Teachers’ Understandings of Critical and Higher Order Thinking and What This Means for Their Teaching and Assessments

Critical and higher order thinking is essential to education, but it is not clear what teachers understand this to mean and what role this has in their instruction. We interviewed 38 teachers in Kindergarten to Grade 9 classrooms from 14 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, to obtain their understandings of critical and higher order thinking in social studies and science, and how this affects instruction and assessment. The teachers believed that higher order thinking was important for all students, and attempted to teach thinking; however, they were less sure of how they might assess thinking. The teachers indicated uncertainty about what higher order thinking means, and believed they were not well prepared to teach or assess higher order thinking.L’esprit critique et les habiletés supérieures de la pensée sont des éléments essentiels de l’éducation; pourtant, il n’est pas clair si les enseignants comprennent ces concepts ou le rôle que jouent ceux-ci dans leur enseignement. Nous avons interrogé 38 enseignants de la maternelle à la 9e année et provenant de 14 écoles à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, au Canada, de sorte à apprendre comment ils concevaient l’esprit critique et les habiletés supérieures de la pensée en études sociales et en science, et dans quelle mesure leur perception affectait l’enseignement et l’évaluation. Les enseignants croyaient que les habiletés supérieures de la pensée étaient importantes pour tous les élèves et ils tentaient d’enseigner la réflexion ; toutefois, ils étaient moins certains quant à la façon d’évaluer celle-ci. Les enseignants ont manifesté une incertitude quant à la définition des habiletés supérieures de la pensée et estimaient qu’ils n’étaient pas bien préparés pour les enseigner ou les évaluer.

Teachers’ Understandings of Critical and Higher Order Thinking and What This Means for Their Teaching and Assessments

Critical and higher order thinking is essential to education, but it is not clear what teachers understand this to mean and what role this has in their instruction. We interviewed 38 teachers in Kindergarten to Grade 9 classrooms from 14 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, to obtain their understandings of critical and higher order thinking in social studies and science, and how this affects instruction and assessment. The teachers believed that higher order thinking was important for all students, and attempted to teach thinking; however, they were less sure of how they might assess thinking. The teachers indicated uncertainty about what higher order thinking means, and believed they were not well prepared to teach or assess higher order thinking.L’esprit critique et les habiletés supérieures de la pensée sont des éléments essentiels de l’éducation; pourtant, il n’est pas clair si les enseignants comprennent ces concepts ou le rôle que jouent ceux-ci dans leur enseignement. Nous avons interrogé 38 enseignants de la maternelle à la 9e année et provenant de 14 écoles à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, au Canada, de sorte à apprendre comment ils concevaient l’esprit critique et les habiletés supérieures de la pensée en études sociales et en science, et dans quelle mesure leur perception affectait l’enseignement et l’évaluation. Les enseignants croyaient que les habiletés supérieures de la pensée étaient importantes pour tous les élèves et ils tentaient d’enseigner la réflexion ; toutefois, ils étaient moins certains quant à la façon d’évaluer celle-ci. Les enseignants ont manifesté une incertitude quant à la définition des habiletés supérieures de la pensée et estimaient qu’ils n’étaient pas bien préparés pour les enseigner ou les évaluer.

Experienced Practitioners\u27 Views on Interpersonal Skills in Telehealth Delivery

Background. As telehealth becomes a larger part of the health care landscape, clinicians are becoming prepared to operate technology-based­ systems for conducting routine care and exchanging information. Less defined are interpersonal skills for telehealth care delivery such as communication and therapeutic relationships that can influence clinical outcomes. Examples include clinician adaptability to the communication process via telehealth, clinician congeniality in communications, and striving to achieve telepresence. The purpose of this study was to describe interpersonal skills for telehealth delivery to assist in the preparation of health professionals. Methods. Aqualitative methods approached was used to build on results from our previously published systematic review. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with experienced practitioners or educators (n=6) at multiple regional telehealth centers. Video/audio-recorded sessions were transcribed verbatim and researchers conducted thematic analysis of data until achieving saturation of data. Results. Participants provided their perspectives about interpersonal skills important for quality telehealth delivery based on professional experiences. Analysis of responses across interviews showed strong alignment with the six themes identified previously as non-technical clinician attributes: Preinteractional, Verbal Communication, Non-Verbal Communication, Relational, and Environmental. Also, an additional theme of Management/Operations emerged. Suggested training topics crossed clinical disciplines and ranged from telemedicine etiquette and verbal skills to equipment operation and billing and coding. Each study participant commented on benefits from preparation of telehealth clinicians related to the clinician-patient interaction such as: patient engagement, patient-centered care, patient satisfaction, patient implementation of care plans, effective communication with patients, and quality assessment of telehealth sessions. Conclusions. This study identified interpersonal skills that may be applied in professional education for telehealth delivery from the perspective of experienced practitioners. Further research could explore outcomes from professional preparation for interpersonal skills and patient perspectives

