The Kingdom of Morocco is a country with a fast growing economy. The country is similar in size to California and has a population of about 33 million (United Nations, 2015). Despite this, Morocco does not have a degree program in occupational therapy. In fact, less than 1,000 registered rehabilitation therapists are available for the entire population (United Nations, 2012). Many of these registered therapists are physical therapists, and most are foreigners or Moroccans educated abroad. There is an urgent need for competent and well-trained rehabilitation workers, including occupational therapists. This project plans to begin a rigorous domestic bachelor’s degree that follows the American model in occupational therapy education. Currently, only six programs approved by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) exist in the Arabic speaking world and they are taught in English using predominantly American textbooks. One in Kuwait, three in Jordan, and one in Palestine. There is just one OT program in Tunisia, which is an associate member of WFOT and its program is taught in French. In addition, there are three occupational therapy programs in English in Saudi Arabia that started in 2010 and have not yet been approved by WFOT. Morocco, a mere seven hour flight from New York City, hopes to capitalize upon the successful models set forth in U.S. programs and echoed in other Middle Eastern countries. That said, this proposed Moroccan occupational therapy education curriculum intends to create its own identity to specifically address the needs of the Moroccan population. This project will present a programmatic blueprint for a domestic Moroccan occupational therapy curriculum and give all of its background, cultural influences, and challenges. / 2017-11-04T00:00:00Z

Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2020 / Conventional laboratory report writing skills present an enormous challenge to first entering science students including the Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMHSU). First entering students are expected to meet essential tertiary discourse requirements and standards consistent with their scientific community. The purpose of this study was to explore how content lecturers in cognate departments assess laboratory report writing skills of first entering BSc students. The research design was exploratory and a mixed approach was used. Students sat for a criterion-referenced test and interviews were conducted with content lecturers to collect data; quantitative basic statistical interrogation of the basic data points and post interview analysis were performed. Some of the key findings of this exploration was that most first entering BSc students are in a dire situation regarding the laboratory report writing genre; they are unable to communicate comprehensive and intelligible information in the written laboratory reports. Thus, content lecturers and English language lecturers from the Department of Language Proficiency (DLP) need to strategically collaborate in order to improve the performance of first entering BSc students.

Problem: Because of the complex nature and autonomy of school nursing practice, multiple professional organizations recommend a Bachelor of Science in Nursing as the minimum level of education for entry into this specialty. Despite research demonstrating benefits to patients and nurses with this level of education, school nurses across the U.S. vary widely in their educational and experiential preparation for this critical role. Benner's Novice-to-Expert Framework emphasizes the importance of experience in nursing or in a specialty practice to developing the skill needed to provide expert nursing care. This study investigated what knowledge school nurses considered important to competent practice when responding to the National Board for Certification of School Nurses 2007 Role Delineation Survey and whether there are differences in how school nurses responded to these questions based on their educational and experiential backgrounds. Methods: This was a quantitative, non-experimental exploratory study involving secondary analysis of the survey data. Demographics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Non-parametric statistical procedures (Fisher's Exact Test) were used to see if the 399 subjects' answers to 32 knowledge questions on the survey differed based on education level, years of general nursing experience, and years of school nursing experience. Results: Most subjects indicated that 27 of the 32 knowledge areas were moderately or extremely important for competent school nursing practice. Results of Fisher's Exact Test indicated differences on two items based on the education level of the respondents and differences on two items based on years of experience in school nursing, but no significant differences were found based on years of overall nursing experience. Communication skills in counseling had a significant difference based on both education level and years of school nursing experience; but it was impossible to tell which was more significant. Conclusions: This study contributes to the body of knowledge about school nursing and what this sample of school nurses perceived as important knowledge for competent practice. However, this analysis of differences in answers given to the survey knowledge questions does not settle the debate of whether there are differences in nurse perceptions based on education level or experience. / Ph. D.

O presente trabalho consiste em um estudo sobre a evasão no Bacharelado Interdisciplinar em Ciência e Economia da Universidade Federal de Alfenas – UNIFAL- MG. Diante dos desafios impostos à universidade, no atual contexto socioeconômico, das características históricas de exclusão e elitização do ensino superior no Brasil e dos anseios sociais pela sua democratização, a pesquisa aborda a evasão como um dos grandes problemas apresentados a este nível de ensino no Brasil. As políticas de expansão da educação superior implementadas, a partir do REUNI, e que levaram à criação dos bacharelados interdisciplinares, têm enfrentado o problema da evasão. O abandono do curso pelo estudante representa desperdícios de recursos públicos e enormes perdas educacionais e sociais que ameaçam a efetividade das políticas de expansão e democratização do ensino superior e se apresenta como um problema para a administração pública. A partir das contribuições de diversos estudiosos, especialmente de Tinto (1975; 1993), a evasão passou a ser considerada um problema de responsabilidade da instituição e sobre o qual é necessária uma postura ativa de enfrentamento. O objetivo central do trabalho foi caracterizar a evasão no BICE, no período de 2009 a 2015, e propor ações para minimizar o problema. Desdobram-se como objetivos específicos mensurar a evasão no BICE, apresentar traços do perfil do aluno evadido e identificar os aspectos internos e externos à instituição, bem como os aspectos pessoais que influenciaram a evasão, a partir da percepção dos estudantes que abandonaram o curso. A investigação documental e empírica, de caráter quantitativo e descritivo, ocorreu por meio de dados institucionais e questionário aplicado aos evadidos, que permitiram constatar algumas características da evasão no curso. Os dados mostraram que dos 2042 alunos ingressantes, no período de 2009 a 2015, 545 (26,68%) já eram evadidos em março de 2016, o que representa uma taxa de evasão superior à média nacional da evasão nos cursos presenciais ofertados pelas IFES, que é de 17%. A pesquisa também revelou que o problema ocorre, especialmente, com alunos que estão no início do curso e que apresentam baixo rendimento. A evasão no BICE mostrou-se, ainda, influenciada por múltiplos fatores que se apresentam na interseção das perspectivas interna à IES, externa à IES e pessoal. Dentre os fatores mais apontados, destacaram-se o interesse por outro curso, a dificuldade de conciliar trabalho e estudo, o desencanto com o curso e a dificuldade de participar das atividades da IES, sendo que estes mostraram-se relacionados aos aspectos internos do curso ou da IES. Dessa forma, a pesquisa aponta para a necessidade de ações institucionais diversas que vão do acompanhamento e discussão do problema, a atividades de apoio voltadas para orientação e aprendizagem dos estudantes. / This work is a study on evasion in the Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science and Economics (BICE) from the Federal University of Alfenas - UNIFAL - MG. In the current socio-economic context, facing the challenges posed to the university, historical features of exclusion and higher education gentrification in Brazil and social yearnings for its democratization, the research addresses the evasion as one of the major problems presented to this level of education in Brazil. The expansion policies implemented in higher education, from REUNI, and that led to the creation of interdisciplinary bachelors, has faced the problem of evasion. The abandonment of the course by the student represents a waste of public resources and huge educational and social losses that threaten the effectiveness of the policies of expansion and democratization of higher education and is presented as a problem for the public administration. From the contributions of many scholars, especially Tinto (1975, 1993), evasion is now considered an issue which is the institution’s responsibility and it requires an active approach to coping. The central objective of this study was to characterize the evasion in the BICE, from 2009 to 2015, and propose actions to minimize the problem. The specific goals include: to measure evasion in the BICE; to present traces of evaded student's profile; and to identify the internal and external aspects of the institution and the personal aspects that influenced the evasion, from the perception of the students who left the course. The quantitative and descriptive, documentary and empirical research, occurred through institutional data and questionnaire administered to dropouts, which have recognized some evasion features on the course. The data showed that from the 2042 freshmen, from 2009 to 2015, 545 (26.68%) had already evaded in March 2016, which represents a dropout rate higher than the evasion of the national average in classroom courses offered by the IFES, which is 17%. The survey also revealed that the problem occurs especially with students who are at the beginning of the course and have low efficiency. The evasion in the BICE was also influenced by multiple factors that are present at the intersection of internal perspectives to the IES, external to the IES and personal factors. Among the most mentioned factors, the evaded students highlighted the interest in another course, the difficulty of reconciling work and study, the disenchantment with the course and the difficulty of participating in the IES activities, and these were shown to be related to internal aspects of the course or IES. Thus, the research points to the need for various institutional actions from the follow-up and discussion of the problem to support activities for guidance and student learning.

No description available.

BACKGROUND: Clinical facilities are essential components not only for health care delivery systems but also for health care education programs. The clinical learning environment is important in training the future workforce in healthcare. Respiratory therapy education programs face several issues with the need to prepare a proper learning environment in different clinical settings. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of respiratory therapy students on the learning environment of clinical facilities affiliated with a respiratory therapy program at an urban state university. METHODS: This study used an exploratory research design to evaluate the essential aspects of a clinical learning environment in respiratory therapy education. A self-reporting survey was utilized to gather data from 34 respiratory therapy students regarding their perception about the effectiveness of clinical facilities in respiratory therapy education. The researcher utilized The Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher (CLES+T) evaluation scale that was developed by Sarrikoski et al. (2008). The CLES+T evaluation scale was adapted and modified after a written agreement from the author. The survey included three main domains, which are the clinical learning environment (18 items), the supervision relationship (15 items), and the role of clinical instructors (9 items). Thirty-two students participated in the survey with a response rate of 94.1%. RESULTS: Responses included two groups of students: the second year undergraduate (68.8%) and graduate students (31.3%), with 75% being female participants. The results obtained from the study indicated that both graduate and undergraduate respiratory therapy students gave high mean scores to the learning environment of the clinical facilities, supervisory relationship and the roles of clinical instructors. A statistically significant data was obtained pertaining to the difference of perceptions regarding the multi-dimensional learning between the graduate and undergraduate students. The graduate students evaluated that “the learning situation are multi-dimensional” more than the undergraduate students (p = 0.03). Findings of this study showed that female students had higher ratings than male students in all evaluations of clinical facilities. However, only one dimension of leadership style stating that “the effort of individual employees was appreciated” was statistically significant (p=0.03). The results stating, the presence of a significant percentage of the students with lack of successful private supervision and high percentage of failed supervisory relationship, are in contrast with the fact that clinical learning plays a vital role in the respiratory therapy education. It is also contrasting that majority of the students experienced team supervision, which is against the philosophy and principles of individualization. CONCLUSION: Since respiratory therapy is a practice-based profession, it is essential to integrate clinical education to respiratory care education. Gender and education level may impact students’ perceptions about the learning environment of clinical facilities. This study provides information about areas for improvement in clinical facilities affiliated with a respiratory care education program at an urban university.

