Practice Partners Research Articles

Keeping the lamp lit: A program profile of a community-based social-emotional training for caregivers and educators

Developing social-emotional training opportunities for caregivers and professionals can promote higher quality care for children and families in the home and in early years services. Community-based efforts that integrate developmental-relational research into practice using a participatory approach are a growing area of interest and focus. The current paper provides a program profile of RAISE (Research and Practice Partnership: Building Awareness and Increasing Social-Emotional Capacity in the Early Years), a social-emotional training model that uses a bottom-up community-based approach to design and implement a developmental-relational training to strengthen caregivers’ and educators’ capacities to support children’s social-emotional development and mental health. We describe our training development approach, which integrates community engagement efforts with developmental-relational and clinical research, including examples of how participatory approaches may inform curricula development. Finally, we highlight several lessons learned from this training model, with the aim of informing future social-emotional development and practice initiatives.

Working on boundaries: linking research and practice

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate how educational researchers work together with practitioners in practical research projects.Design/methodology/approachMixed-method.FindingsOur findings suggest that researchers recognize their own limitations as well as those of practitioners and policy makers and learn from collaboration, but that they lack ideas on what activities they can undertake to overcome limitations. Furthermore, educational researchers emphasize the importance of continuous and systematic organized exchange with educational practitioners. We discuss the needs and challenges of educational researchers interacting with educational practitioners during their research.Originality/valueWe believe that sustainable research and practice partnerships (RPPs) provide a more effective platform for collaboration between researchers and practitioners. This is because long-term engagement in cross-boundary work within these partnerships promotes the development of new knowledge, routines and methods, thereby improving educational practice. Unfortunately, there are few RPPs in Germany (the context of the researchers interviewed). Consequently, it is critical that funding policies, particularly outside the United States, provide greater support for RPPs and the necessary resources for these partnerships. Even if funding for RPPs is not always possible, our research suggests that short-term collaborative agreements in research-practice projects are preferable to relying on informal transfer channels.

Technical planning, control and validation. Quality and effectiveness in public procurement action

This paper recounts the experience of the scientific collaboration agreement of the research group from DiAP, Sapienza University, Rome, with the municipality of Rome’s CSIMU (Coordination of Infrastructure Development and Urban Maintenance) Department to provide technical support in the phase of drawing up the DIP (Technical Project Brief) and of verifying and validating the PFTE (Technical and Economic Feasibility Design) within the Institutional Development Contract programme titled “CIS – Roma Scuole Verdi”. For its articulation of involved parties, complexity of the operative and regulatory framework, and size of interventions, CIS is considered a best practice of inter-institutional partnership and of capitalisation of technical know-how and skills aimed at achieving quality objectives in processes implementing strategic works.

A higher education institution's response to the NMC Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment

This case study discusses how a higher education institution (HEI) responded to the Nursing and Midwfery Council's implementation of the Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment to support practice partners with their role in teaching and assessing students in clinical placements. In 2023, after consultation with key stakeholders, the HEI designed and implemented a new level 7 module aimed at enhancing clinicians' knowledge of teaching and assessing students in their practice-based learning environments. The module was designed to support clinicians working in a practice supervisor or practice assessor role in specialist community public health nursing, as there is recognition that this role requires advanced skills in decision-making and professional autonomy. The module has now completed its first year of delivery, with four separate cohorts having completed the taught sessions and the summative assessment. The cohorts have been a mix of health visitors, district nurses and school nurses from nationwide seconding NHS Trusts.

Reimagining writing: Integrating wicked problems into secondary writing instruction through a research practice partnership

Reimagining writing: Integrating wicked problems into secondary writing instruction through a research practice partnership

Anthropomorphic motion planning for multi-degree-of-freedom arms.

