scholarly journals Lost in translation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Thomas ◽  
Denielle Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Experimental Medicine ◽  
Medical Field ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Lost In Translation

This rather unorthodox essay is a dialogue between an anthropologist and an epidemiologist, both of whom were involved with a large-scale collaborative ethnographic project exploring medical field studies, or ‘trial communities’, in western Kenya. Reflecting on their involvement with this project, the authors consider the pragmatics of what ‘collaboration’ represents in different disciplines and how it is enacted. The dialogue, which included a follow-up interview after the research was completed, highlights the expectations and tensions in such collaborative projects and offers the epidemiologist an opportunity to highlight the ideas, methods, and possibilities that he perceived as being ‘lost in translation’ between sociocultural anthropology and experimental medicine. We raise critical issues regarding the disjuncture between epidemiological and anthropological practices in research design, methods, epistemology, and collaboration, with the hopes of provoking more discussions regarding best practices in collaborative research projects. 

Tomorrow's EdTech Today: Establishing a Learning Platform as a Collaborative Research Tool for Sound Science

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Korinn Ostrow ◽  
Neil Heffernan ◽  
Joseph Jay Williams
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Educational Technologies ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Learning Platform

Background/Context Large-scale randomized controlled experiments conducted in authentic learning environments are commonly high stakes, carrying extensive costs and requiring lengthy commitments for all-or-nothing results amidst many potential obstacles. Educational technologies harbor an untapped potential to provide researchers with access to extensive and diverse subject pools of students interacting with educational materials in authentic ways. These systems log extensive data on student performance that can be used to identify and leverage best practices in education and guide systemic policy change. Tomorrow's educational technologies should be built upon rigorous standards set forth by the research revolution budding today. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The present work serves as a call to the community to infuse popular learning platforms with the capacity to support collaborative research at scale. Research Design This article defines how educational technologies can be leveraged for use in collaborative research environments by highlighting the research revolution of ASSISTments ( www.ASSISTments.org ), a popular online learning platform with a focus on mathematics education. A framework described as the cycle of perpetual evolution is presented, and research exemplifying progression through this framework is discussed in support of the many benefits that stem from infusing EdTech with collaborative research. Through a recent NSF grant (SI2-SSE&SSI: 1440753), researchers from around the world can leverage ASSISTments’ content and user population by designing and implementing randomized controlled experiments within the ASSISTments TestBed ( www.ASSISTmentsTestBed.org ). Findings from these studies help to define best practices within technology-driven learning, while simultaneously allowing for augmentation of the system's content, delivery, and infrastructure. Conclusions/Recommendations Supplementing educational technologies with environments for sound, collaborative science can result in a broad range of benefits for students, researchers, platforms, and educational practice and policy. This article outlines the successful uptake of research efforts by ASSISTments in hopes of advocating a research revolution for other educational technologies.

Therapy of post-stroke depression – a systematic review

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (02) ◽  
pp. 108-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Gaebel ◽  
W. Wannagat ◽  
J. Zielasek
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Placebo Control ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Pharmacological Studies ◽  
Post Stroke Depression ◽  
Control Procedures ◽  
Antidepressant Pharmacotherapy

SummaryWe performed a systematic review of randomized placebo-controlled pharmacological and non-pharmacological trials for the therapy and prevention of post-stroke depression that have been published between 1980 and 2011. We initially identified 2 260 records of which 28 studies were finally included into this review. A meta-analytic approach was hampered by considerable differences regarding the kinds of therapeutic regimens and the study durations. Modest effects favoring treatment of post-stroke depression could be found for pharmacological treatment as well as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. For the prevention of post-stroke depression, antidepressant pharmacotherapy showed promising results. However, large-scale studies with better standardized study populations, optimized placebo control procedures in non-pharmacological studies, and replication in larger follow-up studies are still necessary to find the optimal therapeutic regimens to prevent and treat post-stroke depression.

