scholarly journals South European undergraduate and continuing professional development program reconceptualization for the New Information Professional: a synergistic innovation perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
Stavroula Sant-Geronikolou

Purpose – As, under the new educational, communicational and technological paradigms, Library and Information Science curricula reconceptualization is gaining momentum, this opinion paper should be seen as a theoretical contribution to current thinking around South European formal education and Continuing Professional Development potential to effectively addressing the New Academic Library challenges.Design/methodology/findings - Building on context-specific case studies and previous international research focusing the investigation of the necessity to reshape official undergraduate programs and academic librarian career-long learning opportunities, our paper discusses whether and how an open flexible synergistic approach could be an ideal solution to current scenario pain points. Besides offering a brief but comprehensive review of the topic, it further proposes a set of future research studies that may result foundational to change within the librarian community by helping unpack the complexities of an ecosystem still in search of its identity.

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110269
Author(s):  
Guangbao Fang ◽  
Philip Wing Keung Chan ◽  
Penelope Kalogeropoulos

Using data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS; 2013), this article explores teachers’ needs, support, and barriers in their professional development. The research finds that Australian teachers expressed greater needs in information and communication technology (ICT) use and new technology training for teaching, while Shanghai teachers required more assistance to satisfy students’ individual learning and pedagogical competencies. More than 80% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received scheduled time to support their participation in professional development, whereas less than 20% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received monetary or nonmonetary support. In terms of barriers, Australian and Shanghai teachers reported two significant barriers that conflicted with their participation in professional development: “working schedule” and “a lack of incentives to take part.” This article reveals implications of the study in the design of an effective professional development program for Australian and Shanghai teachers and ends with discussing the limitations of the research and future research directions.


2014 ◽  
pp. 474-497
Author(s):  
Demetrios G Sampson ◽  
Pavlos Kallonis

3D Virtual Worlds provide realistic three-dimensional environments accessible through the web that can offer engaging, interactive, and immersive experiences. This can create new opportunities for teaching and learning. Yet, the possible use of 3D Virtual Worlds in formal education is a major challenge for school teachers, even for those who are experienced and keen on using digital technologies. In this chapter, the authors present a 3D Virtual Classroom Simulation appropriately designed and implemented using SLOODLE for supporting a module for teachers' continuing professional development based on the Synectics “making the strange familiar” instructional strategy, aiming towards acquiring appropriate competences for teaching within 3D Virtual Worlds and for developing innovative educational practices.


Author(s):  
Kelly M. Mack ◽  
Kate Winter ◽  
Claudia M. Rankins

This chapter showcases the purpose, activities, and outcomes of the Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM (TIDES) faculty professional development program, which significantly increased both faculty skill level and confidence with implementing culturally responsive pedagogies in the computer/information science disciplines. Starting with the structure of the application process, TIDES intentionally created an effective learning environment where computer and information science faculty could not only learn about culturally relevant teaching practices and the need for them, but also unlearn what they may have absorbed about historical inequities in society and higher education and address their implicit biases about who can and should succeed in STEM. Evaluative data indicate that TIDES exceeded all its target outcomes, so this chapter is shared to support the replication of a proven practice of professional development to foster culturally responsive pedagogy among STEM faculty and, therefore, to support the recruitment and retention of diverse students in STEM.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Johnson ◽  
Arlene Masaba ◽  
Sadia Munir ◽  
Robin O’Dwyer ◽  
Amber Smith ◽  
...  

