Education Capacity Building Research Articles

ENOTOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN POLAND

This paper presents a research conducted in three Polish regions, Dolny Slask, Malopolska, and Pod Karpacie, within the EU funded project “Innovation and Capacity Building in Higher Education for Cultural Management, Hospitality and Sustainable Tourism in European Cultural Routes” that aims to provide profitable solutions for sustainable tourism problems and focuses on how developing enotourism in places that have to improve their tourism capacity building. Based on literature analysis and the study of key cases, this article presents the reasons why enotourism is an important tourism opportunity in Poland. Our research was grounded on a cost and profit analysis of the enoutourism business and we considered a few of relevant cases of wine tourism experiences. Indeed, the principal aim of our research was to find innovative successfully ideas for this form of tourism. From our research, emerged that the most important factors for enhancing enotourism are incentivising laws, an effective cooperation between vineyard owners and tourist operators (e.g. hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, etc.) as well as the integration of enotourim with other local attractions.

Impact of a remotely delivered, writing for publication program on publication outcomes of novice researchers.

Increased publication of clinician-led health research is important for improving patient care and health outcomes. The aim of this retrospective cohort study conducted in rural Australia was to determine the impact of a writing for publication (WFP) program delivered by teleconference on the publication rates and skill acquisition of novice researchers who have graduated from the New South Wales (NSW) Health Education and Training Institute Rural Research Capacity Building Program (RRCBP). Between 2012 and 2015, eight WFP 'bootcamp' programs were offered by the New South Wales Health Education and Training Institute to 112 RRCBP graduates, resulting in 50 participants completing at least one bootcamp. Participants completed a once-weekly WFP group teleconference for six consecutive weeks, and were expected to complete homework activities between sessions and participate in two follow-up teleconferences within 3 months of program conclusion. The primary outcome measure was manuscript publication resulting from participation in bootcamp, with secondary measures being changes in skills, knowledge and confidence in WFP, publication rate and cost per publication. Twenty-one participants (42%) published their bootcamp paper or a related paper that directly resulted from bootcamp WFP skills. Five other participants submitted their bootcamp manuscript for publication, but had not yet had it accepted for publication. The overall publication rate of RRCBP graduates who completed bootcamp was 0.80 compared to 0.23 who did not complete bootcamp. On a 1 to 5 scale, mean scores increased for writing (knowledge, experience, confidence) from 2.0 to 3.5 (p<0.01) and for publishing from 1.1 to 3.4 (p<0.01). The estimated cost incurred by the RRCBP to deliver the program was $230 per publication. WFP workshops delivered by teleconference support rural clinician researchers to improve their skills in writing and publishing. A remotely conducted WFP program was effective in increasing publication rates among novice researchers who had conducted a clinically based research project. This shows that novice researchers respond to similar intervention features as experienced researchers do when engaging with WFP, and that WFP outcomes can be increased substantially with modest investment of funding and resources by the host organisation.

The management and governance of racial integration in public secondary schools in Gauteng

The main purpose of this paper was to establish the effectiveness of school management and governance structures in managing racial integration in public secondary schools. A qualitative study was conducted utilising Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Lewin’s Change Management Theory. A sample of grade 10 learners and educators, which included members of the School Management Team (SMT), School Governing Body (SGB), which represented the four previous education departments, was purposefully selected. Semi-structured, individual interviews and focus group discussions, including a questionnaire with open-ended questions, were used to gather data. The findings, obtained through content analysis, indicate that SMTs and SGBs experience difficulty in managing and governing racial integration in public schools due to the following: policy and practice issues, poor interrelationships, need for capacity building of educators, and on-going racial conflict. Based on the findings, recommendations are made on how SMTs and SGBs could effectively manage racial integration in public secondary schools. Keywords: governance, management, racial integration; Critical Race Theory, Lewin’s Change Management Theory

Education and anti-poverty: Policy theory and strategy of poverty alleviation through education in China