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Examensarbetet inom produktutveckling – konstruktion utfördes under perioden februari till juni 2013 och omfattar 15 högskolepoäng (C-nivå), och är den slutliga kursen inom högskoleingenjörsprogrammet Innovation och produktdesign. Examensarbetet behandlade problematiken kring produktionsanpassning och kostnadsoptimering av två stycken elektromagnetiska omrörare vid företaget ABB, Process Automation, Metallurgy i Västerås. Efter kontakt med handledaren från ABB, Jan-Erik Eriksson, påbörjades projektarbetet med att tillverkningsanpassa konstruktionen av produkterna ORD 43P och EM Stabilizer. För att åstadkomma kostnadsoptimerad och produktionsanpassad konstruktion tillämpade författarna följande produktutvecklingsverktyg: Design for Cost, Design for Manufacture och Design for Assembly. För att kontrollera att konstruktionen blev optimal, men också att den inte brister under belastning använde examensarbetarna det datorbaserade hållfasthetsverktyget finita elementmetoden i CAD-programmet SolidWorks. Val av komponenter baserades på komponenternas pris per kilo. För att välja det optimala materialet, det vill säga högsta hållfasthet till lägsta pris använde författarna materialdatabasprogrammet CES EduPack. De utvalda materialen från programmet kunde inte författarna påfinna som standard på marknaden, varför författarna ändrade strategi till att jämföra och välja material utifrån marknadsundersökning av standardmaterial hos leverantörer.   ORD 43Ps komponenter optimerades konstruktionsmässigt gentemot befintliga komponenter och härvstag och isolerplattor kostnadsreducerades markant. Komponenten stomme grundutförande undersöktes översiktligt.  Genom att produktutveckla komponenterna härvstag, isolerplattor och stomme grundutförande minskade kostnaderna för ORD 43P med 2,47 %.  Författarna ansåg att ORD 43Ps totala kostnader kan minska mellan 10-25 % eftersom många av dess komponenter är överdimensionerade och består av dyrare material än vad som krävs.  EM Stabilizer’s komponenter, lock och tryckluftsslang, utformades med optimal konstruktion och kostnadsreducerades.  Genom att produktutveckla komponenterna lock och tryckluftsslang minskade kostnaderna för EM Stabilizer med 1,3 %.  Författarna förmodar att EM Stabilizer’s kostnader kan minska, eftersom den är relativt ny på marknaden. ABB vill säkerställa att produkten uppnår sin garanterade livslängd genom att överdimensionera många av produktens komponenter och använda dyrare material än vad som är nödvändigt. / The thesis in product development – design was carried out between February and June 2013 and includes 15 credits (C-level), and is the final course of the Bachelor Program in Engineering, Innovation and Product Design.  The thesis dealt with the problem of adaptation to production and cost optimization of two pieces of electromagnetic stirrers at the company ABB, Process Automation, Metallurgy in Västerås. After contact with the supervisor from ABB, Jan-Erik Eriksson, the project work commenced to adapt the manufacturing design of the product ORD 43P and EM Stabilizer. To achieve cost-optimized production and production adapted design, the authors applied the following product development tools: Design for Cost, Design for Manufacture and Design for Assembly. To verify that the design was optimal, but also that it did not break during stress, the authors used the computer based module finite element method of the CAD program SolidWorks.  The selection of components was based on the component’s price per kilo.  To select the optimum material, that is high strength and affordable, the authors used the material database software CES EduPack. The materials selected from CES EduPack could not be found by the authors as standard material at the market. Therefore, the authors changed strategy to compare and select materials based on market research of standard materials with suppliers. The components of ORD 43P were optimized in terms of design in comparison with existing components coil bracket and insulation boards. They were also cost reduced significantly. The component frame base was examined briefly.  Through product development the components coil bracket, insulating boards and frame base the total cost of ORD 43P was reduced by 2,47 %.  The authors found that the total cost of ORD 43P could be reduced between 10-25 % as many of its components are oversized and made ​​of more expensive materials than needed.  The components of EM Stabilizer, cover and pneumatic hose, were designed with optimum design and was cost reduced.Through product development the components cover and pneumatic hose the costs of EM stabilizer were reduced by 1,3 %.  The authors assume that the costs of the EM Stabilizer can be reduced, because it is relatively new at the market. ABB want to ensure that the product reach its guaranteed life by over-sizing many of the components of the product and use more expensive material than necessary. / Kostnadssänkningsprojekt

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.