Development Of Interpersonal Skills Research Articles

Personality characteristics of engineers

The objective of the current study was to investigate the personality characteristics of a group of engineers with a variety of years of experience. It was executed to remedy shortcomings of the literature concerning this issue and to produce suggestions for a postgraduate training programme for engineers. A total of103 engineers were tested with the five-factor personality inventory (FFPI), a ‘big five’ personality test of Dutch origin. The engineers were shown to score lower on the factor agreeableness, and higher on the factors extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and autonomy than a national comparison group. The older the engineers, the more conscientious and autonomous they were. In addition, engineers with lower degrees were more conscientious than engineers with higher degrees. A practical implication of the findings for the postgraduate training of engineers is that more attention should be paid to the development of interpersonal skills.

Emotional and interpersonal competencies and leader development

A variety of recent leader development programs have focused on improving leaders' emotional and interpersonal competencies. Decades of leadership research suggest that these “people skills” are crucial for leader effectiveness. This paper reviews the history of these leader development programs as well as research on emotional and interpersonal competencies. Suggestions for grounding leader development programs in sound research on emotional and social competencies, as well as an agenda for future research on the development of leader emotional and interpersonal skills, are provided.

The Learn at Play Program (LAPP): Merging Family, Developmental Research, Early Intervention, and Policy Goals for Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract This article addresses the dynamics of parent–child interactions and their potential influence on the development of social competence among children with Down syndrome (DS). The authors argue that a strong parent–child relationship is fundamental for building the social competence of children with DS and the integration and inclusion of these children into their communities. The Learn at Play Program (LAPP), a model of early intervention that prioritizes the goals of nurturing and shaping the development of interpersonal skills and social competence among children with DS, is proffered. Discussed first is a brief overview of early intervention and the rationale for the need to focus on parent–child interactions and social competence when DS is present. The LAPP early intervention model for children with DS and their families is presented along with data from seven mother–child dyads assessed with the LAPP longitudinal study of parent–child interactions in DS to demonstrate the use of the model. The author's experiences with the LAPP program are also used to illustrate the utility of linking supportive networks (such as nonprofit organizations), academic and provincial government funding partnerships and public policy forums, and publicly funded organizations providing services to children with developmental delays from birth to 3 years old.

The Development of Communication Skills, Interpersonal Skills, and a Professional Identity Within a Community of Practice

Background and Purpose. The development of professional behaviors, including communication and interpersonal skills, has become an issue of great concern in the physical therapist profession. Yet little has been written about how these behaviors are learned, particularly from the perspectives of students and newly graduated physical therapists (PTs). This study sought to understand how PT students and new PT graduates learn professional communication and interpersonal skills. Subjects. The author interviewed 13 PT students and 6 new graduates. Their most recent clinical instructors (CIs) and clinical supervisors (CSs) were interviewed as well. Three hundred forty-four of their classmates submitted critical incidents for analysis. Finally, 5 additional PT students, 2 additional new graduates, and 5 additional clinicians participated in 2 separate summative focus groups. Methods. One-on-one semistructured interviews were used to explore the experiences of the students and new graduates. Similar questions were asked of their most recent CIs and CSs. Critical incidents were used to obtain the perspective of the participants' classmates. Once data were analyzed, 2 summative focus group interviews were completed to confirm, refute, and/or extend the findings. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Triangulation of methods and subjects, use of “devil's advocates,” member checks, and search for negative cases ensured trustworthiness. Results. A model of learning within the community of physical therapist practice has emerged. This model depicts a process of learning that incorporates the following: access to the clinic and all of its challenges; strategies to make personal meaning of the clinical experience; dialogue as a mechanism to negotiate shared meaning; and outcomes, which include identification and assimilation of the values, beliefs, and attitudes of the profession. Discussion and Conclusion. Application of this process of learning will enable students, clinicians, and academicians to design and engage in clinical experiences that optimize learning of communication, interpersonal skills, and the development of a professional identity for both the learner and the clinical community.

Early involvement in a multiprofessional course: an integrated approach to the development of personal and interpersonal skills

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN IN THIS AREA• Many papers describing multiprofessional educational activities relate to activities occurring late into curricula activity.• Meta-analyses demonstrate multiprofessional learning only becoming effective when students are placed in a working environment.• Scant attention is placed upon the early development of students, recognising the need to ‘grow into professionalism’ and sharing the development of those skills so relevant to both unprofessional and multiprofessional life.WHAT THIS WORK ADDS• This paper describes an early-exposure activity, related to multiprofessional learning, in which students share the learning of common requirements for professional development, and evaluate their experience in a positive manner.SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH• The real benefit to multiprofessional life and real-world activity will only be truly evaluated as their individual courses develop and the newly found skills of reflection are allowed to develop.

