Interest In Professional Development Research Articles

Paraeducator Involvement in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Brief Report

Paraeducators assume a range of responsibilities to assist school members in supporting students who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). These responsibilities often include supporting the behavioral needs of students with extensive support needs. Given the growing adoption of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) as a framework for supporting students’ social, emotional, and behavioral needs and increasing reliance on paraeducators among schools in the United States, we conducted an exploratory survey study of 82 paraeducators to explore their involvement and perceived importance of involvement in various PBIS aspects, perceived barriers and facilitators of involvement in PBIS, and their interest in professional development to learn about PBIS. Our findings suggest that, although paraeducators valued involvement in PBIS, their overall level of involvement was low across most aspects. Common barriers included limited training and membership on PBIS teams, and paraeducators viewed in-district workshops and one-on-one coaching and mentoring as the most preferred approaches for learning about PBIS.

IJCM_344A: A Mixed-Methods Study On The Health Literacy Of School Teachers On The Mental Health Concerns, Coping Mechanisms, And Support Systems Of School- Age Adolescents In Puducherry India

Background: The major challenges in addressing the adolescents with MHDs are lack of early identification, suitable interventions and treatment gap. Teachers are in the front lines of providing care, as students spend the majority of their early adolescence in school, where they endure social challenges. Objective: The study investigated teachers’ mental health literacy and their capacity in assisting their students, in addition to current levels of knowledge, awareness, and comfort in addressing students’ mental health concerns. Methodology: A Mixed Methods study with an Explanatory Sequential Design was conducted, among Puducherry’s rural and urban schools using a validated questionnaire among students and in-depth interviews with teachers in instructional and further administrative roles, focus groups involving students and teachers separately to collect qualitative data. In SPSS 21, adjusted odds ratios (OR) for MHDs were computed using ordinal logistic regression. The qualitative data was analysed both deductively and inductively using NVivo 12. Results: One in ten demonstrated prosocial behaviours, while over half of them battled with peer, emotional, conduct, and hyperactivity issues. Thematic analysis linked MHDs primarily lack of domestic support, financial difficulties, close relationships, and bullying. Substance abuse and isolation were coping mechanisms, which had a negative effect on academic performance. Qualitatively, teachers reported feeling overburdened and stressed, because they lacked the comfort and knowledge to deal with students’ mental health. Though most teachers believe there is a clear need for better mental health care in schools, many demonstrated a strong interest in professional development in this area. Conclusion: Restructuring the school health program promptly, adding mental health education to school curricula and creating surveillance data on adolescents’ mental health are essential. We need school environments that are favourable of positive mental health because many MHD triggers happen there.

Bridging Knowledge Landscapes: Unveiling the Nexus Between Educational Backgrounds and Professional Development Interest Among Generation Z in Ahmedabad City

Bridging Knowledge Landscapes: Unveiling the Nexus Between Educational Backgrounds and Professional Development Interest Among Generation Z in Ahmedabad City

Librarians’ professional development needs in the digital age - A case study at the Learning Resource Centre - Can Tho University, Vietnam

Professional development fulfils dual functions in fostering career advancement and enhancing staff retention. For librarians, this development becomes even more crucial to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge in the digital age. This study presents the professional development needs of staff at the Learning Resource Centre, Can Tho University, Vietnam. This study used C.P. Alderfer’s Existence Relatedness Growth (ERG) Theory of Motivation - Existence, Relatedness, and Growth (1969) [1] as a theoretical framework. A mixed-method approach was utilised to determine the professional development requirements of the staff and the associated influencing factors. A survey questionnaire was disseminated to all 28 staff members (a 100% sample) of the Learning Resource Centre via online and in-person forms. Furthermore, fifteen individual interviews were conducted to obtain detailed insights. The research findings underscore that the majority of the staff at the Centre express a keen interest in professional development. Moreover, the research pinpointed three challenges affecting career development: budgeting (both self-financed and state-sponsored), time, and familial obligations. These results aid in formulating strategies to address the professional development necessities of staff at the Learning Resource Centre in the digital age. Additionally, the insights augment the compendium of reference resources for subsequent research in human resource management and devising strategies to retain highly skilled personnel.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CLIMATE OF THE COLLECTIVE IN THE CONDITIONS OF WAR

