Three-hour Workshop Research Articles

Effectiveness of a predator avoidance program for elementary-aged youth.

With thousands of children abducted and abused each year, efforts are needed to keep children safe from predators. Revved Up Kids (RUK) is an intervention that gives elementary-aged children the necessary tools to recognize and avoid dangerous people and situations. The purposes of this study were to describe the RUK intervention components and document its effectiveness. This evaluation utilized a quasi-experimental design to determine the effectiveness of RUK. The single-session intervention was offered in two formats: one-hour (n = 119 youth) and three-hour (n = 28 youth) workshops. RUK workshop effectiveness was compared to a comparison group (n = 211 youth) that did not receive an intervention. Data were collected at baseline, immediate-post, and 1-month follow-up from second to fourth grade participants. A series of linear mixed models were fitted. Compared to the comparison group, participants in both RUK workshops showed significant improvements across the three time points. More specifically, participants in the one-hour and three-hour RUK workshops significantly increased their safety knowledge measured by the Recognize Score (p < 0.01), Avoid Score (p < 0.01), and Escape Score (p < 0.01), respectively. These effective single-session workshops can be easily introduced into schools and community-based settings to complement existing efforts to prevent child abduction and abuse.

An English Language and Methodology Course for Training Content Area Teachers

This research was conducted with ten elementary school content teachers from a private educational institution in the department of Quindío in order to determine the influence of a language and methodology course on the development of teachers' professionalism and English language proficiency. To determine the impact of the course, qualitative research was carried out in which six three-hour workshops were applied and three different perspectives were gathered after each session in the form of questionnaires, a teacher's journal, and a peer observer format. According to the results, the implementation of the CBI in the course was successful because it had an impact on teachers’ perceptions, content teachers’ language proficiency and their professional development; the majority of teachers demonstrated an improvement in their English language skills.

Cooking the Course from Scratch

Applying course design fundamentals grounded in sound pedagogy is a critical first step when creating outcome-based, student-centred learning experiences. In the described three-hour workshop, the participants worked collaboratively to design a learning activity that included recognition of prerequisite skills and learning outcomes aligned with both instructional strategies and assessment processes. On completion of the activity, each group presented to all participants who, along with facilitators, provided constructive feedback on all components of the designed activity. Workshop satisfaction feedback from seven sessions (four in-class and three online) indicates that the participants were highly satisfied and felt more confident in applying the fundamentals when designing learning activities for their courses.&#x0D; Keywords: course design, learning experience, teaching, educational development.

Including the Experiences of Children and Youth in Media Education

This article explores how the concepts of inclusion and experience can be approached and applied in educating children and youth about the media. Using a multiple-case study approach, we present three cases where media education programs were delivered to students in the Czech Republic. The first case is a three-month-long program aimed at nurturing students’ media literacy and encouraging their civic participation. It involved 17 vocational school students (ages 17–19) at risk of social exclusion. The second case is a three-hour workshop promoting children’s cooperation with their peers and civic engagement with media in a diverse society tested with 60 children (ages 10–11) in three classrooms in two public elementary schools. The third is a year-long media education program based on students’ guided self-reflection on their media experiences, attended by eight students (ages 15–17) at a private high school. Despite numerous differences in the programs (goals, activities, duration, context, student demographics, etc.) and their varied approaches to promoting inclusivity and the whole student experience, we argue that each one has the potential to contribute to creating a more inclusive society that respects diversity. We also believe that longer programs would be more successful in supporting children and youths’ immediate and future well-being.

Brain Death Determination and Communication: An Innovative Approach Using Simulation and Standardized Patients

