Outcomes focused education is an educational reform movement that has influenced many countries, including Australia, in recent years. In this study the case of one primary school in Western Australia is examined. The study explores how this single school has implemented an outcomes approach within the context of large-scale jurisdictional change. The research design utilises the qualitative approaches of ethnography and phenomenology to develop a layered case study with the basic unit of analysis being the school site. A number of richly informative case studies, from within this single site, have been developed drawing on data from a broad range of stakeholders including teachers, students, parents and the school’s principal. Departmental and school based documents have also been utilised to inform and guide the development of each case study. Emergent themes with respect to the implementation of educational change have been identified and the implications of these are discussed. At the time of the study the school site was only in its fifth year of operation, and a variety of key factors were identified as having a significant impact on the level of success achieved in implementation. The change management model as used by the school is identified and described, and several critical areas of weakness are revealed. As a result, the study raises critical questions about the effectiveness of the model used by the school and therefore questions the potential for this model to be used successfully in other schools implementing similar pedagogical change.

No description available.

No description available.

We study the labor market impact of opening borders to low-wage countries. The analysis exploits time and regional variation provided by the 2004 EU enlargement in combination with transport links to Sweden from the new member states. The results suggest an adverse impact on earnings of present workers in the order of 1 percent in areas close to pre-existing ferry lines. The effects are present in most segments of the labor market but tend to be greater in groups with weaker positions. The impact is also clearer in industries which have received more workers from the new member states, and for which across-the-border work is likely to be more common. There is no robust evidence on an impact on employment or wages. At least part of the effects is likely due to channels other than the ones typically considered in the literature.

Opportunities for supporting physician continuing professional development (CPD) may exist through careful instructional design and creative use of information and communication technology. The overarching goal of this study was to explore the learning experiences and outcomes of cardiologists participating in a web conference (“webinar”) series to understand the factors that can support webinars in being an appealing and satisfying CPD medium for these learners. Acknowledging that a pedagogically-based framework for program design is a cornerstone of effective CPD (Hutchinson & Estabrooks, 2009; Inan & Lowther, 2007; Casimiro, MacDonald, Thompson, & Stodel, 2009), this study used the W(e)Learn Framework (MacDonald, Stodel, Thompson, & Casimiro, 2009) as a process guide and quality standard for program design, development and delivery. Cardiologists voluntarily participated in an educational webinar series in which they shared their observations and experiences. Informed by the results of a systematic review of physician eLearning design preferences, this dissertation serves as a mechanism to learn about how webinars can be implemented to support learning and practice change within a population of highly specialized physician learners. Methodological approaches included a systematic review of literature examining physician preferences for eLearning design, a case study of webinar implementation, and interviews with cardiologists who participated in the webinars. The findings of the systematic review, the case study and the interviews aligned to characterize key considerations in webinar implementation. Webinar designers must carefully determine program structures, content, and media to create a satisfying learning experience. Cardiologists seek a webinar experience that responds to their professional reality of competing priorities, complex patients, and ambiguous clinical questions. They seek a mix of evidence-based, authentic and challenging content, delivered by credible content experts. The study found that purposefully designed webinars can be a satisfying learning experience for cardiologists with the potential to influence changes in knowledge and practice. The use of an instructional design framework may structure and enrich webinar implementation; this dissertation encourages their use.

The overall goal of this research study is to determine if there is a correlation between electronic health (e-Health) adoption, e-Health investment and better health outcomes in a hospital setting. To carry out this research, data with respect to e-Health spending, e-Health adoption and relevant health outcome indicator results for Ontario hospitals were analyzed to determine if there is a correlation between the variables. There were significant positive correlations between e-Health adoption and investment variables; indicating that higher e-Health investment is associated with greater e-Health adoption. There were significant correlations between variables related to e-Health adoption, investment and certain health outcomes. For example, increased e-Health adoption was significantly and negatively correlated with variables related to Length of Stay (LOS), which suggests that increased e-Health adoption is associated with lower LOS. This study attempts to create a foundation upon which Return On Investment (ROI) may be calculated for e-Health technology.

