Interactivity between protégés and scientists in an electronic mentoring program

Interactivity is defined by Henri (1992) as a three-step process involving communication of information, a response to this information, and a reply to that first response. It is a key dimension of computer-mediated communication, particularly in the one-on-one communication involved in an electronic mentoring program. This report analyzes the interactivity between pairs of corporate research scientists (mentors) and university biology students (protégés) during two consecutive implementations of an electronic mentoring program. The frequency and structure of the interactions within each pair were examined to provide context: 542 messages were posted among the 20 mentors and 20 protégés. These messages were formed into 5-10 threads per pair, with 3-4 messages per thread, indicating a high level of interactivity (there were more responses posted than independent messages). Mentor-protégé pairs rated as effective by both mentors and protégés' posted more messages overall, had well-structured threads, had protégés and mentor postings that were similar in topic coverage and message length, and had little overt "management" behavior by mentors. However, there appears to be no clear recipe for successful interaction. Not only are there a variety of factors at play in developing an online relationship in this context, but mentor-protégés pairs can falter at various stages in the process and in various way

Mentoring Future Biologists via the Internet

Mentoring has a long tradition, reaching as far back as 1000 B.C. It continues to be practiced today in both educational and corporate settings. The process is typically established to help a protégé grow and develop new skills and attitudes. But science students in lower socioeconomic areas rarely have the opportunity to interact with mentors face-to-face. This is particularly true if the students are located in a rural setting, since most corporate scientists and their research facilities are concentrated in a few urban areas of the country. Few college students can travel to these sites as part of their college study, and few scientists have the leisure to travel to colleges and universities to interact with students there. If such contact were possible, students would be exposed to a much wider range of perspectives on scientific and professional issues. The E-Mentoring program was designed to overcome some of these difficulties. Electronic mentoring, or telementoring, involves the use of computer-mediated communications (like e-mail or computer conferencing systems) to support a mentoring relationship when a face to-face relationship would be impractical.The E-Mentoring program provided biology students from two historically minority universities in North Carolina with opportunities to interact and develop relationships with corporate scientists, to expand their learning horizons, and to use technology in a meaningful way. To provide a meaningful context for electronic mentoring for students, the project was integrated within appropriate biology courses, one undergraduate and one graduate. For most students and mentors, e-mentoring was a pleasant experience, but there was no immediate important impact. It is possible that the impact of the relationship may be more fully appreciated upon later reflection. For a few students, the program was unsuccessful They never developed a relationship with their mentors, and so the only benefit they received was the introduction and use of a new technological communication tool. Recommendations for future e-mentoring programs are provided

Prospectus, October 23, 1985

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1985/1023/thumbnail.jp

Population balance modelling for a flow induced phase inversion based granulation in a two-dimensional rotating agglomerator

A novel two-dimensional rotating agglomerator was developed to carry out the flow induced phase inversion (FIPI) based granulation. The process in this agglomerator shows that a continuous paste flow (mixed with liquid binder and primary particles) is extruded into the interstice of two relatively rotating disks, as the paste becomes solidified due to the loss of heat to the disks, it is then broken into granules by the shearing force imposed by the rotating disk. Experimental measurements have shown that the size of these granules is enlarged along the positive radial direction of the disks. It is also found that these granules contain approximately the same quantity of binder in terms of its volume fraction. The paper thus proposes a population balance (PB) model to describe the growth of the granules by considering a size independent agglomeration kernel. The PB simulated results are found to be well capable of describing the change of the particle size distribution (PSD) of the granules in the radial direction. This study also proposes a velocity profile for the paste flow and attempts to establish a quantitative relationship between the granulation rate and the deformation rate as this would help us understand the mechanism of the agglomeration. It is hoped that this study would be used to improve the design of the agglomerator and to assure the control of the process and the granular product quality

Lifelong Learning for Information Systems Professionals

A quarter century ago, Toffler (1970) speculated that the rate at which changes took place was increasing at an ever-faster pace. He surmised that this was creating a more complex environment with greater uncertainty for individuals and organizations. Since his prediction, the business world has surely experienced immense changes that have seemed to occur with increasing frequency. Product life cycles have been drastically shortened in many industries. Globalization of the marketplace has taken place in a very short time span. Fluctuating prices for raw materials and energy, currency volatility, industry deregulation, and a host of other transformations have all contributed to an increasingly complex competitive environment. These changes havehad a major impact on the practice of information systems and on the careers of professionals. We will argue in this paper that the changes necessitate a complete reengineering of information systems curricula and teaching method

E-Mentoring Handbook: Lessons Learned from Two Electronic Mentoring Pilot Programs

