DTheses (Athabasca University)
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The Long-Term Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nursing Knowledge of Delirium, Perception of the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist and Delirium Screening Compliance in the ICU: A Master’s Thesis
Get PDFDelirium, a frequent complication in the intensive care unit, has significant and widespread impacts on patients, families, and the healthcare system. Interdisciplinary delirium prevention and mitigation strategies are necessary to effectively manage this syndrome. Routine screening by nurses using a validated tool is effective in identifying those patients at risk for or experiencing delirium. This practice is not consistent internationally and lack of knowledge of both delirium and the screening tools appears to be a contributing factor. The overall aim of this manuscript based thesis, was aimed at assessing the long-term impact of a multi-faceted educational intervention on delirium management. This thesis consists of two papers, the first a comprehensive review and the second a research based paper. The first manuscript is a comprehensive overview of delirium intended for critical care nurses to address the knowledge-practice gap. The second paper is a quantitative study that examined the long-term effects at 18-months of a multi-faceted educational intervention on nurses’ knowledge of delirium and the screening tool, and the frequency of delirium assessment in a single intensive care unit. The findings from the second manuscript demonstrate an initial increase in knowledge that was not retained at the 18-month survey period. Nurses perceived the tool to be useful and over the long-term felt physicians were placing more value on it. They did not, however, feel more knowledgeable or confident using the tool. Delirium screening frequency improved after the educational intervention and was maintained over the long-term. This work reinforced and expanded on the findings of previous studies related to the short-term efficacy of a multi-faceted knowledge translation intervention on nursing knowledge and screening of delirium. It also demonstrated that passive knowledge transfer is ineffective in maintaining these knowledge gains over the long-term. Future research needs to focus on establishing an optimal frequency for reinforcing delirium and screening knowledge within the context of the busy clinical setting of the intensive care unit.2017/Jun
Supporting teacher activities and learning design in the online environment with learning analytics. A faculty perspective.
Get PDFTeaching online requires careful planning, monitoring and reflection. Learning Analytics (LA) can help teachers observe, inquire and evaluate their practice. Still, LA is not widely adopted by online teachers towards this end. This mixed methods exploratory case study seeks the perspective of experienced faculty of online graduate studies to describe insights gained through LA. Course data was extracted from Moodle (the Learning Management System or LMS), and presented to faculty in several forms. Discourse analysis was also performed, grounded in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999). Faculty were interviewed and asked to assign meaning and elaborate on several aspects of the data and its relationship with course design and teaching practice. Data from the courses represented user activity and the timing and extent of each of the CoI presences (social, cognitive and teaching). Findings indicate that engaging faculty in the quantitative and qualitative process of LA is a powerful way to assess course dynamics, link to theoretical grounding, contrast to faculty observations and perceptions, and engage faculty in a community of practice.June 30, 201
Exploring A Transactional Distance-Based Management Model To Improve Perception Of Efficacy Within Designated Corporate Collaboration Communities
Get PDFOil and Gas (O&G) companies are adopting blended learning models to move away from traditional face-to-face training programs that are viewed as costly and less efficient. A small number of larger O&G companies have demonstrated that establishing effective collaboration communities can lead to millions of dollars in annual savings. Cenovus Energy initiated a structured knowledge management program in 2014 with the intent of creating a network of collaboration communities to support non-formal learning across the company. Previous efforts to establish collaboration communities were unsuccessful due to poorly defined or absent business processes and practices for this type of activity. In order to resolve these challenges, a standardized management model was required by Cenovus to support efficacy in the creation and sustainment of its collaboration communities.
The purpose of the Cenovus initiative, upon which the study was based, was to create a replicable and scalable business process for developing effective corporate collaboration communities. A comparison of literature between Communities of Practice and Transactional Distance theory provided the following premise: the perception of value and effectiveness of Communities of Practice can be affected by the manipulation of the three transactional distance elements to influence how communities are structured, how the dialogue between participants is fostered and contributes to collaborative efforts, and the degree to which the participants’ autonomy allows them to shape the community. It was proposed that the management of transactional distance through a controlled manipulation of structure, dialogue, and autonomy may support the deliberate reduction or creation of a difference in understanding to align to business objectives within corporate collaboration communities.