With the development of technology, the humanoid robot is no longer a concept, but a practical partner with the potential to assist people in industry, healthcare and other daily scenarios. The basis for the success of humanoid robots is not only their appearance, but more importantly their anthropomorphic behaviors, which is crucial for the human-robot interaction. Conventionally, robots are designed to follow meticulously calculated and planned trajectories, which typically rely on predefined algorithms and models, resulting in the inadaptability to unknown environments. Especially when faced with the increasing demand for personalized and customized services, predefined motion planning cannot be adapted in time to adapt to personal behavior. To solve this problem, anthropomorphic motion planning has become the focus of recent research with advances in biomechanics, neurophysiology, and exercise physiology which deepened the understanding of the body for generating and controlling movement. However, there is still no consensus on the criteria by which anthropomorphic motion is accurately generated and how to generate anthropomorphic motion. Although there are articles that provide an overview of anthropomorphic motion planning such as sampling-based, optimization-based, mimicry-based, and other methods, these methods differ only in the nature of the planning algorithms and have not yet been systematically discussed in terms of the basis for extracting upper limb motion characteristics. To better address the problem of anthropomorphic motion planning, the key milestones and most recent literature have been collated and summarized, and three crucial topics are proposed to achieve anthropomorphic motion, which are motion redundancy, motion variation, and motion coordination. The three characteristics are interrelated and interdependent, posing the challenge for anthropomorphic motion planning system. To provide some insights for the research on anthropomorphic motion planning, and improve the anthropomorphic motion ability, this article proposes a new taxonomy based on physiology, and a more complete system of anthropomorphic motion planning by providing a detailed overview of the existing methods and their contributions.

“Any Other Thoughts?”: Establishing Third Space in a Family-School-University STEM Partnership to Center Voices of Parents and Teachers

ABSTRACT Research practice partnerships (RPPs) that include parents and teachers as cocreators of educational programs provide opportunities to build equitable partnerships yet require university partners to intentionally develop spaces for coconstruction and synergistic interactions. RPPs built within a third space can foster engagement of all partners in the coconstruction of knowledge and practices while assuming roles and navigating partnership work through informal and formal communication. We define a third space as a hybrid, intangible space where inter- and intracultural pedagogies are constructed and shared identity is created from historical and cultural contexts of all partners. This study explored how university partners centered teacher and parent voices in the codesign and piloting phase of a culturally relevant preschool robotics program and facilitated codevelopment within a third space. Through in-depth qualitative coding, we analyzed 6 months of early partnership exchanges to identify how we, as university partners, facilitated discourse and what roles parents and teachers assumed within our third space. Results found that university partners frequently invited participation among partners and used revoicing strategies, and parents and teachers adopted roles as educators and advisors to the program design and implementation. Implications for RPPs include considering how both facilitator-discourse moves and collaborative spaces in which parents and teachers are central to partnership conversations and decisions contribute to successful outcomes.

Building a research-focused academic practice partnership: A stepwise approach

The 20th century began a period of reform in nursing education and practice, with more nurses receiving advanced degrees and serving in key leadership roles throughout healthcare organizations. During this period, the transformation of the healthcare delivery system encouraged innovation and collaboration between academic nursing programs and other healthcare entities to develop partnerships based on a shared vision and goals. As a result, nurses are negotiating academic-practice partnership agreements and leading interprofessional teams to meet the needs of collaborating organizations. This article describes a stepwise approach to building a research-focused academic practice partnership, from a needs assessment to an evaluation of the partnership.

Metabolizing the Challenges to Partnership: Partner Learning in a University-District Partnership for Leadership Preparation

We describe the contours of one leadership preparation partnership between a university and urban high school district, to demonstrate the affordances that have allowed the partnership to process and weather challenges. Critically, we describe the actual work of collaboration, presenting one extended example of learning-in-action. As such, the article addresses an existing gap in the literature on research practice partnerships, namely how partners can address widespread challenges. Findings suggest that the boundary practice of co-teaching and a “boundary stance” of ontological humility have been critical affordances toward partner and partnership learning.

