Transitions for success: A phenomenological study of non-traditional GED completers into the community college

The vision statement of one large Midwestern community college is dedicated to helping students achieve lifelong fulfillment by providing a quality, innovative and responsive learning environment. Each day, [the college] champions the aspirations of individuals, communities and the state... Helping each individual realize a lifelong dream is centered on providing a quality education so that he or she may benefit economically, socially, and personally to achieve a better quality of life that expands those benefits to the community, state and world. Evaluating where the college stands on access to individuals and the communities it serves is critical. It is important to determine whether the population within the service area is taking advantage of services at the community college to place themselves into a more beneficial and marketable position to earn more economically and become more productive members of society. This qualitative study is designed to examine the experiences and perceptions of General Education Development (GED) completers who have chosen to continue their education at the community college. A research participation request was sent to all graduates of either the spring 2010 or summer 2010 semester from a Midwestern community college. Out of 54 students who completed their degrees, six participants described their experiences from the initial stages of getting their GED\u27s through the process of entering college, completing the coursework and acquiring the degree. Each participant provided a personal reflective essay and engaged in an interview and one perception check. Content from the personal reflective essays, transcriptions of the interviews and perception checks and educational records were the data used for this analysis. Although there has been an increasing number of individuals who choose to continue their education after completing a GED, there is very little data determining the success level of this student population. There has been neither a formal analysis of the success of GED completers entering the community college setting nor an analysis of whether or not the GED completers have successfully reached their goals and the issues that impacted the transition. Analyzing the transition experience and determining both the barriers and supports offered by the institution as well as the personal aspects of the individual can increase awareness that may benefit the college in understanding what programming is needed and beneficial; furthermore, analysis can determine what aspects of the learner are critical to develop when the individual decides to pursue higher education

A pilot randomised controlled trial to reduce suffering and emotional distress in patients with advanced cancer

AbstractIntroductionA pilot trial was carried out to determine if a focussed narrative interview could alleviate the components of suffering and anxiety and depression in advanced cancer patients.InterventionPatients recruited were invited to participate in a focussed narrative interview and reflect on their perspectives on their sense of “meaning”, regarding suffering and their psychological, physical, social and spiritual well being – the emphasis was on allowing the patient to tell their story. Patients were encouraged to share what resources they themselves had utilised in addition to what professional care they may have received, to maintain a sense of well being.MethodPatients with advanced metastatic disease were recruited from hospices in the North West of England – the only exclusion criteria were not being able to understand written and spoken English and a non cancer diagnosis. At recruitment patients were asked to complete a numerical scale for suffering; the Brief Edinburgh Depression Scale, Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), FACIT Spiritual well being questionnaire, Demographic information was collected and patients were randomised to either the intervention arm of the trial or the usual care arm of the study. Patients in both groups were invited to complete each measure at 2, 4 and 8 weeks.ResultsOne hundred people were recruited into the study – 49 were randomised to intervention group and 51 to control group. The median age of patients was 66 years age range (31–89 years) and 68% of patients were female. At baseline the ECOG performance of 75% of patients recruited was 1 or 2. The median survival of all patients in the study was 169.5 days (range 10 days to still alive at end of study). There was no significant difference at any timepoint in scores on suffering measure between intervention group and control group. At each time point the intervention demonstrated mean improvement in scores for depression and anxiety on ESAS – the greatest changes for both depression and anxiety were seen at 4 weeks.ConclusionThis pilot randomised controlled trial of a focussed narrative intervention demonstrated an improvement in mean changes in scores for depression and anxiety at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. We suggest this intervention may have beneficial effects on depression and anxiety, but a larger powered trial is required to determine the full effects

Using Metacognitive Training with Kinesiology Students

As future healthcare practitioners, kinesiology students must become expert learners who choose strategies resulting in deep and durable learning. Metacognitive instruction goes beyond the use of study skills as it focuses on student reflection and evaluation of their learning success, and ultimately establishes effective learning skills, a requirement for professional practice. To examine if an intervention in a kinesiology course affected metacognitive awareness and use of metacognitive strategies, a quasi-experimental research design utilized a convenience sample of 89 upper division undergraduate occupational therapy students and master’s level athletic training students enrolled in kinesiology courses. Using an online survey including the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison, 1994) and three Likert scale questions about perception of study skills, pre-test and post-test data were collected over three years, and 6-month follow-up data were collected during the final two years of the study. The intervention included information about metacognition and key study tips, five learning activities, and teaching techniques to promote metacognition. Treating the pre-test group as the reference group, the results showed that the post-test and 6-month follow-up test groups were significant predictors of students’ scores on the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, indicating an improved and sustained metacognitive awareness after completing the course. The intervention was found to have a positive association with scores of planning, information management, comprehension monitoring, and evaluation. These results indicate the value of metacognition instruction. Considering that not all students come equipped with metacognitive skills, instruction in this area could be beneficial to students

Out of the ashes: Ecological resilience to extreme wildfire, prescribed burns, and indigenous burning in ecosystems