This study was conducted using a design-based research methodology to support the iterative development of collaboration communities within Cenovus, evaluate the influence of different activities on the levels of transactional distance within these communities, and synthesize a transactional distance-based management model for community design and activities. Although the corporate initiative was suspended indefinitely in 2016 due to the economic downturn resulting from global oil price collapse, Cenovus has approved and adopted the preliminary findings and framework produced by this study as the corporate practice for collaboration communities.g2017-0
A multi-agent framework to support user-aware conversational agents In an e-learning environment
Get PDFE-learning systems based on a conversational agent (CA) provide the basis of an intuitive, engaging interface for the student. The goal of this thesis is to propose an approach to improve the way that students interact with conversation-based e-learning applications. It attempts to do this through three contributions. The first is the design of an adaptable agent-based framework for improving interactions with conversation-based learning applications. The second contribution is to put forward a new approach to detecting user engagement based on real-time detection of conversational behaviour using the ongoing transcript of the interaction. The last contribution is to validate the approach by using volunteer students to test a proof-of-concept implementation of the framework. The observational and self-report data collected from the student testing provides new insights into how student interact with, and what their priorities are in evaluating, a pedagogical CA. This has implications for future development and research.2018-0
Harold Innis' notion of time and space: A content analysis of the distance education literature
Get PDFNew technologies are rapidly changing our concepts of space and time. Through the theoretical framework of Canadian scholar Harold Innis’ “bias of communication,” this study uses content analysis to investigate how current distance education literature (as represented by five peer-reviewed journals over 15 years of publication) reflects evidence of a space-bias in distance education technology. An understanding of Innis’ notion of time and space can inform distance education practice by proposing the use of more synchronicity and orality in the design of distance education learning materials.2017 - Jun
Wistful determination: Adults’ perceptions of their learning disability diagnoses
Get PDFIt was once supposed that children “grew out of” learning disabilities (LDs), but it is now known that these are lifelong conditions that can negatively affect many aspects of a person’s life. Although the value of receiving a diagnosis is frequently cited as an important step in the process of ameliorating the condition, there is little qualitative research into the experience of being diagnosed in adulthood. This investigation examined the lived experience of receiving an LD diagnosis as an adult with the purpose of developing a deeper understanding of how the process affected subjects. Phenomenological heuristic inquiry was used and data was obtained by
interviewing four adults who self-reported as having been diagnosed with LDs. Common themes that emerged included feelings of anger, grief, relief, regret, hope and resilience. All agreed that receiving a formal diagnosis was important to them.2017-0
Identity in digital space: A phenomenological study with narrative therapy implications
Get PDFImmersive technology has been used to explore therapeutic strategies, primarily through cognitive-behavioural therapy and exposure-based methods. The aim of this project was to gain insight into the nature of identity in digital space. Five long-term Second Life users participated in a semistructured interview using Skype. A phenomenological analysis was used to determine how long-term Second Life users perceive and describe their experience of their avatar identity over time; and, whether a virtual environment with an avatar feature provides an opportunity for individuals to externalize and experience alternative storylines to influence real life individual identity. Mann’s (1994) theory of selfhood was used to conceptualize avatar identity development. Time, relationships, and change emerged as primary themes and provided support for Mann’s theory and Yee and Bailenson’s (2007) Proteus Effect. Sample characteristics and particicipant and researcher biases may have influenced the results. The author discusses the implications for Narrative Therapy.2017-0
Using Virtual Worlds in Distance Education
Get PDFThis case study examines the effectiveness of 3D Virtual Worlds (VWs) in Distance Education (DE). A series of in-world collaborative learning activities (4 in total) was conducted in the virtual world of Second Life (SL) with 9 DE students from Athabasca University. Students were asked to collaborate in a role-playing scenario and evaluate the virtual world of Second Life in terms of its potential to support collaborative e-learning. Based on the overall results of this study, it was concluded that 3D worlds cannot be used as a primary medium for teaching and learning. They can, however, be utilized in combination with 2D learning management systems to strengthen and renew the existing approaches to learning and collaboration and also to explore new practices in DE. A set of fundamental design principles was also generated in order to help educators and designers transform the 3D spaces into collaborative learning places.2017-0
Factors influencing higher distance education consortium persistence
Get PDFIn recent years there has been increased interest in higher education consortia, especially within distance education; however, there has been limited research which would shed light on factors influencing persistence among these entities. Research has been especially limited in determining the extent to which the alignment of a consortium’s operations with the cultural logics of the surrounding educational environment has been a persistence factor.
This study engaged in a comparative case study of higher distance education consortia. The investigation entailed selecting four consortia to be studied, ascertaining the cultural logics of the consortia and the respective external educational environment and ascertaining the factors contributing to, or detracting from consortia persistence. The methodology for ascertaining the logics included document review and open-ended questions of knowledgeable agents. The data collected was analyzed for emergent themes related to organizational persistence, including alignment with cultural logics. The analysis employed several theoretical frameworks which were triangulated to determine the prominent factors influencing consortia persistence in this context.2018-0
Blended Online Course (BOC): A Blended Learning Project to Train Indonesian Female Migrant Workers Who Work in Hong Kong
Get PDFThis dissertation is a study of an application of CoI (Community of Inquiry) and Connectivism in a blended learning program for IFMWs (Indonesian Female Migrant Workers) in Hong Kong who learn business opportunity identification. The name of the learning delivery method is BOC (Blended Online Course). It is a blended learning because the learning delivery combines online digital media with face-to-face meetings. Design-based research (DBR) is the methodology used in this research. The purpose of the research project is to design and develop an intervention to improve the current entrepreneurship training program and to develop one or more learning design principles relevant to this context. The research questions cover the effectiveness of the new program on the achievement of the students by comparing a pre-test and post-test, on the satisfaction of the students on their learning experience especially on whether they experience deep and meaningful learning through their experience with Cognitive Presence, Social Presence and Teaching Presence of CoI and “connectivity” with the Content (Internet-based content and tutors), the Co-learners and the Community of Practitioners.2018-Jun