Professional Development Events Research Articles

Talking Point – Flexible Targeted Online Staff Development that Works

The UK Open University has a large, highly distributed workforce, particularly within its part-time teaching staff who work mainly from home and who live across the UK and Ireland. In these circumstances it is a challenge to provide professional development which allows for situated learning, peer interaction and community building. In this paper we describe a case study of an online initiative which allows distance staff easily to participate in one-day professional development events focussing on specific topics of relevance to particular groups. Event design incorporates a combination of near-synchronous sessions, synchronous sessions and web-based content. The short duration of the event enhances a sense of presence and can help to create an intense and stimulating development experience. A particular advantage of the design is in providing space which can be used to encourage informal situated learning, peer interaction and community building. The format also can easily bring together a diverse range of colleagues across geographic or subject boundaries. We describe and evaluate three different types of event which have run in this space, showing that the online format encouraged attendance, and the design afforded opportunities for peer engagement, reflection and social learning. The main drawback was the large message base in the event forum, which we mitigated by providing summaries of the discussion topics.

20 Years of the MENC Biennial Conference

The purpose of this study was to investigate the content and intended audiences for educational sessions offered at MENC biennial conferences in order to illuminate trends and topics in professional development. The researchers performed a content analysis of each session ( N = 2,593) using program booklets from conferences between 1988 and 2008, creating a coding scheme with separate codes for audience focus and session content. After establishing sufficient interjudge agreement, the researchers coded all educational sessions offered at the conferences from 1988 to 2008. Results indicated that the number of sessions targeted at specific audiences (e.g., choral teachers only) remained small relative to those targeting broader audiences. Content coding revealed large increases in the number of sessions focused on technology and a slight decrease in the number of sessions focused on traditional large ensembles. Session content sometimes followed professional trends (e.g., the inception of the National Standards in 1994) but did not reflect increased attention in the profession to topics such as creativity and students with exceptionalities. These findings have important implications for those planning state and national music education conferences and for music educators who attend these professional development events.

A Study of the Factors and Conditions Associated with Graduate Enrollment Management Practitioners’ Participation in Professional Development

This investigation was designed to determine the factors and conditions associated with graduate enrollment management practitioners’ participation in professional development (PD) activities. The sample consisted of members of a professional association, the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP), focused solely on supporting graduate enrollment managers and related staff, whose patterns of involvement in various PD events for the previous five years were classified as low or inconsistent. In an effort to identify member preferences, as well as characteristics associated with PD activities, the investigator sought to provide information useful to developing future PD programs for NAGAP.An electronic quantitative instrument, the Professional Development in Graduate Enrollment Management (PDGEM) survey, consisted of closed‐ended questions related to PD grouped under the following headings: Demographic Information, Support for and Knowledge of Professional Development Activities, Attitudes and Beliefs about Professional Development: Individual and Institutional, Components of Professional Development in Graduate Enrollment Management, Professional Development Plans, Participation and Involvement in NAGAP Professional Development Activities, Other Organizations’ Professional Development, and Professional Development Overall. It was disseminated to 1,461 members of NAGAP, with a return rate of 163 (11%). Descriptive and linear regression analyses were conducted in order to discern (1) the frequency of participation in PD and (2) the demographic and other variables predictive of participation in PD.The study's findings revealed that about one‐quarter of the respondents participated regularly in NAGAP‐sponsored PD and that the involvement levels of the remainder of the membership were inconsistent. Additionally, on‐site activities were favored over online, content relevance greatly influenced whether practitioners participated, and member interest in conducting academic research was low. Cost was also a primary factor in determining participation in professional development.

Message from the Executive Director: Interview with Kelsey Ellis, ASLO 2015 Science Communication Intern

Message from the Executive Director: Interview with Kelsey Ellis, ASLO 2015 Science Communication Intern

Data in context: Using case studies to generate a common understanding of data in academic libraries

As new expectations emerge in librarianship, librarians find themselves engaging with researchers throughout the entire research process. This includes during early stages, when research outputs are in their infancy. This shift means that any librarian might be faced with a ‘data question’ and be able to assist without necessarily being a ‘data’ expert. As libraries approach professional development in this field, additional difficulties occur as data cannot be easily understood without context. Instead of attempting to comprehensively cover this broad, nuanced, and sometimes vague topic, the authors took a different approach. In order to place ‘data’ in definable contexts, the authors created local, real-world case studies to introduce this topic to the library. This article describes the professional development event, complete with case studies, their development, discussion questions, and observations. As faculty and staff answered guided questions, they self-identified the value of existing librarian capabilities such as the reference interview, information location, and referral systems. This enabled library faculty and staff from across the library to engage positively and proactively, without any extensive background in this field.