Countries around the world have adopted different policies to address the global issue of poverty, though their poverty line varies. China has achieved remarkable results in poverty alleviation through education. Aware that poverty eradication must rely on intellectual support, the country has shifted its anti-poverty theory and policy actions from a passive, one-off poverty reduction mode based on ‘blood transfusion’ to an active and sustainable mode aimed at improving the ‘blood making’ capacity of the poor population, namely the Chinese mode. Education is the fundamental way of such a mode. China has always focused on nine-year compulsory education in implementing anti-poverty policies; conducted classified and tiered efforts in education against poverty and made policies more targeted; adopted diverse policy instruments and shifted the focus from subsidy to educational capacity building; developed quantified poverty alleviation indexes to set standards for policy evaluation; and included education against poverty into the national anti-poverty strategic plan. China will further advance poverty alleviation through education, and form a unique and effective anti-poverty mode, so as to contribute to the building of a community of shared future for all humankind.

The clinical educator and complexity: a review.

Complexity science perspectives have helped in examining fundamental assumptions about learning and teaching in the health professions. The implications of complexity thinking for how we understand the role and development of the clinical educator is less well articulated. This review article outlines: the key principles of complexity science; a conceptual model that situates the clinical educator in a complex system; and the implications for the individual, organisation and the system. Our conceptual model situates the clinical educator at the centre of a complex and dynamic system spanning four domains and multiple levels. The four domains are: personal (encompassing personal/professional needs and expectations); health services (health agencies and their consumers); educational (educational institutions and their health students); and societal (local community/region and government). The system also comprises: micro or individual, meso or organisational, and macro or socio-political levels. Our model highlights that clinical educators are situated within a complex system comprising different agents and connections. It emphasises that individuals, teams and organisations need to recognise and be responsive to the unpredictability, interconnectedness and evolving nature of this system. Importantly, our article also calls for an epistemological shift from faculty development to capacity building in health professions education, aimed at developing individual, team, organisational and system capabilities to work with(in) complexity. Clinical educators are situated within a complex system comprising different agents and connections.

Designing capacity building of educators in open educational resources integration leads to transformational change

While there is growing recognition and acceptance of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) in teaching and learning, designing for their integration remains very challenging for educators. Adopting OER and OEP in their profession requires significant changes in practitioners’ pedagogical thinking and practices, which can be supported by the design of appropriate professional development experiences. At the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), significant successes in addressing this challenge have been achieved with the design and development of a rigorous approach and a robust model to support adoption of OER and OEP by practitioners using Scenario-based Learning (SBL). In this paper we explore the efficacy of a scenario-based approach to learning in the integration of OER by practitioners, reflecting on how the SBL approach was tested and refined over three continuing professional development (CPD) interventions conducted at the OUSL over 2013–2017. Based on the findings, we discuss what design strategies of the three CPD interventions best supported the adoption of OER and OEP by practitioners, how effective have been the theoretical constructs and the strategies adopted in the design of CPD interventions, the impacts of the CPD interventions and implications of these experiences for the future.

Approach to effective management of sustainable development in Nigeria

Over the years Millennium Development Goals has been a global issue. The United Nations (UN) recentlychanged the Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals and this singular act declares the currentexigency of the growing phenomena of sustainable development at the Global and National Strata. Nigeria is a prominentsignatory to the UN and its agenda/progammes and has to key in well into this new order by providing sustainabledevelopment to its citizens. However, achieving sustainable development which is a continuous process, particularlyin Nigeria requires proper planning and coordination and therefore demands effective management of sustainabledevelopment in Nigeria. Using the methodology of library research and descriptive writing, it operationalizes the conceptof development, sustainable development and management; highlights issues of poor economy/poverty; bad governance,corruption, insurgency and terrorism, etc. as obstacles to sustainable development in the country. It also identifies somekey area of sustainable development for Nigeria such as agriculture, education, energy, atmosphere and climate change(environment) biotechnology and capacity building etc. The paper recommends among other, the conscious and effectiveplanning organizing, coordinating and controlling (management) of the sustainable development process, particularly byensuring that the nations scarce resources like minerals and the environment are under controlled utilization/preservationto the utmost benefit of the present and future Nigeria.

