Book review: sites of race by David Theo Goldberg

Sites of Race is highly recommended reading for anybody with an interest in race in contemporary America, writes Lisa Long. In this timely collection of conversations with Susan Searls Giroux, David Theo Goldberg reflects upon his studies of race and racism, exploring the key elements in his thought and their contribution to current debates

Perceptions of pediatric nurses and parents of hospitalized children engaged in shared decision making.

Achievement of optimal quality in today’s healthcare environment practices means that clinical practices must be based on evidence. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the integration of research findings, clinician expertise, and patient-centeredness that includes a focus on preferences and values (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015). An area within EBP needing increased attention is the aspect of patient preferences and values. The process of Shared Decision Making (SDM) incorporates assessment of preferences and values within a process in which where patients, families and healthcare professionals collaborate to make decisions regarding patient care. The purpose of this study was to describe perceptions of parents and nurses in a pediatric inpatient setting about SDM and to adapt an existing SDM tool for use in the pediatric clinical setting. Areas of focus include: (1) critical review of SDM literature focusing on care of acutely ill children; (2) adaptation of existing reliable and valid SDM physician and adult patient -focused tools to a pediatric nurse and parent-focused SDM tools, and (3) a mixed methods approach assessing parent and nurse perceptions of SDM in an acute care facility and interview sessions with nurses to share thoughts and suggestions on use of shared decision making in the pediatric clinical setting. A summary of the findings based on the completed research includes several overall insights. First, the existing adult tools were successfully adapted for use in the pediatric setting based on parent and nurse feedback. Second, the quantitative findings from the mixed methods study identified consistency in positive perceptions of nurses and parents with regard to SDM in caring for an acutely ill hospitalized child. The qualitative data from this study identified the need for enhanced parent-nurse communication and strategies for a team approach to hospital-based care

Violent Offenders and Assaults on Staff Members

Violent Offenders and Assaults on Staff Members. Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fischler College of Education, School of Criminal Justice Department. Descriptors: Violence, violent offenders, violent inmates, corrections, prisons, assaults, correction officers, staff members. Prison facilities are an integral part of the criminal justice system. Prisons are meant to provide punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation for inmates that are serving time. Prisons across the country are understaffed due to many reasons. It is important for staff members to be trained on how to keep themselves and inmates safe when they are behind the walls of these facilities. Staff members are in positions of authority and often require inmates to comply to their requests or demands in order to maintain a safe environment. In most situations, inmates that are committing violent infractions have been diagnosed with mental illness. Oftentimes, these inmates are also violent offenders. This study determines whether violent offenders were more likely, during a six-year period in North Carolina adult male facilities, to commit infractions against staff members than their nonviolent counterparts. An in-depth descriptive statistics analysis was conducted. Infraction data was divided into commissions by violent offenders and nonviolent offenders. The results indicated that violent offenders were more likely to commit infractions against staff members during the study period. There were also other independent variables identified as possibly being strong indicators as to whether an inmate would commit and infraction against a staff member, such as race and time incarcerated. The results will be provided to North Carolina Department of Public Safety in order to make recommendations regarding correctional officer training procedures in dealing with violent offenders

Americans support partnership benefits for same-sex couples, but are less positive towards marriage rights and showing affection in public.

Over the past decade, same-sex marriage has grown in acceptance, and is now legal in 35 U.S. states. But how favorable are Americans towards same-sex couples? In new research that examines attitudes towards formal rights and informal privileges for same-sex couples, Long Doan, Lisa R. Miller, and Annalise Loehr find that while most Americans are supportive of same-sex couples having partnership benefits such as family leave and inheritance rights, this support does not extend to more informal privileges such as public displays of affection. They also find that many of those who support partnership rights for same-sex couples do not support their right to be married

Rote learning : the ugly duckling of student paramedic education?