ContextPalliative medicine clinicians in hospital settings are often involved in the care of patients dying in critical care settings, with a subset from brain death. Brain death is a complex concept, not only for families, but also for clinicians. There is wide variability in adhering to formalized guidelines for brain death determination. In addition, communication techniques regarding brain death determination are distinct from those used in shared decision-making. There is a need to obtain knowledge and practical skills in brain death determination, including examination and communication. Simulation can provide a low-stakes setting to practice the process of brain death determination and communication. ObjectivesDescribe a novel approach using high-fidelity simulation to teach hospice and palliative medicine fellows the practical and nuanced aspects of brain death determination and communication. Discuss the impact on fellows’ confidence and knowledge for this learning activity. Innovation/MethodsThis three-hour workshop includes a didactic session followed by a single case conducted in three parts using standardized patient encounters and high-fidelity simulation with manikin. It is delivered annually, as part of the monthly core didactic conference for all hospice and palliative medicine fellows in the four fellowship programs in our region. Outcomes/ResultsPre- and post-intervention surveys were performed assessing perceived confidence and content-related knowledge, which showed significant improvement in both areas. Comments/ConclusionSimulation is a practical and constructive method for teaching the challenging concepts and unique communication skills involved in brain death determination.

Fabricating future bodies: making digital sexualities research matter

PurposeThis paper critically examines the development and direction of the Fabricating Future Bodies (FFB) Workshop. Troubling notions of co-production as enacting equality or empowering participants, it draws on feminist posthuman and new materialist concepts to understand it as an eventful process that occurs in unpredictable and shifting affect-laden assemblages.Design/methodology/approachThe FFB Workshop formed part of the final phase of my Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded doctoral study, titled “Exploring young people's digital sexual cultures through creative, visual and arts-based methods”. With additional support from Wales' Doctoral Training Partnership, the workshop provided sixteen young people (aged 11–13 years) from one fieldwork school with the opportunity to work with two professional artists in order to creatively re-animate research findings on the digitally networked body. In a three-hour workshop, participants produced cut-up texts and life-size body fabrics that re-imagined what bodies might do, be and become in the future.FindingsThis paper finds that co-productive practices cannot flatten out the institutional and societal power dynamics operating within schools, highlighting how adult intervention was necessary to hold space for young people to participate. It also observes the agency of the art materials employed in the workshop in enabling young people to articulate what mattered to them about the digitally networked body. While the workshop was limited in its ability to renegotiate institutional and peer power dynamics, it produced rich data that indicated how carefully choreographed arts-based practices offer generative possibilities for digital sexualities research and education.Originality/valueBy employing speculative fiction, cut-up poetry and textiles to explore the digitally networked body, this paper outlines an innovative methodological-pedagogical approach to engaging with young people's digitally networked lives.

University Preparation Programs for School Librarians

This three-hour workshop provides an opportunity for school librarianship professors to discuss and share with their peers best practices in creating relevant assignments for school librarians in the 21st century on the topics of collaboration and leadership. For each topic, the professors from Australia, Canada, and the United States will share the following on a large screen and with handouts: (a) national standards that guide course preparation, (b) the course description, (c) course objectives, and (d) one sample assignment. Assignments for both topics will include the instructions and also the rubrics. After each topic presentation, participants are encouraged to share how they teach collaboration and leadership, and they will then be divided into small groups to share additional ideas. A third component of the presentation focuses on a 2013 U.S. grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Studies to deliver four online courses for doctoral candidates from various institutions with an interest in school library doctoral studies. The session will close with the participants brainstorming critical issues and topics for future IASL presentations from school librarianship professors. Before the IASL conference begins, emails will be sent to attendees who are school library professors to encourage them to attend and to bring sample assignments on teaching collaboration and leadership as a way to extend our conversation beyond the Australia, Canada and the United States.

Developing and evaluating nationwide expert-delivered academic integrity workshops for the higher education sector in Australia

ABSTRACT In 2019, the Australian higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), commissioned a team of academic integrity experts to design and facilitate a series of national workshops, with the aim of increasing academic integrity knowledge and building a culture of integrity across the higher education sector. As a team, we investigated whether these three-hour workshops would make a measurable difference to workshop participants’ awareness of academic integrity issues and their confidence in their own institutions’ practices. Three hundred and forty-two (342) workshop participants (representing 75.7% of attendees) completed pre-workshop and post-workshop surveys regarding their awareness of academic integrity issues and their confidence in their institutions’ academic integrity practices. Results from the post-workshop surveys showed that the participants expressed significantly increased awareness about the Model Statement of Commitment to Academic Integrity, Australian and international academic integrity research, and ways to promote academic integrity. In addition, the participants expressed increased confidence in their institutions’ risk-mitigation strategies and staff members’ ability to detect contract cheating. However, these results were moderated by institution size and institution type (university vs. independent higher education provider). The evaluation data indicates that even a short staff development workshop can make a difference to participants’ understanding and knowledge of academic integrity. We conclude that this type of focused and evidence-based professional development can make an important contribution to the development of a culture of academic integrity across the higher education sector, and can provide participants with avenues for subsequent professional development and institutional policy improvement.