Encouraging Faculty Attendance at Professional Development Events

For faculty development events to have the greatest impact on campus practice, faculty developers need to attract and include as many faculty members as possible at their events. This article describes the testing of a checklist regarding faculty attendance at professional development events through a survey of 238 faculty members at small colleges in the United States. The results demonstrate the influence of social relationships upon faculty attendance at teaching and learning events, the difficulties of scheduling such events, and motivational differences between full-time and adjunct faculty. The use of food as a motivator for attendance is also appraised. The relative fit of the data to the 5 attributes of E. Rogers (2003) and the 4 motives of Wergin (2001) is discussed.

Certifying Enrollment Management Professionals

Most current professionals who serve in an enrollment management leadership capacity likely were trained “on the job,” or at professional development events, primarily because credit-bearing credentials, degrees, and other formal programs were nonexistent (Phair 2014). However, that landscape has since changed, and now there are multiple ways for enrollment management professionals to receive a formal education to enhance one's enrollment management skill set. This article is designed to introduce and review those current academic offerings that provide credibility to the field of enrollment management. The primary training categories include: college admissions counseling, enrollment management, financial aid/financial planning, and college access and success. This article will highlight a set of 35 noncredit and credit-bearing offerings: 12 certificates, 15 credentials, three online programs, one endorsement, one specialist designation, and three master's degree concentrations. It expands information collected and reported by Young in 2012. For each type of training, information about courses, admission requirements, cost, and unique aspects are reported. Every attempt has been made to capture all of the known offerings available at this time.

Implementing curriculum reform: insights into how Australian early childhood directors view professional development and learning

A range of studies has demonstrated that collaborative professional development and learning (PD&L) is effective in implementing curriculum reform. PD&L that is contextualised within a specific setting enables educators to explore new theoretical perspectives, review existing knowledge and beliefs, and examine their current practice. This article reports on an investigation of how Australian early childhood centre directors understand and lead PD&L during a major reform of curriculum. Qualitative analysis was undertaken drawing on orienting concepts from the literature. Analysis of data collected from two focus groups of early childhood centre directors shows the importance of the director as overall educational leader but suggests that distributing leadership supports PD&L. Although directors articulated belief in the value of collaborative professional learning, individualised, one-off, external professional development events remained a common strategy. Directors’ perceptions about managing curriculum reform, their understanding of leadership and PD&L, together with considerations of broader social and system influences such as organisational culture and structural arrangements are factors that contribute to professional learning. A model for a centre-based professional learning system is proposed.

Encouraging Faculty Attendance at Professional Development Events

Encouraging Faculty Attendance at Professional Development Events

IEEE Young Professionals EMC

We held two successful Young Professionals events at the joint 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility and EMC Europe in Dresden, Germany this summer. Our social event was a bike tour of the historic city with Professor Tzong-Lin Wu and Professor David Pommerenke as our special guests. The rainy day did not dampen the enthusiasm of our EMC Young Professionals! Our professional development event consisted of a Body Language lecture where Martina Sabath taught us how to relax before a talk, learn how to interpret gestures in a business arena and what pose would make the speaker look confident when he/she is on the podium.

Continuing Professional Development Events Calendar 2015

Continuing Professional Development Events Calendar 2015

Developing effective professional development programs: a case study

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the practices of a well-established professional development committee (PDC) at an academic library to reveal the development of effective professional development programs with various themes and the diversified delivering formats and the assessment of library employees’ training needs and the effectiveness of professional development programs with Needs Assessment Surveys and Program Follow-up Employee Opinion Surveys. Professional development programs are widely adopted in academic libraries to support the professional growth of library employees and improve the quality of library services. Developing, promoting and administering professional development programs are main responsibilities of the PDC. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based upon the PDC’s recent practices since 2011. The Needs Assessment Surveys (in 2012 and 2013) are conducted electronically, so are the Opinion Surveys since 2013 which are formerly conducted in paper. Findings – The well-planned professional development program themes with special designed delivery formats have demonstrated their effectiveness through high attendance of each professional development event. The positive results and high compliments from both Need Assessment Surveys and Opinion Surveys also endorse their values to employee’s professional growth. Originality/value – This paper classifies various professional development program ideas into six program themes and three special delivery formats, and each is presented with intention, planning and organization. This paper also provides details of using different Need Assessment Surveys and Opinion Surveys for evaluation, which is also lacked in published literature.

Using social media to enhance career development opportunities for health promotion professionals.

