Pedagogy For Internet-based Teaching And Learning And The Impact Of That Pedagogy On Student Achievement And Satisfaction

The purpose of this research was to identify appropriate pedagogical practices for Internet-based teaching and learning, determine the status of their use in the community college adjunct instructor\u27s Internet-based classroom, and examine the impact of these practices on student academic achievement and satisfaction. Frequencies, measures of central tendency, percentages, and SPSS Cross Tabulation procedures described and analyzed data from student and instructor surveys to answer these questions. Internet-based best practice and recommended practice pedagogical methods and strategies were identified through extensive content analysis of the professional literature. Internet-based adjunct instructors at a Central Florida community college rated 43 selected recommended practices. Ratings were based on instructor perceptions of each practice\u27s importance to student academic achievement in and satisfaction with their Internet-based learning experience. Students of community college adjunct instructors also rated these practices for their perceived impact on student academic achievement and satisfaction. Students identified from selected recommended practices the pedagogies that had been designed into the described Internet-based course in which they had been enrolled, providing better understanding of the current use of appropriate Internet-based practice in the instruction of adjunct community college instructors. To examine the impact of the use of those practices, average course scores were related to student-reported presence of practices in described courses and student-reported academic success and satisfaction in described courses was related to the presence of best and recommended practices designed into the course. Results from this study can provide guidance for community college Internet-based programs and for adjunct instructors in those programs as they strive to design and instruct quality courses with appropriate pedagogical focus. Results can also provide local data to the larger discussion of appropriate pedagogy throughout the Internet-based educational community

'Beware of dalals':A moral world of health market brokerage in Bangladesh

Anthropological inquiry into brokers and brokerage practice provides a prime entry point for making sense of social change. This article tends to the ways in which the trope of the broker and the everyday practice of those identified as enacting brokerage acts as a linchpin in broader moral grappling in a historical juncture of rapid social change. It draws from the ethnographic context of brokerage discursively constituted and enacted within maternal health markets in Bangladesh, focusing on the trope and actual practice of those identified as morally compromised 'dalals', brokers bringing women and families from public to private health institutions. It argues the trope of the dalal operates as a metaphor for immorality ascribed to morally ambiguous spaces of the private health sector, a way for people to contend with a moral discomfort integral to applying market logics to health services enacted largely outside the jurisdiction of formal regulatory mechanisms. The practice of those identified as embodying dalals, in contrast, while flourishing in these conditions, is rooted in economic precarity, primarily of young men with limited power waiting for better opportunities, who negotiate and balance moral and economic imperatives of their line of work

‘You have to do some dhora-dhori’:Achieving medical maternal health expectations through trust as social practice in Bangladesh

In contrast to prevailing conceptualisations of ‘trust’ as an object in popular and political discourses, this article takes the concept of trust as future-oriented practice as a launching pad for understanding relationships between people and medical systems in Bangladesh. Based on ­ethnographic­ fieldwork­ in­ Bangladeshi­ peri-urban­ and­ rural­ spaces,­ it­ focuses­ on­ expectations-related to advanced maternal biomedical technologies delivered through medical institutions. These technologies have recently come to dominate practices and expectations around pregnancy and childbirth care and women’s navigations of health systems to realise these expectations. Within this context, trust in institutions in the public or private health sectors remains peripheral to women’s experiences of accessing desired maternal health resources. Rather, women leverage social connectedness through the patronage-related practice of dhora-dhori, translated as mutual grasping or holding. Dhora-dhori is based on social rootedness, trust in that rootedness, and reciprocity. Women act as embedded agents within their families to appeal to various social connections through dhora-dhori to tactically access desired services and resources, with the expectation that this will result in better care at a lower cost, whether in public or private health sectors. It is through such practice that women and families work to realise their expectations of care through institutions, collapsing distinctions between ‘trust’ in personal relationships and ‘trust’ in institutions, as it is through intimate relationships that relationships with medical institutions are engaged.</p

Evidence-Based Programming Within Cooperative Extension: How Can We Maintain Program Fidelity While Adapting to Meet Local Needs?

