Walking Our Evidence-Based Talk: The Case of Leadership Development in Business Schools

Academics have lamented that practitioners do not always adopt scientific evidence in practice, yet while academics preach evidence-based management (EBM), they do not always practice it. This paper extends prior literature on difficulties to engage in EBM with insights from behavioral integrity (i.e., the study of what makes individuals and collectives walk their talk). We focus on leader development, widely used but often critiqued for lacking evidence. Analyzing 60 interviews with academic directors of leadership centers at top business schools, we find that the selection of programs does not always align with scientific recommendations nor do schools always engage in high-quality program evaluation. Respondents further indicated a wide variety of challenges that help explain the disconnect between business schools claiming A but practicing B. Behavioral Integrity theory would argue these difficulties are rooted in the lack of an individually owned and collectively endorsed identity, an identity of an evidence-based leader developer (EBLD). A closer inspection of our data confirmed that the lack of a clear and salient EBLD identity makes it difficult for academics to walk their evidence-based leader development talk. We discuss how these findings can help facilitate more evidence-based leader development in an academic context.

Transforming Everything?

Broadband, or high-speed internet, has been called the most important infrastructure challenge of the century by the National Broadband Plan. It has the potential to connect remote communities, help coordinate and streamline healthcare services, enable our children with unparalleled access to learning opportunities, promote government transparency and civic participation, and spark and support innovation in the economy and across numerous fields. But businesses and government agencies must be prepared to take advantage of new technologies, and individuals must have the connections and skills to use them. This volume argues that there is a critical need to understand whether or how public and private investments in broadband make a difference, and the best way to do that is to invest in high-quality program evaluation to assess the full range of critical outcomes and impacts. It addresses challenges for evaluating broadband initiatives to promote learning across studies and diverse contexts and offers guidance and methods of evaluation for policymakers as well as researchers. Such evaluation can provide evidence for programs and policy and show whether the transformative promise of broadband is being fulfilled, under what conditions, and for whom it has the greatest impact.

Transplantation and Cellular Therapy

Comprehensive cancer services include provision of care to patients with advanced hematologic malignancies, among whom some patients are candidates for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). HCT is a complex and resource-intense medical procedure and optimal transplant outcomes require a high-functioning, multidisciplinary, and cohesive team. The presence of a successful HCT program reflects the commitment from a cancer center to provide comprehensive cancer care services. The program can also serve as a platform for performing cellular therapy procedures such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies. This chapter reviews the potential pathways to establish an HCT and cellular therapy program along with recommendations on the required infrastructure and personnel. In addition, the chapter provides the foundation for establishing a robust quality program and the resources required for data and research.

Investigating Difficulties of Self-Study in Reading Skills of English Language Students of the High-Quality Training Program at Can Tho University

Research has indicated that self-study is a constructivist learning approach that promotes student engagement within tertiary education. However, teaching at higher education institutions is largely based on traditional lecture mode and thus, students are likely become passive in their learning process. Moreover, little research has been conducted to look into this constructivist approach perceived by students in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. These paper therefore examines the difficulties of self-study in reading comprehension classes in high quality program at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Data collected in this study included questionnaire and interview. The participants in this study were 75 juniors in English languages and culture studies. The findings from this study indicate that student-related factors such as time, learning environment, and subject-specific vocabulary could hinder them from reading learning. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for students and teachers are provided.

Intramural Sport Participation: An Examination of Participant Benefits, Service Quality, Program Satisfaction, and Student Retention

This study investigates whether the benefits of participation in, and perceived service quality of, an intramural sport program contribute to student retention and overall program satisfaction. Health and wellness outcomes, student learning outcomes, service quality, program satisfaction, and student retention in intramural programming were assessed at one Canadian university. The results reveal that participants experience physical, emotional, social and academic outcomes as a result of participation in intramural programming. The results also reveal that benefits of participation (physical health and wellness, emotional wellness, academic learning outcomes, social learning outcomes) and service quality are associated with greater student retention and program satisfaction. The results highlight the unique association between physical health and wellness benefits and student retention. The results also highlight the association between service quality, social and emotional wellness and program satisfaction among participants. Implications for practice and future research are presented.

Planting the Seeds for High-Quality Program Evaluation in Public Health

Evaluation and evidence-informed decision making are central to public health practice. In recent decades, the professional discipline of evaluation has experienced tremendous growth that can be leveraged for use in public health. To meet the growing need for program evaluation training, the National Asthma Control Program presents the e-textbook Planting the Seeds for High-Quality Program Evaluation in Public Health. This free e-textbook is designed to help public health students and professionals understand evaluation approaches and techniques to improve public health programs.

Experience of Uncommon EGFR Mutation in Lung Scheme Quality Program: Discussing Risks and Opportunities for the Improvement of Laboratory Response

Background The quality programs can be considered to be a valuable tool for global and individual growth. Each result, obtained by a single laboratory, contributes to define the standardization of the response. In the case of the uncommon epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, the molecular result is sometimes difficult to interpret in terms of biological significance and therapy choosing. The standardization effort in the diagnostic lung setting also consists of active quality program participation. Materials and Methods The quality control analysis, which is defined as a clinical case, was performed by the extraction of DNA from FFPE sections and by RT-PCR on the EGFR (exons 19, 20, 21), BRAF, and KRAS genes. The laboratory performed a validation sequencing of EGFR exon 20 with the help of the Sanger method. Results The laboratory reported positivity for EGFR exon 20 insertions and negative results for BRAF and KRAS. The quality test finished with the redaction of a report containing the recommendation to consider the efficacy of therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). This specific interpretation has determined poor performance judgment by the quality provider, which explained why most of these mutations are TKI-resistant. Conclusions This experience provides an opportunity to reflect on the critical aspects of this diagnostic setting. The detection of some uncommon EGFR mutations should entail the mutation characterization, especially for the rare exon 20 insertions, of which are not classifiable as “resistant.” Moreover, this experience allows reflecting on the quality program design, mandatory actions for the laboratory, and routine activity in the oncologic multidisciplinary team.