The Call and the Challenge of Pediatric Resuscitation and Simulation Research in Low-Resource Settings.

The greatest burden of younger than 5 years mortality is in low- and middle-income nations where education resources are often few. The World Health Organization recommends scale-up of simulation in these settings, but it has been poorly studied. Although there has been an increase of contextualized resuscitation simulation programs designed for these settings, sustaining clinical outcomes and provider skill retention have remained research gaps. Our team designed a study to evaluate skill retention after an initial Helping Babies Breathe training at a rural Kenya referral hospital between randomized learner groups receiving supervised mock codes with debriefing versus just-in-time training with a peer. Although we saw sustained skills retention and some clinical improvements, we were unable to answer our research question because of numerous challenges, mainly that hospital leadership preferred the implementation of 1 arm of the study over another because of lack of protected education time and resources, eliminating differences between randomized study groups. Further challenges included lack of familiarity with simulation and debriefing and lack of protected educational resources and time, cultural differences in giving feedback, undeveloped systems for documentation, and high acuity and clinical volume. Our experience teaches many important lessons in how best to implement and study simulation in low-resource settings. Best practices include long-term partnerships, flexibility, community and staff engagement, mixed methodologies including community-based participatory methods, and careful attention to educational and research capacity building.

Process-oriented evaluation of an international faculty development program for Asian developing countries: a qualitative study

BackgroundNon-English-speaking developing countries in Southeast Asia have been provided only limited opportunities for faculty development in the education of health professions. Although there exist a few programs that have been shown to be effective, they are frequently presented with few explanations on how and why the programs work due to their outcome-oriented nature. This study explores the process of the Lee Jong-Wook Fellowship for Health Professional Education, an international faculty development program designed for capacity building of educators of health professions in Southeast Asian developing countries.MethodsFellows were from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Qualitative data were collected from two types of semi-structured interviews – group and individual. Thematic analysis was conducted to explore the factors related to the effectiveness of the program, framed by four components of faculty development, which included context, facilitators, program, and participants.ResultsFrom the thematic analysis, the authors identified a total of 12 themes in the four components of faculty development. In the context domain, the resource-poor setting, a culture that puts emphasis on hierarchy and seniority, and educational environment depending on individual commitment rather than broad consensus emerged as key factors. In the facilitators domain, their teaching methods and materials, mutual understanding between teacher and learner, and collaboration between facilitators mainly influenced the learning during the fellowship. In the program domain, the key advantages of the fellowship program were its applicability to the workplace of the fellows and enough allowed time for practice and reflection. Finally, in the participants domain, Fellows valued their heterogeneity of composition and recognized cognitive as well as non-cognitive attributes of the participants as essential.ConclusionsThis process-oriented evaluation reveals the diverse factors that contributed to achieving the intended outcomes of the fellowship. Although much evidence from best practices in faculty development are still valid, the findings suggest that the selection strategies, learning environment, and English communication should be given more consideration when organizing a program targeting these people and cultures. A comprehensive understanding of the process would contribute to developing tailored strategies for educators of health professions in developing countries in similar settings.

