Using assessment criteria to support student learning

Since 1998, a skills module for level 1 BSc Psychology students at City campus (formerly London Guildhall University) has been an important part of the department’s strategy to improve students’ baseline and study skills. The discipline-based skills module combines generic and subject-specific skills teaching, links skills provision with the personal tutor system, and includes practical exercises to promote deep learning and improve study skills. One of the exercises involved familiarising students with the Psychology assessment criteria, and this work led to a project to develop tailored resources based on assessment criteria to support students and improve the quality of assessment

Motivational Interviewing and Frequent Follow-up in a Pediatric Primary Care Setting to Improve Diet and Activity in Adolescents

Background: Adolescent obesity is a serious health concern with increased worldwide prevalence. Excess weight gain can affect adolescent’s physical and emotional health. The adolescent with excess weight can involve acute and chronic long-term health complications that continue into adulthood. Methods: Health care providers screened for overweight and obese adolescents during annual physicals and follow-up visits. Thirty adolescents at the 85th - 95th percentile and above on the growth chart received a pre and post clinical-screening questionnaire for eating behaviors and exercise. Individualized education with parent involvement and motivational interviewing (MI) was implemented with monthly follow-ups for 4 months. Findings: Data were collected over 4 months. A modified clinical-screening questionnaire for eating behaviors revealed improvements in eating habits, exercise, and a 5% overall average weight loss as measured by BMI. As healthy behaviors increased, BMI decreased (r = -.75, p \u3c .001). As the number of visits increased, healthy behaviors increased (r=.79, p\u3c.001). Discussion: The use of MI with guided behavioral modifications by practitioners with parent involvement and frequent follow-up can improve healthy behaviors and exercise in the adolescents. Implications for Practice: This project supports that MI with guided behavioral changes by practitioner and parent involvement improves adolescents\u27 diet and physical activity. MI and frequent follow-up were effective in promoting positive behavior change and healthier lifestyle changes. Key Words: adolescents, clinical screening questionnaire, motivational interviewing, parent involvement, healthy behavior

School-based health centers: A four year experience, with a focus on reducing student exclusion rates

We describe a four year collaborative experience with an on-site, community school-based health center that is staffed by the Vallejo City Unified School District and supervised by the pediatric faculty of the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, with particular attention to first grade student exclusion rates

Further Validation of the Body-Mind-Spirit Wellness Behavior and Characteristic Inventory for College Students

Health promotion is a vital component of college health programs. College health professionals are challenged to find cost-effective, comprehensive measures to assess wellness and risk behaviors. Hettler’s 1979 Six Dimension of Wellness Model guided this inquiry. Physical, emotional, intellectual, occupational, social, and spiritual wellness dimensions were measured by the Body-Mind-Spirit Wellness Behavior and Characteristic Inventory (BMS-WBCI). This study aimed to further validate the BMS-WBCI by reporting reliability as internal consistency of the scale when used to measure wellness in a sample of college students. A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized. A convenience sample of 106 college students from a small, private southwestern university participated. Cronbach’s alphas were calculated for the entire scale and each subscale. An item analysis was performed. Cronbach’s alpha for the entire scale was .91 indicating an acceptable degree of internal consistency. The alpha scores for the subscales were: body (.69), mind (.87), and spirit (.88). The further psychometric evaluation of the BMS-WBCI adds to the data supporting the use of this instrument in the college population

Which components of instruction influence student interest?

This study investigated how subject interest is related to components of instruction, the nature of the subject and/or student factors. Students (N=524) from over 30 technical and further education colleges completed a survey on aspects of teaching and their interest in a subject. Student ratings of the 12 components of instruction and subject interest were uniformly positive. The overall average of the 12 questions on different aspects of teaching was 3.3 (ratings ranged from I to 4). This correlated 0.46 with the rating of subject interest. There was no significant effect of age, gender, being in the first or later years of a course or whether attending full time or part time on the level of interest in the subject. A significantly high and positive correlation with the level of subject interest was observed for those subjects which were rated highly in terms of preparing people for a career (r= 0.55; p \u3c.0.01). The most important instructional factors were: the ability to explain concepts clearly, helping students to understand and demonstrating the relevance of the subject