Continuing education: Balancing team development in four directions

Continual growth over time will lead to the rewarding practice every dentist envisions. A balanced CE plan that includes programming and dedicated funding for the development of interpersonal, clinical and financial skills leads to greater practice success and professional fulfillment. A substantial CE investment for the dentist and staff members has been the choice of many of the most successful dental practices.

Training Paradox in the Hotel Industry

This study was undertaken to assess how hospitality managers perceive the relative effectiveness of alternative employee‐training methods to attain specific training objectives. Data was obtained from 56 hotel managers in member organizations of the Norwegian Hospitality Association (RBL). Respondents rated the effectiveness of 15 training methods for prospective use in six training situations. Training methods included were case study, videotape, lecture, one‐to‐one training, role‐play, games, computer simulations, paper‐and‐pencil‐programmed instruction, audiotapes, self‐assessments, movies/films, multi‐media presentations, computer‐assisted instruction, videoconferences, and sensitivity training. Training objectives were knowledge acquisition, changing attitudes, problem solving, interpersonal‐skill development, participant acceptance, and knowledge retention. Results indicate that one‐to‐one training is perceived the best training method across five of six objectives. For interpersonal skill development role‐play is perceived to be better than one‐to‐one training. The study is partly a replication of previous studies. The respondents were also asked which training methods they currently employ. Except from the most frequently employed method, one‐to‐one training, findings indicate that training methods in use deviate from methods perceived to be effective. This may point out a training paradox. Due to the nature of the research field, the current study is regarded as an explorative study in the Norwegian field of hospitality‐management research.

Mediators and mentors: partners in conflict resolution and peace education

It is the view of these authors that children learn to be peacebuilders in the context of relationships where, if fortunate, they experience guided practice in interpersonal skill development around conflict. Mediator Mentors, the program described in this article, is a school‐university partnership in which Teacher‐Education Candidates, Peace and Conflict Studies interns and classroom teachers had as their overall objective improvement of the learning climate through peer mediation program implementation. Social‐emotional variables like empathy and perspective‐taking were considered measurable outcomes, Analysis of pre‐to‐post change scores revealed that mediators demonstrated significantly higher gains on measures of social‐cognitive development F (3,67) = 19.26, p. < .000 when compared to non‐mediators. Although mediators and non‐mediators (N = 70) scored no differently at pretest, the difference was highly significant at posttest. Students serving their school in the mediator role also reported more positive perceptions of school safety than did non mediators. Being a mediator was also significantly associated with higher language arts scores as measured by standardized testing (r = .60, p < .000). And finally, mediators described their home‐lives as more peaceful (at posttest, though not at pretest), than did non mediators.

Teaching entrepreneurship in senior design courses

A senior design capstone course can provide students with the opportunity to develop communication, interpersonal, and design skills and to learn about the product development process and project management. It is an excellent tool for preparing students for careers in biomedical engineering, especially those interested in employment with medical device companies. The author suggests that educators and design instructors should provide the opportunity for students to develop the skills and acquire the knowledge needed for successful careers in biomedical engineering. This includes development of (i) communication, interpersonal, teamwork, and design skills, (ii) an understanding of the legal, regulatory, and economic aspects of healthcare and the medical industry and (iii) basic business literacy. For additional in-depth entrepreneurial education, a graduate management degree with concentration in entrepreneurship might be the best approach. In order to develop an entrepreneurial perspective in all biomedical engineering students, teachable moments that are themselves in many of these courses should be taken advantage of.