Psychosocial Support for Healthcare Workers in Vietnam During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background As a national health care system becomes overwhelmed, healthcare workers (HCWs) are challenged in unique ways. Healthcare workers have been found to experience heightened levels of anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, and suicidality, along with decreased attention to self-care. The present study reviews a health education and capacity-building workshop in Vietnam, which focused on teaching HCWs how to develop positive coping and self-care strategies. Methods The three-hour workshop was presented to 856 HCWs in August, 2021, and had learning objectives related emotional intelligence, burnout, compassion fatigue, PTSD, and practical tips for self-care. Participants were surveyed eight weeks after the workshop to measure their implementation of self-care practices. Participants provided numerous comments about the helpfulness of the self-care skills they learned. Results Eighty-six percent of participants either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, I have applied what I learned about self-care to my self-care routine. Discussion Participants in the sample clearly reported that they were implementing self-care strategies; their comments strongly support that this practice was not only functional, but also meaningful. The workshop presentations specifically targeted the areas of building social support, developing positive coping styles and self-care, improving lifestyle habits, and focusing on service to community and meaning-making. The fact that the vast majority of participants reported using these skills in their work and professional lives is an important outcome. Conclusion The available evidence demonstrates that participants in the workshop have implemented new strategies in their self-care practices. International collaborators in other countries are encouraged to partner with in-country teams to market and organize similar programs, and to be prepared to address the ongoing needs of the communities they support.

The Effect of Bottleium, a Bottle-Type Aquarium, Ownership on Community-Dwelling Older Adults

The pet ownership of ornamental fish acts positively towards the well-being of older adults. A Bottleium is an aquarium that uses a glass bottle instead of a tank. Its small size allows older adults to own ornamental fish as a pet. In this study, the effect of Bottleium ownership on the daily life of community-dwelling older adults was explored. A three-hour workshop to build one’s own Bottleium (size: 11cm×11cm×20cm) was hosted at Toyoshikidai housing complex (Kashiwa, Japan). An ornamental fish and a freshwater snail were added to each bottle. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants one month after taking the Bottleium home (N=25). The Bottleium ownership acted as a stimulus to older adults. The effects on an individual were “trigger of conversation” and “development of responsibility.” Participants living alone treated the fish as their companions and had light conversations. They carefully looked after the fish as would a pet owner. Furthermore, the Bottleium facilitated “interpersonal interactions.” Basic information was provided during the workshop, but participants assisted each other in complementing the information, and they even visited each other’s residences to observe the fish. Older adults who do not own the Bottleium also visited for this purpose. Two cases were reported where participants looked after each other’s fish in times of hospitalization. The interpersonal interactions might have resulted from the nature of the housing complex, as participants were already familiar with each other. Similar phenomena could be anticipated at places such as apartments and nursing homes.