The article discusses modern approaches to defining the concept of social and psychological climate. It has been established that in the conditions of military tension, the socio-psychological state of a person undergoes a destructive effect on the personality, which can be accompanied by long-term depression, anxiety disorders, the formation of post-traumatic stress syndrome, a decrease in work capacity, and a lack of interest in professional development and growth.The main approaches to defining the concepts of «influence» and «informational social influence» have been analyzed. A theoretical analysis of the concept as a process and result of an individual’s change in the behavior of another person, his attitudes, intentions, ideas, assessments, etc. in the process of interaction with him, was carried out. And the ways of using informational social influence in the context of the constructive and destructive effect of informational social influence on the individual in the conditions of war are analyzed.It has been established that informational influence can be manipulative in nature, which in turn will reflect on the mental, social and psychological well-being of Ukrainians.The mechanism of the influence of information manipulation, which can manifest itself in the form of propaganda, provocation, disinformation, intimidation, is revealed, and the place and role of constructive communication in the process of counteracting manipulative influence is defined. A theoretical analysis of the concept of «isolation» was carried out. It was determined that this is a protective mechanism that removes associative connections when the threat of danger is perceived.It was established that the social isolation of the individual in the collective makes support, empathy, and mutual understanding impossible in critical situations and in situations of uncertainty. And this, in turn, can increase the feeling of constant danger, excessive excitement, panic attacks, problems in relationships, the inability to express and show one’s feelings and experiences. On the basis of theoretical analysis, it was determined that the role of the leader is actualized in the conditions of martial law, because the situation that has developed requires him to be flexible in thinking and speed of decision-making, objectivity of reactions to external challenges in conditions of changeable situations and limited resources.We see the prospects for further research in the diagnosis of the current state of the social and psychological climate in the collectives of educational institutions, and in the search for optimal ways to solve the problem.The role of the team and the leader in the formation of a favorable social and psychological climate is characterized.

Designing an Online PD program with 4C/ID from Scratch

The original impetus for the design of our professional development (PD) program came from the first author’s interest in PD in general and what makes it effective. We begin our presentation with a brief explanation of the core literature that affected our thinking and then introduce the context in which and for which the PD program was designed. This is followed by a presentation of the steps we took to design our PD program with 4C/ID. For ease of reading, we split the design process into 15 distinct steps, each focusing on a major milestone in the design process and introducing the challenges we faced during the process. We finish the presentation with our reflections on the design process and final remarks.

The impact of professional learning communities on pre-service teachers' professional commitment.

While in-service teachers' professional commitment has gained significant attention in recent years, researches on pre-service teachers' professional commitment is still insufficient, particularly with regard to the effect that professional learning communities play on pre-service teachers' professional commitment. In this context, this study employed mixed methods to investigate the impact of workshops for teaching competitions as a professional learning community on pre-service teachers' professional commitment in China. A questionnaire survey was administered to pre-service teachers who had workshop experiences (n = 43) and their classmates who did not have workshop experiences (n = 98) to examine the effect of workshops for teaching competitions as a professional learning community on pre-service teachers' professional commitment. Follow-up qualitative interviews with 5 pre-service teachers with workshop experiences were conducted to explain the reasons behind such effects. The results showed that workshop experiences had significant and positive effects on pre-service teachers' professional commitment and the characteristics of shared vision, collaboration, and reflective dialogue affected their professional commitment from three perspectives: commitment to teaching as a career, personal time investment, and interest in professional development.

Exploring Two-Year College Biology Instructors' Preferences around Teaching Strategies and Professional Development.

Nearly half of all college students and the majority of college students of color begin their studies at 2-year colleges. The educational quality that these students experience will affect future success, but little research to date has focused on the professional development (PD) of their instructors. We offer an exploratory study on PD needs and preferences of ten 2-year college biology instructors who have experience with evidence-based instructional practices. Using a literature review and interview data, we address four research questions. We contextualize the interview results by describing interviewee teaching styles and their teaching and inclusion strategies, drawing on categorizations from education research literatures in and beyond biology. We then summarize interviewee experiences, preferences, and recommendations for PD. Most interviewees preferred PD that could be readily applied to their courses and included follow-up community support. While our purposive sample is limited, we note high levels of interest in PD supporting inclusive pedagogy and non-biology learning goals, such as study skills, metacognition, and quantitative skills. We describe implications for inclusive design of biology instructor PD.

To develop a methodology for finding the competencies of agricultural workers with a positive economic return

The paper describes a study by the example of processing the results of a survey of 200 employees of the agro-industrial complex on psychological tests, work experience and salary level. The authors identified the following groups of competencies: intellectual and educational, communicative, motivational and volitional, management. 15 psychological tests were used to assess their presence in respondents. After correlation and variance analyses, a statistically significant model of the dependence of the wage level on 12 indicators was obtained: ability and readiness for self-development and self-education, tolerance, high motivation for success, self-actualization of personality, strong interest in professional development, focus on interaction, high level of emotional intelligence. At the same time, it can be used in research only for the agricultural complex at the current time, i.e., at the beginning of the sixth technological order.