Alternative Instructional Strategies in an IS Curriculum

Introduction A Systems Analysis and Design (SAD) course is a core component of an information systems curriculum. This course typically contains a rather broad set of topics, ranging from planning strategies, project management, system analysis, and system design to related topics such as data modeling and object-oriented development methodologies. The breadth and depth of topics that are frequently covered in SAD make it a difficult course for not only students, but also for instructors. One of our goals as educators is to build a solid and broad foundation of knowledge for our students. The better that we integrate long-accepted development strategies such as structured analysis and design with other business disciplines, the more solid the foundation becomes. By using the extremely adaptable Resources-Events-Agents (REA) model (McCarthy, 1982) to perform this integration with respect to data modeling, an SAD course can provide students with a per spective to extend familiar concepts, such as the duality of the accounting transaction. By explaining new material in terms of concepts already familiar to the student, both understanding and retention increase. Use of the REA model also links students' understanding of processes within an organizational context to widely accepted systems development strategies and database design. Our approach to data modeling combines the concepts presented in traditional entity-relationship modeling (Chen, 1976) and the accounting information system (AIS) perspective of McCarthy's REA model (McCarthy, 1982). The combination of two approaches offers our students alternative perspectives for understanding the same problem. Because our SAD students are in the early stages of integrating a wide range of business concepts, our approach helps them utilize material learned elsewhere in the undergraduate business program with an integrated framework for business processes. This manuscript provides a brief explanation of the systems analysis and design course, followed by a discussion of the REA model and its relationship with structured systems analysis and design methods. The following section presents the steps required to express an REA model as an entity-relationship diagram (ERD). The manuscript concludes with a discussion of the advantages of utilizing REA to assist in the teaching of core database analysis and design concepts, as well as reinforcing concepts typically found in the undergraduate curriculum. Systems Analysis and Design Course The IS 2002 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems (Davis, Feinstein, Gorgone, Longenecker, & Valacich, 2003), a joint effort of the ACM, AIS, and AITP societies, provides a perspective on the overall content of an Information Systems program. One of the components of the guidelines is IS2002.7, Logical Analysis and Design. Scope and topics for the course are presented in the discussion as follows: SCOPE: This course examines the system development and modification process. It emphasizes the factors for effective communication and integration with users and user systems. It encourages interpersonal skill development with clients, users, team members, and others associated with development, operation and maintenance of the system. Structured and object oriented analysis and design, use of modeling tools, adherence to methodological life cycle and project management standards. TOPICS: Life cycle phases: requirements determination, logical design, physical design and implementation planning; interpersonal skills, interviewing, presentation skills; group dynamics; risk and feasibility analysis; group-based approaches: project management, joint application development (JAD), structured walkthroughs; structured versus object oriented methodologies; prototyping; database design; software package evaluation, acquisition, and integration; global and inter-organizational issues and system integration; professional code of ethics. …

Finding the voice of clinical experience: participatory action research with registered nurses in developing a child critical care nursing curriculum

The voice of clinical nurses is important to find and hear in the design of curricula. A participative action research project proposed to add this voice to the design of a new Critical Care Child Nursing programme at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Nurses' experiences of nursing critically ill children and their perceived learning needs in this context, were the central focus of the study. Participants were registered nurses working in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Red Cross Children's Hospital (a specialist hospital), which offers secondary and tertiary care in the Cape Town region and beyond. Data were gathered in five focussed group discussions. Findings indicate that the Critical Care Child Nurse needs not only a specialised knowledge base and acutely developed assessment skills, but also astute interpersonal skills. The nurse's professional identity and integration into the multidisciplinary team need exploring. Together with the development of interpersonal skills, the nurse needs to engage the child and family.

Using the Anger Response Inventory to Evaluate the Effect of Shame and Guilt on Interpersonal Communication Skills

Promoting the development of positive interpersonal communication skills has been identified as one of the National Health Education Standards. The propensity to feel shame has been linked to ineffective conflict resolution and is a key component in the development of certain destructive behavioral patterns. This study sought to determine the differences between shame proneness and guilt proneness on measures of constructive and maladaptive responses to anger among a population of students at two large universities. The results of this study indicated that shame proneness was positively correlated with anger arousal, whereas there was no correlation between guilt proneness and anger arousal. Additionally, shame prone individuals were more likely to select maladaptive, nonconstructive interpersonal responses to anger-eliciting scenarios, whereas guilt prone individuals were more likely to choose adaptive, constructive responses. Although shame proneness has been identified as a factor in several destructive behavioral patterns, the core issue is the effect of shame on a person's ability to effectively communicate in interpersonal relationships. A discussion of shame and related skill development could be incorporated into existing interpersonal communication teaching strategies.

