Paraprofessionals in self-contained settings are often involved in helping students to learn the skills to manage their behaviors. A need has been identified for paraprofessionals to join teachers in professional development opportunities in order to better meet the needs of the students who receive their services (Konza & Fried, 2012). By recognizing paraprofessionals as vital members of a student’s educational team (Boudreau & Twigg, 2011), informal professional development opportunities throughout the school day, such as professional conversations, may provide paraprofessionals with opportunities to share their experiences with each other and with their teachers, as well as to make collaborative decisions about how to support students’ efforts to meet their behavioral goals. The purpose of this study was to explore the shared perspectives of teachers, paraprofessionals, and school administrators about professional conversations between teachers and paraprofessionals in self-contained classrooms for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in supporting students’ efforts to meet their behavioral goals. Q methodology was chosen in order to take an exploratory approach to gain access to the viewpoints of teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators about these professional conversations. This study involved 37 participants that included 15 teachers, 14 paraprofessionals, and 8 administrators from five schools with self-contained ASD or EBD classrooms. Four factors were found in this study. Natural Communicators seem to find opportunities throughout the day to communicate about behaviors. Guided Communicators seem to need structure to ensure that they join the conversations about behaviors. Expert Communicators seem to have learned how to put the necessary supports in place to promote professional conversations and remove the barriers that inhibit them. Hierarchical Communicators seem to value the role of the teacher as the classroom leader and the hierarchical structure found within school systems. With further research and an expansion of these factors into a more complete theory, this may be a worthwhile line of research to help administrators find a way to balance the needs of each member of their staff within self-contained classrooms for students with ASD and/or EBD and to ensure that professional conversations are occurring to improve student outcomes.

Over the past decade, the number of individuals being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder has risen substantially. One byproduct of increased diagnosis is that more and more students with Autism Spectrum Disorder are applying and being accepted to colleges and universities (Graetz & Spampinato, 2008; Jones, 2012; Smith, 2007; Taylor, 2005; Zager, Alpern, McKeon, Maxam, & Mulvey, 2013; Longtin, 2013; Adreon & Durocher, 2007; Zager & Alpern, 2010). Research in the field of Autism and Higher Education is in its infancy, with a dearth of the research focusing on the challenges and struggles that degree-seeking students with ASD face within higher education. In an attempt to combat these challenges, many colleges and universities across the nation have begun to create post-secondary transition programs, but little is known from the perspective of the students participating in these programs (Adreon & Durocher, 2012). In this following study, Q Methodology was used to obtain information from 30 degree-seeking college students with Autism Spectrum Disorder on their best experiences within a higher education transition program.

Abstract Student-athletes are viewed as the epitome of health due to their physical appearance and talent set; however, it is their psychological health that needs significant attention (Etzel, 2006). Psychosocial stressors such as the pressures and demands of being a student and athlete as well as the demands and expectations of the coach have significant impact on the student-athlete’s mental health and well-being (Beauchemin, 2014; Cleary et al., 2011; Lafrenière et al., 2011; Mageau & Vallerand, 2003; Watson, 2005). The purpose of this research is to investigate any correlation between student-athletes’ perceptions of coaching leadership behaviors and the symptoms associated with disorders such as anxiety, depression, suicidality, and substance abuse. The Leadership Scale for Sport (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980) and the Symptom Assessment Measure instruments are used in this study. An exploratory analysis determined the reliability and construct validity of the instruments. Thirty-three student-athletes from a non-football Division I university engaged in the study, with twenty-eight completing some or all portions of study. All participants are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. A linear regression analysis demonstrated no relation between the independent variable, student-athlete perception of coaching leadership behaviors and the dependent variable, symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, and substance abuse mental health disorders, (F=.52, p=.49, R2=.061, and Beta coefficient was -0.248). Gender differences is not determined due to the skewed sample consisting of eighty five percent female and fifteen percent male. Though the linear regression analysis indicates no relation between the dependent and independent variable, supplemental contextualization was given to additional questions asked on the Symptoms Assessment Measure. These findings provide evidence that student-athletes perceive that their coach’s leadership behaviors do have influence on their mental health. This reinforces reports that coaches do wield power over their athletes and their influence is related to student-athletes’ psychological well-being (Horn, 2008; Locke et al., 2012; Stebbings et al., 2012).

In this study, the perceptions of 42 teachers—from the Stann Creek District, Belize—regarding the implementation and use of Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) as a language preservation tool in their schools were examined. Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) is a teaching method that aims at promoting the preservation of indigenous languages by integrating an indigenous language and culture into the academic curriculum, such that students can develop a better appreciation of their history and traditional practices. To examine the perspectives of teachers regarding IBE, Q Methodology was used to examine the research question: What is the range of perspectives teachers hold regarding IBE as a language preservation tool? From participant interviews and responses to an open-ended prompt centered on the research questions, the researcher developed a 40-item Q sample comprising statements that represented distinct perspectives on the use of IBE as a language preservation tool. Forty-two participants then sorted these 40 statements within a forced distribution grid that ranged from “most like my perspective” (+4) to “least like my perspective” (-4). These 42 Q sorts were then correlated; the correlations were then analyzed and rotated using PQ method software. Four factors were extracted from this process and they were converted to factor arrays resembling the same initial forced distribution grid. Based on an interpretation of the holistic configuration of these factor arrays and descriptive comments from participants concerning their sorts, these factors were named as: Strongly Supported IBE (Factor 1), Strongly Opposed but Conflicted about IBE (Factor 2), Cautiously Optimistic about IBE (Factor 3), and Supported IBE for Intergenerational Language Transfer (Factor 4). Implications from this study for administrators of similar programs include the importance of understanding teacher beliefs regarding their preparedness to deliver an IBE curriculum as well as their perceptions regarding the usefulness of such an approach, particularly given the additional instructional time needed to deliver it.

This study explored the impact a professional development program (Online Professor Certificate Program, OPCP) had on teaching online in higher education— specifically, the impact on faculty members’ teaching presence. The conceptual and theoretical model utilized the community of inquiry framework and both critical theory and transformational learning theory. This case study used data from various sources, including questionnaires, content analysis, and interviews. The overall results indicate that the OPCP had some impact on teaching presence, but not as much as anticipated. The study found that faculty who completed the OPCP were more engaged in their online classes than those who had not participated in the OPCP, as measured by the number of discussion posts. No statistically significant difference in teaching presence was found between participants’ retrospective pre- and post-OPCP responses. Participants mentioned mentoring and andragogy as the two most important parts of the OPCP. Educational leaders have an economic interest in this issue, as online enrollments increased significantly over the past decade, and the trend will likely continue. These increased online enrollments have impacted online teaching, creating a growing need for high-quality online teaching. Faculty need professional development programs to help them become more effective online teachers. The professional development programs need to be evaluated for effectiveness beyond the satisfaction level, with a focus on program outcomes.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Entwicklung und Umsetzung von Methoden und Werkzeugen zur Bereitstellung von Modellen und Randbedingungen für die Konstruktion individueller Langzeit-Knochenimplantate (Konstruktionsvorbereitung). Grundlage dabei ist, dass die Planung aus medizinischer Sicht z.B. durch einen Chirurgen und die Konstruktion unter technischen Aspekten z.B. durch einen Konstrukteur getrennt erfolgt. Hierfür wird ein erarbeitetes Planungskonzept vorgestellt, welches sowohl die geplanten geometrischen Merkmale, als auch weiterführende Metadaten beinhaltet (Randbedingungen). Die Übergabe dieser Planungsdaten an die Konstruktion erfolgt über eine dafür entworfene Formatbeschreibung im Kontext der Schnittstelle zwischen Mediziner und Ingenieur. Weiterführend wird die Notwendigkeit von speziellen Funktionen für die Konstruktion von individuellen Implantaten in der Arbeitsumgebung des Konstrukteurs (z.B. Modelliersystem – CAD) am Beispiel der konturlinienbasierten Modellrekonstruktion erörtert. Die gesamtheitliche Basis bildet eine durchgängig digitale Prozesskette zur Datenaufbereitung, Konstruktion und Fertigung. Die Anwendbarkeit der Methoden und zweier umgesetzter Demonstratoren wurde innerhalb eines interdisziplinär angelegten Projektes am realen Patientenfall bestätigt.

