An evaluative study of a cross-cultural learning community

In search of these answers, the investigator immersed herself into this student microcosm for the fall 1999 semester. The data were collected through extensive classroom observation, occasional reviewing of the instructor\u27s materials and students\u27 writing, and finally conducting two focus groups in the beginning the following semester where the students were given an opportunity to describe their experiences in their own words. The findings can be summarized in the following way. Taking classes together, living in the same residence hall, having a network and support of friends, having a peer mentor and faculty and staff members available, and experiencing various cultures firsthand made the transition for both international and U.S. students easier, more interesting and richer in an educational sense.This qualitative study attempted to evaluate a cross-cultural learning community at Iowa State University. The need for this study was dictated by a variety of factors. First, it was a response to the call for assessment of learning communities. Practitioners need to know in what ways learning communities succeed and in what ways they do not. Moreover, they need to know how students\u27 experiences in learning communities can be improved. Similarly, the existing research reports that learning communities enhance educational reforms, and thus make the academy more responsive to societal needs. This study illustrated how a specific learning community at ISU responds to changes in the academy as well as in the society. Second, the need to study a cross-cultural learning community was determined by its unique and innovative nature. Because cross-cultural learning communities of this kind are virtually nonexistent, knowing what benefits they have to offer to their participants is of great importance. The investigator sought to answer three research questions: a) What role did this learning community play in the students\u27 transition to university life? b) Did the cross-cultural learning community enhance cross-cultural awareness and understanding? If yes, in what ways? c) How did the students perceive this learning community experience in general

Specific manifestation of enzymomycotic depletion of grain on crop losses

Background. Enzymomycotic depletion of grain leads to a significant decrease in the dry matter mass of the grain, as the intensity of respiration increases, protein substances break down, enzymes (in particular, α-amylase) pass from the adsorbed form to the water-soluble one, and their activity increases sharply. One of the consequences of this is the intensive amylolysis of starch, which means a significant deterioration in the technological indicators of the quality of grain and seeds. Materials and Methods. This study gives a thorough description of the process of enzymomycotic depletion of grain of soft winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), sowing rye (Secale cereale L.), winter triticale (Triticosecale Witt.) depending on abiotic factors and the sources of resistance to ear diseases 4, 8, 12 days after the onset of full ripeness in the conditions of the western forest-steppe of Ukraine (2019–2021). Research methods – general scientific, field, measurement and weight, mathematical and statistical. Results and Discussion. According to the obtained results, the dependence of enzymomycotic depletion of grain on abiotic factors was established. The development of ear diseases depended both on weather factors and on the ecological plasticity of the cultivar. The highest percentage of the distribution of ear sepsoria was observed on the 12th day after the onset of full ripeness: wheat – 3.3 %, rye – 2.4 %, triticale – 1.9 %, fusarium, respectively 2.4 %, 1.9 %, 1 %, 8 %. The loss of dry matter in the weight of 1000 grains depended on the ecotype of the cultivar and the duration of the grain stan­ding time 4, 8, and 12 days after full ripeness. Conclusion. The following cultivars were most resistant to EMDG: Oberih Myronivsky (wheat), Kobza (rye), Obrij Myronivsky (triticale); their base seed production profitability rates being 75.1 %, 116.6 %, and 146.8 %, respectively. The results of the study can be used in the selection of varieties of winter grain crops resistant to enzymomycotic grain depletion for the western forest-steppe and Polissya zones of Ukraine, where breeding work on these crops is not carried out and agricultural producers purchase seeds of new varieties from the originating institutions of the central forest-steppe to introduce them into production

Building a culture of engagement at a research centre for childhood disability

BACKGROUND: Engaging patients and family members as partners in research studies has become a widespread practice in healthcare. However, relatively little has been documented about what happens after the research study ends. For example, is patient and family engagement embedded in the wider infrastructure of organizations, and if so how? What are the long-term effects of engaging parents on research teams on the culture of how research is conducted? This study seeks to address these two gaps by examining how a culture of family engagement has been built over time at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: This study is based on ethnographic research methodology and combines elements of organizational ethnography, interviews, and collaborative auto-ethnography with parent partners, researchers, staff, and trainees. RESULTS: Since the inception of CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in 1989, parents have been involved in research studies. Over time, this involvement evolved from being consulted on research studies to undertaking decision-making roles as partners and most recently as co-principal investigators. A growing infrastructure fosters a community of engagement that goes beyond the individual research study, and often beyond CanChild. This infrastructure consists of training, knowledge mobilization and social networking. In addition, the "softer" building blocks of CanChild's culture of engagement are an openness to learning from others, a commitment to relationship building, and a drive to grow and improve. These values are espoused by the leadership and are instilled in the next generation of researchers to inform both research and clinical work. While some challenges should be acknowledged when researchers and family partners work together on research studies, we identify a number of strategies that we have used in our studies to foster authentic and meaningful family-researcher partnerships. CONCLUSION: Engaging patients and families as partners in research constitutes a culture shift in health research, whereby studies about patients and families are carried out with them. Developing a community of engagement that transcends an individual research study is a step towards creating a culture of research that is truly shaped by the people about whom the research is being done

