Is a standalone IL course useful?

Most Higher Education institutions are involved in the creation of online materials to support their students' information literacy skills development – which is labour intensive, and inevitably results in a great deal of duplication of effort across the sector. A recent project, run jointly by SCONUL's Advisory Committee on Information Literacy and The Open University, addressed whether it is possible to create a generic information literacy course that can be delivered anywhere. The OU's standalone module, MOSAIC, which has been running for the last three years with positive feedback from students, provided an ideal starting point for the investigation

Secondary Teacher Experiences in Professional Learning Communities: A Phenomenological Research Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to describe secondary mathematics, science, English Language Arts (ELA), and social studies teachers’ experiences with PLCs at Central Texas secondary schools. Using Wenger’s (1998) social theory, the study answered the central research question: What are the lived experiences of secondary mathematics, science, ELA, and social studies teachers involved in PLCs in Central Texas? The sub-questions included: What collaborative experiences do secondary teachers have during PLCs? What professional learning experiences do secondary teachers have during PLCs? The setting included two middle schools and one high school located in Central Texas. The sample size was 12 public-school teachers, and data were collected through interviews, focus group conversations, and observations. The data were categorized into common themes and patterns

Enhancing health care non-technical skills: the TINSELS programme

Background and Context: Training in ‘non-technical skills’, social (communication and team work) and cognitive (analytical and personal behaviour) skills, in healthcare have been of great interest over the last decade. Whilst the majority of publications focus on ‘whether’ such education can be successful, they overlook the question of ‘how’ they enhance skills. We designed and piloted an original, theoretically robust and replicable teaching package that addresses non-technical skills in the context of medicines safety through simulation-based inter professional learning: the TINSELS (Training In Non-technical Skills to Enhance Levels of Medicines Safety) Programme. Innovation: A modified Delphi process was completed to identify learning outcomes, and recruitment of multi-professional teams was through local publicity. The faculty developed a three-session simulation based intervention: session one was a simulated ward encounter with multiple medicine related activities; session two was an extended debrief and facilitated discussion; and session three a ‘chamber of horrors’ where inter professional teams identified potential sources of error. Each session was completed in the simulation suite with 6 – 9 participants, lasted approximately 90m minutes, and took place over 2 weeks. Full details of the course will be presented to facilitate dissemination. Implications: Likert scale feedback was collected after the course (1 strongly disagree-5 strongly agree). Mean scores were all greater than 4, with qualitative feedback noting the fidelity of the authentic inter professional learner groups. A previously validated safety attitudes questionnaire found changes in attitudes towards handover of care and perceptions of safety levels in the workplace post intervention. An original, simulation based, multi-professional training programme has been developed with learning and assessment materials available for widespread replication

A preliminary evaluation of passenger airbag effectiveness in Australia

A preliminary case-control study of passenger airbag deployments in frontal crashes (in which a passenger was present) was undertaken. The study was conducted as part of an on-going study of vehicle crash performance and occupant injury at Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC). The results of this preliminary study suggest that the US experience of fatalities caused by interaction of the passenger with the deploying airbag is not shared in Australia. This is probably because the seat-belt use in this study was 100%. These preliminary results reinforce the view that such airbags should be used as supplementary restraint systems. Further studies are planned to monitor the performance of passenger-airbags and to provide more in-depth analyses when more data become available

The effectiveness of airbags in Australia as determined by in-depth crash injury research

This study presents some results from a case-control study of crashed vehicles equipped with Australian airbag technology (Supplementary Restraint Systems). Vehicles were inspected and occupants interviewed according to the National Accident Sampling System (NASS). Data were available for 383 belted drivers involved in frontal crashes including 253 drivers in airbag-equipped vehicles and 130 drivers in non-airbag vehicles. The analysis revealed reductions in the numbers of injuries to the head, face chest and neck in the airbag-equipped vehicles although the numbers of upper extremity injuries increased. At higher injury severities (AIS2+) reductions were also observed in injuries to the head, face, neck and chest. Further analysis using Harm as an outcome measure found that the mean Harm per driver (in terms of $AUD) were 60% greater in the non-airbag vehicles compared with the airbag-equipped vehicles. Thus airbags in Australia would appear to offer a significant saving in terms of costs to society. In general, the main conclusion from the study was that the results offer a strong indication that the Australian Design Rule (ADR) 69 requirement has been successful at addressing some of the outstanding issues that remain for injury prevention for drivers involved in frontal impacts

