Student Perception of Digital Technology Usage in Higher Education Classrooms at Seattle Pacific University

Abstract Student Perception of Digital Technology Usage in Higher Education Classrooms at Seattle Pacific University By Jason Profit Chairperson of the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Nyaradzo Mvududu School of Education Since 2004, EDUCAUSE has been assessing the use of digital devices in higher education classrooms. Seattle Pacific University (SPU) had never participated in an ECAR Student Technology Survey until April, 2017. This study aimed to establish a baseline understanding of how SPU undergraduate students compare to other small, private, liberal arts institutions in regard to technology usage in the classroom. The broader purpose of this study was to add to the growing research involving the use of mobile digital devices within higher education classrooms. This study focused on the connectivism learning theory which seeks to explain the complex learning that takes place within all classrooms in a constantly and rapidly changing digital world. The author used the 2017 ECAR Student Technology Survey as the instrument to gather data. This research was a non-experimental, ex post facto study using a convenience sample in which participants provided survey data at one point in time regarding their perception of their instructors’ use of digital devices within a classroom, their perception of SPU’s learning management system and their preferred learning environment within a course. The researcher conducted a factor analysis to confirm the existence of factors before conducting a one-way MANOVA

Improving benchmarking by using an explicit framework for the development of composite indicators: an example using pediatric quality of care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The measurement of healthcare provider performance is becoming more widespread. Physicians have been guarded about performance measurement, in part because the methodology for comparative measurement of care quality is underdeveloped. Comprehensive quality improvement will require comprehensive measurement, implying the aggregation of multiple quality metrics into composite indicators.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To present a conceptual framework to develop comprehensive, robust, and transparent composite indicators of pediatric care quality, and to highlight aspects specific to quality measurement in children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We reviewed the scientific literature on composite indicator development, health systems, and quality measurement in the pediatric healthcare setting. Frameworks were selected for explicitness and applicability to a hospital-based measurement system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We synthesized various frameworks into a comprehensive model for the development of composite indicators of quality of care. Among its key premises, the model proposes identifying structural, process, and outcome metrics for each of the Institute of Medicine's six domains of quality (safety, effectiveness, efficiency, patient-centeredness, timeliness, and equity) and presents a step-by-step framework for embedding the quality of care measurement model into composite indicator development.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The framework presented offers researchers an explicit path to composite indicator development. Without a scientifically robust and comprehensive approach to measurement of the quality of healthcare, performance measurement will ultimately fail to achieve its quality improvement goals.</p

Strategies Outside the Formal Classroom: Nonprofit Management Education in Transparency and Accountability

A demand for nonprofit management training and organizational capacity building exists in Latin America. However, few nonprofit management education (NME) programs in Latin America exist, and there is limited content related to ethics, transparency, and accountability. Using the case of Ecuador, we identify three strategies implemented by nonprofit leaders to cope with limited NME. We find that first, organizations engage in a process of collectivity that seeks to explore and give meaning to civil society in Ecuador. Second, this process leads to the production of knowledge about civil society in Ecuador. And third, based on both the process of collectivity and knowledge production, nonprofit leaders in Ecuador take ownership in the training of nonprofit leaders through several pilot courses related to transparency and accountability. The case of Ecuador reminds public affairs educators that organizations themselves can be successful producers of knowledge that can and should create and inform curricular content

Ambiente de trabalho da enfermagem, segurança do paciente e qualidade do cuidado em hospital pediátrico

Objetivos: Descrever as características do ambiente de trabalho, as atitudes de segurança, a qualidade do cuidado mensuradas pela equipe de enfermagem das unidades pediátricas e analisar a evolução dos indicadores assistenciais e de desempenho hospitalar.Método: Estudo descritivo com 136 profissionais de enfermagem de um hospital pediátrico, com aplicação da ficha de caracterização pessoal e profissional, Nursing Work Index – Revised, Safety Attitudes Questionnaire – Short form 2006 e dos indicadores de qualidade.Resultados: Os profissionais percebem o ambiente como favorável à prática profissional, avaliaram como boa a qualidade do cuidado e a redução de eventos adversos e da permanência hospitalar. O domínio satisfação no trabalho foi favorável à segurança do paciente.Conclusões: O ambiente de trabalho é favorável à prática de enfermagem, os profissionais aprovam a qualidade do cuidado e os indicadores apontam redução dos eventos adversos e da permanência hospitalar.Palavras-chave: Ambiente de instituições de saúde. Segurança do paciente. Qualidade da assistência à saúde. Satisfação no emprego. Avaliação de resultados da assistência ao paciente

Costs Associated with Low Birth Weight in a Rural Area of Southern Mozambique

BACKGROUND: Low Birth Weight (LBW) is prevalent in low-income countries. Even though the economic evaluation of interventions to reduce this burden is essential to guide health policies, data on costs associated with LBW are scarce. This study aims to estimate the costs to the health system and to the household and the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) arising from infant deaths associated with LBW in Southern Mozambique. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Costs incurred by the households were collected through exit surveys. Health system costs were gathered from data obtained onsite and from published information. DALYs due to death of LBW babies were based on local estimates of prevalence of LBW (12%), very low birth weight (VLBW) (1%) and of case fatality rates compared to non-LBW weight babies [for LBW (12%) and VLBW (80%)]. Costs associated with LBW excess morbidity were calculated on the incremental number of hospital admissions in LBW babies compared to non-LBW weight babies. Direct and indirect household costs for routine health care were 24.12 US$(CI 95$ (CI 95% 6.33; 10.72). Of the 3,322 live births that occurred in one year in the study area, health system costs associated to LBW (routine health care and excess morbidity) and DALYs were 169,957.61 US$ (CI 95% 144,900.00; 195,500.00) and 2,746.06, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This first cost evaluation of LBW in a low-income country shows that reducing the prevalence of LBW would translate into important cost savings to the health system and the household. These results are of relevance for similar settings and should serve to promote interventions aimed at improving maternal care

Recommendations for Enhancing Psychosocial Support of NICU Parents through Staff Education and Support

Providing psychosocial support to parents whose infants are hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can improve parents’ functioning as well as their relationships with their babies. Yet, few NICUs offer staff education that teaches optimal methods of communication with parents in distress. Limited staff education in how to best provide psychosocial support to families is one factor that may render those who work in the NICU at risk for burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress syndrome. Staff who develop burnout may have further reduced ability to provide effective support to parents and babies. Recommendations for providing NICU staff with education and support are discussed. The goal is to deliver care that exemplifies the belief that providing psychosocial care and support to the family is equal in importance to providing medical care and developmental support to the baby