Toward An Identity for the Field of Doctoral Education in Health Sciences

The Association of Doctoral Programs in Health Sciences (ADPHS) was informally established in November 2019, officially incorporated in August 2021, and is currently a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of the directors of member doctoral programs of health sciences. The ADPHS grew from informal discussions among program directors who agreed that a major problem in the field of doctoral education in health sciences was the lack of a clearly defined and easily articulable identity. The discussions led to the drafting of an informal and nonscientific survey used to help clarify the current health sciences education environment, relevant emerging trends, and the educational philosophies adopted by the directors of health sciences doctoral programs nationally. The results of the survey and follow-up discussions revealed a strong consensus among program directors that the field of doctorate education in health sciences is uniformly characterized by its interdisciplinary nature. In this position paper, we provide the rationale for the formal position of the ADPHS that the identity of the field of doctoral education in health sciences is based on its interdisciplinary approach to education

Exertional heat stroke: nutritional considerations

Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a life-threatening illness and an enduring problem among athletes, military servicemen and -women, and occupational labourers who regularly perform strenuous activity, often under hot and humid conditions or when wearing personal protective equipment. Risk factors for EHS and mitigation strategies have generally focused on the environment, health status, clothing, heat acclimatization and aerobic conditioning, but the potential role of nutrition is largely underexplored. Various nutritional and dietary strategies have shown beneficial effects on exercise performance and health and are widely used by athletes and other physically active populations. There is also evidence that some of these practices may dampen the pathophysiological features of EHS, suggesting possible protection or abatement of injury severity. Promising candidates include carbohydrate ingestion, appropriate fluid intake and glutamine supplementation. Conversely, some nutritional factors and low energy availability may facilitate the development of EHS, and individuals should be cognizant of these. Therefore, the aims of this review are to present an overview of EHS along with its mechanisms and pathophysiology, discuss how selected nutritional considerations may influence EHS risk focusing on their impact on the key pathophysiological processes of EHS, and provide recommendations for future research. With climate change expected to increase EHS risk and incidence in the coming years, further investigation on how diet and nutrition may be optimized to protect against EHS would be highly beneficial

Consumer Bankruptcy Update

Materials from the Consumer Bankruptcy Update presentations held by UK/CLE in December 2000

Class dynamics of development: a methodological note

This article argues that class relations are constitutive of developmental processes and central to understanding inequality within and between countries. In doing so it illustrates and explains the diversity of the actually existing forms of class relations, and the ways in which they interplay with other social relations such as gender and ethnicity. This is part of a wider project to re- vitalise class analysis in the study of development problems and experiences

Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association

Intracranial volume reflects the maximally attained brain size during development, and remains stable with loss of tissue in late life. It is highly heritable, but the underlying genes remain largely undetermined. In a genome-wide association study of 32,438 adults, we discovered five novel loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals. Four of the loci are also associated with adult human stature, but these remained associated with intracranial volume after adjusting for height. We found a high genetic correlation with child head circumference (ρgenetic=0.748), which indicated a similar genetic background and allowed for the identification of four additional loci through meta-analysis (Ncombined = 37,345). Variants for intracranial volume were also related to childhood and adult cognitive function, Parkinson’s disease, and enriched near genes involved in growth pathways including PI3K–AKT signaling. These findings identify biological underpinnings of intracranial volume and provide genetic support for theories on brain reserve and brain overgrowth

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure