Pam Denicolo

Research on teacher thinking : understanding professional development

Part I Research Issues Anticipating Teacher Thinking, Maureen Pope, UK Changing Minds: The Dissemination of Research and its effects on Practice and Theory, Michael Huberman, Switzerland Part 2 Conceptualising Teachers Knowledge and Beliefs Think You Can: The Influence of Culture on Beliefs, Mary Lynn Hamilton, USA Working Knowledge in Teaching, Robert Yinger, Martha Hendricks-Lee, USA Part 3 Developing Knowledge and Practice Teachers Stories: An Analysis of the Themes, Marguerite Hansen Nelson, USA The Identification, Development and Sharing of Professional Craft Knowledge, Margaret Batten, Australia Teachers and their Career Story: A Biographical Perspective on Professional Development, Geert Kelchtermans, Belgium.

Assessing the PhD: a constructive view of criteria

Research and informed debate reveals that institutional practices in relation to research degree examining vary considerably across the sector. Within a context of accountability and quality assurance/total quality management, the range and specificity of criteria that are used to judge doctoral work is of particular relevance. First, a review of the literature indicates that, although interest in and concern about the process is burgeoning, there is little empirical research published from which practitioners can draw guidance. The second part of the paper reviews that available research, drawing conclusions about issues that seem to pertain at a general level across disciplines and institutions. Lest the variation is an artefact of discipline difference, the third part of the paper focuses on a within discipline study. Criteria expected/predicted by supervisors are compared and contrasted with those anticipated and experienced by candidates and with those implemented and considered important by examiners. The results are disturbing.

Doctoral supervision of colleagues: peeling off the veneer of satisfaction and competence

The nexus of teaching, administration and research activities engaged in by academic staff in higher education means that each individual plays a multitude of roles in relation to colleagues, producing inevitable tensions. One role relationship that epitomizes this extraordinary juggling task is that of doctoral supervisor/supervisee, when both are academic staff in the same institution. The last 10 years has seen an upsurge of research interest in doctoral research students, and government and funding bodies have imposed ever more stringent requirements on supervisors. However, staff pairings have been ignored in this literature and research. This article reports on an exploration that seeks to redress this omission by giving voice to the participants (colleague supervisor or research student), allowing them to articulate constructs about what may be unique in the interaction, thus highlighting factors that support or impede success in the enterprise.The nexus of teaching, administration and research activities engaged in by academic staff in higher education means that each individual plays a multitude of roles in relation to colleagues, producing inevitable tensions. One role relationship that epitomizes this extraordinary juggling task is that of doctoral supervisor/supervisee, when both are academic staff in the same institution. The last 10 years has seen an upsurge of research interest in doctoral research students, and government and funding bodies have imposed ever more stringent requirements on supervisors. However, staff pairings have been ignored in this literature and research. This article reports on an exploration that seeks to redress this omission by giving voice to the participants (colleague supervisor or research student), allowing them to articulate constructs about what may be unique in the interaction, thus highlighting factors that support or impede success in the enterprise.

British pharmacy professionals' beliefs and participation in continuing professional development: a review of the literature.

Objectivesu2002 Continuing professional development (CPD) has potential to be useful in pharmacy revalidation but past uptake and attitudes to CPD in Great Britain (GB) need to be mapped. This review examines published literature to chart the participation and beliefs of pharmacy professionals towards CPD in GB in a decade that had seen a formal transition from continuing education to CPD.