The multi-million-dollar medical uniform industry has not utilized advancements in garment and textile technology that could positively impact the protection of healthcare professionals and patients. In most cases the uniforms meet basic requirements – they clothe the professional in a recognizable way. Little innovation in design, function and performance, has been applied to these garments. This is particularly evident in the case of the stereotypical white lab coat worn by many physicians, despite evidence indicating that these lab coats may carry contamination and play a role in the spread of deadly bacteria. Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are among the most serious problems facing modern medical care, costing millions of lives and dollars annually worldwide. This research investigates the design and use of the physician’s lab coat – an immediately recognizable symbol of Western medicine. The research identifies the medical, functional, cultural and symbolic roles of the lab coat within the hospital environment and beyond, to the larger the global society. This thesis examines the extent to which the design of medical wear can impact the effect of hospital-acquired infections, support doctor/patient relationships and enhance the performance and behavior of the healthcare professional by envisioning a future lab coat which offers increased protection for physician and patient, aids in communication and enhances the performance of the doctor by utilizing digital technologies incorporated into the lab coat whereby the lab coat becomes the only tool necessary for the physician.

Les traitements du cancer de la prostate permettent d’analyser les savoirs tels qu’ils sont élaborés actuellement en cancérologie. Les propositions de traitement découlent des savoirs scientifiques. La participation du patient au choix du soin s’en trouve questionnée. Le patient est une figure socialement construite et médicalement produite qui n’a de sens qu’au regard du rôle professionnel du médecin. La relation entre ces deux acteurs s’inscrit dans une structure de soin. Cette situation sociale est instituée autour de la nécessité du soin, entendue comme réponse à la souffrance de l’autre. Notre analyse montre les tensions qui traversent le groupe professionnel des médecins sur la question des recommandations thérapeutiques. Les questions de légitimité et d’expertise permettent de mettre à jour la concurrence entre les urologues et les oncologues-radiothérapeutes. Cette concurrence se joue à travers les traitements proposés. Les savoirs mobilisés pour justifier de la légitimité ne sont pas les mêmes et ne sont pas uniquement scientifiques. Ils s’organisent selon une priorité accordée à la sur-vie. En outre, ces savoirs médicaux retentissent de façon différente chez les patients, eux aussi détenteurs d’un savoir sur le soin. En somme, les savoirs sur le soin apparaissent comme une recherche de sens, une mise en cohérence de la pathologie, inhérente à des mondes sociaux différents, mais qui se nourrissent les uns des autres. / Treatments for prostate cancer have led us to analyze how knowledge can be produced in cancer research. The different treatment options offered to the patient directly originate from scientific knowledge. At that point already, one can question the patient’s participation to the choice of his treatment. The patient is a figure who is socially constructed and medically produced. This figure only becomes significant in regard to the doctor’s professional role. The relation between those two actors – doctor and patient – has to be replaced in its context of a social structure of care. Social situation instituted from the necessary of care, as an answer to human suffering, the analysis shows the tensions that arise within the professional group of doctors. Issues of legitimacy and expertise have revealed the rivalry between urologists and oncologists. That rivalry shows mostly through the treatments which are offered. The knowledge used to legitimate one option or the other varies and is not exclusively scientific. Different bodies of knowledge take priority according to the survival (goal). Moreover those medical bodies of knowledge are not understood in the same way for each patient, as they themselves hold particular knowledge about care/cure. In the end, it appears the pieces of knowledge about cure/care inherently belong to different social worlds that feed from each other, and those different bodies of knowledge seek to make sense of illness.