164 Innovative, Scalable Educational Model to Improve Out-of-Hospital Care in India

The not-for-profit public-private-partnership GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (GVK EMRI) is the world’s highest-volume ambulance service providing out-of-hospital emergency services across 15 states and 2 union territories in India. Stanford Emergency Medicine International (SEMI) has collaborated with GVK EMRI since 2007 in EMT education, research, and operational capacity building. Through quality assurance research, GVK EMRI and SEMI have identified gaps in the care provided by GVK EMRI EMTs. However, providing in-service training to address these gaps presents a number of challenges: (1) scale with 19,000 EMTs practicing across a geographically expansive country (2) quality and standardization with varying skills of trainers and (3) communication with over 1000 languages spoken nationwide. To address these challenges, we created a series of innovative, mixed-method continuing educational courses (CECs) designed to be delivered over two-days by local Indian trainers after directly observed teaching and feedback by SEMI faculty (Table 1). The third installment of CECs focused on trauma. After a needs assessment and a two-site curriculum pilot, ten video-based lectures were created using animation software (www.powtoons.com). Icons replaced traditional word-based presentations, minimizing translation. To encourage participatory learning, EMTs completed workbooks during videos, which were also followed by standardized case discussions, skill workshops, and low-cost simulations. Students completed pre- and post-multiple choice exams, analyzed by t-test. Content validity was assured by board-certified emergency physicians, who developed and piloted questions. SEMI trained 27 educators from 11 states. Initial trauma CECs taught by Indian trainers to 118 EMTs demonstrated significant improvements (mean knowledge gain: 8 questions, 27% improvement (p<0.0001, Table 2). EMTs and trainers alike preferred this model to traditional teaching methods. Initial results from this training-of-trainers model are promising; however, more data is needed. A formal, rigorous efficacy evaluation is under development with an expected rollout in January 2018.Table 1Stanford Continuing Education Courses for GVK EMRI EMTs1. General Approach to Medical PatientMay 20142. Obstetric and Neonatal CareMay 20153. TraumaJune 20164. PediatricsDec 20165. Communication and LeadershipApril 2017 Open table in a new tab Table 2Trauma Multiple Choice Questions June 2016Location (# of students)Pre-TestPost-TestKnowledge GainMean%StdDev %Mean%StdDev %Mean%Two-tailed P valueHyderabad (57)165314248110827p<0.0001Ahmedabad (61)1755925828827p<0.0001All (118)16541124819827p<0.0001Maximum score for pre and post-test = 30 questions Open table in a new tab

Health Volunteers Overseas: 30 Years of Leveraging International Partnerships to Strengthen Health Worker Capacity

Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) is a United States based non-profit that collaborates with over eighty universities and health institutions around the world to send volunteer health professionals to provide continuing education, train the trainer courses, professional support, and consultation on academic programs and curricula development. By establishing mutually beneficial partnerships, HVO is able to deliver effective models of collaborative education that contribute sustainable solutions to strengthen health workforce capacity in resource-scarce countries – ultimately improving health outcomes and the quality of life for millions throughout the world. This paper provides an overview of HVO, outlines the role of international partnerships within HVO’s structure, describes the processes used to select partners, and analyzes lessons learned around the key indicators of how to establish and maintain successful international partnerships in education and health worker capacity building.

Protected areas as outdoor classrooms and global laboratories: Intellectual ecosystem services flowing to-and-from a National Park

Education opportunities, capacity building and scientific knowledge are poorly studied intellectual ecosystem services (IES), especially as generated by protected areas (PAs). Based on the cascade model of ecosystem services, we use simple indicators to quantify IES generated in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. IES are potentially valuable in guiding and capacitating conservation management and policy. We consider measures and conditions to enhance this important role. Benefits from IES are valued by external researchers and educators, as is evident from their willingness to engage and collaborate in the production and dispersal of benefits. Collaboration was enhanced by measures (subsidized accommodation for visiting scientists, sites for the development of education facilities, administrative support, a culture of shared learning) designed to attract and maintain partnerships between KNP staff and external researchers and educators. These measures enabled the dispersal of IES benefits across scales, and helped to ensure that benefits fed back to park management. Collaborative planning to mainstream ecosystems services is needed to improve alignment between IES production and PA management needs. There is also evidence of wide disparities between individual PAs in the generation of IES, resulting from features that are attractive to researchers. Such disparities can be mitigated by measures to attract research collaboration.