28. AN APPROACH TO DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS FOR PEDIATRIC RESIDENTS: CHILD MALTREATMENT

Background Identifying and managing suspected child maltreatment is an unfortunate part of every pediatrician's job. Many pediatric trainees feel uncomfortable with multiple aspects of suspected child maltreatment cases including introducing concerns with caregivers, asking follow-up questions, documentation, requirements for mandated reporters, and available resources. Just like medical knowledge, communicating with patients and families in difficult situations is a skill that can be taught but may be lacking in the formal medical curriculum. Objectives: To teach a skill set that will increase resident comfort level in the setting of suspected child maltreatment, specifically: introducing the concern with caregivers, follow up questions, reviewing requirements as mandated reporters, and practical skills regarding physical examination and documentation. Methods A three-hour multi-modal workshop was developed for pediatric trainees at the beginning of their intern year to teach a skill set that would increase resident comfort level in the setting of suspected child maltreatment cases. Interns experienced a didactic session covering an approach to difficult conversations (SPIKES and HARD protocols) as well as practical knowledge regarding their role as mandated reporter, history taking, physical exam, and documentation. After the didactic session, residents experienced a role play session where they could practice the skills they just learned. Pre- and post- workshop surveys were obtained from trainees to evaluate both prior experience with child maltreatment cases as well as their comfort level with future child maltreatment scenarios before and after the workshop. Results A total of 28 Pediatric and Medicine/Pediatrics interns completed this workshop over the course of 3 academic years. Compared to pre-workshop data, interns felt more comfortable discussing concerns for child maltreatment with parents or caregivers (p Conclusions A three-hour multi-modal workshop improved interns’ comfort level regarding suspected child maltreatment cases including raising concerns with caregivers, communication with other team members, and documentation related to these cases. References “Practical Plans for Difficult Conversations in Medicine: Strategies That Work to Break Bad News.” Robert Buckman, MD PhD.

Designing for Growth and Development – A co-designed course for homeless people

Abstract Background In many developed countries, homelessness remains an intractable challenge for intersectoral policies. People who are homeless struggle with a myriad of problems. They frequently experience stigmatisation and social marginalisation. Physical and mental health may be severely compromised, and it could be challenging to retain a sense of personal agency. Objectives. To co-design a personal and organisational development training course, in collaboration with clients and staff of a homeless service provider. To ensure that homeless individuals develop strategies and supports to help them navigate complex life circumstances. 6 three-hour workshops, informed by design-thinking. Each workshop session was co-designed (2 clients of a homeless charity, one staff member of staff, and two academics) in Ireland. Workshops followed the design cycle, starting with empathy exercises, then moved to define specific life challenges related to homelessness. Solution-focused ideation sessions followed. The team proceeded then to build a testable 'prototype'. Results The team jointly developed a high degree of creative confidence and shared responsibility for different sessions. The team developed a 'peer-support programme' as a tangible output. Academic team members gained deep insights into the lived experience of homelessness; client members deployed skills and experiences and gained renewed confidence in their abilities. The homeless charity proceeds with testing the 'peer-support' programme prototype. Conclusions We expect the Access and Life-Long learning programme at the university will offer the programme as a credit-bearing course. Its acceptability and usability will be tested. Key messages Homeless individuals can be meaningfully involved in designing services that empower them to navigate complex systems. Design thinking yields personal and organisational benefits.

Teaching Commons through the Game of Musical Chairs

In an attempt to reinforce the role of education on the commons, this article proposes the use of non-formal education activities and experiential learning. Exploring new ways to talk to non-expert audiences about the commons, I developed an experiential education workshop called “Musical chairs as a commons” by hacking the classic musical chairs game. I have delivered this workshop to diverse audiences during the last five years, from activists for the commons and NGO members to university masters students and scholars. This article presents the stages, the form, the content and the educational approach of the three-hour workshop and discusses further steps based on participants’ reflections and criticism.

Mindfulness in medical education: Students’ perceptions and four recommendations for implementation of a mindfulness intervention

Background: Faculties of Medicine around the globe have implemented mindfulness-based curricula to deal with medical student’s burnout, anxiety and depression. The purpose of this qualitative study is to assess students’ perception of a mandatory mindfulness intervention and their recommendations for further curricula development and implementation.Methods: Third-year medical students participated in a mandatory three-hour mindfulness workshop embedded in their family medicine academic week. Eleven students consented to two interviews which explored their perceptions of mindfulness and the workshop in relation to their personal and professional wellbeing as well as their views for the implementation of a longitudinal mindfulness curriculum.Results: Student and institutional benefits and barriers relating to the curriculum were identified. Student’s benefits included positive changes in stress, self-awareness and personally that also translated into self-reported better patient care. Students reported lack of time, forgetting to practice and lack of knowledge about mindfulness as barriers. Institutional pride for their support of student wellness and an overfilled curriculum, were the major institutional benefits and barriers respectively, to the expansion of this curriculum. Among developing an implementing a longitudinal mindfulness curriculum, we found four key features to consider: Firstly to engage the stakeholders; secondly, to incorporate the mindfulness intervention into the curriculum with both a mandatory and elective component; thirdly, to emphasize the clinical implications of the mindfulness intervention and fourthly, to have protected time for wellness interventions.Conclusions: Introducing mindfulness into the undergraduate medical school curriculum through this workshop resulted in perceived personal, institutional and professional benefits. For faculties of medicine that want to implement a mindfulness intervention, we found four key components for implementing a mindfulness intervention in their institutions. Further research is needed to better quantify the benefits and to identify ways to manage barriers at both individual and institutional levels.

