Beyond model answers: learners’ perceptions of self-assessment materials in e-learning applications

The importance of feedback as an aid to self‐assessment is widely acknowledged. A common form of feedback that is used widely in e‐learning is the use of model answers. However, model answers are deficient in many respects. In particular, the notion of a ‘model’ answer implies the existence of a single correct answer applicable across multiple contexts with no scope for permissible variation. This reductive assumption is rarely the case with complex problems that are supposed to test students’ higher‐order learning. Nevertheless, the challenge remains of how to support students as they assess their own performance using model answers and other forms of non‐verificational ‘feedback’. To explore this challenge, the research investigated a management development e‐learning application and investigated the effectiveness of model answers that followed problem‐based questions. The research was exploratory, using semi‐structured interviews with 29 adult learners employed in a global organisation. Given interviewees’ generally negative perceptions of the model‐answers, they were asked to describe their ideal form of self‐assessment materials, and to evaluate nine alternative designs. The results suggest that, as support for higher‐order learning, self‐assessment materials that merely present an idealised model answer are inadequate. As alternatives, learners preferred materials that helped them understand what behaviours to avoid (and not just ‘do’), how to think through the problem (i.e. critical thinking skills), and the key issues that provide a framework for thinking. These findings have broader relevance within higher education, particularly in postgraduate programmes for business students where the importance of prior business experience is emphasised and the profile of students is similar to that of the participants in this research

A qualitative study of parents' experiences using family support services: applying the concept of surface and depth

UK policy and practice endorses family support for child well-being. Achieving such support requires multi-agency approaches, that consider all aspects of parents’ and children’s lives and which offer practical, social and emotional help. The potential for services to make a positive impact on parents and their families will depend in part on the level and nature of engagement. In this paper a case is made for the application of the two-part ‘surface and depth’ concept for understanding how practitioners engage with families and how they might improve the chances of supporting sustainable differences for parents and families. To illustrate, qualitative data from a review of family centre support provided by a north of England local authority, are presented. The review was commissioned to explore why families often need to re-engage with intensive support services. Data are drawn from interviews with parents (n=18, recruited following a survey of all those registered with the service during April – May 2009) and discussions with family centre support workers (n=4) and following thematic analysis three dominant themes emerged: ‘resources available’, ‘staff approach’ and ‘real life’, were appraised in light of the ‘surface and depth’ concept. Much of the work with parents effectively dealt with pressing needs. This felt gratifying for both parent and worker and supported immediate service engagement. However, each noted that the more complex issues in parents’ lives went unchallenged and thus the sustainability of progress in terms of parenting practice was questionable. A ‘strengths focused’ approach by staff, that understood needs in the context of parents’ ‘real life’ circumstances was important to parent engagement. Thus, longer term benefits from family support requires practitioners to work with parents to problem solve immediate issues whilst also digging deeper to acknowledge and seek to resolve the more complex challenges parents face in their real lives

Over The Edge: What Should We Do When Alcohol and Drug Use Become a Problem to Society?

The purpose of this issue guide is to help people talk together about what we should do when alcohol and drug use becomes a problem to society. It begins with an overview of substance use and abuse in the United States and the impact this has on individuals, families, and communities. It then offers three options for addressing the issue, along with potential actions that could be taken. These are starting points for the conversation, which may lead to other insights and possibilities.People from seven organizations across the country participated in developing the guide, conducting interviews, surveys, and conversations with diverse people in their communities to capture different views on the issue. The organizations included the Community College of Baltimore County, San Diego Deliberation Network, Tennessee State University, University of Alaska Anchorage, Walden University, SUNY Broome Community College, and the West Virginia Center for Civic Life.The guide may be used to support a single conversation or a series of conversations. The following suggestions can help you get started:Invite participants to share how substance use and abuse has affected them, their families, and others they know. Many will have direct experiences and are likely to mention concerns identified in the guide.Consider each option one at a time, using the actions and drawbacks as examples to illustrate what each option entails.Review the conversation as a group, and identify areas of common ground as well as disagreement. Talk about possible next steps, individually and as a group

Developing a descriptive framework for “occupational engagement”