Patients\u2019 experience of using primary care services in the context of Indonesian universal health coverage reforms

BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation on universal coverage has been implemented in Indonesia as Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN). It was designed to provide people with equitable and high-quality health care by strengthening primary care as the gate-keeper to hospitals. However, during its first year of implementation, recruitment of JKN members was slow, and the referral rates from primary to secondary care remained high. Little is known about how the public views the introduction of JKN or the factors that influence their decision to enroll in JKN.AimThis research aimed to explore patients’ views on the implementation of JKN and factors that influence a person’s decision to enroll in the JKN scheme.MethodsThis study was informed by interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology to understand patients’ views. The interview participants were purposively recruited using maximum variation criteria. The data were gathered using in-depth interviews and was conducted in Yogyakarta from October to December 2014. The interviews were transcribed, translated and analyzed using IPA analysis.ResultTwenty three participants were interviewed from eight primary care clinics. Three superordinate themes: access, trust, and separation anxiety were identified which impacted on the uptake of JKN. Participants acknowledged that whilst primary care clinics were conveniently located, access was often complicated by long waiting times and short opening hours. Participants also expressed lower levels of trust with primary care doctors compared to hospital and specialist care. They also reported a sense of anxiety that the current JKN regulation might limit their ability to access the hospital service guaranteed in the past.DiscussionThis study identified patients’ views that could challenge the implementation of the gate-keeper role of primary care in Indonesia. While the patients valued the availability of medical care close to home, their lack of trust in primary care doctors and fear that they might lost the hospital care in the future appears to have impacted on the uptake of JKN. Unless targeted efforts are made to address these views through sustained public education and further capacity building in primary care, it is unlikely that the full potential of the JKN scheme in primary care will be realized.

ONE MERCK FOR MALARIA PROGRAM: AN INTEGRATED R&D APPROACH TO FIGHT AGAINST MALARIA

BackgroundIntegrated health care approaches are the most effective ways to tackle infectious diseases such as malaria. Within its Global Health activities focusing on health issues of vulnerable populations within developing...

Developing medical education capacity in Russia: twenty years of experience

BackgroundThe partnership between Yale University (USA) and Kazan State Medical University (KSMU, Russia) was established in 1996 and transitioned to Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN)/University of Vermont Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine (USA) in 2012 with the goal of modernizing medical education at KSMU primarily through introduction of the American medical education structure, role modeling, and educational capacity building. It was centered on the formation of a select group of Russian junior faculty members familiar with American medical education who would then initiate a gradual change in medical education at KSMU. Here we describe the 20 year partnership, rooted in local capacity building, through which a sustainable, mutually rewarding international collaboration was established. In addition, we evaluate the program’s outcomes and impact on medical education at Kazan State Medical University, and assess its influence on Russian program participants.MethodsSenior residents and faculty were sent to KSMU to conduct teaching sessions with local faculty and trainees. Their responsibilities included familiarizing Russian colleagues with specific topics in clinical medicine, importing knowledge about the basics of teaching, clinical epidemiology and evidence based medicine, and creating, in consistency with the American model, a “Clinical Teaching Team Structure” that integrates patient care with clinical education. Furthermore, 44 of selected KSMU members, including 13 junior faculty (29.5%), 14 clinical PhD students (31.8%), 12 interns/residents (27.3%), and five medical students (11.4%), were trained at Yale/WCHN or one of their major affiliated community hospitals for a period of 1 to 12 months for a total of 844 participant-weeks of training.ResultsThirty (68.2%) individuals who were trained in the U.S. are currently working in Kazan primarily as faculty at KSMU. Among them, three trainees (10%) have become heads of their department, eight (26.7%) hold senior faculty positions, and two (6.7%) have clinical and educational administrative leadership positions. Two major clinical departments have adopted the “Clinical Teaching Team Structure.” As a result of the collaboration, three teaching courses – Evidence-Based Medicine, Tropical Medicine, and HIV/AIDS Medicine – have been designed and incorporated into the curriculum.ConclusionThis partnership has been instrumental in introducing the American medical education model and expanding the medical knowledge of faculty, residents, and students of KSMU on infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, tropical medicine, renal diseases, and global health topics. Capacity building through the Yale/WCHN-KSMU exchange program has greatly contributed to the quality of medical education at Kazan State Medical University.

