Secondary school physical education (PE) teachers are continuously challenged to find ways to support students learning and motivate them for an active and healthy lifestyle. To address this complexity, continuing teacher professional development (TPD) is key. Technological tools can facilitate the effective delivery of TPD in this context. Successful implementation of this technology, however, is not self-evident. Based on the general aim of effectively integrating technologies in the educational process and focusing on the needs of educators, this study examines how the evidence-based theoretical TARGET framework for creating a motivating PE learning climate might be embedded into a digital professional development tool for PE teachers, useful in everyday practice. It presents a case study in which a multidisciplinary team of researchers, designers, and end-users iteratively went through several phases of need identification, idea generation, designing, development, and testing. By using a participatory approach, we were able to collect contextualized data and gain insights into users’ preferences, requirements, and ideas for designing and engaging with the tool. Based on these insights the TPD TARGET-tool for PE teachers was ultimately developed. The most prominent characteristics of this tool are (1) the combination of an evaluative function with teaching strategy support, (2) the strong emphasis on ease of use due to the complex PE teaching context, (3) the avoidance of social comparison, and suggestions of normative judgment, and (4) the allowance for a high level of customization and teacher autonomy.
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INTRODUCTION: The conceptual ambiguity of the integrated care concept precludes a full understanding of what constitutes a well-integrated health system, posing a significant challenge in measuring the level of integrated care. Most available measures have been developed from a disease-specific perspective and only measure certain aspects of integrated care. Based on the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care, which provides a detailed description of the complex concept of integrated care, a measurement tool has been developed to assess integrated care within a care system as a whole gathered from healthcare providers' and managerial perspectives. This paper describes the methodology of a study seeking to validate the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care measurement tool within and across the Singapore Regional Health System. The Singapore Regional Health System is a recent national strategy developed to provide a better-integrated health system to deliver seamless and person-focused care to patients through a network of providers within a specified geographical region.METHODS: The validation process includes the assessment of the content of the measure and its psychometric properties.CONCLUSION: If the measure is deemed to be valid, the study will provide the first opportunity to measure integrated care within Singapore Regional Health System with the results allowing insights in making recommendations for improving the Regional Health System and supporting international comparison.
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AIM To examine which instruments used to assess participation of children with acquired brain injury (ABI) or cerebral palsy (CP) align with attendance and/or involvement constructs of participation; and to systematically review measurement properties of these instruments in children with ABI or CP, to guide instrument selection. METHOD Five databases were searched. Instruments that quantified ‘attendance’ and/or ‘involvement’ aspects of participation according to the family of participation-related constructs were selected. Data on measurement properties were extracted and methodological quality of the studies assessed. RESULTS Thirty-seven instruments were used to assess participation in children with ABI or CP. Of those, 12 measured attendance and/or involvement. The reliability, validity, and responsiveness of eight of these instruments were examined in 14 studies with children with ABI or CP. Sufficient measurement properties were reported for most of the measures, but no instrument had been assessed on all relevant properties. Moreover, most psychometric studies have marked methodological limitations. INTERPRETATION Instruments to assess participation of children with ABI or CP should be selected carefully, as many available measures do not align with attendance and/or involvement. Evidence for measurement properties is limited, mainly caused by low methodological study quality. Future studies should follow recommended methodological guidelines.
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Size measurement plays an essential role for micro-/nanoparticle characterization and property evaluation. Due to high costs, complex operation or resolution limit, conventional characterization techniques cannot satisfy the growing demand of routine size measurements in various industry sectors and research departments, e.g., pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and food industry etc. Together with start-up SeeNano and other partners, we will develop a portable compact device to measure particle size based on particle-impact electrochemical sensing technology. The main task in this project is to extend the measurement range for particles with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 20 um and to validate this technology with realistic samples from various application areas. In this project a new electrode chip will be designed and fabricated. It will result in a workable prototype including new UMEs (ultra-micro electrode), showing that particle sizing can be achieved on a compact portable device with full measuring range. Following experimental testing with calibrated particles, a reliable calibration model will be built up for full range measurement. In a further step, samples from partners or potential customers will be tested on the device to evaluate the application feasibility. The results will be validated by high-resolution and mainstream sizing techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Coulter counter.
The denim industry faces many complex sustainability challenges and has been especially criticized for its polluting and hazardous production practices. Reducing resource use of water, chemicals and energy and changing denim production practices calls for collaboration between various stakeholders, including competing denim brands. There is great benefit in combining denim brands’ resources and knowledge so that commonly defined standards and benchmarks are developed and realized on a scale that matters. Collaboration however, and especially between competitors, is highly complex and prone to fail. This project brings leading denim brands together to collectively take initial steps towards improving the ecological sustainability impact of denim production, particularly by establishing measurements, benchmarks and standards for resource use (e.g. chemicals, water, energy) and creating best practices for effective collaboration. The central research question of our project is: How do denim brands effectively collaborate together to create common, industry standards on resource use and benchmarks for improved ecological sustainability in denim production? To answer this question, we will use a mixed-method, action research approach. The project’s research setting is the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA), which has a strong denim cluster and is home to many international denim brands and start-ups.
In order to achieve much-needed transitions in energy and health, systemic changes are required that are firmly based on the principles of regard for others and community values, while at the same time operating in market conditions. Social entrepreneurship and community entrepreneurship (SCE) hold the promise to catalyze such transitions, as they combine bottom-up social initiatives with a focus on financially viable business models. SCE requires a facilitating ecosystem in order to be able to fully realize its potential. As yet it is unclear in which way the entrepreneurial ecosystem for social and community entrepreneurship facilitates or hinders the flourishing and scaling of such entrepreneurship. It is also unclear how exactly entrepreneurs and stakeholders influence their ecosystem to become more facilitative. This research programme addresses these questions. Conceptually it integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks with upcoming theories on civic wealth creation, collaborative governance, participative learning and collective action frameworks.This multidisciplinary research project capitalizes on a unique consortium: the Dutch City Deal ‘Impact Ondernemen’. In this collaborative research, we enhance and expand current data collection efforts and adopt a living-lab setting centered on nine local and regional cases for collaborative learning through experimenting with innovative financial and business models. We develop meaningful, participatory design and evaluation methods and state-of-the-art digital tools to increase the effectiveness of impact measurement and management. Educational modules for professionals are developed to boost the abovementioned transition. The project’s learnings on mechanisms and processes can easily be adapted and translated to a broad range of impact areas.