Выбор профессии в системе формирования профессионально-квалификационного потенциала студенческой молодежи Ростовской области (по итогам социологического опроса)

Introduction. The relevance of the topic of the article is explained by crisis factors in the system of professionalization of modern youth of Russian regions. One of the indicators of its professional level and the key to successful adaptation in the vocational field is vocational potential. Its formation is a series of stages in the life of young people, and the most important of them is the choice of profession. Methods. The empirical basis of the study is presented by the results of a sociological survey conducted among students of universities of the Rostov region: Don State Agrarian University, Southern Federal University, Platov South-Russian State Polytechnic University (NPI). The representativeness of the empirical framework is provided by using a multivariate stratified sample model with quota selection of observation units (respondents). The total number of students surveyed was 1214 people. Results of the study. During the study, it becomes clear that students are generally satisfied with the choice of profession (specialty); when choosing a profession, most were guided by their own interest in professional activity and advice from parents, however, students do not have a clear idea of ​ ​ the future profession, and especially with regard to job responsibilities and the organization of the labor process. First of all students expect achieving material well-being from future work, but also interest in professional development plays an important role. The dominant material component becomes a source of subsequent difficulties during the first employment and disappointments in profession.

Examining the Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions of 4-H Professionals Related to LGBTQ+ Youth

Despite its status as the largest youth-serving organization in the United States, there is a dearth of empirical scholarship about LGBTQ+ youth within 4-H; research examining 4-H professionals’ competencies to effectively support LGBTQ+ youth is even more scarce. To address this gap in the literature, this quantitative study explored the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of 4-H professionals in North Carolina as they relate to working with LGBTQ+ youth. Seventy-five professionals responded to an online survey. Professionals displayed higher levels of knowledge than skills or dispositions, were more knowledgeable about how to support LGB youth compared to transgender and gender expansive youth, and expressed the need for and substantial interest in professional development. Rural professionals tended to report lower knowledge, skills, and dispositions compared to professionals working in urban/suburban settings. This article presents the study’s findings and explores implications for future research and practice.

Analysis of the resource potential of digitalization in Russian agriculture

The article is devoted to the study of the state and development features of the components of the resource potential of agricultural production from the point of view of the possibility of using digital technologies in the production process. The information infrastructure of rural areas, production resources, sources of funds for their modernization are considered as key factors. The analysis of the composition and structure of resources in dynamics is carried out, the reasons for the lagging of the pace of digitalization in agriculture from other industries and activities are revealed. In particular, the low level of development of digital competencies of the personnel of agricultural enterprises, low interest in professional development were noted; a high share of the imported component of production resources in the agricultural sector, which leads to high costs and, together with low incomes, makes it difficult to modernize technologies.

Towards a typology of learning and teaching professional development practice uptake by university academics in Australia

ABSTRACT The interest in Professional Development (PD) in learning and teaching in Higher Education (HE) has seen an increase in the last few years owing to the evolving role of HE teaching academics in the futures of students and their employment. In Australia, while there is evidence that research in learning and teaching PD is growing, these studies appear sporadic and confined to predetermined disciplinary boundaries. From a practice perspective, the fragmented nature of the literature confounds the issues related to the uptake of learning and teaching PD by academics. It is proposed that a scoping literature review of studies of learning and teaching PD in Australian universities is necessary in identifying attributes within the sector, and will illustrate the gaps in the literature related to professional practice. A typology of the interrelated patterns of the attributes that emerge from the scoping review is presented. This typology has practical implications for both teaching academics and academic developers who respectively engage with and implement PD strategies.

Scholarly Communication Outside the R1: Measuring Faculty and Graduate Student Knowledge and Interest at a Doctoral/Professional University

INTRODUCTION This study explores the baseline knowledge and interest of faculty and graduate students at a Carnegie-classified Doctoral/Professional University regarding different components of scholarly communication. METHODS A survey was developed to inquire about such topics as scholarly research, scholarly publishing, access to research, copyright, measuring impact, promoting research, and open-educational resources. Responses more significantly represented the humanities and social sciences versus the natural and applied sciences. RESULTS & DISCUSSION Results showed some hesitancy in embracing the open access (OA) publishing model, especially the use of article processing charges (APCs). Faculty largely collect original data and believe public access to original data is important, but this varies by college and includes almost one-fourth of faculty who do not feel that sharing data is important. The areas in which respondents expressed the highest level of knowledge correlate directly with the areas in which respondents expressed the most interest in professional development. Preferences in professional development modality were split between virtual and in-person sessions. With virtual sessions specifically, graduate students prefer synchronous sessions while faculty prefer pre-recorded sessions. CONCLUSION Respondents were generally aware of the library’s current scholarly communications services, but additional promotion and marketing is still needed, especially for colleges with the lowest areas of engagement.