Effects of Trust and Threat Messaging on Academic Cheating: A Field Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762097751
Author(s):  
Li Zhao ◽  
Jiaxin Zheng ◽  
Haiying Mao ◽  
Xinyi Yu ◽  
Jiacheng Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Academic Integrity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Academic Cheating ◽  
College Classrooms

Morality-based interventions designed to promote academic integrity are being used by educational institutions around the world. Although many such approaches have a strong theoretical foundation and are supported by laboratory-based evidence, they often have not been subjected to rigorous empirical evaluation in real-world contexts. In a naturalistic field study ( N = 296), we evaluated a recent research-inspired classroom innovation in which students are told, just prior to taking an unproctored exam, that they are trusted to act with integrity. Four university classes were assigned to a proctored exam or one of three types of unproctored exam. Students who took unproctored exams cheated significantly more, which suggests that it may be premature to implement this approach in college classrooms. These findings point to the importance of conducting ecologically valid and well-controlled field studies that translate psychological theory into practice when introducing large-scale educational reforms.

The Effect of the Familiarity of a Survey Sender on Response Outcomes in a Large-Scale Survey of Emergency Medical Services Agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-267
Author(s):  
Morgan M. Millar ◽  
Hilary A. Hewes ◽  
Andrea L. Genovesi ◽  
Michael Ely ◽  
Braden Green ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Survey Response ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Established Relationship ◽  
To Receive

Survey response is higher when the request comes from a familiar entity compared to an unknown sender. Little is known about how sender influences response to surveys of organizations. We assessed whether familiarity of the sender influences response outcomes in a survey of emergency medical services agencies. Emergency medical services agencies in one U.S. state were randomly assigned to receive survey emails from either a familiar or unfamiliar sender. Both deployment approaches were subsequently used nationwide, with each state selecting one of the two contact methods. Experimental results showed that requests from the familiar sender achieved higher survey response (54.3%) compared to requests from the unfamiliar sender (36.9%; OR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.23, 3.33). Similar results were observed in the subsequent nationwide survey; in states where the familiar sender deployed the survey, 62.0% of agencies responded, compared to 51.0% when the survey was sent by the unfamiliar sender (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.47, 1.67). The response difference resulted in nearly 60 additional hours of staff time needed to perform telephone follow-up to nonrespondents. When surveying healthcare organizations, surveyors should recognize that it is more challenging to obtain responses without a pre-established relationship with the organizations.

scholarly journals Giving a Voice to Students with Disabilities to Design Library Experiences: An Ethnographic Study

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Monica Cerdan Chiscano
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Management Style ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Experience Design ◽  
Research Project

Although librarians generally display an inclusive management style, barriers to students with disabilities remain widespread. Against this backdrop, a collaborative research project called Inclusive Library was launched in 2019 in Catalonia, Spain. This study empirically tests how involving students with disabilities in the experience design process can lead to new improvements in users’ library experience. A mix of qualitative techniques, namely focus groups, ethnographic techniques and post-experience surveys, were used to gain insights from the 20 libraries and 20 students with disabilities collaborating in the project. Based on the participants’ voices and follow-up experiences, the study makes several suggestions on how libraries can improve their accessibility. Results indicate that ensuring proper resource allocation for accessibility improves students with disabilities’ library experience. Recommendations for library managers are also provided.

scholarly journals Factors associated with typical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection among children <5 years old with moderate-to-severe diarrhoea in rural western Kenya, 2008–2012

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Fagerli ◽  
R. Omore ◽  
S. Kim ◽  
J. B. Ochieng ◽  
T. L. Ayers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Severe Diarrhoea ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Case Comparison ◽  
Escherichia Coli Infection ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
Stool Specimens ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Abstract Typical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (tEPEC) infection is a major cause of diarrhoea and contributor to mortality in children <5 years old in developing countries. Data were analysed from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study examining children <5 years old seeking care for moderate-to-severe diarrhoea (MSD) in Kenya. Stool specimens were tested for enteric pathogens, including by multiplex polymerase chain reaction for gene targets of tEPEC. Demographic, clinical and anthropometric data were collected at enrolment and ~60-days later; multivariable logistic regressions were constructed. Of 1778 MSD cases enrolled from 2008 to 2012, 135 (7.6%) children tested positive for tEPEC. In a case-to-case comparison among MSD cases, tEPEC was independently associated with presentation at enrolment with a loss of skin turgor (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.37–3.17), and convulsions (aOR 2.83, 95% CI 1.12–7.14). At follow-up, infants with tEPEC compared to those without were associated with being underweight (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3–3.6) and wasted (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3–4.6). Among MSD cases, tEPEC was associated with mortality (aOR 2.85, 95% CI 1.47–5.55). This study suggests that tEPEC contributes to morbidity and mortality in children. Interventions aimed at defining and reducing the burden of tEPEC and its sequelae should be urgently investigated, prioritised and implemented.

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