An evaluative study of a cross-cultural learning community

In search of these answers, the investigator immersed herself into this student microcosm for the fall 1999 semester. The data were collected through extensive classroom observation, occasional reviewing of the instructor's materials and students' writing, and finally conducting two focus groups in the beginning the following semester where the students were given an opportunity to describe their experiences in their own words. The findings can be summarized in the following way. Taking classes together, living in the same residence hall, having a network and support of friends, having a peer mentor and faculty and staff members available, and experiencing various cultures firsthand made the transition for both international and U.S. students easier, more interesting and richer in an educational sense.This qualitative study attempted to evaluate a cross-cultural learning community at Iowa State University. The need for this study was dictated by a variety of factors. First, it was a response to the call for assessment of learning communities. Practitioners need to know in what ways learning communities succeed and in what ways they do not. Moreover, they need to know how students' experiences in learning communities can be improved. Similarly, the existing research reports that learning communities enhance educational reforms, and thus make the academy more responsive to societal needs. This study illustrated how a specific learning community at ISU responds to changes in the academy as well as in the society. Second, the need to study a cross-cultural learning community was determined by its unique and innovative nature. Because cross-cultural learning communities of this kind are virtually nonexistent, knowing what benefits they have to offer to their participants is of great importance. The investigator sought to answer three research questions: a) What role did this learning community play in the students' transition to university life? b) Did the cross-cultural learning community enhance cross-cultural awareness and understanding? If yes, in what ways? c) How did the students perceive this learning community experience in general?</p

Can difference speak?: representation and ethos of otherness with/in postmodern research, classroom, and online communication practices

This dissertation examines ways difference or otherness is represented at three research sites to underscore practical ethical dilemmas engendered by the postmodern crisis of representation. Inspired largely by Gayatri Spivak's influential Can the Subaltern Speak? the dissertation seeks to illustrate a practical usefulness of postcolonial and post-structuralist insights for rhetoric and composition as well as business and technical communication practitioners who aspire to reconcile their allegiance with the postmodern and postethnographic representation critique and prevalent modernist, positivist, and reductive institutional exigencies;Embedded within the dissertation are three papers that elaborate on concrete representational practices in three specific research locales. Namely, the first paper draws on classroom observation and focus groups to argue for a cross-cultural composition pedagogy that, while benefiting mainstream students, can empower international students whose voices tend to be assimilated, if not excluded, by dominant composition discourses. The second paper proposes a student survey as a way of creating space for students' voices and compositionists' input, both of which are often missing from assessment processes. The final, third paper employs a rhetorical genre critique to scrutinize representational practices of three web sites featuring a newly independent Eastern European country and in so doing offers some suggestions for developing critical transcultural competence in business and technical communication students;The overarching conclusion three papers reach is that, while difference can speak in various ways, rhetoricians continue to face a challenge of ensuring that this speaking is dialogical, that is, the subaltern talk is listened to. Not listening is not only unethical but also impractical, contends this dissertation, as it challenges such modernist binaries as local versus global/international difference, empirical positivist versus humanist rhetorically-based assessment, and public versus personal research representation. In terms of the last dichotomy, the dissertation, in a postmodern/postcolonial deconstructive spirit, reflects on the researcher's own positionality and metarepresentational modes. Throughout, the dissertation provides a considerable space for reflecting on the methodology of the three studies from conceptualization to data analysis.</p

Mapping maternal and infant health in Morocco: A global scoping review of themes, gaps, and the "unseen" in the published health research literature, 2000-2022.