Artificial intelligence: confidence index in Russia and the world, prospects for implementation

Artificial intelligence technologies are being implemented in various fields, replacing the human mind with the help of specially designed algorithms. These systems are able to learn in the course of their functioning, free us from routine work, save time and material resources. The article presents the results of research on trust in breakthrough digital technologies as an important condition for their use, including in social life. There was revealed a high demand for «smart» technologies with an insufficient level of knowledge in this area, lack of interest in professional development. The article identifies the factors causing a negative attitude towards innovation. In the current conditions of the pandemic, a tendency has been revealed of an increase in the need for solutions using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, including in ensuring information security.

Familiarity, Current Use, and Interest in Universal Design for Learning Among Online University Instructors

This study investigated online faculty familiarity, course design use, and professional development interest regarding universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines. The researchers surveyed all 2017 to 2018 online faculty at a large university in the southeastern United States. Findings included 71.6% of faculty reporting familiarity with at least one UDL guideline, with most respondents indicating familiarity with guidelines relating to perception, expression, and communication. Faculty reported the highest implementation of UDL guidelines was for those suggesting options for comprehension as well as expression and communication; the lowest implementation was for those suggesting options for physical action as well as language and support. Survey results also indicated high to moderate interest in learning more about all UDL guidelines, with emphasis on comprehension, persistence, and expression. This study suggests that faculty members desire UDL training and offers possibilities for planning and implementing such professional development in areas targeted to best meet the needs of online faculty.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Research on the construction of teaching case library of the computer simulation technology

Using the case derived from the life or production in teaching is a very practical teaching method for training the students’ comprehensive ability of the professional course, by which the students can get a lot of targeted expertise, instead of the empty preaching. With the progress of Chinese over the past years, the professional knowledge the students learned is more and more abstruse, more and more refined, how effective organization of teaching cases, the distinguished in student learning, in order to achieve the purpose of their major, this is an important task the college teachers focus on. In conjunction with the teaching task of the computer simulation technology for professional type of postgraduate student, this paper puts forward and establish three levels of the teaching case library, which include the fundament- type, the profession-type, the extended-type and so on. Using of the cases, in the course of study, the postgraduate student can not only master the main content of the course, but also be exerted their autonomy and professional development interest.

Rebranding "The Lab Years" as "Professional Development" in Order to Redefine the Modern Surgeon Scientist.

Dedicated “lab time” and surgeon scientist training in residency is losing popularity. Junior residents have a strong interest in professional development, and surgeons are diverse in their contributions towards scientific progress. “Lab time” in residency should be re-branded as “professional development time.”

Implicit theories about teaching skills predict university faculty members' interest in professional learning

Implicit theories about the malleability of skills/abilities predict people's willingness to participate in learning opportunities. In a prior study, we applied the implicit theory framework to the domain of teaching skills and found that implicit theories of teaching skills (i.e., beliefs about whether teaching skills can change with effort) predicted university instructors' self-reported interest in professional development (PD). The current study extended these findings by including a behavioral measure of PD interest and examining whether the association between implicit theories of teaching skills and PD interest held up after teaching self-efficacy—a widely-studied self-belief variable—was taken into account. Findings showed that the implicit theories of teaching measure was a strong predictor for both self-report and behavioral outcomes, even when teaching self-efficacy and other control variables were taken into account. Implications for professional learning contexts, in which educators are positioned as learners, are discussed.

Perceived barriers to the management of foot health in patients with rheumatic conditions.

BackgroundRheumatic conditions can have a significant impact on the feet and requires effective management. Podiatric involvement in the management of rheumatic conditions has previously been found to be inadequate in a hospital-setting and no study has examined current trends across New Zealand. The aim was to evaluate the perceived barriers of New Zealand podiatrists in the management of rheumatic conditions.MethodsA cross-sectional observational design using a web-based survey. The self-administered survey, comprising of thirteen questions, was made available to podiatrists currently practicing in New Zealand.ResultsFifty-six podiatrists responded and the results demonstrated poor integration of podiatrists into multidisciplinary teams caring for patients with arthritic conditions in New Zealand. Dedicated clinical sessions were seldom offered (16%) and few podiatrists reported being part of an established multidisciplinary team (16%). A poor uptake of clinical guidelines was reported (27%) with limited use of patient reported outcome measures (39%). The majority of podiatrists expressed an interest in professional development for the podiatric management of arthritic conditions (95%). All surveyed podiatrists (100%) agreed that there should be nationally developed clinical guidelines for foot care relating to arthritis.ConclusionsThe results suggest that there are barriers in the involvement of podiatrists in the management of people with rheumatic conditions in New Zealand. Future studies may provide an in-depth exploration into these findings to identify and provide solutions to overcome potential barriers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13047-015-0071-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.