MISSING LINKS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM: FOUR DIMENSIONS FOR CHANGE

Our society is changing at a pace hardly imagined a century, even a few decades ago. The role of education is crucial in helping prepare our young people to both cope with and take responsibility for shaping these changes in ways consistent with the values of a free society. To this end, four overarching themes for change in curriculum are examined: (1) the competencies and attitudes needed to understand and engage in systems thinking; (2) the development of self and inter-personal knowledge and skills; (3) understanding of the connectiveness of knowledge; and (4) the ability to think critically.

News

Drama lessons: consultant nurse in general surgery Brigid Reid is among the winners of The Health Foundation's leading practice through research award scheme. The award will allow Ms Reid, who works at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, to undertake research to evaluate 'the use of dramatised patient experiences to facilitate interpersonal skills development in nurses'. She will also be able to develop her Drama lessons: consultant nurse in general surgery Brigid Reid is among the winners of The Health leadership skills through personal development training. The leading practice through research scheme will be calling for new applications from March 15. For further details, access www.health.org.uk.

Recognition, discrimination and categorization of smiling by 5‐month‐old infants

Abstract Perceiving emotions correctly is foundational to the development of interpersonal skills. Five‐month‐old infants’ abilities to recognize, discriminate and categorize facial expressions of smiling were tested in three coordinated experiments. Infants were habituated to four degrees of smiling modeled by the same or different people; following habituation, infants were presented with a new degree of smile worn by the same and by a new person (Experiment 1), a new degree of smile and a fearful expression worn by the same person (Experiment 2) or a new degree of smile and a fearful expression worn by new people (Experiment 3). Infants showed significant novelty preferences for the new person smiling and for the fearful expressions over the new degree of smiling. These findings indicate that infants at 5 months can categorize the facial expression of smiling in static faces, and yet recognize the same person despite changes in facial expression; this is the youngest age at which these abilities have been demonstrated. The findings are discussed in light of the significance of emotion expression face processing in social interaction and infants’ categorization of faces.

The Gazebo Café Skills Training Program — A Multi-perspective Evaluation

Interwork Limited is an open employment service that aims to maximise participation of individuals in the open labour market. As part of its services Interwork offers a Gazebo Café Program. The aim of this research project was to evaluate the impact of the participation in the Gazebo Café Program (a work preparation and skills training centre), from the perspective of key stakeholders. The rationale for this evaluation was to provide the management team of Interwork with information to inform decision-making for future directions of the Café. The project was undertaken as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy with Honours. In-depth interviews were conducted with three consumers, as well as two focus groups with four employment coordinators, and two referring agency staff members respectively. Analysis of the data revealed seven themes. The results suggested that participation in the Gazebo Café Program was a positive experience. Consumers felt they developed functional skills. Employment coordinators and referring agency staff emphasised the impact of the development of social and interpersonal skills. Opportunities to experience meaningful occupation while performing the work role, all within a natural and supportive community environment were valued impacts. Issues were raised relating to finding the right composition of consumers with and without disabilities, the affordability of the services for external users, and the current unavailability of accredited training. While the findings expand upon existing literature, they describe impacts of participation in a transition program for consumers that appear to not have been described elsewhere. Information is provided to other service providers in regards to the value and impact of such a program. Implications for open employment services are discussed.

Training methods for specific objectives: preferences of managers in private clubs

Describes a study undertaken to assess how private club managers perceive the relative effectiveness of alternative training methods to attain specific types of training objectives. Data were obtained from 123 club managers who were members of the Club Managers Association of America. Participants rated the effectiveness of 16 alternate training methods for potential use in six different types of training situations. Training methods studied included case study, video‐tape, lecture, one‐to‐one, role play, games, computer simulations, paper and pencil, audiotapes, self‐assessment, movies/films, multi‐media, audio, computer and video conferencing and sensitivity training. Training objectives studied were knowledge acquisition, changing attitudes, problem solving, interpersonal skill development, participant acceptance and knowledge retention. Analysis of data indicated that one‐to‐one training is the preferred method to attain all objectives except interpersonal skill development.