“Occupational engagement” is a term often used within occupational science and occupational therapy literature. However, it has yet to be clearly and consistently described resulting in a lack of clarity in the use and definition of this term. This paper is derived from a larger piece of research, which used social constructionism to explore occupational engagement for five men living in a secure mental health unit from an occupational science perspective (Morris et al, 2016). This research required the development of a clear description of ‘occupational engagement’. Following an exploration and critical review of the literature, the process of developing a new description of ‘occupational engagement’ is outlined. Occupational engagement cannot be considered in isolation, so within this paper it is positioned within a descriptive framework of values and consequences. The development of the framework returned to the etymology of relevant terms, considering both the value of consequences of occupational experiences. This is the first published holistic description of this term as the framework fully acknowledges the negative as well as positive dimensions of occupation. The paper concludes with the implications of how this new framework could be useful to occupational science

Design and Optimization of a Thermal Capacitor

Team Hot Stuff designed a thermal capacitor for Senior Design I at Utah State University. This thermal capacitor is intended for use in the food service industry as a low-cost alternative to chafers. Chafers are platters which use oil burners to keep food warm. The client for this thermal capacitor is Thermal Management Technologies (TMT), a company specializing in thermal science solutions whose mission is “to provide simple, practical thermal science solutions to a wide range of platforms including: Industry, Defense, and Space”1. The founder and president of TMT, Dr. J. Clair Batty, serves as a mentor for this project. The project is broken down into tasks and split among the team members. Karen Nielson is team lead. As team lead, Karen’s responsibilities include overseeing and helping with all tasks, as well as ensuring that the team remains on task and on schedule. Brian Pincock is in charge of the team schedule and the thermal analysis. Brian is responsible for keeping track of task completions, updating the schedule and building and running various thermal models of the thermal capacitor. Ruby Kostur is the purchasing agent and is in charge of selection and purchasing of materials. Ruby’s responsibilities include researching, selecting, purchasing and budgeting parts and materials for the thermal capacitor. Jordan Cox is in charge of the design drawings and structural analysis. Jordan is responsible for constructing virtual models of the various parts of the thermal capacitor and analyzing the potential structural problems. The team developed a list of requirements with the customer. These requirements are listed in Section 3 Statement of Problem. The team decided on the following design parameters: Phase change material: Beeswax Heat spreader: Aluminum honeycomb Container material: Aluminum 6061 Insulation: Western Red Cedar Bonding: Epoxy Seal: O-ring Fasteners: Stainless steel screws To select these parameters the team performed thermal, structural, and materials analysis. Brian Pincock oversaw thermal analysis. He consulted with professional engineers at TMT and professors at USU to decide on a correct modeling method.Using Star CCM to model the physics, Brian proved the final design would meet requirements. Jordan Cox performed structural analysis using FEMAP. His models confirmed that the final bolt pattern and O-ring seal would be safe and functional. Ruby Kostur used these results to select materials which maintained the budgetary constraints

Advocating for Occupational Therapy’s Role in Secondary Stroke Prevention

Background: Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA), or stroke, is a leading cause of death and a major source of disability in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017). Stroke is classically characterized as a neurological deficit attributed to an acute focal injury of the central nervous system (CNS) by a vascular cause de (Sacco, et al., 2013). Vascular causes include cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). and is a major cause of disability and death worldwide (Sacco, et al., 2013). Stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients are at a high risk for a subsequent event. Each year, 15 million people worldwide will have a stroke. In America, the number of people who will have a stroke this year is approximately 795,000. Of that large number, 25% of stroke patients will have a secondary stroke within 5 years (Flach, 2020). A high number of secondary stroke events presents a need to develop interventions and strategies to decrease the prevalence. Purpose: The purpose of the capstone project is to define the role of occupational therapy in secondary stroke prevention. Occupational therapists are an integral part of the rehabilitation process and can offer a holistic approach to prevent second strokes. Identifying the role of occupational therapy within secondary stroke prevention will help to bring an occupation-based approach to secondary stroke prevention to increase participant’s volition and create/modify habits. This will foster a healthier lifestyle and ultimately reduce the likelihood of a second stroke. Awareness of the role of an occupational therapist will also help to educate the interdisciplinary team working within the stroke care continuum. This paper will also help advocate for the role of occupational therapy in secondary stroke prevention by clearly defining the role. Methods and Results: Qualitative data was obtained through a needs assessment that included interviews, observations and survey completions of 15 stroke patients and 20 occupational therapy practitioners over the course of 12 weeks. The results from the needs assessment, along with the thorough literature review allowed the student investigator to define the role of occupational therapy in secondary stroke prevention. Conclusion: The qualitative study identifies the unique role of occupational therapy within secondary stroke prevention. Occupational therapy practitioners have the expertise to provide stroke patients with client-centered education, health promotion, self-care skills, fine and gross motor skills, functional mobility, core strength, sensory processing, visual-motor skills, praxis, range of motion, strength, cognition, behavioral health and more. All of these occupation-based interventions work to reduce the likelihood of a secondary stroke event. Advocacy for occupational therapy in secondary stroke prevention is needed, as there is limited literature outlining the role and expertise. Occupational therapy has an impactful and unique role in secondary stroke prevention.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2021/1000/thumbnail.jp