In this article, we describe how the recent movement towards evidence-based programming has impacted Extension. We review how the emphasis on implementing such programs with strict fidelity to an underlying program model may be at odds with Extension\u27s strong history of adapting programming to meet the unique needs of children, youth, families, and communities. We describe several techniques that Extension professionals can use to balance program fidelity and adaptability. We suggest that Extension stakeholders may be best served when we tailor certain aspects of interventions without changing the intervention\u27s core components that are responsible for positive outcomes

Knowledge and Awareness Among Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3

Knowledge is a prerequisite for changing behavior, and is useful for improving outcomes and reducing mortality rates in patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The purpose of this article is to describe baseline CKD knowledge and awareness obtained as part of a larger study testing the feasibility of a self-management intervention. Thirty patients were recruited who had CKD Stage 3 with coexisting diabetes and hypertension. Fifty-four percent of the sample were unaware of their CKD diagnosis. Participants had a moderate amount of CKD knowledge. This study suggests the need to increase knowledge in patients with CKD Stage 3 to aid in slowing disease progression

Self-management interventions in stages 1 to 4 chronic kidney disease: an integrative review

The prevalence, effect on health outcomes, and economic impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) have created interest in self-management interventions to help slow disease progression to kidney failure. Seven studies were reviewed to identify knowledge gaps and future directions for research. All studies were published between 2010 and 2013; no investigations were conducted in the United States. Knowledge gaps included the focus on medical self-management tasks with no attention to role or emotional tasks, lack of family involvement during intervention delivery, and an inability to form conclusions about the efficacy of interventions because methodological rigor was insufficient. Educational content varied across studies. Strategies to improve self-management skills and enhance self-efficacy varied and were limited in scope. Further development and testing of theory-based interventions are warranted. There is a critical need for future research using well-designed trials with appropriately powered sample sizes, well-tested instruments, and clear and consistent reporting of results

East-West divide: temperature and land cover drive spatial variation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) from England and Wales

Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic parasite of global importance, infects all endothermic vertebrates, with extensive health implications. The prevalence of this parasite is seldom monitored in wildlife. Here, a semi-aquatic species, the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) was used as a model to assess the potential effect of climate, land cover and biotic factors on T. gondii seroprevalence in British wildlife. The Sabin–Feldman cytoplasm-modifying dye test identified T. gondii antibodies in 25·5% of blood samples from otters found dead, mainly as road kill, in England and Wales, between 2004 and 2010. Otters in the east of England were more likely to be infected with T. gondii than those in western regions. Land cover and temperature are key determinants of T. gondii infection risk, with more infection in arable areas and lower infection where temperatures are higher. The probability of T. gondii infection increased with host age, reflecting cumulative exposure with time, but there was no association between T. gondii seroprevalence and cause of host death

Humanised childbirth:the status of emotional support of women in rural Bangladesh

The World Health Organization has recently set standards emphasising the importance of emotional support during birth for improving the quality of maternal and newborn healthcare in facilities. In this study, we explore the emotional support status of women during birth in rural Bangladesh. A cross-sectional household survey of 1367 women was administered in 2018 in Brahmanbaria district. Outcomes of interest included: presence of a companion of choice; mobility; intake of fluids and food; and position of choice. Associations between outcomes of interest and background characteristics were explored through binary and multiple logistic regressions. Approximately 68% women had a companion of choice during labour or childbirth, significantly higher among women giving birth at home (75%) than in a health facility. Nearly 60% women were allowed to eat and drink during labour, also significantly higher among women giving birth at home. Seventy-per cent women were allowed to be ambulatory during labour (46% in a facility vs. 85% at home). Only 27% women were offered or allowed to give birth in the position of their choice at facility, compared to 54% giving birth at home. Among women giving birth in a facility who did not have a companion of choice, 39% reported that the health provider/health facility management did not allow this. Ensuring emotional support and thereby improving the quality of the experience of care within health facilities should be prioritised by the Bangladesh government both to improve health outcomes of women and newborns and also to promote more humanised, positive childbirth experiences.</p