Reliability and Validity of an Instrument to Evaluate Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Measures for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia: A Pilot Study

Preventing the spread of COVID-19 is crucial in flattening the COVID-19 infection curve. General population control measures should emphasise on understanding the knowledge about the disease and importance of following regulations related to restriction on movement. The aim of this pilot study was to develop a valid, reliable and practical instrument on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Measures for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia. The instrument was developed based on a Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) conceptual framework. The instrument in the form of a questionnaire was distributed online to a sample of 40 adults. The initial questionnaires contained 16, 17 and 14 questions on knowledge, attitude and practices domains, respectively. The content validity was assessed by the experts. The reliability of the instrument was measured using internal consistency reliability, which was measured using alpha coefficient reliability of Cronbach Alpha. The analysis showed that the total Cronbach Alpha value for knowledge, attitude and practice were 0.93, 0.89 and 0.87 respectively. After one item dropped from the attitude domain, the findings of this pilot study show that the instrument is valid and reliable to be used in a further larger study. This study demonstrated that the three scales of knowledge, attitude and practice were reliable and valid for assessing the prevention of spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia, although further analysis are needed to improve especially on the knowledge scale due to the low level of difficulty.

Assuring the Quality of the Course Learning Outcomes Assessment Process

Learning Outcomes Assessment (LOA) provide educators with a practical instrument to review and enhance the alignment between the planned, delivered and experienced curriculum. Effective LOA processes help educators decide on the proper actions to take and the strategies to implement in order to ensure the continuous improvement of the student learning experience, and the attainment of the intended learning outcomes. Nonetheless, the adoption of LOA in higher education is still lagging and the assessment loop is rarely closed. This is mainly due to the indigent implementation of the assessment processes, and the vague definition of the responsibilities and quality assurance measures. This paper introduces a committee infrastructure to foster accountability and responsibility and assure the quality of the implemented assessment processes. The infrastructure has been established syccessfully over the last few years, and a noticeable improve in the execution of the assessment process has been detected.

Testing ZELPH ['sɛlf] – a self-assessment instrument to surface intended and unintended outcomes of work-integrating pedagogies

PurposeThis paper's twofold purpose is, first, to present ZELPH ['sɛlf], a self-assessment instrument that enables those developing the pedagogy of work-integrating study programmes in higher education (HE) systematically to surface the intended and unintended outcomes of their programme's approach to integrating professional practice into an academic course. Secondly, the paper reports on a small pilot study with programme staff from five different HE institutions in various countries who tested ZELPH.Design/methodology/approachZELPH operationalises aspects of key theories on work-integrating learning pedagogy, and thereby enables a simplified depiction of the reality of combining classroom-based and worksite-based learning. Programme staff from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, South Africa and Taiwan applied the instrument to their respective work-integrating study programmes and evaluated its perceived value and feasibility.FindingsThe findings suggest that ZELPH offers value as a practical instrument, in particular to those less familiar with developing work-integrating learning pedagogy as well as to those keen to compare programmes across national, cultural and institutional contexts.Originality/valueZELPH contributes to addressing the lack of practically applicable instruments to support the design and international benchmarking of work-integrating learning pedagogy in HE.

Reforming the rape offence in Norwegian criminal law

This article addresses the content, context and development of the Norwegian rape offence to frame and explain current reform discussions. The authors describe how the offence has gradually expanded over time by partial reforms, the last in 2000, leading up to the contemporary stand of law. The article shows that the role and priorities of the feminist movement has had consequences for how the rape offence has developed. There are currently debates on whether to further revise the rape offence. While debaters share the view that rape is a serious offence and that more should be done to combat it, they are divided in how they see the potential and role of law; some debaters emphasise law as a practical instrument, others instead focus more on its symbolic functions. The authors argue that both perspectives are legitimate and needed, and see this acknowledgment as key for moving debates forward.

Regulating Digital Platforms

Digital platforms and services are increasingly prevalent. They have challenged the traditional assumptions of technological innovations and business competition in the market. We, by and large, communicate on digital platforms and services when we are online. Even though the benefit of such phenomena might be obvious, even seem ideal at times, the perils are also worryingly apparent. There is relatively little attention has been given on the regulatory and policy aspect of digital platforms and services, let alone in the context of emerging countries. This article discusses the governance of platforms and policies that might be relevant for developing context such as Indonesia. This chapter offers an analytical framework to analyze policy options regarding digital platforms and services. It is expected that the framework could become a practical instrument to help policymakers in identifying their options and the impact thereof concerning digital platforms and services.

Reliability and Validity of a Further Tested Appreciative Management Scale

Background and PurposeManagers need evidence-based methods to evaluate their management skills. To further test the appreciative management scale (AMS 1.0) to create a practical instrument to be used in evaluating appreciative management.MethodsFor further testing, a new survey was conducted among social and healthcare managers (n = 734) in Finland. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the scale validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficients the internal consistency.ResultsThe validated AMS 2.0 scale includes 24 items. The values measuring validity and reliability were good, with an Rool Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of 0.072, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values between 0.532 and 0.634, and Composite Reliability (CR) values ranging between 0.850 and 0.914. The Cronbach's alpha of the whole scale was 0.944.ConclusionsAMS 2.0 is a reliable and valid means to measure appreciative management as proved by confirmatory factor analysis.