Montana’s Mapviewer Web Application: Direct Access to 1.4 Million Animal Observations, Wetland and Land Cover Mapping, Land Management and Georeferenced Photos

The Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) was established by the Montana State Legislature in 1983 and charged with statutory responsibility for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information documenting Montana’s flora, fauna and biological communities (Montana Code Annotated 90-15). In order to track the distribution and status of species, MTNHP has developed databases containing nearly 1.5 million animal observation records and over 160,000 locations where a formally structured animal survey protocol has been followed.  This information is used to create a variety of other data products, including, range maps, species occurrence areas used in environmental review processes, and predicted distribution models. Agency biologists and resource managers have direct access to this information as well as more than 2.2 million acres of mapped wetland and riparian areas, statewide landcover mapping, land management information, and georeferenced photos on MTNHP’s new MAPVIEWER web application. MAPVIEWER is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome and will eventually be compatible with touch screen devices. Users can submit animal observations, search for a place names and map coordinates, get summaries of land cover and land management within preselected areas, select different wetland types for viewing, overlay a variety of information layers, create a variety of customized queries, and generate image, pdf, and excel reports through the application

Montana’s Mapviewer Web Application: Direct Access to 1.4 Million Animal Observations, Wetland and Land Cover Mapping, Land Management and Georeferenced Photos

The Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) was established by the Montana State Legislature in 1983 and charged with statutory responsibility for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information documenting Montana’s flora, fauna and biological communities (Montana Code Annotated 90-15). In order to track the distribution and status of species, MTNHP has developed databases containing nearly 1.5 million animal observation records and over 160,000 locations where a formally structured animal survey protocol has been followed. This information is used to create a variety of other data products, including, range maps, species occurrence areas used in environmental review processes, and predicted distribution models. Agency biologists and resource managers have direct access to this information as well as more than 2.2 million acres of mapped wetland and riparian areas, statewide landcover mapping, land management information, and georeferenced photos on MTNHP’s new MAPVIEWER web application. MAPVIEWER is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome and will eventually be compatible with touch screen devices. Users can submit animal observations, search for a place names and map coordinates, get summaries of land cover and land management within preselected areas, select different wetland types for viewing, overlay a variety of information layers, create a variety of customized queries, and generate image, pdf, and excel reports through the application

Challenges of teaching occupation: Introduction of an occupation focused teaching tool.

Occupational science is of importance to multiple disciplines due to its potential to contribute to understandings of complex social issues. “Occupation”, as a key concept of occupational science, is recognised as being highly complex, making it challenging for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the concept. Terminology of occupational science literature has been noted at times as using the terms occupation, purposeful activity and activity interchangeably, which further adds to the challenge of teaching the concept. This paper explores evolving definitions of occupation, challenges this evolution has created within education, and the potential use of occupation as a threshold concept. Consideration of a selection of pedagogic methods used in teaching the concept of occupation is briefly explored. The paper concludes with identification of a newly developed occupation-focused teaching tool as a proposed alternative approach to teaching the concept of occupation. The teaching tool was originally developed to teach occupation as a discrete concept, rather than the therapeutic use of occupation as taught in occupational therapy education. The tool is an analogy for occupation, and has utility in supporting the transformation of students’ understanding of the concept of occupation, commensurate to understandings of occupational science.N/