The intent of this commentary is to ask questions and stimulate discussion amongst academics and paramedic educators as to whether the inherent value of rote learning has simply been lost in the shadow of more recent learning and teaching practices

Model of Mitigation: Strategies to Utilise Unique Insider Research Opportunities

Insider research has in the past challenged researchers in terms of blurred lines, objectivity, bias confidentiality and maintaining professional working relationships. The opportunities it presents however include access to information, trust in the data collection, insider and intimate knowledge, and the ability for rich inside data collection. This paper discusses these opportunities and challenges, then makes recommendations for ten strategies to assist in data collection by an insider researcher. These strategies include communication, mixed methods, reflections, debrief, distance, confidentiality, interview technique, social network, voluntary and objectivity. The research concludes with the creation of a Model of Mitigation, which posits the ten mitigation strategies along with the four opportunities to assist insider researchers to overcome obstacles when conducting insider research, as insider research has been shown to collect rich data and enable organisations to reflect on the research findings and to implement recommendations made on an individual but organisation wide basis

Emulating the Wright State Model for Engineering Mathematics Education: Improving First-Year Engineering Student Retention

In 2004, Wright State University developed an innovative mathematics course for first-year engineering undergraduates in order to increase student retention, motivation and academic success. To date, the Wright State model has had a positive impact on student retention, motivation and academic success by increasing graduation rates and GPAs among participants. During the fall of 2014 and 2015, one large public university in the Midwest with more selective admission criteria decided to pilot a course based on the Wright State Model for Engineering Mathematics Education. Using the Wright State model, a mathematics for engineering course was offered to prospective students so they could subsequently begin engineering classes without a traditional calculus prerequisite. Each semester, a cohort of 31 first-year engineering students enrolled in the course. Instructors distributed surveys to students at the beginning and end of each term. In addition, university administrators tracked student grades in subsequent math and engineering courses. This paper will outline the details of the course as well as the academic performance and retention of these students. Preliminary findings suggest first to second year retention is higher with students who have taken the mathematics for engineering course. First-year students who take the course also earn higher grades in algebra, trigonometry, and introductory engineering courses, but not in Calculus I

What? You Want Me to Write?!

1. Purpose. This paper sets out to report on and evaluate the writing skills of a cohort of accounting and business students. 2. Design/methodology/approach. Students were asked to write an essay describing their learning experience in an introductory accounting class. These essays were then evaluated by experienced teachers of English. 3. Findings. Major weaknesses are that: there is inadequate engagement with the assignment question; there is a paucity of content; writing is diffuse rather than succinct; there are faults with sentence structure and other errors of English expression. 4. Implications. The research brings to the fore the poor writing ability of university accounting students and lays stress on the need to train and more clearly guide the development of these business related skills. Training may require curriculum adjustment to accommodate additional courses of study. 5. Originality. There is a paucity of material related to the writing skills of accounting and business students and this paper attempts to address this gap. 6. Limitations. The cohort studied came from a private Southern California university and the results may not necessarily reflect the writing skills of other university students. The study needs to be replicated in other settings

What Employers in Christian-based Organisations Desire in Graduates from a Christian Business School

Employers of Christian-based organisations have expectations of the attributes of business school graduates, and of particular interest is whether there are different and/or additional skills for graduates from a Christian Business School. The purpose of this study is to engage with various Christian-based employers of business school graduates to discover views, requirements and expectations of graduates from a Christian Business School. An initial review of the literature reveals no published works on the graduate attributes expected by Christian employers of Christian business school graduates. This study seeks to add knowledge given the gap that exists in this literature. The needs of employers change over time, and academics are well advised to ensure the curricula of the courses they teach keep pace with these changing needs. This research was completed during 2019 by staff at the Avondale Business School, part of Avondale University College. Avondale was established in 1897, by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and is a Christian based University College. One way that Christian business school academics can maintain awareness of employers’ preferred graduate attributes is to consult with a range of employers. This study will utilise both qualitative and quantitative approaches to address the research aims of finding out if there are different and/or additional requirements by Christian-based organisations, from graduates who attend a Christian business school. The participants are employees from Christian organisations, who commonly employ these new graduates