Global efforts to reduce Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) have been significant, but researchers are exploring new approaches to address stalled progress and enduring health inequities. This scoping review offers an analytic synthesis of maternal and infant health (MIH) research in the low-middle income North African Islamic country of Morocco over 22 years, a mapping of the themes, research gaps, geographies, and methodologies, 2000-2022. Morocco is an official MIH success story with excellent health indicators, yet indicators do not address local contexts, gender issues, or health disparities. To understand how medical research has reflected social reality over the past 22 years, we explored not just what is known, but how it is known, where it is known, what remained unseen, and why. Four databases were searched: OVID: MEDLINE, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and EBSCO: CINAHL. 4590 abstracts were identified, 3131 abstracts screened, and 402 full MIH articles and 128 sub-group articles identified and subject to data extraction. The 402 full MIH articles were subject to qualitative thematic analysis, classified by 34 primary research themes and explored especially for gender, health equity, and methodology. Findings included significant geographic research disparities; four regions were the location of 75% of research and many regions remained virtually "unseen" by research. The best-equipped urban public hospitals in higher-income regions produced the most research, creating an urban, hospital-based research perspective. Maternal health articles predominated, often >50% more than articles published about infant health. Infants studied were mostly neonates. Socially marginalized women were often invisible to research, as were private healthcare, NGO care (non-governmental civic organizations), and healthcare in community. In articles, researchers recommended new policies, new laws, health system reform, and government actions to advocate for patients. Three solutions emerged to broaden the research perspective: increase geographic breadth, address missing topics and populations, and embrace interdisciplinary methods

A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study of Integrated Pediatric Complex Care: Experiences of Parents With Care and the Value of Parent Engagement in Research

Introduction: Children with medical complexity (CMC) are among the most vulnerable children in society. These children and their families face challenges of fragmented care and are at risk for poorer health outcomes. Families with CMC play a vital role in providing care and navigating the complexities of healthcare systems. It is essential to understand the best ways to engage these families in research to improve the care and optimize the health of CMC.Objectives: This study explored parent engagement within the context of a feasibility study evaluating an Integrated Tertiary Complex Care (ITCC) clinic created to support CMC closer to home. This paper aimed: (1) to understand the family experiences of care and (2) to explore parent engagement in the study.Method: This mixed-methods feasibility study included three components. First, feedback from focus groups was used to identify the common themes that informed interviews with parents. Second, one-on-one interviews were conducted with parents to explore their experience with care, such as the ITCC clinic, using an interpretative description approach. Third, the questionnaires were completed by parents at baseline and 6-months post-baseline. These questionnaires included demographic and cost information and three validated scales designed to measure the caregiver strain, family-centered care, and parental health. The recruitment rate, percentage completion of the questionnaires, and open-ended comments were used to assess parent engagement in the study.Results: The focus groups involved 24 parents, of which 19 (14 women, five men) provided comments. The findings identified the importance of Complex Care Team (CC Team) accessibility, local access, and family-centered approach to care. The challenges noted were access to homecare nursing, fatigue, and lack of respite affecting caregiver well-being. In this study, 17 parents participated in one-on-one interviews. The identified themes relevant to care experience were proximity, continuity, and coordination of care. The parents who received care through the ITCC clinic appreciated receiving care closer to home. The baseline questionnaires were completed by 44 of 77 (57%) eligible parents. Only 24 (31%) completed the 6-month questionnaire. The challenges with study recruitment and follow-up were identified.Conclusion: Family engagement was a challenging yet necessary endeavor to understand how to tailor the healthcare to meet the complex needs of families caring for CMC

Are two youth-focused interventions sufficient to empower youth with chronic health conditions in their transition to adult healthcare: a mixed-methods longitudinal prospective cohort study

Objectives: To assess use, utility and impact of transition interventions designed to support and empower self-management in youth with chronic health conditions during transition into adult healthcare. Design: A 4-year mixed-method prospective cohort study. Setting: 2 academic paediatric hospitals (13 clinics) in Canada. Participants: 50 adolescents (42% male; mean age 17.9±0.9 years; 20 underlying diagnoses) with transfer to adult care planned within 1 year. Interventions: The Youth KIT (an organisational tool that includes goal setting activities); an online transition mentor. Main outcome measures: Frequency of use, utility and impact of the transition interventions; goal achievement; post-transfer qualitative interviews with youth. Results: 50 participants were enrolled during their last year of paediatric care; 36 (72%) were followed into adult care. All participants had access to the transition interventions from enrolment until the end of the study (exposure time: 12-47 months). Most youth (85%) reported using the medical/health section of the Youth KIT at least once; 20 (40%) participants engaged in chats with the mentor. The overall perceived utility of both interventions was modest; the Youth KIT received the highest ratings for 'help with goal setting': (mean (SD): 4.2 (2.3)) on a 7-point Likert scale. 45 (90%) participants set 294 transition goals. Goal achievement performance and satisfaction increased over time (p≤0.001). The qualitative evidence revealed reasons behind the variability in use and utility of the interventions, the interconnectedness of life-course and healthcare transitions, and the need for stronger partnerships between paediatric and adult healthcare systems. Conclusions: Participants' perceptions about the utility of the Youth KIT and the online mentor were modest. Transition supports need to be carefully tailored, timed and integrated into healthcare systems. Individualised goal setting may be an important 'active ingredient' in optimising transition supports and outcomes. Interventions that focus on youth only are insufficient for empowering self-management