Evaluating an Employee Health Tobacco Cessation Program for Enhanced Success

Tobacco smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the US. It increases risk for cardiovascular and respiratory disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer. When contrasted with nonsmoking employees, smokers have a greater amount of lost productivity, as well as cost of health and life insurance claims due to illness. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to identify current smokers and monitor the consistency of their progression through the 5 A’s framework within an employee health clinic. Data was collected over two years and 600 charts were reviewed. After the data was analyzed, it was estimated that 8% of employees smoke and that both asking and advising patients to quit smoking is being completed reliably. However, improvement in the assess, assist, and arrange categories of the 5 A’s is needed. Although utilization of each of the 5 A’s steps is needed for the program’s success, future focus on improving arrange utilization by the Nurse Practitioner (NP) will allow for repeated review of each smoker’s cessation progress and barriers

Factors Related to Self-Care Agency and Self-Care Practices of Obese Adolescents

Identification of factors that influence obese adolescents\u27 health behaviors is necessary if obese adolescents are to benefit from therapeutic interventions. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to identify the relationships between selected basic conditioning factors (BCFs)--perceived health status (PHS), perceived self-efficacy (PSE), family satisfaction (FS), and life events (LE)--and the self-care agency (SCA) and self-care practices (SCP) among obese adolescents. The relative predictive strength of each BCF in relation to the outcome variables was also explored. Orem\u27s self-care theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. The convenience sample of 100 obese adolescents included campers from two southern California weight loss camps and noncampers who were recruited through health professionals. Data were collected using six self-report questionnaires: a Cantril Ladder, PSE scale, FS scale, LE scale, Denyes SCA instrument, and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample and the study variables. Pearson product-moment correlations, t-tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Point-biserial correlations, t-tests, and chi-square analyses were used for supplemental data analysis. Moderately weak but statistically significant positive relationships were found between PHS, PSE, FS, and SCA, and between PHS, PSE, FS, SCA, and SCP. A weak inverse relationship was found between LE and SCA. BCFs were found to explain 32% of the variance in SCA while BCFs and SCA explained 34% of the variance in SCP. PHS and PSE were the strongest predictors of SCA, while PHS and SCA were the strongest predictors of SCP. There were no differences between young, middle, and older adolescents in relation to any of the study variables; however, mildly obese adolescents were found to engage in significantly more SCPs than severely obese adolescents. Conclusions drawn from the findings indicate that obese adolescents with higher PSE tend to be more effective self-care agents, those with higher PHS, PSE, and SCA tend to engage in more SCP, and that these characteristics need to fostered in an integrated way. Recommendations were made for further research

Who\u27s Hungry in San Diego

Objective: Food insecurity (FI) is a lack of access to nutritious food. FI has been linked to multiple preventable diseases from behavioral disorders to asthma to obesity and its sequelae. In San Diego County, 14 percent of families are food insecure. The AAP recommends screening for FI at all well appointments using the two-question FI screening tool. The aim of this project was to implement this tool at a multi-clinic, low income population community health center where ninety-five percent of patients meet qualification for SNAP benefits. Methods: Stakeholders chose one week to screen all patients presenting to clinic for FI using the two-question FI survey at every well appointment. Results: 686 patients were screened for FI. Forty-eight percent of 686 respondents screened positive. A screening is considered “positive for FI” when one of the two screening questions is answered “Often” or “Sometimes”. Conclusions: Screening for FI affords a provider the opportunity to identify at-risk populations and provide them the resources for local programs. FI within this community clinic group is nearly triple that of San Diego county. Screening for FI is imperative. The next step in this process is both implement the survey permanently into the medical record intake questionnaire and to make a list of local resources and provide those resources to patients who screen positive

Towards an understanding of the learning processes that occur in synchronous online seminars for the professional development of experienced educators

notes: Published through online firstpublication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThe National College for School Leadership (now the National College) exists to serve the development needs of school leaders in England. The College has begun to use web conferencing in several areas of its work including its professional development programmes, strategic initiatives and support and networking opportunities. Web conferencing tools offer a range of modes of interaction including audio, chat, text, desktop sharing, presentations and video conferencing. It thus has the potential for multi-process learning. The research reported here investigated the ways in which multi-process learning using these tools can be understood. It asked ‘What insights can be gained into the learning processes occurring in synchronous online seminars involving experienced educators? A literature review was carried out to provide background on the current thinking about learning through web conferencing and to explore factors that might be essential for the collective construction of knowledge in this context. Recorded internal and external NCSL web conferences were chosen as case studies; these provided the data for independent qualitative analysis by each of the researchers. From this analysis a model of the learning processes, identified in the data, was developed and related to the current literature. The major findings and model were further reviewed, in the light of their own web-conferencing experiences, by a large number of expert College educators. The resulting ‘model of multi-process learning in web conferencing’ identifies the part played by social, informational, individual internalisation and coconstruction stages in multi-process learning