Devising a consensus definition and framework for non-technical skills in healthcare to support educational design: A modified Delphi study

Background Non-technical skills are a subset of human factors that focus on the individual and promote safety through teamwork and awareness. There is no widely adopted competency or outcome based framework for non-technical skills training in healthcare outside the surgical environment. The authors set out to devise such a framework and reach a consensus on a definition using a modified Delphi approach. Methods An exhaustive list of published and team suggested items was presented to the expert panel for ranking and to propose a definition. In the second round, a focused list was presented, as well as the proposed definition elements. The finalised framework was sent to the panel for review. Summary of results 16 experts participated (58% response rate). A total of 36 items of 105 ranked highly enough to present in round two. The final framework consists of 16 competencies for all and 8 specific competencies for team leaders. The consensus definition describes non-technical skills as ‘a set of social (communication and team work) and cognitive (analytical and personal behaviour) skills that support high quality, safe, effective and efficient inter-professional care within the complex healthcare system’. Conclusions The authors have produced a new competency framework, through the works of an international expert panel, which is not discipline specific. This consensus competency framework can be used by curriculum developers, educational innovators and clinical teachers to support developments in the field

Variability Across Repeat Assessment of Working Memory and Processing Speed in Referred Populations

Developmentally, it is expected that the processes of working memory and processing speed will improve throughout childhood as a child\u27s brain develops. However, students with learning, attention, and other childhood disorders often display difficulties in these areas. This study investigated the use of repeated measures to ascertain variability over time of two important cognitive processes: Working Memory and Processing Speed in a clinically referred population as measured by the WISC-IV to determine if a significant discrepancy exists between administrations. The study also investigated whether differences in Working Memory and Processing Speed from administration to administration would be greater in children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) vs. students with SLD (Specific Learning Disability). WISC-IV scores in Working Memory and Processing Speed from two administrations were examined from confidential archival records for 75 children ages 6-14. A two-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for hypothesis one with time as the within factor. A mixed ANOVA was conducted for the second hypothesis with group as the between factor and time as the within factor. Time was defined as the interval from one administration to the next. Second administrations were an average of two and a half years later. For hypothesis one, Processing Speed was statistically significant for time as a main effect although results were not statistically significant for Working Memory. For hypothesis two, Working Memory was statistically significant for time and group. The ADHD students performed significantly higher than SLD on Working Memory. Only time as a main effect was statistically significant for Processing Speed. Additional analyses examined medication status as well as comorbidity and gender as confounds. Those experiencing a medication change from one administration to the next as well as boys were significantly lower on Processing Speed. Findings suggest students can perform quite variably across time even within the elementary school years. This research highlights the importance of repeat cognitive assessment in evaluating developmental disorders across time. Changes in Working Memory or Processing Speed determine types of interventions as well as accommodations that may be needed. This has ramifications for educational decisions regarding these students

Comparing the Readability of Text Displays on Paper, E-Book Readers, and Small Screen Devices

Science fiction has long promised the digitalization of books. Characters in films and television routinely check their palm-sized (or smaller) electronic displays for fast-scrolling information. However, this very technology, increasingly prevalent in today's world, has not been embraced universally. While the convenience of pocket-sized information pieces has the techno-savvy entranced, the general public still greets the advent of the e-book with a curious reluctance. This lack of enthusiasm seems strange in the face of the many advantages offered by the new medium - vastly superior storage capacity, searchability, portability, lower cost, and instantaneous access. This dissertation addresses the need for research examining the reading comprehension and the role emotional response plays in the perceived performance on e-document formats as compared to traditional paper format. This study compares the relative reading comprehension on three formats (Kindle, iTouch, and paper) and examines the relationship of subject's emotional response and relative technology exposure as factors that affect how the subject perceives they have performed on those formats. This study demonstrates that, for basic reading comprehension, the medium does not matter. Furthermore, it shows that, the more uncomfortable a person is with technology and expertise in the requested task (in this case, reading), the more they cling to the belief that they will do better on traditional (paper) media - regardless of how well they actually do

