Group work has been promoted in many countries as a key component of elementary science. However, little guidance is given as to how group work should be organised, and because previous research has ...seldom been conducted in authentic classrooms, its message is merely indicative. A study is reported, which attempts to address these limitations. Twenty-four classes of 10–12-year-old pupils engaged in programmes of teaching on evaporation and condensation, and force and motion. Both programmes were delivered by classroom teachers, and made extensive use of group work. Pupil understanding progressed from pre-tests prior to the programmes to post-tests afterwards, and results suggest that group work played a critical role. Organisational principles are extrapolated from the findings, which could be readily adopted in classrooms.
There is conflicting evidence on whether collaborative group work leads to improved classroom relations, and if so how. A before and after design was used to measure the impact on work and play ...relations of a collaborative learning programme involving 575 students 9–12 years old in single- and mixed-age classes across urban and rural schools. Data were also collected on student interactions and teacher ratings of their group-work skills. Analysis of variance revealed significant gains for both types of relation. Multilevel modelling indicated that better work relations were the product of improving group skills, which offset tensions produced by transactive dialogue, and this effect fed through in turn to play relations. Although before intervention rural children were familiar with each other neither this nor age mix affected outcomes. The results suggest the social benefits of collaborative learning are a separate outcome of group work, rather than being either a pre-condition for, or a direct consequence of successful activity, but that initial training in group skills may serve to enhance these benefits.
Background: The construction of therapy protocols for a large-scale randomized controlled trial comparing speech and language therapists and assistants, and group and individual therapy approaches ...for children aged 6-11 in mainstream schools is outlined.
Aims: The aim was to outline the decision-making processes that led to the construction of the research therapy manual, and to give a preliminary report on compliance with the manual.
Methods & Procedures: A search of the research and professional literature and of published therapy materials was conducted to locate usable examples of effective language therapy for primary school children. Results were collated into a manual of therapy principles and activities to structure research intervention. The use of the manual with children (n=30) receiving individual or group direct therapy from a speech and language therapist in the first phase of intervention was audited.
Outcomes & Results: Very few high-level research studies were found, but the professional literature gave added information. Therapies for comprehension monitoring, vocabulary development, later grammar and narrative were adapted for the research intervention, and procedures compiled into a manual to guide research speech and language therapists and assistants. The audit of direct therapy suggested that the manual was useable, providing a suitable range of activities and materials for therapy intervention. Its use helped to record the therapy offered to research children, and formed a sound basis for discussion amongst speech and language therapists and between speech and language therapist assistant pairs.
Conclusions: The construction and use of a therapy manual allowed the provision of replicable therapy within the research project whilst maintaining flexibility.
Background: Many speech and language therapists (SLTs) in the UK work with speech and language therapy assistants, and the numbers of SLT assistants is expected to grow. There has been very little ...empirical investigation of how SLTs feel about this situation or the effect on working practices of working indirectly. Aims: To investigate SLTs' opinions on working with SLT assistants in a small-scale research case study. Methods & Procedures: The study design was a case study of five SLTs delivering intervention within a research intervention project. Prepared questionnaire and formal interview techniques were used to elicit opinions on working through assistants, and a content analysis was performed. Outcomes & Results: Although respondents could see value in working through assistants, they stressed the time required to do so and the difficulties of adapting and updating therapy plans when working indirectly. Conclusions: The study suggests a variety of factors that have to be carefully managed if SLTs are to work competently through assistants.
The construction of therapy protocols for a large-scale randomized controlled trial comparing speech and language therapists and assistants, and group and individual therapy approaches for children ...aged 6-11 in mainstream schools is outlined. The aim was to outline the decision-making processes that led to the construction of the research therapy manual, and to give a preliminary report on compliance with the manual. A search of the research and professional literature and of published therapy materials was conducted to locate usable examples of effective language therapy for primary school children. Results were collated into a manual of therapy principles and activities to structure research intervention. The use of the manual with children (n =30) receiving individual or group direct therapy from a speech and language therapist in the first phase of intervention was audited. Very few high-level research studies were found, but the professional literature gave added information. Therapies for comprehension monitoring, vocabulary development, later grammar and narrative were adapted for the research intervention, and procedures compiled into a manual to guide research speech and language therapists and assistants. The audit of direct therapy suggested that the manual was useable, providing a suitable range of activities and materials for therapy intervention. Its use helped to record the therapy offered to research children, and formed a sound basis for discussion amongst speech and language therapists and between speech and language therapist/assistant pairs. The construction and use of a therapy manual allowed the provision of replicable therapy within the research project whilst maintaining flexibility.
Setting
People in Alberta are more likely to seek information about cancer prevention online than they are to have this conversation with their primary care provider. As people turn to the internet ...to support health decision-making, it is critical that we improve the supportiveness of the virtual health setting for cancer prevention.
Intervention
In 2014, the Alberta Cancer Prevention Legacy Fund launched an online HPV Decision Aid Tool to support evidence-informed decision-making in response to suboptimal uptake of the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine. Google Analytics data from approximately 2000 recent interactions with this tool have yielded insights into the concerns that impact people’s decision-making about the vaccine.