For health promotion professionals, social media offers many ways to engage with a broader range of colleagues; participate in professional development events; promote expertise, products, or services; and learn about career-enhancing opportunities such as funding and fellowships. Previous work has recommended "building networking into what you are already doing." This article provides updated and new social media resources, as well as practical examples and strategies to promote effective use of social media. Social media offers health promotion professionals cost-effective opportunities to enhance their career by building communities of practice, participating in professional development events, and enriching classroom learning. Developing the skills necessary to use social media for networking is important in the public health workforce, especially as social media is increasingly used in academic and practice settings.

Instruction Boot Camp: Better Instruction Through Collaborative Course Design

ABSTRACT This case study details Oregon State University Libraries and Press’ Instruction Boot Camp, a professional development event inspired by several different instructional improvement models, where librarians have a chance to work collaboratively in small groups of four to six to redesign a library instruction session. Librarians from six different departments participated in two Instruction Boot Camp sessions in 2012. The benefits of such collaboration include drawing upon the collective wisdom of the group to design a course and having a dedicated time to work on instruction. Although our assessment did not include student-learning outcomes, participating librarians found this a useful and valuable experience.

Predictors of Postgraduate Dental Specialty Training Choice: The Nigerian Experience

Objectives: The objectives of this study are three-fold. First, to highlight areas of shortage in postgraduate dental education in Nigeria, secondly to propose the introduction of dental advisors into our postgraduate dental training and thirdly, to propose a model that could aid such dental advisors in predicting postgraduate dental training choice among Nigerian dental graduates. It is hoped that such a model would have enough predictive powers to aid would-be dental advisors in guiding fresh dental graduates aright in their choice of postgraduate dental training. Methods: Participants were dentists attending compulsory continuing professional development events at different centres across Nigeria. Graded Likert responses of 16 potential predictors of dental postgraduate training choice were obtained through self-administered questionnaires filled by 112 Nigerian dentists (mean age of 35.21 years ± 8.21). Data were analyzed after necessary recodes to allow for meaningful statistical analysis. The predictive power of each factor was determined by inter-specialty and intra-specialty comparisons. Results: A total of 51 males and 61 females participated in the study with predictors rated from 2.29 ± 1.23 to 4.09 ± 1.04. Diagnostic challenge strongly predicted a choice of Oral and maxillofacial surgery. Affluence and income jointly predicted choices of orthodontics and restorative dentistry while the female gender predicted a choice of pediatric dentistry. (P=<0.001). Work-life balance influenced a choice of preventive dentistry-related specialties in combination with other factors. Periodontology had several unique predictors. Conclusions: Income, work hours, private practice opportunity and affluence were stronger predictors than skills and course content in this study. There's a gradual shift from an oral surgery predilection to restorative dentistry. A female predilection for pediatric dentistry and male predilection for oral surgery persist. Endangered specialties like periodontics, prosthodontics justify a call office of postgraduate dental advisors in Nigerian postgraduate dental training to avert the looming dental training manpower crisis

Realising the health benefits of safe work - a continuing professional education for primary care practitioners

Background: General Practitioners complete around 91% of compensable certificates, and play a significant role in promoting the awareness of the health benefits of work. The Australasian Consensus Statement on the Health Benefits of Work developed by the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) has been endorsed by 100 organisations including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). The Victorian WorkCover Authority and TAC has undertaken a program of work focussing on the delivery of a general practice education and awareness raising program.Objectives: The objectives of the program were to; engage Medicare Locals to undertake a general practice education and awareness raising program, develop training materials for Medicare Local staff to undertake practice liaison visits, recruit and train General Practice peer educators to deliver in-practice education and develop and deliver content for continuing professional development events in selected Medicare Locals.Methods: A suite of educational resources were developed and tailored to suit delivery in a General Practice setting. The Medicare Locals were targeted if they had high certification rates, the educational events were delivered in-practice settings and Principal findings The practice target was reached in all Medicare Locals, a total of 457 general practices across the five Medicare Locals were visited. The program was successful in raising awareness of the health benefits of work amongst GPs and practice staff.Discussion: The education has given general practitioners the impetus to talk to patients early about the health benefits of work and has the potential for GPs to be more confident in their clinical management of compensable patients.Conclusion: That the educational program continue with the Victorian WorkCover Authority and TAC working with key peak bodies and medical colleges to ensure education about the Health Benefits of Safe Work become a mandatory component of all GP postgraduate training.