Management Education by Distance Mode: Combining Print and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) Technologies to Provide Flexible Individual Study and Collaborative Learning Opportunities

ABSTRACTGiven the need to provide increased opportunities for busy managers to learn, but their reduced availability to attend formal on-campus classes, management students and corporate employers have turned to Distance Education (DE) provision as an alternative to face-to-face (FtF) programmes.Providing flexible delivery, however, does not guarantee that the learning requirements of management students will be met, and needs to be considered in terms of the limits and enhancements to learning that different flexible methodologies support. DE comes in many forms and pedagogics, uses a variety of media, and tends to be designed with the individual learner in mind, whereas the demand for work-relevant management skills requires Management Education (ME) programmes to include collaborative as well as individual modes of learning.Managers require integrative knowledge, emotional intelligence, and complex social and perceptual skills and attitudes that increasingly reflect ethical and values-oriented behaviour. At issue in the shift from FtF to DE is the need to provide opportunities for the ongoing social and interpersonal skills development that would normally occur within the classroom. For DE to add value to management learners it needs to offer flexibility that supports quality work-relevant education.In this paper the author explores whether print-based DE combined with Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) technologies provides a solution. CMC is a networked electronic medium; used in conjunction with print-based DE it can provide opportunities for group interactivity and collaborative learning. Since the skills required for effective CMC participation are also synergistic with the socio-cultural and technical skills required of today's ‘networked manager’, the author suggests that there are further advantages to including CMC as part of the ME curriculum. From a review of the literature, the author concludes that there is much benefit in combining the two methodologies provided that:• appropriate pedagogy is designed into the combined media• the flexibility and educational needs of management learners are met• educators and learners learn how to learn by the new media.

Management Education by Distance Mode: Combining Print and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) Technologies to Provide Flexible Individual Study and Collaborative Learning Opportunities

ABSTRACTGiven the need to provide increased opportunities for busy managers to learn, but their reduced availability to attend formal on-campus classes, management students and corporate employers have turned to Distance Education (DE) provision as an alternative to face-to-face (FtF) programmes.Providing flexible delivery, however, does not guarantee that the learning requirements of management students will be met, and needs to be considered in terms of the limits and enhancements to learning that different flexible methodologies support. DE comes in many forms and pedagogics, uses a variety of media, and tends to be designed with the individual learner in mind, whereas the demand for work-relevant management skills requires Management Education (ME) programmes to include collaborative as well as individual modes of learning.Managers require integrative knowledge, emotional intelligence, and complex social and perceptual skills and attitudes that increasingly reflect ethical and values-oriented behaviour. At issue in the shift from FtF to DE is the need to provide opportunities for the ongoing social and interpersonal skills development that would normally occur within the classroom. For DE to add value to management learners it needs to offer flexibility that supports quality work-relevant education.In this paper the author explores whether print-based DE combined with Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) technologies provides a solution. CMC is a networked electronic medium; used in conjunction with print-based DE it can provide opportunities for group interactivity and collaborative learning. Since the skills required for effective CMC participation are also synergistic with the socio-cultural and technical skills required of today's ‘networked manager’, the author suggests that there are further advantages to including CMC as part of the ME curriculum. From a review of the literature, the author concludes that there is much benefit in combining the two methodologies provided that:• appropriate pedagogy is designed into the combined media• the flexibility and educational needs of management learners are met• educators and learners learn how to learn by the new media.

Mutual relating: developing interpersonal relationships in the community.

This paper, which is part of a larger study that examined how community mental health nurses promoted wellness with young adult who were experiencing an early episode of psychotic illness, aims to explicate how nurses develop interpersonal relationships with these consumers. Research into the development of interpersonal skills is important because they are an essential foundation to the promotion of wellness in psychotic illness. The study used Strauss and Corbin's approach to grounded theory methodology. Concurrent data collection and analysis was undertaken incorporating interviews and observations. The study took place in the community, in rural and regional New South Wales, Australia, and involved consumers, significant others, and community mental health nurses. The findings show that several strategies are associated with mutual relating. Attempting to understand necessitates nurses trying to see it from insiders' points of view, while acknowledging that they can never completely understand their illness experience. Being friendly indicates that the qualities of a friendly relationship should be implicit in a professional friendship. Tuning in involves taking account of and adjusting to consumers' ways of dressing, communicating, and the types of approaches that consumers prefer. Revealing oneself is a process that helps put both consumers and nurses at ease, and helps dispel the perception consumers take part in a one-sided relationship. Being there for them, is a particular type of obligation that entails nurses being accountable for the care they provide, being a spokesperson for consumers, if required, and avoiding collusion with others. Related to avoiding collusion, is the issue of maintaining confidentiality, particularly within the context of interacting with significant others. The results of the study have implications for the way nurses develop and maintain interpersonal relationships with consumers, and this is affected by nurses' personal and professional attributes.