Until Euro-American colonization, Indigenous people used fire to modify eco-cultural systems, developing robust Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Since 1980, wildfire activity has increased due to fire suppression and climate change. In 2017, in Waterton Lakes National Park, AB, the Kenow wildfire burned 19,303 ha, exhibiting extreme fire behavior. It affected forests and the Eskerine Complex, a native-grass prairie treated with prescribed burns since 2006 to reduce aspen (Populus tremuloides) encroachment linked to fire suppression and bison (Bison bison bison) extirpation. One year post-fire, the Kenow wildfire caused vigorous aspen sprouting, altered stand structure to an early-seral state and changed dominant land cover from grass to mineral soil. It did not change aspen-cover extent or cause non-native grass eruption, but it reduced native-grass diversity and produced more pronounced shifts in ecosystem structure and biodiversity than the prescribed burn. The 2017 Kenow wildfire and prescribed burns differed in phenological timing, scale, and severity. Prescribed burns occurred in late spring, with little fuel available, while the Kenow wildfire occurred in late summer, with abundant fuel—amplifying the difference in severity. As in other climate-limited fire regimes, prescribed burns treatments did not mitigate the severity of the Kenow wildfire. To more effectively reduce the extent of aspen cover, future prescribed burns in this system could be applied in the late season. Incorporating TEK in adaptive co-management can help create ecosystems more resilient to fire and pervasive stressors such as invasive plants, provided one contextualizes current conditions and how they differ from historical conditions

Measurements of Forbush decreases at Mars: both by MSL on ground and by MAVEN in orbit

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), on board Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) Curiosity rover, has been measuring ground level particle fluxes along with the radiation dose rate at the surface of Mars since August 2012. Similar to neutron monitors at Earth, RAD sees many Forbush decreases (FDs) in the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) induced surface fluxes and dose rates. These FDs are associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and/or stream/corotating interaction regions (SIRs/CIRs). Orbiting above the Martian atmosphere, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft has also been monitoring space weather conditions at Mars since September 2014. The penetrating particle flux channels in the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) instrument onboard MAVEN can also be employed to detect FDs. For the first time, we study the statistics and properties of a list of FDs observed in-situ at Mars, seen both on the surface by MSL/RAD and in orbit detected by the MAVEN/SEP instrument. Such a list of FDs can be used for studying interplanetary CME (ICME) propagation and SIR evolution through the inner heliosphere. The magnitudes of different FDs can be well-fitted by a power-law distribution. The systematic difference between the magnitudes of the FDs within and outside the Martian atmosphere may be mostly attributed to the energy-dependent modulation of the GCR particles by both the pass-by ICMEs/SIRs and the Martian atmosphere

Malaria risk behaviours, socio-cultural practices and rural livelihoods in southern Tanzania: Implications for bednet usage

a b s t r a c t Most malaria risk reduction strategies are firmly embedded in biomedical practices and public health perspectives. National and international programmes to 'control' malaria are particularly characterised by the promotion of public health interventions which converge on the disease vector, the malaria mosquito, notably through the use of indoor household spraying with insecticides, and the deployment of insecticidetreated bednets (ITNs). With convincing evidence for the effectiveness of ITNs in reducing the incidence of malaria, control programmes have emphasised the notion of 'scaling-up' bednet coverage. Much previous research on people's 'compliance' with bednet programmes has tended to focus on the quantification of bednet usage and on deriving explanations for 'non-compliance' based on household or individual indicators such as wealth, age, gender or educational level, or on climatic factors such as season and temperature. However, malaria risk behaviours are also rooted in wider aspects of local livelihoods, and sociocultural beliefs and practices which interplay with the use and, crucially, non-use, of bednets. This paper draws on empirical data derived from in-depth, one-to-one semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participatory methods (mapping and diagramming) with participants in two villages in rural Tanzania to explore the nature of these practices and vulnerabilities, and their potential impact on malaria exposure risk. Participants included farmers and pastoralists, both men and women, as well as village 'officials'. By eliciting local understandings of malaria-related behaviours we explore how malaria risks are played out in people's everyday lives, and the circumstances and decision-making which underpin non-usage of bednets. Our findings reveal the importance of shifting sleeping patterns in response to livelihood needs and socio-cultural practices and events. These arrangements militate against the consistent and sustained use of the bednet which are called for by public health policies. In particular we demonstrate the importance of the spatial and temporal dimensions of farming practices and the role of conflict over access to shared land; the impact of livelihood activities on malaria risks for school-aged children; risk behaviours during 'special' socio-cultural events such as funeral ceremonies; and routine, outdoor activities around dawn and dusk and the gendered nature of these practices

Implementation evaluation of multiple complex early years interventions: : an evaluation framework and study protocol

Introduction: Implementation evaluations are integral to understanding whether, how and why interventions work. However, unpicking the mechanisms of complex interventions is often challenging in usual service settings where multiple services are delivered concurrently. Furthermore, many locally developed and/or adapted interventions have not undergone any evaluation, thus limiting the evidence base available. Born in Bradford’s Better Start cohort is evaluating the impact of multiple early life interventions being delivered as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘A Better Start’ programme to improve the health and well-being of children living in one of the most socially and ethnically diverse areas of the UK. In this paper, we outline our evaluation framework and protocol for embedding pragmatic implementation evaluation across multiple early years interventions and services. Methods and analysis: The evaluation framework is based on a modified version of The Conceptual Framework for Implementation Fidelity. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, our evaluation framework incorporates semistructured interviews, focus groups, routinely collected data and questionnaires. We will explore factors related to content, delivery and reach of interventions at both individual and wider community levels. Potential moderating factors impacting intervention success such as participants’ satisfaction, strategies to facilitate implementation, quality of delivery and context will also be examined. Interview and focus guides will be based on the Theoretical Domains Framework to further explore the barriers and facilitators of implementation. Descriptive statistics will be employed to analyse the routinely collected quantitative data and thematic analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data. Ethics and dissemination: The Health Research Authority (HRA) has confirmed our implementation evaluations do not require review by an NHS Research Ethics Committee (HRA decision 60/88/81). Findings will be shared widely to aid commissioning decisions and will also be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, summary reports, conferences and community newsletters