scholarly journals Editorial

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Romy Lawson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Authentic Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
Convincing Argument ◽  
Digital Era

In the final issue of 2014 I am delighted to be welcoming papers from across the world, with contributions from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe. The papers cover a range of contemporary topics including learning in the digital era; supporting students in their academic literacies; first year experiences and an area close to my heart – authentic assessment. In the first paper by Kearney and Perkins, we look at engaging students in their assessments. They have developed a model to foster Authentic Self and Peer Assessment for Learning (ASPAL) which has shown success in both the design and facilitation of assessments. They acknowledge the complexities of adopting authentic assessment but provide a convincing argument that the effort is worthwhile. The second paper, by De Jong and colleagues, also keeps the authentic practice theme going. These authors investigate lifelong learning in the public health sector finding that a blended approach to professional learning that is based on authentic problem based learning is a highly effective way to encourage learning.

scholarly journals The First Year of Practice: An Investigation of the Professional Learning and Development of Promising Novice Physical Therapists

2010 ◽  
Vol 90 (12) ◽  
pp. 1758-1773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa L. Black ◽  
Gail M. Jensen ◽  
Elizabeth Mostrom ◽  
Jan Perkins ◽  
Pamela D. Ritzline ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Physical Therapists ◽  
Physical Therapist ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Clinical Environment ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
New Graduates

Background The goal in studying expertise is not merely to describe ways in which experts excel but also to understand how experts develop in order to better facilitate the development of novices. The study of novice progression helps us to understand what successful versus unsuccessful learning looks like. This understanding is critical, as autonomous practice places increased demands for advanced clinical judgments and the ability to assume professional responsibilities. Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, learning, and development of promising novice therapists throughout their first year of practice in the United States. Design and Methods A longitudinal, multiple-site qualitative case study method was used for within-case and across-case analysis. A purposive sample of 11 promising new graduates from 4 physical therapist education programs participated. Investigators followed the graduates throughout their first year of practice. Data sources included: (1) semistructured interviews conducted at baseline and every 3 months thereafter for 1 year, (2) reflective journals completed at regular intervals, and (3) review of academic and clinical education records and résumés. Results Four themes emerged: (1) the clinical environment influenced the novice physical therapists' performance, (2) participants learned through experience and social interaction and learning was primarily directed toward self, (3) growing confidence was directly related to developing communication skills, and (4) therapists were engaged in professional identity formation and role transitions. Conclusions The findings suggest there are common experiences and themes that emerge as novice physical therapists develop. Although research has been conducted on expertise in physical therapy, few longitudinal investigations have explored the development of therapists across transitions from graduate to novice to expert practitioner. This study explored and described the learning and development of graduates during their first year of practice.

scholarly journals Engaging Students through Assessment: The Success and Limitations of the ASPAL (Authentic Self and Peer Assessment for Learning) Model.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-18
Author(s):  
Sean P. Kearney ◽  
◽  
Tim Perkins ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Peer Feedback ◽  
Authentic Assessment ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Assessment For Learning ◽  
Specific Model ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
The Creation

In 2011 the authors created a model of self- and peer-assessment known as Authentic Self and Peer Assessment for Learning (ASPAL) in an attempt to better engage seemingly disengaged students in their undergraduate coursework. The model focuses on authentic assessment tasks and engages students by involving them in every step of the process from the creation of the criteria on which they will be marked, through to providing exemplars of work, pilot marking and providing peer feedback. This article examines the ASPAL process with regard to whether or not the students are better engaged in their studies as a result of taking part in this process. Although the results are not definitive, the present study shows that the majority of students who undertook the process found it beneficial and were open to try it again. This article seeks to open a discussion as to the capacity for a specific model of self- and peer-assessment to better engage students in their learning and discern the reasons why students found the model engaging so as to better inform future applications of the model and how it can be applied to a wider audience.

scholarly journals Transforming the first-year experience through self and peer assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 20-35
Author(s):  
Sean Kearney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Study Skills ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Current Article

The transition into higher education from secondary school is a challenging change for many students. This transition and the problems students face as a result, can affect their ability to succeed. Universities recognise the transition to university as a significant feature of student engagement and learning. The current article explores an already established assessment model as a tool to help acculturate first-year students to tertiary assessment practices. The author has moulded a model of self and peer assessment that has been utilised at all levels of schooling, as a specific means to help students engage, not only with content, but also with the administrative processes of assessment. Over the course of a number of weeks, undergraduate education students, in their first semester of university study, were subjected to Authentic Self and Peer Assessment for Learning (ASPAL) model, which sought to illustrate study skills, encourage collaboration, promote autonomy and illustrate to students how assessment can drive learning. The current article presents a case for the use of the ASPAL model of assessment as a transition pedagogy that can help students better understand assessment at the tertiary level and enhance student success.