Translation as a Multilingual and Multicultural Mirror Framed by Service-Learning

The service-learning Spanish translation course (Spanish 315: “Spanish in the Business World”) taught at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne in the fall of 2010 and spring of 2012 provided an ideal context for the students to connect with the Hispanic community in our geographical region. Once the connection through service was established, students learned about the significance of education for the Hispanic community and about the role of translation in ensuring full participation of Spanish-speaking parents in their children’s school experiences. Such connections and the knowledge that ensued were crucial to developing and delivering the best Spanish translations possible. The impact of our work extended beyond the initial expectations of engaging in community partnership and translating learning materials for use by Spanish-speaking families with children attending one of the local elementary schools. Apart from the translations, our products included a poster presentation by students at a service-learning summit, three faculty presentations at professional development events at the university, a 2011–12 community engagement faculty fellowship encompassing service, teaching and research, and a coauthored poster symposium at the National Research Outreach Conference. Regarding scholarship, a significant gain has been to learn how much translation and service-learning complement each other and engage the parties involved in partnership, providing a sound basis for the development of long-term multilingual and multicultural community projects.

Complementary expertise in a zoo educator professional development event contributes to the construction of understandings of affective transformation

Cultural Historical Activity Theory served as the analytical framework for the study of a professional development event for a zoo’s education department, specifically designed to build understandings of “Affective Transformation,” an element pertinent to the organization’s strategic plan. Three key products—an Affective Transformation model, scaffolding schematic, and definition, “providing emotional experiences for visitors which increase caring for animals and nature that may lead to zoo-related nature-protective behaviors”—emerged as a result of ongoing deliberation among professional development community members over two days. Participants, including both management- and non-management-level staff, as well as an expert facilitator, contributed complementary expertise to the process. The discussions, therefore, crossed both vertical and horizontal layers of authority. Moreover, leadership was distributed across these levels in the development of these products. Members used pre-existing resources, as well as tools created in the course of the professional development event. Interactions among participants and resources were instrumental in Affective Transformation product development. Examination of one zoo’s construction of understanding of affective goals, therefore, may offer insights to other organizations with similar aspirations.

The impact of short-term professional development on participant outcomes: a review of the literature

A narrative literature review was conducted to identify the design features of effective short-term face-to-face professional development (PD) events. The 23 reviewed studies described PD with durations of 30 hours or less and involved participants in education or human service-related professions. Design features associated with positive impacts of short-term PD include sufficient time based on topic complexity, the use of learning objectives, alignment with participants’ training needs, demonstrations of desired behaviors, opportunities for participant practice, group discussions, pre-work and homework, active learning tasks that require cognitive processing, a participant-centered setting and follow-up support to promote transfer of learning.

Turning the tide: Putting acute aphasia management back on the agenda through evidence-based practice

Background: The role of speech pathologists working in the acute hospital setting has evolved away from service provision to people with aphasia and their families towards a stronger focus on dysphagia. Evidence-based practice (EBP) can be conceptualised as the integration of four streams of evidence: research-based clinical evidence, clinical expertise, patient preferences and values, and the practice context. EBP is an important tenet in current healthcare. However, it is not clear whether speech pathologists in the acute setting are using EBP to support their aphasia management. Not adopting evidence-based approaches to care has the potential to result in a negative impact on people with aphasia and their families, healthcare services, and speech pathologists, who experience a sense of dissonance related to their current service provision This paper explores acute aphasia management through an EBP lens in an attempt to better understand this dilemma. Aims: This paper applies the conceptual framework of EBP to acute aphasia management. An extensive, systematically conducted review of the international literature relating to health professionals was undertaken. The findings are presented as a narrative literature review. Main Contribution: This paper describes and evaluates how the different streams of research evidence, clinical expertise, patient preferences and values, and the practice context contribute to speech pathologists' management of acute aphasia. Further, the paper identifies current gaps in the literature and suggests a research agenda for the field. Conclusions: Little is known about how speech pathologists integrate and implement the different streams of evidence in EBP, and how these contribute to acute aphasia practice. Speech pathologists report that clinical guidelines containing low-level evidence are the main source of research information. Other sources of knowledge include colleagues, professional development events, and websites. Additional challenges to the management of people with aphasia in the acute hospital setting may be posed by the physical environment, the culture of the acute hospital setting, and the provision of leadership to support evidence-based approaches to care. The challenge of using a person-centred approach to care for people with aphasia is acknowledged. Further research exploring speech pathologists' perceptions of their role in acute aphasia management, the clinical decision-making process of speech pathologists in relation to acute aphasia management, and the experiences of people with aphasia and their families in the acute setting is required. This will allow for the design of patient-centred approaches to care, and enable the implementation of evidence-based acute aphasia management.