Outcomes
Most users of this tool are adults interested in the vaccine for themselves (69%), rather than parents considering immunizing their children (31%). No differences were found in the information-seeking behaviour of parents of girls compared with parents of boys, suggesting that mental models among those who are considering the HPV vaccine may have shifted in recent years. Concerns differed by respondent; cost was the most important concern among adults (62.0%), while parents were most concerned about vaccine safety (61.5%). Only 23% of users asked “what is HPV”, suggesting that many people in Alberta now have basic knowledge about the virus.
Implications
Results provide a real-time “pulse” on knowledge and attitudes towards HPV immunization, which informs our approach to tailoring messaging with the aim of increasing vaccine uptake in Alberta. Outcomes will provide evidence needed to inform new interventions aimed at increasing HPV immunization rates.
Mental health (MH) difficulties are on the increase among children and young people (CYP). Evidence has shown that educational settings contain both risk and protective factors for MH. This review ...investigated which structural and cultural factors and interventions within educational settings promote positive MH and prevent poor MH in 4-18 year olds. Searches were conducted in PsychINFO, Embase, ERIC, ASSIA and British Education Index, and reference lists from key studies and relevant systematic reviews were hand-searched. Intervention, cohort, and qualitative studies were included. Of the 62 included papers, 36 examined cultural factors (30 social/relational and six value-related) while 12 studies examined structural factors (eight organisational and four physical) and 14 studies examined multiple factors. There was strong evidence for the impact of positive classroom management techniques, access to physical activity, and peer mentoring on student MH. Studies examining the impact of positive school culture, teacher training in MH and parent involvement in school MH activities also found predominantly positive results for student MH, albeit the evidence was of lower quality or from a low number of studies. Few studies explicitly examined the impact of interventions on MH inequalities; those that did indicated limited if any reduction to inequalities. A very small number of studies suggested that interventions targeting those at risk of poor MH due to socioeconomic factors could successfully improve wellbeing and reduce depression, anxiety and behavioural problems. Studies exploring the effect of management and leadership strategies within schools, policies, and aspects of the physical environment other than green space were scarce or absent in the literature. This review highlights the need to consider the ways in which educational settings are organised, the culture that is created and the physical space in order to improve the MH of CYP.
There is consistency of evidence on the link between school culture and student health. A positive school culture has been associated with positive child and youth development, effective risk ...prevention and health promotion efforts, with extensive evidence for the impact on student mental health. Interventions which focus on socio-cultural elements of school life, and which involve students actively in the process, are increasingly understood to be important for student mental health promotion. This qualitative study was undertaken in three UK secondary schools prior to the implementation of a participative action research study bringing students and staff together to identify changes to school culture that might impact student mental health. The aim was to identify how school culture is conceptualised by students, parents and staff in three UK secondary schools. A secondary aim was to explore which components of school culture were perceived to be most important for student mental health.
Across three schools, 27 staff and seven parents participated in in-depth interviews, and 28 students participated in four focus groups. The Framework Method of thematic analysis was applied.
Respondents identified elements of school culture that aligned into four dimensions; structure and context, organisational and academic, community, and safety and support. There was strong evidence of the interdependence of the four dimensions in shaping the culture of a school.
School staff who seek to shape and improve school culture as a means of promoting student mental health may have better results if this interdependence is acknowledged, and improvements are addressed across all four dimensions.
Background: Young people spend a large proportion of their time in school, which presents both risk and protective factors for their mental health. A supportive school culture can promote and protect ...good mental health by creating experiences of safety and belonging amongst staff and students. In this qualitative study, we seek to explore whether a participatory action research (PAR) approach is an effective way to promote and improve student mental health. Methods: Participatory action research is an approach in which people collaboratively research their own experience: the researched communities become co-researchers of their own experiences in a specific context. We will work with four secondary schools in the UK to develop PAR projects. In each school, a group of 2–4 staff and 6–8 students will work together to develop a shared understanding of their school culture and to introduce activities or changes to make the culture more supportive of student mental health. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the PAR approach through i) a review of school documents pertaining to mental health (e.g., policies and Ofsted reports), ii) interviews with staff members (n = 40), parents (n = 8) and students (n = 24–40) before and after the PAR intervention, iii) observations and reports of the PAR group meetings and iv) interviews with members of the PAR groups after the PAR intervention. Discussion: We anticipate that our research findings will advance knowledge on effective methods to develop a positive school culture that will contribute to the improvement of young people’s mental health and well-being. We will seek to identify the mechanisms through which school culture can have a positive impact on mental health and develop a logic model and a school culture toolkit that can be utilised as a resource to inform public health interventions to promote mental health in a range of educational settings.
A branching synthetic strategy was used to efficiently generate structurally diverse scaffolds, which span a broad area of chemical descriptor space, and their biological activity against MRSA was ...demonstrated.
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