The NASA Cubesat Missions Flying on Artemis-1

In 2021, the Space Launch Services (SLS) Artemis-1 mission will carry thirteen 6U CubeSats into deep space. Three of those payloads are NASA missions performing a variety of unique deep-space science experiments. The three NASA CubeSat missions are BioSentinel, Lunar Flashlight and NEAScout. The BioSentinel mission will measure deep-space radiation effects on DNA using yeast organisms. It is a six-month mission in a heliocentric orbit. BioSentinel was designed, built, tested and operated out of NASA Ames Research Center. Lunar Flashlight’s mission is to look for surface water ice in the permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of the Moon and test out new small spacecraft technologies. The spacecraft was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a technology demonstration mission with support from the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Goddard Space Flight Center and Georgia Institute of Technology. NEA Scout’s mission is twofold: to demonstrate solar sail deployment and spacecraft navigation using the sail to detect, track, fly by, and characterize a near earth asteroid. NEA Scout was developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and support from the Goddard Space Flight Center, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, and Langley Research Center

Appointment with Death

One of Agatha Christie’s most suspenseful plays, the story begins with a group of tourists visiting the ancient town of Petra in Jordan. Set during the 1940s, the world is suffering from the effects of the War, when suddenly danger, fear, and murder intrude upon their lives much more closely than any of them imagined. As they settle into a grand and luxurious hotel, mysterious things begin to occur, and strange characters seem to be lurking everywhere. When someone is murdered, it seems obvious that the culprit must be among the group of travelers. Could the murderer be among the locals who work in the hotel? This play became one of the most enduring and popular stories ever written by Christie, as it pulls the audiences into a world of intrigue, suspense, and danger in an exotic and unfamiliar land.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1041/thumbnail.jp

Going 4D: Embedding the Four Dimensional Framework for Curriculum Design

The University of Derby has a history of interprofessional development, initially called Shared Learning, since 1992. When the initial research investigation was conceived, the Government in the UK had already been advocating the value of shared learning teamwork for professionals within the NHS for almost 30 years. The Government saw this as a means of providing better care for the service user as well as a way of reducing costs in terms of higher education. In contrast, the profession and professionals themselves perceived that the sharing involved in this type of teamwork was a way of eroding their professional base. They believed that eventually several generic workers could be employed instead of the professionals themselves, and so resisted the challenge of sharing information in teams and, at the time, sought to protect their own individual professional base (Forman, 2000). Nevertheless the University of Derby saw the development of shared learning and interprofessional learning as an opportunity to bring occupational therapists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers together with a curriculum designed to enhance the sharing that could take place between their studies. Due to the changes in leadership of these areas the profile of interprofessional education and practice was not seen as quite so important. The appointment of a new Dean in 2004 however re-engaged the teaching teams to learn from practice internationally and to include education practice and research on the interprofessional agenda at Derby. One of these changes will be covered in this chapter based on the writing team’s involvement with action research using a model developed over seven years in Australia

Data curation issues in transitioning a field science collection of long-term research data and artefacts from a local repository to an institutional repository

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.Transition a local 32 year project, the Shortgrass Steppe Long-Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER), with over 100 data packages and related digital artefacts, to an Institutional Repository (IR) at Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries to ensure persistent, reliable, and interoperable access to our collection of scientific data. Our collaborative team envisions being part of a larger information environment, which enables sharing of knowledge and data - a web of repositories. Poster presented at the 9th International Digital Curation Conference held in San Francisco, California on February 25, 2014. Refereed.This work is supported by NSF Grant Number DEB-0823405, Colorado State University, and the UIUC Data Curation Education at Research Centers (DCERC IMLS Award #RE-02-10-0004-10)

Managing scientific research data: data packaging and organizing materials for curation

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.Presentation held at the Front Range Data Librarian Meeting on June 16, 2014 at CSU Libraries and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado.NSF Grant DEB-1027319