O que acontece no encontro do médico com a morte do seu paciente diz de algo estruturante da condição humana que transcende a formação acadêmica e mobiliza por este estar na presença de outro ser humano. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa que teve como objetivo principal descrever e conhecer o que existe de estruturante no encontro do médico com a morte do seu paciente. Este estudo utiliza o método fenomenológico de pesquisa, entendido como um convite para o exercício reflexivo visando à construção de novos paradigmas na produção de conhecimento. O autor de base que fundamenta a análise teórica foi Maurice Merleau-Ponty (2006). Foram realizadas quatro entrevistas com médicos oncologistas clínicos, embasadas na pergunta norteadora: O que significa para você cuidar do paciente oncológico, sem possibilidade de cura, que vivencia o seu processo de morrer e posteriormente perdê-lo?. Após a realização das entrevistas, os relatos (ingênuos) foram literalizados, dos quais foram levantadas as unidades de análise e transformadas em categorias analisadas fenomenologicamente, que possibilitaram o diálogo intersubjetivo e objetivo com os pressupostos teóricos sobre o tema em pauta. Categorias estas denominadas de: 1. Relação médico e paciente: o desvelar das emoções e sentimentos; 2. Relação médico e paciente: um distanciamento da morte do paciente; 3. O encontro do médico com a morte: a morte imprevisível; 4. Construção da identidade do sujeito: a dimensão ética do ser médico. A partir da análise das categorias, observou-se que tal encontro ocorre de diversas formas, principalmente pelo distanciamento como os médicos em questão lidam com a morte de seus pacientes, vista como um acidente, com falta de diálogo que, necessariamente, esbarra nas questões éticas e de formação acadêmica. A estrutura do fenômeno reside na ausência de diálogo pela dificuldade de lidar com os próprios sentimentos e emoções emergidas do processo de perda por morte de seus pacientes / What happens in the doctors encounter with the death of his patient says about human condition structuring which transcends academic formation and mobilizes in the presence of another human being.This is a qualitative research which had as its principal aim to describe and know what exists of structuring in the doctors encounter with the death of his patient. This study uses the phenomenological method of research, understood as an invitation to the reflexive exercise which aims the construction of new paradigms in the knowledge production.The fundamental author who substantiates the theorical analysis is Maurice Merleau-Ponty (2006). Four interviews with clinical oncologist doctors were made, based on the guiding question: What means to you to take care of the cancer patient, without the possibility of healing, who experiences his dying process and eventually lose him?After the interviews were made, the narratives (literal) were literalized, from which the analysis units were raised and transformed into phenomenologically analyzed categories, which enabled the intersubjective and objective dialog with the theoretical presuppositions about the subject under discussion.These categories are named: 1. Relation between doctor and patient: the unveiling of emotions and feelings; 2. Relation between doctor and patient: a detachment from the patients death; 3. The doctors encounter with death: the unpredictable death; 4. Construction of the subjects identity: the ethical dimension of being a doctor. From the analysis of the categories it was possible to observe that such encounter occurs in several ways, mainly by the detachment which the doctors from this study deal with the death of their patients, seen as an accident, with lack of dialog that necessarily touches the ethical and academic formation questions. The structure of the phenomenon dwells in the lack of dialog due to the difficulty to deal with ones own feelings and emotions emerged from the process of losing ones patients by death

Der Nutzen von Telemedizin und Telecare/Homecare ist heute nicht mehr umstritten. Es existiert eine große Anzahl von Lösungen und Konzepten. Zum Teil werden sie bereits in der Routine eingesetzt. Die Systeme sind in der Regel vom Typ "stand-alone" bzw. "Insellösung". Ansätze einer Plattformtechnologie sind bei einigen Systemen erkennbar. Gemeinsame Probleme der vorhandenen Lösungen liegen im Bereich fehlender Standardisierung von Dateninhalten und Verfahren sowie einer soliden gesetzlichen und abrechnungstechnischen Grundlage. Von diesem Zustand bis zum flächendeckenden Einsatz von Telemedizin/Telecare ist noch ein weiter Weg. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich vorwiegend mit einem Teilaspekt dieses breiten Themas. Es ist die Frage, wie Telemedizin und Telecare sich optimal in den Arbeitsablauf eines Allgemeinmediziners integrieren lassen. Die Analyse zeigte, dass die Probleme in folgenden Bereichen zu finden sind: * Fehlende allgemeine und internationale Telemedizin-Plattform * Fehlende zentrale elektronische Patientenakte * Unzureichende Offenheit der Praxissoftware * Unzureichende Ko-Existenz von herkömmlichen und telemedizinischen Lösungen * Unzureichende gesetzliche und abrechnungstechnische Grundlage Folgerichtig muss ein Anforderungskatalog aufgestellt werden, der hilft, diese Mängel zu beseitigen. Auf der Basis dieses Anforderungskatalogs wurde ein Konzept entwickelt, in dessen Zentrum die allgemein-medizinische Praxis steht. Im Hintergrund der Praxis ist eine auf vorhandenen Standards fußenden Plattform, die eine flächendeckende Kommunikation aller Teilnehmer ermöglicht, vom Patienten über den Arzt bis zur Fachklinik, Apotheke und Kassenärztlichen Vereinigung sowie Versicherungen. Der Anschluss der Praxissoftware an diese Plattform ist eine wesentliche Voraussetzung zur Implementierung. Ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Konzeptes ist der Vorschlag einer international anerkannten Ontologie (UMLS), die neben der Vereinheitlichung der Dateninhalte auch bei der Internationalisierung helfen wird. Hier werden die gesetzlichen Aspekte nur soweit behandelt, als sie der klaren Vorgabe der Konzeption dienen. Die Implementierung ist nicht in einem Schnellgang möglich. Der Grund liegt darin, dass hier neben den in der Regel langwierigen Gesetzgebungsprozessen eine große Anzahl von Verbänden Mitbestimmung geltend macht, deren Interessen oft in entgegengesetzte Richtungen wirken. Es wird daher notwendig sein, die Einführung erstens schrittweise und zweitens immer im Gleichschritt mit diesen Organen zu gestalten. Ist dies jedoch gelungen, eine solche Plattform zu etablieren, so ergibt sich hieraus ein breites Spektrum von Anwendungsgebieten, wie ein weltweites Gesundheitssystem, bei dem der Patient überall auf der Welt die gleiche medizinische Behandlung wie in seinem Heimatland erfährt. / Today there is no question that telemedicine and telecare/homecare can provide benefit to their users. A large number of such systems are available. Partially they are used for daily works. Normally they are stand-alone, without an underlying platform. In the last few years one can recognize the beginning of a platform technology. The most common problems of existing solutions are caused by the lack of standardisation of data items and procedures, the lack of a reliable legal basis and billing possibilities. It is a long way to go to get the telemedicine/telecare running. This document describes a sub-aspect of the large topic telemedicine/telecare. It includes the question how one can integrate telemedicine/telecare into the daily workflow of a private doctor office. The system analysis shows that problems occurring during the integration can be subdivided into following topics: * Lack of a general and international telemedicine platform * Lack of a generally accepted electronic patient record * Lack of a interoperability of the medical information systems * Lack of a harmonized co-existence of telemedicine and medical works * Lack of a legal basis and billing possibilities As a consequence of the analysis` results a catalogue of requirements must be established which provides the basis for a system concept. The central point of the concept must be the doctor office. Its background should be a set of standards which establishes the platform for the communication between every participant to the telemedicine: patients, doctors, clinics, pharmacy, medical invoice organisations and insurance companies. The most essential requirement to implement this platform is the connection of the IT equipment in private doctor offices to the applications and databases of the platform. The key feature of the proposed concept is the integration of a international accepted ontology. We recommend the UMLS concept of the NIH. UMLS provide a set of standardized terms, the so called "concepts", and the possibilities to implement multilingual applications. In this document legal aspects are discussed only if they can contribute to the construction of the platform. Due to the never ending legislative process and the opposite interest of the participants to the platform a high-speed implementation of the platform can not be expected. A stepwise implementation which continuously accompanies the legislative processes is therefore required. However based on a successful implementation of the platform the gate is open to a large range of applications in a widely used healthcare system which can provide medical care to every patient at any time and at any location - worldwide - on the same quality level like in his home country.