Background: Nurses play a crucial role in the prevention of communicable diseases through the public health immunization programs. Knowledge, attitude and practices of health care providers have significant impact on the vaccine administration and education of adults and parents of children.Objective: The present qualitative study aims to explore the knowledge, attitude and practices of nurses in Qatar before and after the delivery of the immunization-related continuous professional development program.Methods: 10 out of 125 nurses who have completed the training program volunteered to participate in the face-to-face interviews. Data was then collected, transcribed and analysed by the researcher team members.Results: Themes identified from this study: Empowerment, advancing practice and continuing education. Participants felt more confident and had a sense of fulfilment on completion of the education program. Practicing evidenced based skills and methods achieved an outcome of better quality of care, which can directly affect practice. Participants also felt that continuing education allows them to become self-motivated to keep up with new and emerging knowledge. Taken together, our data revealed that continuing professional education immunization-training program was successful in improving the knowledge, attitude and practices of the participants.Conclusions: Continued education beyond traditional baccalaureate nursing programs in order to ensure nurses possess the knowledge to safely handle, teach and administer vaccines is needed.


Author(s):  
Tania Heap ◽  
Ruthanne Thompson ◽  
Adam Fein

AbstractFrom a design perspective, this paper offers a response to the impact, value, and application of a manuscript published by Philipsen et al. (Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: A systematic meta-aggregative review. Educational Technology and Research Development, 67, 1145–1174. 10.1007/s11423-019-09645-8, 2019). Philipsen et al. (2019) reviewed what constitutes an effective teacher professional development program (TPD) for online and blended learning (OBL), with our response focusing on its value and application in light of an emergency shift to digital to address a global pandemic. This paper also proceeds to examine limitations in previous research into the subject and future research opportunities to investigate important components that inform the design of a resilient and scalable TPD for OBL.


Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Natalie Crown ◽  
Beth A. Sproule ◽  
Miles J. Luke ◽  
Micheline Piquette-Miller ◽  
Lisa M. McCarthy

A continuing professional development (CPD) program for pharmacists practicing in community and team-based primary care settings was developed and evaluated using Moore’s framework for the assessment of continuing medical education. The program had three components: online lectures, a two-day training workshop, and patient case studies. Knowledge (pre-post multiple choice test); attitudes, readiness, and comfort with applying pharmacogenomics in their practices (pre-post surveys); and experiences of implementing pharmacogenomics in practice (semi-structured interviews) were assessed. Twenty-one of 26 enrolled pharmacists successfully completed the program, and were satisfied with their experience. Almost all achieved a score of 80% or higher on the post-training multiple choice test, with significantly improved scores compared to the pre-training test. Pre- and post-training surveys demonstrated that participants felt that their knowledge and competence increased upon completion of the training. In the follow-up, 15 pharmacists incorporated pharmacogenomics testing into care for 117 patients. Ten pharmacists participated in semi-structured interviews, reporting strong performance in the program, but some difficulty implementing new knowledge in their practices. This multi-component CPD program successfully increased pharmacists’ knowledge, readiness, and comfort in applying pharmacogenomics to patient care in the short-term, yet some pharmacists struggled to integrate this new service into their practices.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Walsh ◽  
Tom Power ◽  
Masuda Khatoon ◽  
Sudeb Kumar Biswas ◽  
Ashok Kumar Paul ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica ◽  
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris ◽  
Konstantinos Katzis

The current article provides an overview of a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program that has been designed, pilot tested, and implemented to investigate the impact of augmented reality (AR) on: (a) Teachers’ level of technology (AR) acceptance, adoption of inquiry-based instructional approaches, and confidence towards teaching twentieth-first century skills in STEM-related courses; and (b) students’ potential enhancement of specific twentieth-first century skills and motivation and interest during a STEM- (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)-related course supported with AR. This article focuses on the teachers’ points of view concerning the impact of their STEM-related interventions on their students’ motivation and learning, as well as the factors that influence the teachers’ technology acceptance. The TPD program has been implemented in Cyprus and Greece with twenty-five lower secondary school teachers (20 in Cyprus and 5 in Greece). The research methodology applied is Educational Design Research (EDR), including an initial phase of the TPD program and a second (improved) phase. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and observation of classroom interventions. Initial findings and their implications for teaching and future research are discussed, indicating the potential benefits and challenges surrounding the integration of AR within the educational process.


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