This study evaluated differences in dental implant outcomes in patients with osteoporosis and their matched controls. Twenty-four patients, who received dental implants at the University of Toronto, were 60+ yrs and had osteoporosis at the time of implant placement, and their controls matched for age, sex and implant related features were examined clinically and radiographically. Clinical and demographic variables recorded at implant placement and follow-up examination, were analyzed. Implant survival rates of 95.1% and 100%, and success rates of 91.4% and 100% were noted in the osteoporosis and control samples respectively. All failures in the osteoporosis sample occurred in the maxilla of a single subject, raising suspicion that these were related to individual problems specific to this subject. Due to the paucity of adverse outcomes and with all the implant failures having occurred in one subject, no relationship of adverse outcomes with clinical and demographic variables could be analyzed.

The overall goal of this research study is to determine if there is a correlation between electronic health (e-Health) adoption, e-Health investment and better health outcomes in a hospital setting. To carry out this research, data with respect to e-Health spending, e-Health adoption and relevant health outcome indicator results for Ontario hospitals were analyzed to determine if there is a correlation between the variables. There were significant positive correlations between e-Health adoption and investment variables; indicating that higher e-Health investment is associated with greater e-Health adoption. There were significant correlations between variables related to e-Health adoption, investment and certain health outcomes. For example, increased e-Health adoption was significantly and negatively correlated with variables related to Length of Stay (LOS), which suggests that increased e-Health adoption is associated with lower LOS. This study attempts to create a foundation upon which Return On Investment (ROI) may be calculated for e-Health technology.

This study evaluated differences in dental implant outcomes in patients with osteoporosis and their matched controls. Twenty-four patients, who received dental implants at the University of Toronto, were 60+ yrs and had osteoporosis at the time of implant placement, and their controls matched for age, sex and implant related features were examined clinically and radiographically. Clinical and demographic variables recorded at implant placement and follow-up examination, were analyzed. Implant survival rates of 95.1% and 100%, and success rates of 91.4% and 100% were noted in the osteoporosis and control samples respectively. All failures in the osteoporosis sample occurred in the maxilla of a single subject, raising suspicion that these were related to individual problems specific to this subject. Due to the paucity of adverse outcomes and with all the implant failures having occurred in one subject, no relationship of adverse outcomes with clinical and demographic variables could be analyzed.

This dissertation explores the effect of teen childbearing on the adult mother’s employment, earnings and welfare participation. This study contributes to the literature on the consequence of teen childbearing by relying on original datasets and using an array of samples and econometric methods to test the robustness of the results. We use state administrative data from several sources including the Georgia subset of the Vital Statistics for the years 1994-2002, the Wage and Employer files for the years 1990-2003, and the Welfare dataset for the years 1990-2005. We select three samples. The first sample is constructed with sisters raised in families on welfare, where one sister is a teen mother and the other a non-teen mother. The second sample is composed of young mothers who were pregnant as teens and whose first pregnancy ended with either a birth (teen mothers) or a fetal death (non-teen mothers). A third sample is selected by the propensity score matching technique on a subset of the second sample. For the labor market outcomes, this study suggests that teen childbearing has a negative effect on the employment and earnings of Blacks in the miscarriage sample and in the propensity score sample. However, White teen mothers are more likely to be employed and to earn more than the White non-teen mothers in the miscarriage sample. In contrast, the sisters’ sample does not show any statistical significant effect of teen childbearing on employment or earnings. These mixed results are probably due to the different distribution of the mothers’ race and socioeconomic status before pregnancy. Concerning welfare receipt, very few mothers in the sisters’ sample and no mothers in the propensity score sample receive welfare during the years of study. For the miscarriage sample, White teen mothers are less likely than the White non-teen mothers to receive welfare at any time. Blacks become less likely to receive welfare as their child’s age increases. The effect on Blacks might be due to the welfare reform that tightened the rules for welfare eligibility. This research suggests that as far as employment and earnings are concerned, policy dollars aimed at preventing teenage childbearing would be more efficiently used for the Blacks and low-income populations. However, the small magnitude of the teen coefficients in the employment and earnings analyses suggests that teen pregnancy prevention only will not have a very dramatic influence on the adult mothers’ standards of living. Therefore, policy dollars should also be directed to issues correlated with teen childbearing such as poverty or low education attainment. As for welfare participation, teen mothers are no more likely to rely on public assistance than non-teen mothers so their welfare dependence should not be a concern.