Student voice in building schools for the future

The research explores student voice in the process of designing schools, using a case study of a Buildings Schools for the Future (BSF) One School Pathfinder project, 2005 – 2007. The suggestions made by the students during the design development were compared with those raised by the staff and parents to discover if the student voice brought anything different or unique to the project. Comparisons were then made with the Student Council’s contribution on projects at two schools local to the case study school. To explore the contribution made by ‘non traditional students’ a similar exercise was conducted in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) with students who had been expelled from mainstream schools because of behavioural issues. Group interviews and focus group feedback from students at the case study school, from different stages of the design process were examined to assess the impact the student voice may have had on the completed design. Interviews were conducted with members of the design team at the case study school to establish how much impact the student voice was perceived to have had on the completed design compared with the voice of others, whether it brought innovation to the design and if involvement in the project had an impact on the students. Comparisons were then made with interviews held at a second BSF Pathfinder in a neighbouring Local Authority and the findings submitted for peer review. The findings appear to demonstrate that there is very little difference in what the student voice contributes; across schools and across time, the student voice is consistent and predictable. The impact of the student voice was found to be minimal compared with the impact of others. The process of involving students in the design process was however felt to benefit the students and the design process. Finally suggestions are made as to how the involvement of student voice can be improved, and moved from a consultation process to one of collaboration in the future; for ways to address the balance of power within the design team and for further areas of research

Simulation – is it all worth it? The impact of simulation from the perspective of accounting students

Module and programme leaders within higher education strive to improve module materials to enhance engagement and learning outcomes. However, questions remain whether these improvements are seen as a benefit by the student cohorts. Simulations have been discussed within the literature, and a number of institutions have implemented a range of business games and simulations as enhancement initiatives. The audit simulation that has been developed in this case, is not a game, but has been designed to simulate the environment of a working audit. This research evaluates the perceptions of student using the simulation. Data has been collected across two student cohorts (final year accounting students): the first cohort having access to basic audit documentation materials, and the second cohort experiencing full access to an enhanced simulation model. Both cohorts are asked to comment on their use of the learning material, and perceived benefits and drawbacks of using simulations. The research will make a valuable contribution to the existing literature by offering a student perspective of the benefits (or drawbacks) of implementing simulation to the practical topic of audit. This will be of interest to other universities and professional training providers who are considering the adoption of simulation within teaching practice

Intervention Strategies to Decrease Discipline Issues in an Urban pre-K-8 Public School

Intervention Strategies to Decrease Discipline Issues in an Urban pre-K-8 Public School by Wendy A. Mason MEd, Walden University, 2005 BA, Kean University, 1979 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University October 2015 The educational problem addressed in this study was the lack of empirically grounded evidence of the intervention strategies an urban school in the northeast region of the United States used to decrease school discipline problems. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify, explore, and understand the strategies used by school personnel to decrease discipline problems. The conceptual framework was anchored in social learning and communities of practice theories. The research questions focused on identifying the types of student discipline problems, the strategies developed and deployed to decrease the discipline problems, and the outcomes of the strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants: 1 administrator, 10 teachers, and 1 counselor. Archival documents such as incident reports, discipline referral forms, the school\u27s year-end report, and district suspensions reports were also examined for discipline patterns. Data analysis strategies included transcribing interview data, identifying patterns, and data triangulation. Results indicated that disrespect, noncompliant behavior, willful disobedience, fighting, and bullying were major discipline problems at the school. A multiplicity of strategies such as in-school and out-of-school suspension and character education effectively decreased discipline issues. Recommendations include a regular review of prevention strategies to determine which strategies are effective at reducing discipline. Positive social change implications include implementing invention strategies that create safe learning environments for students and staff in which all students can achieve academic success that leads to timely graduation and productive and responsible citizenship in the communities in which students live

Inpatient Psychiatric Services for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People: Where Are We Now?

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Estimating the impact of randomised control trial results on clinical practice: results from a survey and modelling study of androgen deprivation therapy plus radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer

Background Recent trials have shown that the addition of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves survival among men with locally advanced prostate cancer. Objective To examine the potential impact of these trials on changes in clinical practice and life-years saved. Design, setting, and participants A model was developed to examine the impact of changes in clinical practice in the UK. A survey of clinicians who treat men with prostate cancer in the UK and Canada was performed. Measurements Outcomes of interest were the proportion of patients treated with different approaches and the predicted number of life-years saved due to changes in clinical practice. Survey data were cross-tabulated and Pearson's χ2 tests were applied. Results and limitations The survey was completed by 193 clinicians (105 from the UK, 80 from Canada), of whom 70% were clinical/radiation oncologists, 8% were medical oncologists, and 15% were urologists. UK respondents were more likely to report a change in practice in response to the results (44% UK vs 21% Canada). Canadians were more likely to have already been using ADT plus radiotherapy (77% Canada vs 56% UK). The increase in the proportion of patients in the UK treated with ADT + EBRT could result in around 3730–5177 extra life-years at 15 yr from a cohort of 7930 men diagnosed in a single calendar year, compared to if all had been treated with ADT alone. Conclusions Trial findings have changed clinical practice, meaning that men with locally advanced prostate cancer are likely to survive longer. Patient summary Doctors in the UK have changed practice in response to evidence on the superiority of hormone therapy plus radiotherapy to hormone therapy alone. These changes will improve the survival of men with locally advanced prostate cancer. Further reductions in the use of hormone therapy alone could further improve survival

Connectivity Series at RIT- Developing & Delivering an Effective Professional Development Workshop Series for Women Faculty in STEM

In science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines within the United States; women faculty are underrepresented within many disciplines including engineering, computer science, and physics. At a large private university, RIT, the ADVANCE institutional transformation project (supported by NSF Award No. 1209115), referred to as Advance RIT, aims to increase the representation and advancement of women STEM faculty (which includes social and behavioral sciences, SBS) by removing barriers to resources that support career success and by creating new interventions and resources. This paper reports on the design, delivery and evaluation of a professional development workshop series, called the Connectivity Series, which is a vital initiative within this large-scale, multi-year, strategic institutional transformation project. The workshop series consists of programs to promote the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women faculty. The project team developed workshop themes based upon the results of a faculty climate survey and a literature review as part of a previously conducted NSF ADVANCE funded self-study (0811076). Project researchers created the Connectivity Series for all tenure-track women faculty on campus as well as targeted workshops for women of color and deaf and hard of hearing women faculty. All disciplines represented within the university (STEM and non-STEM) have been identified as the target audience for workshop offerings due to the high prevalence of STEM disciplines within the university. Program assessment and evaluation results are presented. In addition, a sustainability plan is outlined for continuation of these targeted workshops beyond the five-year grant funding period

Driving digital health transformation in hospitals:a formative qualitative evaluation of the English Global Digital Exemplar programme

BACKGROUND: There is currently a strong drive internationally towards creating digitally advanced healthcare systems through coordinated efforts at a national level. The English Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme is a large-scale national health information technology change programme aiming to promote digitally-enabled transformation in secondary healthcare provider organisations by supporting relatively digitally mature provider organisations to become international centres of excellence. AIM: To qualitatively evaluate the impact of the GDE programme in promoting digital transformation in provider organisations that took part in the programme. METHODS: We conducted a series of in-depth case studies in 12 purposively selected provider organisations and a further 24 wider case studies of the remaining organisations participating in the GDE programme. Data collected included 628 interviews, non-participant observations of 190 meetings and workshops and analysis of 9 documents. We used thematic analysis aided by NVivo software and drew on sociotechnical theory to analyse the data. RESULTS: We found the GDE programme accelerated digital transformation within participating provider organisations. This acceleration was triggered by: (1) dedicated funding and the associated requirement for matched internal funding, which in turn helped to prioritise digital transformation locally; (2) governance requirements put in place by the programme that helped strengthen existing local governance and project management structures and supported the emergence of a cadre of clinical health informatics leaders locally; and (3) reputational benefits associated with being recognised as a centre of digital excellence, which facilitated organisational buy-in for digital transformation and increased negotiating power with vendors. CONCLUSION: The GDE programme has been successful in accelerating digital transformation in participating provider organisations. Large-scale digital transformation programmes in healthcare can stimulate local progress through protected funding, putting in place governance structures and leveraging reputational benefits for participating provider organisations, around a coherent vision of transformation

Attitude Control System Design for the Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Solar Dynamics Observatory mission, part of the Living With a Star program, will place a geosynchronous satellite in orbit to observe the Sun and relay data to a dedicated ground station at all times. SDO remains Sun- pointing throughout most of its mission for the instruments to take measurements of the Sun. The SDO attitude control system is a single-fault tolerant design. Its fully redundant attitude sensor complement includes 16 coarse Sun sensors, a digital Sun sensor, 3 two-axis inertial reference units, 2 star trackers, and 4 guide telescopes. Attitude actuation is performed using 4 reaction wheels and 8 thrusters, and a single main engine nominally provides velocity-change thrust. The attitude control software has five nominal control modes-3 wheel-based modes and 2 thruster-based modes. A wheel-based Safehold running in the attitude control electronics box improves the robustness of the system as a whole. All six modes are designed on the same basic proportional-integral-derivative attitude error structure, with more robust modes setting their integral gains to zero. The paper details the mode designs and their uses