Society and (higher) education have changed rapidly in recent decades. For example, since knowledge has become more volatile, life-long learning has become increasingly important. Higher education itself has been subject of change in the last decade as well. Particularly in the wake of social-constructivist theories, many institutes have transformed their learning approach to a model in which students are involved in different activities at different moments. Thus, student populations are becoming more heterogeneous. For example, they have different tutoring needs. This leads to an increasing workload for teachers. At the same time, students have changed in their expectations. A young generation of students, who grew up with ICT embedded in their daily lives, have become used to the almost instant availability of knowledge and accessibility of people through the internet. The aim of this research paper is to propose a solution for the extensive and diverse tutoring needs that have arisen in these novel societal and educational settings. Peer tutoring is indicated to be a promising replacement for teacher guidance in certain contexts. An important problem in its implementation, however, is how peers should be matched and how the tutoring itself should be organised. Instant messaging is proposed as a possible vehicle for solving these problems. Our study focuses on developing a system for automated allocated peer tutoring through instant messaging. A first version of the system was made available to two groups of students, one in distance education, the other in regular education. A selection of students participated in interviews, providing data on the feasibility and acceptance of this implementation of allocated synchronous peer tutoring. The interview data indicate that students are positive towards system-allocated peer tutoring, but that the context in which it is implemented is crucial.
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Society and (higher) education have changed rapidly in recent decades. For example, since knowledge has become more volatile, life-long learning has become increasingly important. Higher education itself has been subject of change in the last decade as well. Particularly in the wake of social-constructivist theories, many institutes have transformed their learning approach to a model in which students are involved in different activities at different moments. Thus, student populations are becoming more heterogeneous. For example, they have different tutoring needs. This leads to an increasing workload for teachers. At the same time, students have changed in their expectations. A young generation of students, who grew up with ICT embedded in their daily lives, have become used to the almost instant availability of knowledge and accessibility of people through the internet. The aim of this research paper is to propose a solution for the extensive and diverse tutoring needs that have arisen in these novel societal and educational settings. Peer tutoring is indicated to be a promising replacement for teacher guidance in certain contexts. An important problem in its implementation, however, is how peers should be matched and how the tutoring itself should be organised. Instant messaging is proposed as a possible vehicle for solving these problems. Our study focuses on developing a system for automated allocated peer tutoring through instant messaging. A first version of the system was made available to two groups of students, one in distance education, the other in regular education. A selection of students participated in interviews, providing data on the feasibility and acceptance of this implementation of allocated synchronous peer tutoring. The interview data indicate that students are positive towards system-allocated peer tutoring, but that the context in which it is implemented is crucial.
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Society and (higher) education have changed rapidly in recent decades. For example, since knowledge has become more volatile, life-long learning has become increasingly important. Higher education itself has been subject of change in the last decade as well. Particularly in the wake of social-constructivist theories, many institutes have transformed their learning approach to a model in which students are involved in different activities at different moments. Thus, student populations are becoming more heterogeneous. For example, they have different tutoring needs. This leads to an increasing workload for teachers. At the same time, students have changed in their expectations. A young generation of students, who grew up with ICT embedded in their daily lives, have become used to the almost instant availability of knowledge and accessibility of people through the internet. The aim of this research paper is to propose a solution for the extensive and diverse tutoring needs that have arisen in these novel societal and educational settings. Peer tutoring is indicated to be a promising replacement for teacher guidance in certain contexts. An important problem in its implementation, however, is how peers should be matched and how the tutoring itself should be organised. Instant messaging is proposed as a possible vehicle for solving these problems. Our study focuses on developing a system for automated allocated peer tutoring through instant messaging. A first version of the system was made available to two groups of students, one in distance education, the other in regular education. A selection of students participated in interviews, providing data on the feasibility and acceptance of this implementation of allocated synchronous peer tutoring. The interview data indicate that students are positive towards system-allocated peer tutoring, but that the context in which it is implemented is crucial.
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To examine the association of adolescents' snack and soft drink consumption with friendship group snack and soft drink consumption, availability of snacks and soft drinks at school, and personal characteristics, snack and soft drink consumption was assessed in 749 adolescents (398 girls, 351 boys, age 12.4 - 17.6 years), and their friends, and snack and soft drink availability at schools was measured. In regression analysis, consumption by friends, snack and soft drink availability within school, and personal characteristics (age, gender, education level, body mass index) were examined as determinants of snack and drink consumption. Snack and soft drink consumption was higher in boys, soft drink consumption was higher in lower educated adolescents, and snack consumption was higher in adolescents with a lower body weight. Peer group snack and soft drink consumption were associated with individual intake, particularly when availability in the canteen and vending machines was high. The association between individual and peer snack consumption was strong in boys, adolescents with a lower education level, and adolescents with lower body weights. Our study shows that individual snack and soft drink consumption is associated with specific combinations of consumption by peers, availability at school, and personal characteristics.
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This study provides an illustration of a research design complementary to randomized controlled trial to evaluate program effects, namely, participatory peer research (PPR). The PPR described in current study was carried out in a small sample (N = 10) of young adults with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and severe behavioral problems. During the PPR intervention, control and feedback to individuals is restored by training them to become participant-researchers, who collaborate in a small group of people with MID. Their research is aimed at the problems the young adults perceive and/or specific subjects of their interest. The study was designed as a multiple case study with an experimental and comparison group. Questionnaires and a semistructured interview were administered before and after the PPR project. Results of Reliable Change Index (RCI) analyses showed a decrease in self-serving cognitive distortions in the PPR group, but not in the comparison group. These results indicate that PPR helps to compensate for a lack of adequate feedback and control, and in turn may decrease distorted thinking and thereby possibly later challenging behavior.
