scholarly journals Encounters with strangeness: Intercultural learning in an engineering course

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-203
Author(s):  
Jan Van Maele ◽  
Steven Schelkens ◽  
Katrien Mertens
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Teacher Guidance ◽  
Intercultural Interaction ◽  
Support Students

This paper reports on an intervention whereby a critical approach to intercultural communication is implemented in a module for undergraduate students of engineering technology. The module centers on an encounter in which small teams engage with people and practices that represent cultural strangeness to them. A qualitative, exploratory study was carried out on how participating students perceive strangeness, on their motives for selecting their encounter, and on the insights as they reported and demonstrated them in their project reports. Students confirmed the primacy of first-hand experience in intercultural learning, and pointed at an open mind, a non-essentialist view of culture, and an awareness of stereotyping as key takeaways from the project. Providing additional teacher guidance could further support students in their acquisition of critical understanding, for instance through the development of validated (self-)assessment tools. The authors conclude that the described project can help to fill the observed lack of intercultural communication practices from a critical, non-essentialist perspective in engineering education. More generally, this study contributes to a wider pedagogy of encounter by elucidating the concept of strangeness as a linking concept for examining underlying dynamics in intercultural interaction.

scholarly journals Remote learning and students’ mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-method enquiry

Prospects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Lischer ◽  
Netkey Safi ◽  
Cheryl Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
Support Students

AbstractThe disruption caused by Covid-19 in the educational sector may last longer than originally predicted. To better understand the current situation, this article analyses the mental health status of university students during the pandemic and investigates the learning conditions needed to support students. The sample included 557 undergraduate students who took part in an online survey. Overall, the students reported coping well during lockdown but indicated that lecturers were challenged by distance teaching, which created some stress for the students.

scholarly journals Measuring supports from learning assistants that promote engagement in active learning: evaluating a novel social support instrument

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dania Hernandez ◽  
Gema Jacomino ◽  
Uma Swamy ◽  
Krista Donis ◽  
Sarah L. Eddy
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Supports ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Appraisal Support ◽  
Instrument Measuring ◽  
Support Students

Abstract Background Active learning supports student performance, but can be challenging to implement in large courses. The Learning Assistant (LA) Program is a growing intervention to support students in large active learning classrooms. This program places advanced undergraduates who have training in pedagogical methods in active learning classrooms to interact with and support students during in-class activities. LAs increase student performance, but the mechanism behind this is still unclear. Social support is a promising framework to help elucidate the types and extent of assistance LAs provide to students and begin exploring the “how” behind LAs effectiveness. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument measuring undergraduate students’ perceptions of the social supports for active learning available to them in the classroom. This instrument was based on both the broader social support literature and the literature on what factors encourage students to engage deeply in active learning. To provide initial evidence of validity, the instrument was completed in six sections of General Chemistry I at one R1 university. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to determine the internal structure of the instrument. Then the instrument’s relationship to engagement in active learning was evaluated as another form of validity evidence. Results These analyses best supported a three-factor instrument that included five items representing supportive feedback provided during active learning (appraisal support), eight items representing emotional support during active learning, and six items representing the communications of norms and values related to active learning (informational support). All three factors were individually correlated with three measures of engagement. In regression analyses with all three factors measured together, only informational support predicted changes in two of the three measures of engagement. Conclusions This study supports the use of the Perception of Social Supports for Active Learning (PSSALI) instrument to understand students’ perceptions of the supports they are receiving to engage in active learning in chemistry courses. One implication of this work is that in order to increase engagement, learning assistants should clearly communicate the value of active learning and the classroom norm of active participation.

scholarly journals Industry-Practice-Based Engineering Hydrology Education at USQ, Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Rezaul Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Industry Practice ◽  
The University ◽  
Engineering Hydrology

Engineering education must embrace several challenges, such as increased numbers of work-based students, increased demand for online education, mismatches in employability skills and industry requirements, and lack of student engagement. The hydrology course at the University of Southern Queensland attracts more than 100 students every year, where more than 70% of students are off-campus and most of them are work-based. This study explored how an online hydrology course can embrace industry practice and engage students in order to achieve learning outcomes. Industrial careers in hydrology involve extensive use of hydroclimatological data and modeling applications. The course modules, learning objectives and outcomes, and assessment tools have been designed to align with industry practices. Active participation of students was observed in self-assessment quizzes and discussion forums. The course was rated very well in achieving learning outcomes and in overall student satisfaction. Students appreciated the well-structured real-world and professional practice in the course.