Mathematics teachers' interaction patterns and role changes in online research-practice partnerships: A social network analysis

Research–Practice Partnerships (RPPs), in which researchers and teachers come together with the shared aim of driving educational improvement, have lately gained recognition in the education community. Whilst studies have demonstrated the positive effects of RPPs, potential challenges in establishing long-term and mutually beneficial RPPs have been reported. To understand these challenges, the present study explores dynamic changes in team interaction patterns and roles using Social Network Analysis (SNA), then employs qualitative analysis to elaborate the mechanisms underlying these changes and resulting outcomes. The visual and quantitative results of the SNA reveal that interaction patterns shifted from a researcher-centered (hierarchical) pattern to a decentralized pattern, with increasing numbers of participants exhibiting a higher level of activity and exchange over time across the four discussions in a RPP. As for role changes, researchers played more of a leading role in the first two discussions, while teachers played a more equal role in subsequent discussions. The qualitative findings identify some key factors that lead to the changes in interaction patterns and roles, including: the process of negotiating meaning through lesson study; the establishment of trust between participants; and a concern for how role changes may positively impact teachers' and researchers’ professional development. These findings thus offer insights into how to create more effective and long-lasting RPPs.

School Partnership Management with Industry and the World of Work to Improve Student Automotive Skills Competency

Partnerships play an important role in improving the quality of education. However, many vocational schools must be more optimal in developing industrial work practice partnerships. In this case, the role of partnership policy in the scope of vocational education must involve three important components: the school board, the industrial business world, and vocational high schools. This research aims to analyze the influence of school partnership management with industry and the world of work on increasing students' automotive skills competency. This type of research is quasi-experimental, with the research design being Post-test Only Control Group Design. The sample used in this research consisted of 72 class XI vocational school students. The data collection method uses tests. The data collection instrument uses test questions. The data analysis techniques used in this research are the t-test and ANOVA. The research results show an influence between the management of school partnerships with industry and the world of work on increasing students' automotive skills competency. The impact of partnership management in honesty education has implications, including requiring the development of students' competencies not only to acquire knowledge but also to integrate skills and attitudes in the world of work.

Academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice: A theory-guided scoping review.

Academic-practice partnerships have the potential to solve many challenges in evidence-based nursing practice which is crucial for high-quality care. To identify the existing knowledge on academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice. We conducted this review following the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology. We performed a comprehensive literature search of nine databases as well as five websites for gray literature. Two researchers independently conducted literature screening and data extraction and analysis. A third researcher was involved when needed. Dedicated time, dedicated resources, and compatible goals were found to be the top three inputs in academic-practice partnerships for evidence-based nursing practice. Meeting and discussion were the most popular forms of activities. Sufficient resources were the most important facilitators. Insufficient resources, insufficient time, and communication issues were the top three barriers. The assumption proposed in the practice-academic partnership logic model (i.e., inputs plus activities can lead to outputs and outcomes) was preliminarily verified by the results of this review in the context of evidence-based nursing practice. Academic-practice partnerships can leverage the advantages of both sides to overcome barriers and promote evidence-based nursing practice. However, it is essential to conduct a broader range of high-quality studies. Such endeavors could offer more comprehensive evidence for refining the framework of academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING EDUCATION, PRACTICE, POLICY AND RESEARCH: The "theoretical framework of academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice" could theoretically guide academic and clinical nursing staff to collaborate on evidence-based nursing practice and related research and education programs. The academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice could lead to a win-win situation for both the academic and the clinical sides. Furthermore, the results of this study provide an evidence-based foundation for policymakers to develop supportive policies for academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice.

Creating Transformative Research–Practice Partnership in Collaboration with School, City, and University Actors

Traditional educational research has been criticized for the gap between the research and practice communities, meaning that outcomes do not transfer to educational praxis. To meet this challenge, policymakers, funders, and researchers are developing research–practice partnerships (RPPs). The purpose of this research is to study the research–practice partnership as a strategy for educational transformation in the Finnish educational context. This study highlights the multifaceted perspectives of key RPP stakeholders: teachers, principals, municipality administrators, and researchers. Their experiences were explored through semi-structured interviews. The data were examined through content analysis and categorized into themes depicting the goals and goal-setting process in RPPs, the experiences of RPP activities, and the factors facilitating and challenging RPPs. The results show that stakeholders viewed the goals through the perspectives of professional development; supporting the growth and learning of students; and developing school, municipality, and research practices. Regular participation solidified the commitment to the RPP process. Horizontal interaction worked well between stakeholders, but challenges arose with vertical interaction. We found multiple roles for researchers and municipality administrators. Researchers found that they take on a new role in RPPs as change agents and facilitators. Regarding the facilitating or challenging aspects of RPPs, an open and flexible attitude and atmosphere and readiness for change are demanded on all actor levels. Mutual appreciation and sensitivity facilitate RPP activities. We propose taking all stakeholder perspectives into account when designing RPPs aimed at systemic change and that RPP processes should facilitate both horizontal and vertical interaction.