An exploratory component analysis of emotion regulation strategies for improving emotion regulation and emotional eating

Emotion-focused treatments are generally efficacious for improving emotion regulation and consequently, improving clinical symptoms across numerous disorders. However, emotion-focused treatment approaches often contain numerous treatment components, limiting our ability to identify which are most efficacious. As such, the current pilot study sought to isolate three components common across a range of emotion-focused treatments (i.e. emotional awareness, emotion down-regulation, and distress tolerance) and test the impact of each component on (1) emotion regulation and (2) emotional eating behavior. Adults (N = 76) who reported four or more emotional eating episodes in the past month were assigned to attend a one-time, three-hour workshop focused on either awareness, down-regulation or tolerance of emotions, and were subsequently evaluated at one-week and two-weeks follow-up. All groups experienced equivalent improvements in emotional eating at two-weeks follow-up (F [1.47, 85.38 ] = 7.60, p < .01). However, groups showed differential patterns of change across facets of emotion regulation. Improvements in access to healthy emotion regulation strategies was moderately related to improvements in emotional eating in Down-Regulation and Distress Tolerance groups (r [18] = 0.40, r [20] = 0.63, respectively). In the Distress Tolerance group, improvements in emotional eating were moderately related to improvements in acceptance of emotions (r[20] = 0.33) and ability to refrain from impulses (r[20] = 0.41). In the Emotional Awareness group, improvements in emotional acceptance (r[20] = 0.30), awareness (r[20] = 0.38) and clarity (r[20] = 0.39) were moderately related to improvements in emotional eating. While several components of emotion-focused treatments may improve outcomes, each component may demonstrate a unique mechanism of action. Further study is needed to isolate these treatment components in fully powered clinical trials to better understand the mechanisms of action for emotion-focused treatments and ultimately develop more efficient and effective treatment approaches.

The evaluation of the impact of anti-stigma training led by "experts by experience" on participants' attitudes towards persons with mental illness.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of anti-stigma training led by people who had previously experienced mental health crises (i.e., "experts by experience") on various aspects of participants' attitudes towards the people with mental illness. The three-hour workshops were attended by 185 people; the training was held in 17 groups, with 3-19 people in each (11 on average). Almost half of the participants (45.4%) were employees of the mental health care system. The participants were asked to fill out a set of questionnaires immediately before and after the training, which evaluated the following aspects of their attitudes: social distance, stigmatizing attributions, beliefs about self-determination/ ability to attain important life goals by people with mental illness, and also beliefs about the social value of people with mental illness. The respondents were asked to complete the same set of questionnaires again online a month and six months after the training. The data were analyzed based on a piecewise latent trajectory model. Out of the 185 people who participated in the workshops, 115 (62.2%) filled out the questionnaires a month after, and 87 (47.0%) six months after the training. The analyses showed an improvement in all four measures of attitudes expressed directly after the training. In three out of the four examined aspects of attitudes (intensity of social distance, stigmatizing attributions and beliefs about self-determination of people with mental illness) the positive impact of the training continued after six months. The results provide preliminary empirical evidence that the structured antistigma intervention under evaluation, using the elements of education and interpersonal contact can be an effective tool for improving social attitudes towards people with mental illness.

