprentissages et le mentorat afin d’identifier de nouvelles possibilités pour les équipes-écoles qui sont appuyées par des expériences pratiques de changement

Nutrition Risk Classification: A Reproducible and Valid Tool for Nurses

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141661/1/ncp0020.pd

The effectiveness of interventions to change six health behaviours: a review of reviews

Background: Several World Health Organisation reports over recent years have highlighted the high incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer. Contributory factors include unhealthy diets, alcohol and tobacco use and sedentary lifestyles. This paper reports the findings of a review of reviews of behavioural change interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours or promote healthy behaviours. We included six different health-related behaviours in the review: healthy eating, physical exercise, smoking, alcohol misuse, sexual risk taking (in young people) and illicit drug use. We excluded reviews which focussed on pharmacological treatments or those which required intensive treatments (e. g. for drug or alcohol dependency). Methods: The Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and several Ovid databases were searched for systematic reviews of interventions for the six behaviours (updated search 2008). Two reviewers applied the inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quality of the reviews. The results were discussed in a narrative synthesis. Results: We included 103 reviews published between 1995 and 2008. The focus of interventions varied, but those targeting specific individuals were generally designed to change an existing behaviour (e. g. cigarette smoking, alcohol misuse), whilst those aimed at the general population or groups such as school children were designed to promote positive behaviours (e. g. healthy eating). Almost 50% (n = 48) of the reviews focussed on smoking (either prevention or cessation). Interventions that were most effective across a range of health behaviours included physician advice or individual counselling, and workplace- and school-based activities. Mass media campaigns and legislative interventions also showed small to moderate effects in changing health behaviours. Generally, the evidence related to short-term effects rather than sustained/longer-term impact and there was a relative lack of evidence on how best to address inequalities. Conclusions: Despite limitations of the review of reviews approach, it is encouraging that there are interventions that are effective in achieving behavioural change. Further emphasis in both primary studies and secondary analysis (e.g. systematic reviews) should be placed on assessing the differential effectiveness of interventions across different population subgroups to ensure that health inequalities are addressed.</p

The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide

Background: A plant-based diet protects against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary plants contain variable chemical families and amounts of antioxidants. It has been hypothesized that plant antioxidants may contribute to the beneficial health effects of dietary plants. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive food database consisting of the total antioxidant content of typical foods as well as other dietary items such as traditional medicine plants, herbs and spices and dietary supplements. This database is intended for use in a wide range of nutritional research, from in vitro and cell and animal studies, to clinical trials and nutritional epidemiological studies. Methods: We procured samples from countries worldwide and assayed the samples for their total antioxidant content using a modified version of the FRAP assay. Results and sample information (such as country of origin, product and/or brand name) were registered for each individual food sample and constitute the Antioxidant Food Table. Results: The results demonstrate that there are several thousand-fold differences in antioxidant content of foods. Spices, herbs and supplements include the most antioxidant rich products in our study, some exceptionally high. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables and products thereof constitute common foods and beverages with high antioxidant values. Conclusions: This database is to our best knowledge the most comprehensive Antioxidant Food Database published and it shows that plant-based foods introduce significantly more antioxidants into human diet than non-plant foods. Because of the large variations observed between otherwise comparable food samples the study emphasizes the importance of using a comprehensive database combined with a detailed system for food registration in clinical and epidemiological studies. The present antioxidant database is therefore an essential research tool to further elucidate the potential health effects of phytochemical antioxidants in diet

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Meeting Abstracts: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 9-11 June 201

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown