Sustainable Development Principles for Engineering Educator

This paper focuses on the justification and incorporation of sustainable development course into the certified training of engineering educators. Under the ERASMUS+ Project ENTER, a consortium was set up to build the capacity of engineering HEIs by strengthening engineering educators’ preparation by an innovative kind of engineering pedagogy. One of the project tasks is to create a novel multicultural and international approach for formal post-graduate professional and pedagogical education of engineering educators. After a thorough educational market analysis, study of HEIs requirements and educators’ needs, a formal training program was designed. One of the core courses of that program is the course on Sustainable Development. The main aim of this course is to help educators to develop a strategy how to integrate sustainable development principles into engineering education at large.

Origins of Neuropsychology Research and Teaching at the University of Melbourne, Australia

The University of Melbourne hosts a well-known graduate training program in clinical neuropsychology, which was the first formal training program in neuropsychology established in Australia. What is less well known is that neuropsychology research has a much longer history at the University of Melbourne, beginning in the second decade of the 20th century. This chapter briefly traces the early history, which centered on collaborations between staff at the then Melbourne Teachers College and the university department of anatomy. The historical account then leaps forward half a century to describe some of the University staff and key decisions involved in establishing the graduate neuropsychology training program that continues to the current time. Again, many aspects of this more recent history, including the diversity of staff involved, are not well known. Relying on personal recollections, correspondence between staff, and minutes of faculty meetings, this account aims to pay tribute to the many staff involved in the origins of clinical neuropsychology teaching at the University of Melbourne.

The Cognitive Process of Wildland Fire Chainsaw Troubleshooting: Structure, Content, and Training

Wildland firefighting often involves the creation of a fireline (a break in vegetative fuels), an operation commonly hindered by the break-down of gas-powered chainsaws. Some firefighters may not possess the knowledge and skills needed to address break-downs quickly, which threatens productivity and safety. The Applied Cognitive Task Analysis method was used to examine the troubleshooting process of an expert wildland fire sawyer. This included elicitations of key steps in this process, specific pieces of valuable knowledge, and sources of expertise. These results show that much of the expert understanding of complex faults was developed on-the-job rather than during a formal training program. This study highlights areas where training and job aids may be improved to support wildland firefighters in chainsaw troubleshooting and provides preliminary support of ACTA as a tool for training specialists in this domain.

The Clinician Investigator Program at the University of Ottawa

ABSTRACTClinician investigators play a critical role in developing new approaches and improving upon existing approaches to medical care, ultimately resulting in improved health of Canadians. Such individuals are uniquely suited to conduct research that addresses clinical observations as well as translates research findings into novel approaches to disease management and prevention. The need for such individuals has long been recognized and in 1995, the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) developed the first formal training program in the country to help support the development of clinician investigators. Since its inception, over 200 trainees have completed the RCPSC Clinician Investigator Program (CIP), the details of which are communicated in a review by Cathy Hayward et al. [1] in Clinical and Investigative Medicine. Currently, the CIP is active at 15 (almost all) medical schools across the country. Dr. Andrew Badley, a clinician scientist in the Division of Infectious Disease, led the development of the application for the CIP at the University of Ottawa (U of O), which was ultimately approved in 2002. In 2003 Jonathan Angel became the Director of the CIP at U of O and in 2004, the first trainee was accepted into the program. Since then, approximately 40 trainees have enrolled in the CIP, and as of April 2014, 25 trainees have completed the program. While a few of the recent trainees have resumed clinical training following their research activities, the majority of the graduates (n=14) have gone on to assume academic positions at the University of Ottawa and elsewhere.RÉSUMÉ Les cliniciens-chercheurs jouent un rôle clé dans le développement de nouvelles méthodes et dans l’amélioration des méthodes existantes dans les soins médicaux. Le but est, ultimement, d’améliorer la santé des Canadiens et Canadiennes. Ces personnes sont bien placées pour mener des projets de recherche qui portent sur des observations cliniques et qui traduisent les résultats de recherche en approches novatrices pour la prévention et la prise en charge des maladies. Le besoin pour ces professionnels est reconnu depuis longtemps. En 1995, le Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada (CRMCC) a créé le premier programme officiel pour appuyer le perfectionnement des cliniciens-chercheurs. Depuis sa création, plus de 200 personnes ont complété le Programme de cliniciens-chercheurs (PCC) du CRMCC. Une revue du programme a été publiée par Cathy Hayward et coll., dans la revue Clinical and Investigative Medicine. Actuellement, le PCC est offert dans 15 facultés de médecine au Canada, soit presque la totalité d’entre elles. Dr Andrew Badley, un clinicien-scientifique de la Division des maladies infectieuses, a mené l’intégration du PCC à l’Université d’Ottawa, programme qui a été approuvé ultimement en 2002. En 2003, Jonathan Angel est devenu le directeur du PCC de l’Université d’Ottawa et, en 2004, le premier stagiaire du programme était admis. Depuis cette date, environ 40 stagiaires se sont inscrits au PCC et, en avril 2014, 25 d’entre eux avaient terminé le programme. Bien que quelques-uns des plus récents stagiaires aient repris leur formation clinique après avoir achevé leur recherche, la majorité des finissants (n=14) ont accepté des fonctions universitaires à l’Université d’Ottawa ou ailleurs.

Disaster Medicine Online: evaluation of an online, modular, interactive, asynchronous curriculum

ABSTRACT Canada has no formal training program in disaster medicine for health care professionals. The University of Alberta’s Division of Emergency Medicine has developed a means to fill the gap. Disaster Medicine Online (DMO) is an Internet-based, interactive, facilitator-guided distance-learning course on the fundamentals of disaster medicine. The 3-week pilot of DMO was offered in March 2002 and taken by a multidisciplinary group of 22 health care professionals, including resident and attending physicians, paramedics and nurses. Evaluation of the learning materials and educational methodology by experts and learners demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction with the Web interface, site usability, lesson content and format, and the interactive components of the online course. Learners reported spending a mean of 11.2 hours (range = 5–20) over the 3-week course period. Twenty of 22 learners completed the final assignment, and all 20 were successful in passing the course. Overall, 95% of learners said they would pursue another module if offered, and 100% would recommend DMO to their colleagues. DMO is a viable option for health care professionals who would like to pursue continuing medical education in this area without having to take time out of their personal and professional lives to travel to a face-to-face, traditional educational program.