The Architecture of Our Discontent

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yochai Benkler ◽  
Robert Faris ◽  
Hal Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Media ◽  
First Year ◽  
Media Ecosystem ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right ◽  
Integrated Media ◽  
Presidential Election Campaign

This chapter presents the book’s macrolevel findings about the architecture of political communication and the news media ecosystem in the United States from 2015 to 2018. Two million stories published during the 2016 presidential election campaign are analyzed, along with another 1.9 million stories about Donald Trump’s presidency during his first year. The chapter examines patterns of interlinking between online media sources to understand the relations of authority and credibility among publishers, as well as the media sharing practices of Twitter and Facebook users to elucidate social media attention patterns. The data and mapping reveal not only a profoundly polarized media landscape but stark asymmetry: the right is more insular, skewed towards the extreme, and set apart from the more integrated media ecosystem of the center, center-left, and left.

scholarly journals The Use of Monologue Speaking Tasks to Improve First-Year Students’ English-Speaking Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 298
Author(s):  
Irina Karpovich ◽  
Oksana Sheredekina ◽  
Tatyana Krepkaia ◽  
Larisa Voronova
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

A significant number of studies are devoted to the psychological and social adaptation of students to the educational process at university. This research contributes to the solution of the problem of first-year students’ academic performance in the framework of studying a foreign language by working with monologue speaking tasks. The study offers an analysis of the improvement of academic performance in this particular type of language activity. The study took place at Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russia, and involved 274 first-year students enrolled in undergraduate programs. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to collect and analyse data for the study. The research included the qualitative content analysis of monologue speaking tasks. Results of the study make it possible to conclude that the use of monologue speaking tasks paired with peer interaction and peer assessment can improve first-year students’ English-speaking skills.

Are Future Doctors Prepared to Address Patients’ Nutritional Needs? Cooking and Nutritional Knowledge and Habits in Medical Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110181
Author(s):  
Sam Sugimoto ◽  
Drew Recker ◽  
Elizabeth E. Halvorson ◽  
Joseph A. Skelton
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Nutritional Knowledge ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Second Year ◽  
First Year Medical Students

Background. Many diseases are linked to lifestyle in the United States, yet physicians receive little training in nutrition. Medical students’ prior knowledge of nutrition and cooking is unknown. Objective. To determine incoming medical students’ prior nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, and nutrition habits. Methods. A dual-methods study of first-year medical students. Cross-sectional survey assessing prior knowledge, self-efficacy, and previous education of cooking and nutrition. Interviews of second-year medical students explored cooking and nutrition in greater depth. Results. A total of 142 first-year medical students participated; 16% had taken a nutrition course, with majority (66%) learning outside classroom settings. Students had a mean score of 87% on the Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire versus comparison group (64.9%). Mean cooking and food skills score were lower than comparison scores. Overall, students did not meet guidelines for fiber, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Interviews with second-year students revealed most learned to cook from their families; all believed it important for physicians to have this knowledge. Conclusions. Medical students were knowledgeable about nutrition, but typically self-taught. They were not as confident or skilled in cooking, and mostly learned from their family. They expressed interest in learning more about nutrition and cooking.

Identifying and Serving English Learners in Gifted Education: Looking Back and Moving Forward

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-335
Author(s):  
Rachel U. Mun ◽  
Vonna Hemmler ◽  
Susan Dulong Langley ◽  
Sharon Ware ◽  
E. Jean Gubbins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Gifted And Talented ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
English Learners ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effective Practices ◽  
Referral Process ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Looking Back

Although the number of English learners (ELs) in the United States continues to increase, this population remains underserved by gifted and talented (GT) education programs across the nation. This underrepresentation represents a societal and research dilemma for reasons we address in this systematic review of the most effective practices documented to identify and serve ELs for GT programs. We examine 50 theoretical and empirical articles according to four major themes: nomination, screening/assessment, services, and identification models. We discuss identification recommendations, including outreach and professional learning to foster stakeholder recognition of GT potential in all ELs, an equitable referral process based on a multiple-lens approach, and observation of students completing problem-solving tasks. Finally, we address perceived best practices in serving GT ELs, including making accommodations for ELs in GT programs.

¿Comprenderán Mis Amigos y La Familia? Analyzing Spanish Translations of Admission Materials for Latina/o Students Applying to 4-Year Institutions in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary W. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Linguistic Capital ◽  
Undergraduate Admissions ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Grade Reading Level ◽  
Language Content

This study examines first-year undergraduate admissions materials from 325 bachelor-degree granting U.S. institutions, closely analyzing the English-language readability and Spanish-language readability and translation of these materials. Via Yosso’s linguistic capital, the results reveal 4.9% of first-year undergraduate admissions materials had been translated into Spanish, 4% of institutional admissions websites embed translation widgets, and the average readability of English-language content is above the 13th-grade reading level. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Spatial Disparities of COVID-19 Cases and Fatalities in United States Counties

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8259
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Jackson ◽  
Sahar Derakhshan ◽  
Leah Blackwood ◽  
Logan Lee ◽  
Qian Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Significant Case ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Trends ◽  
Mitigation Policies

This paper examines the spatial and temporal trends in county-level COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (January 2020–January 2021). Statistical and geospatial analyses highlight greater impacts in the Great Plains, Southwestern and Southern regions based on cases and fatalities per 100,000 population. Significant case and fatality spatial clusters were most prevalent between November 2020 and January 2021. Distinct urban–rural differences in COVID-19 experiences uncovered higher rural cases and fatalities per 100,000 population and fewer government mitigation actions enacted in rural counties. High levels of social vulnerability and the absence of mitigation policies were significantly associated with higher fatalities, while existing community resilience had more influential spatial explanatory power. Using differences in percentage unemployment changes between 2019 and 2020 as a proxy for pre-emergent recovery revealed urban counties were hit harder in the early months of the pandemic, corresponding with imposed government mitigation policies. This longitudinal, place-based study confirms some early urban–rural patterns initially observed in the pandemic, as well as the disparate COVID-19 experiences among socially vulnerable populations. The results are critical in identifying geographic disparities in COVID-19 exposures and outcomes and providing the evidentiary basis for targeting pandemic recovery.

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