Health ManagementInformation Systems for Resource Allocation and Purchasing in Developing Countries

World Bank, Health Nutrition and Population, Discussion Paper: The paper begins with the premise that it is not possible to implement an efficient, modern RAP strategy today without the effective use of information technology. The paper then leads the architect through the functionality of the systems components and environment needed to support RAP, pausing to justify them at each step. The paper can be used as a long-term guide through the systems development process as it is not necessary (and likely not possible) to implement all functions at once. The paper’s intended audience is those members of a planning and strategy body, working in conjunction with technical experts, who are charged with designing and implementing a RAP strategy in a developing country

Voicing the Indescribable - Using Photo Elicitation as a Method to Uncover Belonging and Community

Eleven years ago two NSF-funded programs aimed at fostering the development of a Community of Practice (CoP) among engineering education researchers, the Rigorous Research in Engineering Education (RREE) and the Institute for Scholarship on Engineering Education (ISEE), were initiated. The RREE and ISSE programs involved approximately 200 (147 RREE and 48 ISEE) faculty members in workshops and other professional development learning experiences that helped them become aware of and learn how to navigate the nuances of conducting engineering education research (EER) that met the standards of any scholarly field. While big-data analytics can be applied to show evidence of a developed and existing community of practice among past participants of the RREE and ISEE programs, individual stories of “becoming engineering education researchers” are impossible to capture using such techniques. In order to gain insights of the lived experiences from some participants after more than 10 years since their experience in these programs, we took a qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews using photo elicitation. So far we have collectively interviewed a total of 37 past participants, 21 for RREE and 16 for ISEE. This paper focuses on the results from the RREE past participants. We used a protocol that was divided into two main sections: I. eliciting engineering education research stories and II. becoming an engineering education researcher. This paper will report on section one where participants were asked to submit three photos or images that they felt were good representations of: (1) themselves before participating in the workshops, (2) where they see themselves presently and (3) where they hope to be in the future. In this paper we will describe the common themes associated with the photos/images in terms of how participants identified with the photos/images and their justification for choosing them. The idea behind this approach is that through the selection of photos/images participants are able to not only produce a visual progression of their identity since the workshops, but to also serve as a starting point for verbalizing connections in their experiences they may have long forgotten existed. This paper will add to the body of literature that seeks to uncover stories or information that might be difficult to voice or describe

Using Schema Training to Facilitate Students\u27 Understanding of Challenging Engineering Concepts in Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics

Background: Chi and colleagues have argued that some of the most challenging engineering concepts exhibit properties of emergent systems. However, students often lack a mental framework, or schema, for understanding emergence. Slotta and Chi posited that helping students develop a schema for emergent systems, referred to as schema training, would increase the understanding of challenging concepts exhibiting emergent properties. Purpose: We tested the effectiveness of schema training and explored the nature of challenging concepts from thermodynamics and heat transfer. We investigated if schema training could (a) repair misconceptions in advanced engineering students and (b) prevent them in beginning engineering students. Method: We adapted Slotta and Chi\u27s schema training modules and tested their impact in two studies that employed an experimental design. Items from the Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory and expert-developed multiple-choice questions were used to evaluate conceptual understanding of the participants. The language used by students in their open-ended explanations of multiple-choice questions was also coded. Results: In both studies, students in the experimental groups showed larger gains in their understanding of some concepts—specifically in dye diffusion and microfluidics in Study One, and in the final test for thermodynamics in Study Two. But in neither study did students exhibit any gain in conceptual questions about heat transfer. Conclusion: Our studies suggest the importance of examining the nature of the phenomena underlying the concepts being taught because the language used in instruction has implications for how students understand them. Therefore, we suggest that instructors reflect on their own understanding of the concepts

The Case for Dynamic Models of Learners' Ontologies in Physics

In a series of well-known papers, Chi and Slotta (Chi, 1992; Chi & Slotta, 1993; Chi, Slotta & de Leeuw, 1994; Slotta, Chi & Joram, 1995; Chi, 2005; Slotta & Chi, 2006) have contended that a reason for students' difficulties in learning physics is that they think about concepts as things rather than as processes, and that there is a significant barrier between these two ontological categories. We contest this view, arguing that expert and novice reasoning often and productively traverses ontological categories. We cite examples from everyday, classroom, and professional contexts to illustrate this. We agree with Chi and Slotta that instruction should attend to learners' ontologies; but we find these ontologies are better understood as dynamic and context-dependent, rather than as static constraints. To promote one ontological description in physics instruction, as suggested by Slotta and Chi, could undermine novices' access to productive cognitive resources they bring to their studies and inhibit their transition to the dynamic ontological flexibility required of experts.Comment: The Journal of the Learning Sciences (In Press

Using Computer-Based Online Learning Modules to Promote Conceptual Change: Helping Students Understand Difficult Concepts in Thermal and Transport Science

Misconceptions about engineering and science concepts persist among engineering students, and some are resistant even to direct instruction. This paper reports on a unique form of computer-based online learning module, designed to help engineering undergraduates learn difficult concepts in the thermal and transport sciences (specifically, heat transfer, mass diffusion, and microfluidics). The design of these modules has been informed by relevant research on cognitive psychology and technology-enhanced learning. Specifically, the modules are based on the prior work of Chi and Slotta, which focuses on helping students understand the emergent properties of complex physical systems, thereby providing a means for promoting conceptual change within these challenging domains. The modules were designed and hosted in a Web-based learning management system, where a variety of interactive materials and inquiry prompts were incorporated to help students better understand the concepts and visualize the phenomena. Engineering students’ perceptions of computer-based online learning are reported along with learning outcomes that resulted from their use of the modules. This was the first study to provide a discipline-based example in engineering education for how to use computer-based online learning and emergent properties of complex systems to help undergraduate engineering students learn difficult concepts. It has implications for (1) designing effective online learning environments to help students learn difficult science and engineering concepts; and (2) developing effective instructional strategies for promoting conceptual change

Development of the kinetic molecular theory of gases concept inventory: Preliminary results on university students’ misconceptions

In this study, we investigated students’ understanding of concepts related to the microscopic model of gas. We thoroughly reviewed the relevant literature and conducted think alouds with students by asking them to answer open-ended questions about the kinetic molecular theory of gases. Thereafter, we transformed the open-ended questions into multiple-choice questions, whereby distractors were based on the results of the think alouds. Thus, we obtained a set of 22 questions, which constitutes our current version of the kinetic molecular theory of gases concept inventory. The inventory has been administered to 250 students from different universities in Croatia, and its content validity has been investigated trough physics teacher surveys. The results of our study not only corroborate the existence of some already known student misconceptions, but also reveal new insights about a great spectrum of students’ misconceptions that had not been reported in earlier research (e.g., misconceptions about intermolecular potential energy and molecular velocity distribution). Moreover, we identified similar distribution of students’ responses across the surveyed student groups, despite the fact that they had been enrolled in different curricular environments