The Referendum in Britain

The tumultuous Brexit experience demonstrated the potentially immense significance of the referendum to British politics. This episode demonstrated the importance of extensive assessment of this democratic device. One means of gaining greater understanding of the referendum is by considering it in the context of British history, both as an idea and as a practical instrument. This work fills a gap in the existing literature in considering the origins and implementation of referendums in Britain. It considers a number of themes that have arisen in the context of the most recent British referendum (on European Union membership in 2016): the place of referendums within British democracy; their particular application at given times; the reasons they are held; to whom they might and might not appeal and why; their consequences; and their tendency to generate controversy. It addresses the following overarching question: when and why did such votes take place in the UK? It also asks: (from the perspective of Britain) how did the idea of using the referendum develop; what was the significance of the international context for the advocacy and application of this device; how was it perceived; to what extent and how did it come to be incorporated into the political system; and what has been the significance of the referendum; especially from the perspective of the British constitution?

SUSRET HEIDEGGERA I WITTGENSTEINA / THE ENCOUNTER OF HEIDEGGER AND WITTGENSTEIN

This paper focuses on language as a medium for a critique of the traditional metaphysical concepts, expressed in the philosophies of two contemporary philosophers, Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein, where the language is treated as a framework for understanding the world in a multitude of its, for philosophy significant determinants. Although Heidegger, in his philosophy, was primarily concerned about the question of the being, he seeks that sense in thought, which took him away to language, as the only place where the given questions can be examined. Considering that the truth of the being cannot be expressed in everyday, linguistically and instrumentally conceived language, Heidegger will in his thought reach the language of poetry, as place were the understanding of the truth of being and its related concepts is possible. Wittgenstein, on the other hand, will focus in philosophical thought on the problems of language, which, in his philosophy, will culminate in the notion of a language game. With this term, Wittgenstein, first of all had in mind the interconnectedness of the use of language and the life practice. Still, he did not think of a language as an everyday – practical instrument of communication, but rather, as a place where linguistic definitions of language, everyday life practices and real life events meet. In doing so, these thinkers, through their interpretations of linguistic issues, have reached a point in which is possible to understand their encounter.

32.K. Skills building seminar: Using participatory health research to optimise psycho-oncological patient information material

Patient information material (PIM) is omnipresent in healthcare. It is used to convey information or to familiarize potential end-users to offers of support. PIM recaps or elaborates on relevant information and offers recommendation for action. However, the quality of available PIM varies. When the formal and content-related quality of PIM is suboptimal, it not only fails to be effective but can also lead to uncertainty, misunderstandings, resistance or ignorance (e.g. of a support offer). Highly complex information requires much attention on the quality of the PIM, especially with respect to end-users (e.g. vulnerable groups). Excellent communication through the use of PIM is thus essential within complex interventions. Checklists, such as 'Discern' or 'PEMAT', as well as criteria catalogues or evidence-based patient information standards, may assist in the development, quality assessment and optimization of PIM. The inclusion of the end-users is recommended but for various reasons does not often take place. The innovative “integrated, cross-sectional Psycho-Oncology” (isPO) programme, offers needs-driven, professional support to all adult, newly diagnosed cancer patients early in their sickness trajectory. IsPO was developed in 2018. It was implemented and a formative evaluated in 2019. When developing this programme, different PIM were created top-down by the programme designers. During implementation, it became evident that these PIM materials required further improvement. A testing and optimization process started using the participatory health research (PHR) approach and was completed in a five-month period. A PIM-optimisation team was founded, which included the project partners involved in the network support, self-help organisations and the external evaluation institute. A practical instrument (PIM-checklist) for optimising the isPO-PIM was designed, piloted and used for testing by end-users, isPO service providers, and experts. Based on the recommendations in the checklist, the material was revised accordingly. Additionally, the PIM was completed with the design of two new components. Four optimisation rounds were conducted. The optimized PIM was tested on its comprehensibility (for end-users) and its usability (for service providers). During the presentations, the audience is invited to comment on critical questions that may appear during optimization (e.g. timing). Afterwards, there will be a skill building part with a focus on collaborative learning (45 minutes). First, we will focus on the requirements for a practical instrument that is handy for end-users, service providers and experts (mind mapping exercise). Finally, participants will be able to explore the following topics “World Café” discussion: (1) how to plan, conduct and communicate the development of optimization of PIM in a CI program, (2) what needs to be considered for the optimization (e.g. team composition, resources), and (3) how to continuously achieve end-userś participation. Key messages Excellent PIM are essential for a complex interventiońs success in practice and must include information and foster actionability. the iterative PIM design processes benefits from high user participation.