Peningkatan Kinerja Usahatani Hortikultura Melalui Pengembangan Pola Kemitraan Agribisnis: Studi Kasus Kelompok Tani Sidoluhur, Desa Cabeyan, Kabupaten Sukoharjo

The development of horticultural farming through agribusiness partnerships can serve as a solution to farmers' limitations in managing agricultural risks. Partnerships have the potential to improve farming productivity and ensure price certainty. However, in some instances, partnership practices may give rise to issues such as dependency and weakened bargaining power for farmers. This research aims to investigate and analyze the potential for enhancing the performance of horticultural farming through the development of agribusiness partnership models in the Sidoluhur Farmers' Group, Cabeyan Village, Sukoharjo District. The research methodology employed is a descriptive case study involving five key respondents, including a lecturer from Universitas Sebelas Maret, the owner of Spesial Sambal, and farmers engaged in cultivation or responsible for the Sidoluhur Farmers' Group. The case study method allows for in-depth investigation into specific cases and facilitates the development of narratives or stories. The research findings indicate that the established partnership model is a subcontracting pattern involving three parties: the Sidoluhur Farmers' Group, PT Waroeng Spesial Sambal, and Universitas Sebelas Maret. The partnership provides market certainty for the farmers with a stable selling price. Importantly, this partnership does not create dependency on PT Waroeng Spesial Sambal, as farmers are free to market their harvests independently.

Partnership Perception and Practices of Turkish Businessmen in Türkiye and Germany: A Comparative Analysis

In this study, it is aimed to contribute to the existing literature by conducting empirical research on the partnerships established by Turkish individuals living in both Türkiye and Germany. The goal is to highlight the similarities and differences in the partnership dynamics among members of the same nation, albeit in different countries. We evaluate these commonalities and disparities within several thematic dimensions, including decision-making processes within partnerships, distribution of shares, rationales behind partnership establishment, assignment of responsibilities, and perspectives regarding partnership structures.

Situated Partnership: Dynamics of Role Formation in a Research–Practice Partnership

Background or Context: Research–practice partnerships (RPPs) are collaborative efforts between researchers and practitioners aimed at improving educational practices through engagement in research. Previous studies have highlighted the dynamic nature of roles within RPPs, emphasizing the need for role negotiation and adaptation to local contexts. This study builds on existing literature by focusing on the roles of academic faculty within an evolving RPP involving two higher education institutions and 21 schools in Israel. The aim of the RPP was to give participating schools the opportunity to evaluate and understand pedagogical processes and make changes through engagement in school-based research. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of academic faculty within an evolving RPP and understand how these roles develop and adapt over time. The research focused on faculty members’ experiences in supporting schools’ research endeavors, emphasizing the contingent nature of their roles. The study addressed the following research questions: What types of roles are formed for faculty within an RPP? How do faculty roles develop within the RPP? By examining these questions, the study seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of role dynamics in RPPs and provide insights for more effective partnership implementation. Research Design: We explored faculty roles through a fine-grained analysis of their discourse during biweekly meetings, where they reported and reflected on their interactions with practitioners in the schools. These meetings served as a forum for faculty to share their responsibilities and tasks within the partnership and to negotiate and construct their professional identity within the RPP. Data were collected from 24 transcribed meetings, each lasting 90 minutes, and segmented into episodes categorized as “small stories.” We employed a grounded-theory method to code each segment and drew on these findings to further our understanding of how faculty members’ roles were formed within the RPP. Conclusions/Recommendations: Faculty roles within the RPP were not fixed; they were highly contingent on the specific contexts of the participating schools. The concept of “situated partnership” emerged as a key finding, emphasizing the dynamic and context-dependent nature of faculty roles. The study recommends that future RPPs consider the importance of flexibility and adaptability in role definitions, allowing for the evolution of roles based on local contexts.

DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC

The purpose of this study is to analyze the state of public-private partnerships in the Chuvash Republic, identify the trends of their formation and propose the ways of their development. Materials and methods. The paper made use of the ratings, monthly Russia's public-private partnership market review digest, investment sites, which provide up-to-date information, an overview of public-private partnership projects in the Chuvash Republic. The main research methods were analysis and comparison. The authors made the analysis of the dynamics of the implementation of public-private partnerships in the Russian Federation, SWOT analysis of the development of public-private partnerships in the Chuvash Republic and the comparison analysis of investment sites of different regions. Research results. As a result of the detailed analysis of regional investment portals and ratings, the author found that the investment website of the Chuvash Republic, which provides examples of successful practices of public-private partnerships, is not informative enough. The analysis of the public-private partnership reveals that the Chuvash Republic ranks the last in the Volga Federal District in terms of the public-private partnership development rating, which implies there are problems in this area. There is a need for identifying the most interesting and suitable practices of implementing public-private partnerships to be used in the Chuvash Republic. Thus, as a result of the analysis of the public-private partnership development in the Chuvash Republic, the author proposes new ways to effectively develop public-private partnerships. They will help to improve the position in the public-private partnership ranking and attract investment to the Chuvash Republic. Conclusions. Thus, the article substantiates that the investment site of the Kaluga region is more complete and the most advanced, and as the first best experience, it is quite applicable when improving the investment site of the Chuvash Republic. Using the example of the experience of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the author proposes to introduce a new position at the Center for Public-Private Partnership in the Chuvash Republic – a business sheriff.

A Healthcare-Academic Practice Partnership Program to Promote Student Nurse Readiness for Work.

Highly skilled new graduate nurses must be better prepared to face the clinical and professional challenges in today's healthcare environment. Compounding these challenges are the growing resignations of clinical faculty and experienced clinical nurses. Innovative programs are needed to bridge the knowledge-practice gap with opportunities to create pipelines to aid the future nursing workforce. A multihospital health system partnered with a local college of nursing to develop a Nursing Student Pipeline Program, which allows nursing students to perform select nursing tasks as employees of the health system. Fifty-six students have been hired to participate in the pilot program. Of the students eligible for hire and who completed the program, 24 are current employees with the healthcare system. Students, preceptors, and managers report the benefits of this program, including that participating in the program supports increasing readiness for practice upon graduation.

Observed Use of Clinical Judgment Among New Graduate Nurses.

Despite the efforts of academic nursing educators to prepare students to make sound clinical judgments, the literature suggests new graduate nurse (NGN) competence with this critical skill continues to decline. This study sought to identify how practicing nurses describe their observations of the use and outcomes of clinical judgment by NGNs in nursing practice. A multisite, cross-sectional survey using multiple-choice, Likert scale, and open response items to identify participants' observations of NGN clinical judgment was sent with snowball sampling and resulted in a sample of 314 participants from 19 U.S. states. Practice partners identified a wide discrepancy between how they expect NGNs to use clinical judgment and what they actually see NGNs do, with resultant negative effects on patients and NGNs. These results provide a beginning understanding of NGNs' specific challenges with clinical judgment. Efforts to improve clinical judgment across nursing education and practice are needed. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2024;55(8):399-406.].

Exploring roles in teacher–researcher collaboration: examples from a Swedish research–practice partnership in education

ABSTRACT Research – practice partnerships (RPPs) engage the diverse perspectives of researchers and teachers, transforming both educational research and practice. However, an increased understanding of the day-to-day activities of research conducted within RPPs, and of the role of teachers and researchers in this research, is needed. In this study, teachers and researchers involved in research projects framed by a Swedish RPP between a university and thirteen municipalities were interviewed. In total, we interviewed twelve teachers and researchers in a selection of four research projects in this RPP. We studied how teachers’ and researchers’ roles evolved over the phases of the research process and found that collaboration was more extensive during the data collection phase than during project initiation and data analysis and reporting. We also found that characteristics of the project’s initialising phase were consequential to the evolution of teachers’ and researchers’ roles in later phases. This study contributes to the literature on collaborative research by elaborating on teacher and researcher roles across the research process. This knowledge will assist the development of strategies for conducting collaborative research in education.