Developing Research Proposals

Prologue Serendipity Intended Readers Overview of the Rook The Task Before You What is a Research Proposal? A Pervasive Task Defined A Celebration of Difference First Steps in Meeting the Needs of Your Readership Finding out about Research Degree Opportunities Finding out about Research Funding Opportunities General Preliminary Explorations Skills Inventory When Is a Research Proposal Required and Why? Motivation Sources of Funding Gaining a Richer View of Funders Requirements Gaining Financial Awards for Study Identifying Potential Supervisors/Advisors Securing a Place on a Higher Degree by Research Programme Sections Within a Proposal - What Funders or Research Degree Reviewers Are Looking for Main Features of Proposals What Are the Key Aspects of Proposal Preparation? Pre-Preparation The Title, Abstract and Covering Letter The Body of the Proposal - Audience and Style Developing Your Proposal Draft Language Register, Voice and Verb Tense The Conceptual Framework Stages in the Production of Proposal - Advance Planning The Constraints of Time What Should Be Included in the Introduction, Rationale and Literature Review? Orientating Your Reader to Your Purpose The Introduction The Rationale Preparing for the Literature Review The Literature Review Itself The Process of Searching the Literature Constructing Your Argument What Is the Significance of the Aims, Objectives, and Research Questions/Hypotheses? Level of Specificity Required Clarification of Terms - Aims and Objectives Research Questions and Hypotheses Paradigms Why Paradigm Identification Is Important The Link between Aims/Objectives and Research Questions/Hypotheses What Should Be Included in the Methodology/Research Implementation Sections? Consistency between Purpose and Procedures Clarification of Shorthand Terms Methodology - Approach and Justification Consistency and Justification Research Using Positivist Approaches Presenting and Analysing Quantitative Results Research Using Interpretivist Approaches Presenting and Analysing Qualitative Results Using the Right Language Ethical Considerations Evaluation Plan What Financial Considerations Are Required? The Ground Rules of Budgeting The Financial Demands of a Research Degree Project Financial Considerations for All Researchers Types and Styles of Budgets for Funding Applications Key Elements of the Budget: Personnel Key Elements of the Budget: Operating Costs The Budget after Submission of the Proposal What Planning and Organisation Details Are Required? Establishing Goals and Deadlines Project Planning and Time Management Implementation Plans Research Governance People Management Schedules and Timelines Who Are the other Potential Contributors to and Referees for Your Project? Building Professional Relationships Building on Overviews of Requirements Making Contacts and Seeking Help Developing Collaborations and Partnerships The Review Process What Reviewers Are Seeking from Proposals Reality Check - Grit Your Teeth! Where Does It End? Reactions, Reflections and Anticipations After Submission Receiving Feedback from Reviewers Reasons for Rejection Responding to Feedback Back to the Beginning The Continuous Cycle of Proposal Writing Appendix 1 Funding Sources Appendix 2 Resources Glossary Index

What supervisors and universities can do to enhance doctoral student experience (and how they can help themselves)

Abstract Over the past two decades, there has been a flurry of government papers and policy reports worldwide calling for increased number and diversity of doctoral researchers and a broadening of the curriculum to meet the developing needs of respective national ‘knowledge-driven’ economies. This has been followed by position papers and best practice examples of employability skills development in boundary-crossing doctoral programmes, especially in response to these initiatives. However, there is a disassociation between this ample literature expounding the new doctorate with its broader remit, inclusivity and production of ‘industry-ready’ graduates and the comparatively sparse literature on the doctoral candidates’ experiences of their programmes and career readiness. Within this review, we briefly outline international government initiatives and examples of the responses by Life Science and Biomedical doctoral programmes to address these various challenges. Furthermore, we explore the recent literature on the lived experience of doctoral researchers by examining their perception of the recent changes to the research context to make recommendations for universities and supervisors on how to better support an ever more diverse doctoral population for a wide range of career opportunities. Examples of how doctoral researchers themselves can make the best of currently available opportunities are also provided.