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The Internet offers many opportunities to provide parenting support. An overview of empirical studies in this domain is lacking, and little is known about the design of webbased parenting resources and their evaluations, raising questions about its position in the context of parenting intervention programs. This article is a systematic review of empirical studies (n = 75), published between 1998 and 2010, that describe resources of peer and professional online support for parents. These studies generally report positive outcomes of online parenting support. A number of recent experimental studies evaluated effects, including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs (totaling 1,615 parents and 740 children). A relatively large proportion of the studies in our sample reported a content analysis of emails and posts (totaling 15,059 coded messages). The results of this review show that the Internet offers a variety of opportunities for sharing peer support and consulting professionals. The fi eld of study refl ects an emphasis on online resources for parents of preschool children, concerning health topics and providing professional support. A range of technologies to facilitate online communication is applied in evaluated websites, although the combination of multiple components in one resource is not very common. The fi rst generation of online resources has already changed parenting and parenting support for a large group of parents and professionals. Suggestions for future development and research are discussed.
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The Internet offers many opportunities to provide parenting support. An overview of empirical studies in this domain is lacking, and little is known about the design of web based parenting resources and their evaluations, raising questions about its position in the context of parenting intervention programs. This article is a systematic review of empirical studies (n = 75), published between 1998 and 2010, that describe resources of peer and professional online support for parents. These studies generally report positive outcomes of online parenting support. A number of recent experimental studies evaluated effects, including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs (totaling 1,615 parents and 740 children). A relatively large proportion of the studies in our sample reported a content analysis of e-mails and posts (totaling 15,059 coded messages). The results of this review show that the Internet offers a variety of opportunities for sharing peer support and consulting professionals. The field of study reflects an emphasis on online resources for parents of preschool children, concerning health topics and providing professional support. A range of technologies to facilitate online communication is applied in evaluated Web sites, although the combination of multiple components in one resource is not very common. The first generation of online resources has already changed parenting and parenting support for a large group of parents and professionals. Suggestions for future development and research are discussed.
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Background: Peer review is at the heart of the scientific process. With the advent of digitisation, journals started to offer electronic articles or publishing online only. A new philosophy regarding the peer review process found its way into academia: the open peer review. Open peer review as practiced by BioMed Central (BMC) is a type of peer review where the names of authors and reviewers are disclosed and reviewer comments are published alongside the article. A number of articles have been published to assess peer reviews using quantitative research. However, no studies exist that used qualitative methods to analyse the content of reviewers’ comments. Methods: A focused mapping review and synthesis (FMRS) was undertaken of manuscripts reporting qualitative research submitted to BMC open access journals from 1 January – 31 March 2018. Free-text reviewer comments were extracted from peer review reports using a 77-item classification system organised according to three key dimensions that represented common themes and sub-themes. A two stage analysis process was employed. First, frequency counts were undertaken that allowed revealing patterns across themes/sub-themes. Second, thematic analysis was conducted on selected themes of the narrative portion of reviewer reports. Results: A total of 107 manuscripts submitted to nine open-access journals were included in the FMRS. The frequency analysis revealed that among the 30 most frequently employed themes “writing criteria” (dimension II) is the top ranking theme, followed by comments in relation to the “methods” (dimension I). Besides that, some results suggest an underlying quantitative mindset of reviewers. Results are compared and contrasted in relation to established reporting guidelines for qualitative research to inform reviewers and authors of frequent feedback offered to enhance the quality of manuscripts. Conclusions: This FMRS has highlighted some important issues that hold lessons for authors, reviewers and editors. We suggest modifying the current reporting guidelines by including a further item called “Degree of data transformation” to prompt authors and reviewers to make a judgment about the appropriateness of the degree of data transformation in relation to the chosen analysis method. Besides, we suggest that completion of a reporting checklist on submission becomes a requirement.
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Background: Research into termination of long-term psychosocial treatment of mental disorders is scarce. Yearly 25% of people in Dutch mental health services receive long-term treatment. They account for many people, contacts, and costs. Although relevant in different health care systems, (dis)continuation is particularly problematic under universal health care coverage when secondary services lack a fixed (financially determined) endpoint. Substantial, unaccounted, differences in treatment duration exist between services. Understanding of underlying decisional processes may result in improved decision making, efficient allocation of scarce resources, and more personalized treatment.
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ABSTRACT It is unknown whether heterogeneity in effects of self-management interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be explained by differences in programme characteristics. This study aimed to identify which characteristics of COPD self-management interventions are most effective. Systematic search in electronic databases identified randomised trials on self-management interventions conducted between 1985 and 2013. Individual patient data were requested for meta-analysis by generalised mixed effects models. 14 randomised trials were included (67% of eligible), representing 3282 patients (75% of eligible). Univariable analyses showed favourable effects on some outcomes for more planned contacts and longer duration of interventions, interventions with peer contact, without log keeping, without problem solving, and without support allocation. After adjusting for other programme characteristics in multivariable analyses, only the effects of duration on all-cause hospitalisation remained. Each month increase in intervention duration reduced risk of all-cause hospitalisation (time to event hazard ratios 0.98, 95% CI 0.97–0.99; risk ratio (RR) after 6 months follow-up 0.96, 95% CI 0.92–0.99; RR after 12 months follow-up 0.98, 95% CI 0.96–1.00). Our results showed that longer duration of self-management interventions conferred a reduction in allcause hospitalisations in COPD patients. Other characteristics are not consistently associated with differential effects of self-management interventions across clinically relevant outcomes.
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