E-Mentoring, electronic mentoring for tomorrow’s scientist, connects Historically Minority University (HMU) students and corporate scientists. E-Mentoring helps to prepare HMU students for a rewarding future and/or career not only in science but also quite possibly in technology. E-Mentoring introduces all participants to the world of technology, if they haven’t already been exposed to it. Students use e-mail and computer technology, often for the first time. Teachers get additional hands-on exposure to computers and web-based instructional software. Corporate scientists get the satisfaction of being mentors to tomorrow’s scientists, using technology on their desktop or in their homes. There are numerous items that need to be in place before E-Mentoring can occur. The first section of this report covers identifying participants and matching students and scientists. The next sections will pick up where this leaves off, in terms of pulling all the pieces together and making it work and be successful

Investigating attributes affecting the performance of WBI users

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Computers and Education. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Numerous research studies have explored the effect of hypermedia on learners' performance using Web Based Instruction (WBI). A learner's performance is determined by their varying skills and abilities as well as various differences such as gender, cognitive style and prior knowledge. In this paper, we investigate how differences between individuals influenced learner's performance using a hypermedia system to accommodate an individual's preferences. The effect of learning performance is investigated to explore relationships between measurement attributes including gain scores (post-test minus pre-test), number of pages visited in a WBI program, and time spent on such pages. A data mining approach was used to analyze the results by comparing two clustering algorithms (K-Means and Hierarchical) with two different numbers of clusters. Individual differences had a significant impact on learner behavior in our WBI program. Additionally, we found that the relationship between attributes that measure performance played an influential role in exploring performance level; the relationship between such attributes induced rules in measuring level of a learners' performance

Prospectus, November 13, 1985

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1985/1026/thumbnail.jp

Exploring Preceptorship Programmes: Implications for Future Design

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Taylor, L. M., Eost‐Telling, C. L. & Ellerton, A. (2018). Exploring Preceptorship Programmes: Implications for Future Design. Journal of Clinical Nursing, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14714. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving• Aims and objectives: To review and analyse current preceptorship programmes within NHS trusts in the North West of England. To evaluate the pedagogic rigour of the programme and suggest recommendations to inform the future design of preceptorship programmes. • Background: Enhancing the retention of newly qualified staff is of particular importance given that the journey from a new registrant to a competent healthcare professional poses a number of challenges, for both the individual staff member and organisations. • Design: A mixed methods evaluative approach was employed, using online questionnaires and content analysis of preceptorship documentation. • Methods: Forty-one NHS trusts across the North West region employing newly qualified nurses were invited to participate in the completion of an online questionnaire. In addition, preceptorship programme documentation was requested for inclusion in the content analysis. This study utilised the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) guidelines. • Results: The response rate for the questionnaire was 56.1% (n=23). Eighteen trusts (43.9%) forwarded their programme documentation. Findings highlighted the wide variation in preceptorship programmes across the geographical footprint. • Conclusions: There were instances of outstanding preceptorship and preceptorship programmes where there was a clear link between the strategic vision, i.e., trust policy, and its delivery, i.e. preceptorship offering. There was no one framework that would universally meet the needs of all trusts, yet there are key components which should be included in all preceptorship programmes. Therefore, we would encourage innovation and creativity in preceptorship programmes, cognisant of local context. Relevance to clinical practice: The significant shortage of nursing staff in England is an ongoing issue. Recruitment and retention are key to ameliorating the shortfall, and formal support mechanisms like preceptorship, can improve the retention of newly qualified staff. Understanding current preceptorship programmes is an important first step in establishing the fundamental building blocks of successful preceptorship programmes and enabling the sharing of exemplary good practice across organisations

Teaching clinical informatics to third-year medical students: negative results from two controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Prior educational interventions to increase seeking evidence by medical students have been unsuccessful. METHODS: We report two quasirandomized controlled trials to increase seeking of medical evidence by third-year medical students. In the first trial (1997–1998), we placed computers in clinical locations and taught their use in a 6-hour course. Based on negative results, we created SUMSearch(TM), an Internet site that automates searching for medical evidence by simultaneous meta-searching of MEDLINE and other sites. In the second trial (1999–2000), we taught SUMSearch's use in a 5½-hour course. Both courses were taught during the medicine clerkship. For each trial, we surveyed the entire third-year class at 6 months, after half of the students had taken the course (intervention group). The students who had not received the intervention were the control group. We measured self-report of search frequency and satisfaction with search quality and speed. RESULTS: The proportion of all students who reported searching at least weekly for medical evidence significantly increased from 19% (1997–1998) to 42% (1999–2000). The proportion of all students who were satisfied with their search results increased significantly between study years. However, in neither study year did the interventions increase searching or satisfaction with results. Satisfaction with the speed of searching was 27% in 1999–2000. This did not increase between studies years and was not changed by the interventions. CONCLUSION: None of our interventions affected searching habits. Even with automated searching, students report low satisfaction with search speed. We are concerned that students using current strategies for seeking medical evidence will be less likely to seek and appraise original studies when they enter medical practice and have less time