Analysis of injuries to young and old Victorian public transport users: 2006-2010

A study was undertaken to identify injurious events to users of public transport systems in Australia to assist in the UK project on Improving the Safety for Older Public Transport Users. Two analyses were undertaken comprising an analysis of surveillance data (the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset), collected at a number of participating trauma hospitals in the state of Victoria, and an analysis of National Coronial Information System (NCIS) data in Australia. For the VEMD database, details of injuries were recorded on attendance and the patients’ account of the circumstances of the accident and causation factors were noted. Data from the NCIS involved a collection of coronial data on deaths reported to the Australian coroner from 2000 onwards and contains details on the police report of death, autopsy reports, toxicology reports and coronial findings. The VEMD results showed that injury was more common among bus passengers than those on either trams or trains, especially when taking account of their relatively lower usage. The most common injuries from these incidents were to the head and face regions and upper and lower limbs. Chest injuries were especially problematic for older travellers: they sustained more multiple injuries especially those likely to be life-threatening than their younger counterparts. Getting on or off the vehicle accounted for almost two-thirds of all injury-causing events and the most common mechanisms involved a slip, trip or fall while getting on and off the vehicle or while onboard or running to catch public transport. Being hit, struck or crushed by another person or an object was also reported. Injuries to older public transport users appeared to be positively correlated with increasing age. The majority of those injured only required out-patient treatment at the participating hospital but this too was somewhat dependent on the participant’s age. The NCIS results further showed that for fatal outcomes to public transport users, self-harm was a predominant cause and older people seemed less involved than younger ones, albeit young-older groups. Males predominated over females and most mechanisms involved external impacts. Trains were heavily over-involved as a vehicle type and there were high proportions of multiple injuries, especially those judged to be intentional. A range of possible interventions to prevent these events and mitigate injury severity was identified and a number of limitations in this study were noted. Several areas requiring further research were identified for future studies, in particular, the need for more definitive in-depth studies of public transport injurious incidents was especially noteworthy

Challenges of using the bus as an older person

The UK public transport system is generally considered to be safe. However, annually around 6,000 people are reported to be injured whilst using buses with more than 400 persons killed or seriously injured. Approximately 50% of those injured or killed are aged over 65 years. Free travel on buses has allowed senior citizens the freedom to travel for pleasure and social inclusion, but injuries or near-falls that may occur during the journey can impact on future decisions to travel leading to anxiety/fear of sustaining further injury, loss of personal mobility and ultimately social isolation. A study was undertaken to examine the general safety of older bus users. It explored injury type and causation and proposed design interventions for injury prevention with an objective of exploring how public transport use could possibly be made safer. Consultations were also undertaken with stakeholders which revealed the perceived need for better data systems. Industry stakeholders supported the concept of national injury surveillance databases that could enhance bus safety and inform policy and procedures. Older bus passengers enjoyed the freedom that ‘free’ travel brought to their everyday lives and this social impact dominated discussions with them. However, many had witnessed near-falls and ‘stumbling’ and some had experienced this type of event. However interestingly, many did not report these events to the drivers and accepted that it was an everyday occurrence. None of the interviewees normally asked drivers to wait for them to sit down after they had boarded the bus before the bus moved - but also complained that the drivers were not obliging in this regard. Further to this, observation studies revealed that many older passengers were standing up to alight for a considerable length of time prior to the bus stopping at their individual stops thereby significantly increasing their chances of falling

Promotion of breastfeeding by dental teams: A survey of early career dentists

Breastfeeding provides a range of positive health benefits for both mother and baby. Due to maternal exemption of dental charges, dentists have the access and opportunity to provide information to expectant and nursing mothers, and are in an optimal position to positively influence breastfeeding behaviour. A cross-sectional survey of early career dentists in the East Midlands was conducted. The survey questionnaire assessed levels of confidence, knowledge and practice regarding breastfeeding. Barriers identified in supporting and encouraging breastfeeding were lack of knowledge (81%; n=57), lack of confidence (63%; n=44) and lack of time (52%; n=36). Approximately two thirds reported they had never received training and a majority felt they would benefit from this (86%; n=60). Early career dentists in the East Midlands reported limited knowledge and a lack of confidence in the delivery of breastfeeding advice. Wider incorporation of training into undergraduate and postgraduate programmes could be considered, which may improve breastfeeding rates

Women Apparel Shop Owners: Definitive Profiles and Selected Characteristics

Home Economics - Clothing, Textiles and Merchandisin