Formative interventions and practice-development: A methodological perspective on teacher rounds

Highlights • We examine Rounds in education from a methodological perspective. • In doing so, we class Rounds as a formative intervention and compare it to another means of formative intervention—Developmental Work Research. • We raise three methodological issues about both types of formative intervention: the role of theory; the relationship between the individual and the collective; and the meaning of collaboration

Newly qualified physical education teachers’ experiences of developing subject knowledge prior to, during and after a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course

Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections of secondary Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) physical education courses in England between 1996 and 1998 (OFSTED, 1999) were critical of student teachers' subject knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of subject knowledge and influences on the development of that subject knowledge in a sample of three newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who had completed a PGCE physical education course in England. The research comprised semi-structured interviews and analysis of documentation. Among these three NQTs there were some similarities, but more differences in terms of the development of subject knowledge as well as different influences on the development of subject knowledge. These results suggest that teacher educators may need to be flexible in how they approach and support the development of student teachers' subject knowledge. Results also suggest that teacher educators should work more closely with colleagues teaching sports-related undergraduate degree courses to support the development of subject knowledge for those students who wish to progress to a PGCE physical education course

An exploration of the use of bio-pedagogical narratives and video stimulated reflection in the pedagogy of Initial Teacher Education

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis study explored the use of bio-pedagogical narratives (Camacho and Fernandez-Balbo, 2006) and video stimulated reflection (Powell, 2005) in the pedagogy of Initial Teacher Education (ITE). It sought to understand how these pedagogical approaches might support pre-service Physical Education teachers to think critically about their practice and to gain new insights as a result for teacher educators. The study drew on the field of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; Kincheloe, 2005; Giroux, 2007; McLaren and Kincheloe, 2005) and an adapted interpretation of the theoretical concepts of conscientization and critical consciousness (Freire, 1970). The research approach used was situated within the field of illuminative evaluation and the bio-pedagogical narratives and video stimulated reflective dialogues served a dual purpose as both pedagogical approaches and research methods. The research revealed that these intentionally more formative and democratic pedagogical approaches in ITE supported pre-service teachers to problematise the roots and origins of their practice and raised their awareness of how various ‘dimensions of the self’ had shaped their pedagogy. They were able to problematise where observed practice was inequitable or discriminatory and to begin to identify structural inequalities in curriculum provision and subject culture through a process of conscientization. With some of the pre-service teachers this led to critical consciousness in praxis, which resulted in more equitable and inclusive pedagogical approaches. This was contingent, however, on the quality of the dialogic interactions that took place during the video stimulated reflection sessions and the research has highlighted that, for such pedagogical approaches to support critical thinking and potential praxis, participating professionals should engage in a carefully configured preparatory programme. The research has also highlighted the need to recognise and embrace teaching as an emotional act and the use of such pedagogical approaches must be sensitive to the temporal, relational and spatial features of learning to teach

BSN Student Recruiters Significantly Increase Clinical Trial Enrollment in an Outpatient Setting

Background: Insufficient enrollment is a primary determinant of premature clinical trial closure. Nursing students enrolled in research-focused honors programs may be uniquely suited to address recruitment barriers. Aims: Explore the effects of BSN Honors student’s face-to-face recruitment on clinical trial enrollment in an oncology clinic setting. Methods: One-group pre/post design examined the efficacy face-to-face recruitment on enrollment in a nutrition-focused oncology clinical trial. Descriptive statistics summarized sample characteristics and t-tests/Man-Whitney U compared between-group differences. Enrollment percent change was calculated to determine intervention effectiveness. Results: No between group differences were observed between individuals who enrolled versus those who declined. In-person BSN nursing student recruitment resulted in a 77% increase across six weeks.  Conclusions Nursing honors student recruitment was effective and well received by patients and clinical staff. Leveraging research application opportunities and undergraduate student nurse skill sets may provide a cost-effective strategy to reduce recruitment barriers and increase clinical trial target enrollment feasibility. &nbsp