The management and governance of racial integration in public secondary schools in Gauteng

The main purpose of this paper was to establish the effectiveness of school management and governance structures in managing racial integration in public secondary schools. A qualitative study was conducted utilising Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Lewin’s Change Management Theory. A sample of grade 10 learners and educators, which included members of the School Management Team (SMT), School Governing Body (SGB), which represented the four previous education departments, was purposefully selected. Semi-structured, individual interviews and focus group discussions, including a questionnaire with open-ended questions, were used to gather data. The findings, obtained through content analysis, indicate that SMTs and SGBs experience difficulty in managing and governing racial integration in public schools due to the following: policy and practice issues, poor interrelationships, need for capacity building of educators, and on-going racial conflict. Based on the findings, recommendations are made on how SMTs and SGBs could effectively manage racial integration in public secondary schools. Keywords: governance, management, racial integration; Critical Race Theory, Lewin’s Change Management Theory

Capacity building for school development: current problems and future challenges

ABSTRACTThis article offers a theoretical discussion on the current problems and future challenges of school capacity building in early childhood education (ECE), aiming to highlight some key areas for future research. In recent years, there has been a notable policy shift from monitoring quality through inspection to improving quality through school capacity building in early childhood institutions in the global discourse for quality. Reflecting this policy shift and its implications on school development, ECE in Hong Kong is used as an illustrative example to deliberate the issues of school capacity building in Chinese educational contexts. We identify three challenging contexts: (1) low professional qualification and minimal teacher education resulting in a deficit approach to processional development, (2) absence of school-based professional learning culture for empowering teachers as internal agents of change, and (3) hierarchical culture within a school and between university and school hindering the process of school capacity building. Corresponding to these challenges, we aim to propose two suggestions, including (1) empowering teachers in ECE through school-based professional learning community and (2) promoting authentic external support in the process of university–school collaboration. Finally, we further propose specific directions for future research on school capacity building in ECE in Hong Kong. In doing so, it will contribute to knowledge-based development in school capacity building in Chinese educational contexts.

The Refugee Health Nurse Liaison: a nurse led initiative to improve healthcare for asylum seekers and refugees

Asylum seekers and refugees experience a range of barriers to health service access and competent use. The Refugee Health Nurse Liaison initiative was piloted at a hospital in a high-settlement region of Victoria, Australia. This initiative aimed to build capacity within the health sector to more effectively respond to the needs of asylum seekers and refugees. A mixed-methods evaluation was undertaken to: describe issues encountered by asylum seekers and refugees within the hospital setting; capture the nature of the Refugee Health Nurse Liaison position; and document key outputs. Throughout the pilot period, 946 patients were referred to the role, of which 99% received an assessment of physical, mental, and social health. Refugee Health Nurse Liaisons effectively provided clinical support, advocacy, education, referrals, and both formal and informal capacity building. Learnings from this model are transferable to services in high-settlement regions, and could have application in improving patient care more broadly.

Eco-tourism for Education and Marine Conservation

Communities, in particular traditional users of natural resources, are often concerned about threats to their livelihoods and destruction of their environments but do not have the awareness, skills and political power to control the development that comes from the tourism industry. Education and collaborative partnerships are one approach that can help destinations achieve more sustainable tourism. Looking at Chumbe Island, a small island located in the Indian Ocean channel off the coast of the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar in Tanzania, this paper examines innovative education and multi-stakeholder partnerships that have helped to avoid negative environmental and social impacts on the communities who live in the area. The environmental education programs, employment and capacity building of the Chumbe Island Coral Park Project will be focused upon.

Capacity building, tertiary postgraduate interventions and the changing media environment in southern and eastern Africa

Abstract An academic revolution in higher education during the past half century has been marked by transformations unprecedented in scope and diversity. Simultaneously, the significant changes in the ‘mediascape’ of southern and eastern Africa over the past two decades have replaced total state control with a degree of liberalization, while the digital revolution has changed the access to, and the content of, media programming. The article argues that the production of postgraduate scholars, particularly at the doctoral level, is a useful indicator of the way in which capacity building in higher education – specifically, higher education for media and journalism studies – is being undertaken. This desk research article synthesizes the trends in media and academia under six headings: 1. structure and regulation; 2. end users – audiences, readers and viewers and students; 3. content delivery – programmes and curricula; 4. human resources; 5. digital technology and new media; and 6. financial sustainability.