Teaching socio-scientific issues through evidence-based thinking practices: Appropriateness, benefits, and challenges of using an instructional scaffold

Teachers are expected to improve their students’ analytical thinking and decision-making skills through evidence-based thinking and critical evaluation processes. In this study, a three-hour workshop was conducted to investigate science teachers’ views about teaching socio-scientific issues through argumentation and introducing an instructional scaffold, Model-Evidence Link diagrams to promote the use of argumentation and critical evaluation in science classrooms. 125 science teachers, who were working in public schools of an urban area in Turkey participated in the workshop. Findings revealed that 90% of the participants stated that the use of MEL diagram is appropriate for science teaching. Promoting higher order thinking skills was the highest benefit, whereas the need for time for the development and implementation of the material was the greatest challenge for the use of the MEL diagrams in science classrooms. This study contributes to the literature on teaching socio-scientific issues, especially through argumentation, evidence-based thinking, and critical evaluation.

Narrative Approach to Goals of Care Discussions: A Novel Curriculum

ContextInnovative patient-centered approaches to goals of care (GOC) communication training are needed. Teaching a narrative approach, centered on the patient's unique story, is conceptually sound but has not been evaluated with respect to objective skills attainment. We developed a curriculum based on a novel, easily-remembered narrative approach to GOC, the 3-Act Model, and piloted it with a cohort of internal medicine (IM) interns. ObjectivesTo describe the development of the 3-Act Model curriculum and to assess its impact on the GOC communication skills of IM interns. MethodsThe curriculum was developed with input from multidisciplinary experts, IM residents, and patient/family representative. Notable elements included instrument development with validity evidence established, determination of proficiency standards, and creation of role-play scenarios. In two three-hour workshops, interns participated in role-plays as both providers and patients, before and after teaching (which included narrative reflection, didactics, and video demonstration). Results22 interns played the role of provider in five unique scenarios; 106 proficiency ratings were analyzable. Interns objectively rated as proficient increased from 30% (pretest) to 100% (final role-play). By the end of the training, 96% of interns strongly agreed or agreed that they felt ready to independently lead basic GOC discussions and the percentage who strongly agreed increased with successive role-plays. All interns indicated they would recommend the training. ConclusionThis pilot demonstrates that the 3-Act Model is teachable and appreciated by learners. This GOC curriculum is the first based on a narrative approach to demonstrate objective skills improvement.

An online workshop integrated into Immunology course to teach pharmacogenomics to the first-year pharmacy students

Abstract Genetic basis of antibody structure is taught as a part of didactic course of Immunology to first-year pharmacy students. Therefore, we designed a three-hour workshop for P-1 students as a part of didactic Immunology course. Online workshops offer a rich multimedia learning experience, the interactive format includes guided learning videos, engaging discussion, assessment and comprehensive survey. Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards 2016 include pharmacogenomics, it is the responsibility of pharmacy schools to prepare pharmacists entering clinical practice to effectively use genetic data in the delivery of precision medicine. However, in a 2010 survey the state of pharmacogenomics instruction at most pharmacy schools was reported as “poor” or “not at all adequate”. Pharmacogenomics is defined as the study of how genes affects a person’s response to drugs. We proposed a new method of instruction using online learning resources to drive better learning and awareness of pharmacogenomics at a very early stage in pharmacy education. 64 students were included in this study. Two YouTube videos 45 minutes each, i.e., one describing basic genetics and the other pharmacogenomics were posted on Moodle. A case-study model was used to bring home the basic concepts. A pre- and post-workshop google forum was posted to assess student’s learning. A Moodle-based chat forum was also incorporated to take students questions during the workshop. The data showed that most of the students were unware of the importance and relevance of pharmacogenomics and the workshop improved learning this significantly. Online learning tools like workshops were found to be student-friendly and a flexible format with no scheduled meeting times.

Using Technology Enhanced Learning to Promote the Acquisition of Practical Skills in Occupational Therapy

This paper focuses on the use of game-based technology to effectively choose, prescribe, and safely use equipment, which are vital occupational therapy skills. A three-hour workshop was designed for 42 second year British occupational therapy students across two cohorts. The goal was for students to try out a variety of equipment ranging from small household and kitchen aids to elevating chairs and hoisting equipment. Students used the game-based technology during a class to encourage their engagement with practical aspects of equipment use and fitting. A short, optional survey indicated use of the game-based technology resulted in extremely high student engagement and faculty grading identified previously unnoticed student errors in the learning activity. After this workshop, students could enter practice with critical confidence rather than relying on fieldwork placements to provide adaptive equipment use skills.