Comparison of Self-reported to Observational Agitation Scales

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S151-S151
Author(s):  
L. Zun ◽  
L. Downey
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
The Self ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
A Prospective Study ◽  
Age Range

BackgroundIncreasingly, psychiatric patients are presenting to the emergency department (ED) with agitation. ED staff rarely, if ever, use scale to assess agitation or use any self-assessment tools to determine a patient's level of agitation.ObjectivesTo evaluate the relationship between a patient's self-reported level of agitation and other validated agitation assessment tools.MethodsThis is a prospective study using a convenience sample of patients presenting to the ED with a psychiatric complaint. This study was conducted in an urban, inner-city trauma level 1 center with 55,000 ED visits a year. After obtaining consent, a research fellow administered observational tools, PANSS-EC and ACES and BAM and Likert scale self assessment tools on arrival to the ED. SPSS version 24 was used. The study was IRB approved.ResultsA total of 139 patients were enrolled. The most common ED diagnoses were depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar. Majority of patients were African-American (59%), falling in the 25–44 year old age range (56%) 52% male. Self-reported agitation was rated as moderate to high in 72.4% of these patients on the Likert scale and 76.3% on the BAM. There was a significant correlation between the self-reported score versus the BAM (F = 11.2, P = 0.00). However, the self-reported scores were significantly different from the scores assessed by observational tools (P < 0.05).ConclusionsED providers should assess a patient's self-reported level of agitation because a patient could be feeling markedly agitated without expressing outward signs detected by observational tools.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals The relationship between apathy and impulsivity in large population samples

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Petitet ◽  
Jacqueline Scholl ◽  
Bahaaeddin Attaallah ◽  
Daniel Drew ◽  
Sanjay Manohar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Gathering Data ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Conditions

AbstractApathy and impulsivity are debilitating conditions associated with many neuropsychiatric conditions, and expressed to variable degrees in healthy people. While some theories suggest that they lie at different ends of a continuum, others suggest their possible co-existence. Surprisingly little is known, however, about their empirical association in the general population. Here, gathering data from six large studies ($$n = 3755$$ n = 3755 ), we investigated the relationship between measures of apathy and impulsivity in young adults. The questionnaires included commonly used self-assessment tools—Apathy Evaluation Scale, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and UPPS-P Scale—as well as a more recent addition, the Apathy Motivation Index (AMI). Remarkably, across datasets and assessment tools, global measures of apathy and impulsivity correlated positively. However, analysis of sub-scale scores revealed a more complex relationship. Although most dimensions correlated positively with one another, there were two important exceptions revealed using the AMI scale. Social apathy was mostly negatively correlated with impulsive behaviour, and emotional apathy was orthogonal to all other sub-domains. These results suggest that at a global level, apathy and impulsivity do not exist at distinct ends of a continuum. Instead, paradoxically, they most often co-exist in young adults. Processes underlying social and emotional apathy, however, appear to be different and dissociable from behavioural apathy and impulsivity.

Therapeutic Components of Digital Counseling for Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Camillo Fezza ◽  
Stephanie Sansone ◽  
Robert Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Chronic Heart Failure ◽  
Kansas City ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Counseling Interventions ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

BACKGROUND Task force statements support the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI) to promote self-care in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Digital counseling interventions have the potential to complement conventional programs. However, therapeutic components of digital programs that are associated with improved outcomes are not clearly established. OBJECTIVE Identify therapeutic components of the Canadian e-Platform to Promote Behavioral Self-Management in Chronic Heart Failure (CHF-CePPORT) protocol that were associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQL). METHODS Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify the therapeutic components of the CHF-CePPORT protocol. The primary outcome was the 12-month Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire: Overall Summary (KCCQ-OS) tertile. Logistic regressions determined the association between 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile, using logon hours for key segments of the protocol, modality of content delivery, and clinical themes. RESULTS Patients (n = 117) in this study were enrolled in the e-Counseling arm of the CHF-CePPORT trial. Median age was 60 years (IQR 52-69). Total logon hours in the initial 4-month segment of CHF-CePPORT (Sessions 1-16) was associated with increased 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile (Odds Ratio, OR = 1.31, 95% CI, 1.1-1.5, P = 0.001). Within sessions 1-16, improved KCCQ-OS was associated with logon hours for self-assessment tools/trackers (OR = 1.49, 95% CI, 1.1-2.0, P = 0.007), and videos (OR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.03-2.4, P = 0.04), but not for CHF information pages. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the importance of using evidence-based guidelines from CBT and MI as core components of digital counseling, delivered through videos and interactive tools/trackers, to improve HRQL with CHF. CLINICALTRIAL CHF-CePPORT Trial ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01864369

scholarly journals A Comparison between Students' Self-Assessment and Teachers' Assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Mahmoud Thawabieh
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Technical University ◽  
Psychology Course

This study aimed to compare between the students' self-assessment and teachers’ assessment. The study sampleconsisted of 71 students at Tafila Technical University studying Introduction to Psychology course. The researcherused 2 students' self-assessment tools and 2 tests. The results indicated that students can assess themselves accuratelyif they are trained how to implement self-assessment.

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