A Framework for Assessing Continuing Professional Development Activities for Satisfying Pharmacy Revalidation Requirements

Introduction: The United Kingdoms pharmacy regulator contemplated using continuing professional development (CPD) in pharmacy revalidation in 2009, simultaneously asking pharmacy professionals to demonstrate the value of their CPD by showing its relevance and impact. The idea of linking new CPD requirements with revalidation was yet to be explored. Our aim was to develop and validate a framework to guide pharmacy professionals to select CPD activities that are relevant to their work and to produce a score sheet that would make it possible to quantify the impact and relevance of CPD. Methods: We adapted an existing risk matrix, producing a CPD framework consisting of relevance and impact matrices. Concepts underpinning the framework were refined through feedback from 5 pharmacist teacher‐practitioners. We then asked 7 pharmacists to rate the relevance of the frameworks individual elements on a 4‐point scale to determine content validity. We explored views about the framework through focus groups with 6 participants and interviews with 17 participants who had used it formally in a study. Results: The frameworks content validity index was 0.91. Feedback about the framework related to 3 themes of penetrability of the framework, usefulness to completion of CPD, and advancement of CPD records for the purpose of revalidation. Discussion: The framework can help professionals better select CPD activities prospectively, and makes assessment of CPD more objective by allowing quantification, which could be helpful for revalidation. We believe the framework could potentially help other health professionals with better management of their CPD irrespective of their field of practice.

Teaching in higher education.

Introduction Why Teach? Seminar Presentations to Your Peers Leading an Undergraduate Seminar Dynamic Learning Environments Lectures Productive Teaching Aids Handling Assessment Conclusion Glossary of Assessment Terms

Planning and Getting Started

Make a timetable Set a timeframe for the project. Remember the majority of what you submit for MAP has to be dated within the year prior to sending in your Portfolio. I will have this finished by the summer holidays. Do the acute case starting the 2 nd week in January Write up my Significant Event this weekend. In other words have an overview of progress and set goals for completing each of the criteria. Some criteria will take longer to achieve, for example: Review of Clinical Practice (Audit)-Even if this is kept simple you are required to complete a full eight point audit with two data collections, before and after changes have been made. This invariably will take time, as will an evaluation of health initiative where you will need to collect baseline data to measure change. Other criteria require some opportunistic identification of cases e.g. Referrals or Significant Event Analysis. You might find it helpful to have a desktop reminder or notebook to hand, so that you can pick these out in your day to day work. You will need to think about what is the best time in the year to carry out your Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ). Remember this needs to be administered not by you but by another person in the Primary Care Team, usually your Practice Manager, and therefore liaison about the timing with this person is important. For the Multi Source Feedback (MSF) you will need to identify your raters (ideally ten), each with their own email addresses and again you need to think about whom you might approach, and when to do this. It might be helpful to plan a week in your diary when you will arrange to copy and collect your prescriptions and another week when you will be using your acute cases. All of this then requires a bit of forethought and timetabling with dates set so that you can see progress and achievement. With good planning, many General Practitioners can complete MAP in six months, start to finish. You will need protected time Decide that youre going to set aside some time for MAP e.g. an evening a week, maybe a half day or a small chunk of the weekend. This project cant be done during a normal busy GP day, although collecting information, jotting things down, making lists of patients etc to return to in these …

Methodology for assessing the appropriateness of Continuing Professional Development for pharmacy professionals’ revalidation

From April 2010, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will be responsible for the statutory regulation of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain (GB).[1] All statutorily regulated health professionals will need to periodically demonstrate their fitness-to-practise through a process of revalidation.[2] One option being considered in GB is that continuing professional development (CPD) records will form a part of the evidence submitted for revalidation, similar to the system in New Zealand.[3] At present, pharmacy professionals must make a minimum of nine CPD entries per annum from 1 March 2009 using the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) CPD framework. Our aim was to explore the applicability of new revalidation standards within the current CPD framework. We also wanted to review the content of CPD portfolios to assess strengths and qualities and identify any information gaps for the purpose of revalidation.Compliance with the DoH requirement for VTE risk assessment was poor. Stickers on medication charts appeared to be effective in increasing the proportion of patients’ prescribed prophylactic treatment for VTE. Reasons for stickers not being attached or completed require investigation. While the number of risk factors increases the chances of receiving prophylaxis, all patients with any risk factor should have been treated, unless contraindicated. Therefore, mechanisms for improving risk assessment and VTE management require further investigation.