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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the method of field work supervision in BSW and MSW programmes offered through open and distance learning (ODL) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The key argument of the paper will focus on the fact that despite various challenges, field work supervision through ODL provides lot of scope and flexibility to students, generating a cadre of trained social work professionals. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a case study approach in presenting the various methods employed for field work supervision by the University. This section will highlight the achievements in terms of developing indigenous theory course and the best practices adopted by IGNOU to train social work professionals through adequate and timely supervision in the ODL mode. Findings Field work supervision in the ODL mode poses many challenges, especially when compared to that in the conventional universities. Some of these include irregular meeting of supervisor and student, inability of students to meet supervisor due to several reasons like remote location, poor economic background, lack of leave for working professionals, etc. Research limitations/implications There is a need for developing a mechanism to regularly orient field work supervisors in supervising students in the ODL mode. It is recommended that regular field work practicum workshops be conducted for supervisors and students. Viva for field work could be made mandatory at different regional centres. Field work supervision could be enhanced through the use of technology, namely, Skype, e-mail, WhatsApp, etc. Originality/value The paper describes the various nuances of field work supervision through ODL system. It is an original work and is of great value in understanding the challenges and difficulties encountered by learners and academic counsellors throughout the process of supervision. The paper highlights important recommendations by the stakeholders themselves in mitigating the challenges faced during field work supervision through ODL.

Objective: This paper describes the development of a practice-based evaluation (PBE) tool that allows instructors to represent their student’s clinical performance in a way that is sufficiently authentic to resonate with both instructors and students, is psychometrically sound, and is feasible in the context of real practice. Method: A new online evaluation tool was designed to address several of the problems associated with previous methods of evaluation, and was tested on 190 field instructor—student pairs. Results: Results demonstrated feasibility of the tool, high acceptability from students and faculty, high internal consistency, and clearly reduced ceiling effect, when compared with a traditional competency-based evaluation (CBE) tool. It did, however, continue to result in a strong skew toward positive evaluation and did not increase the identification of students at risk. Conclusions: The online PBE tool demonstrates promise in redressing some of the evaluation issues posed by the previous CBE model of evaluation.

Social work is a demanding profession requiring a range of skills, competencies, and knowledge. Students are expected to learn about these practice related issues through immersion in real world experiences during their practice placement. A cross-sectional, retrospective survey was used to explore Finnish social work students’ (N = 95) experiences of learning activities employed by their supervisors during the practice placement, and the usefulness of these activities for developing professional competence and a sense of social work identity. Findings confirmed that students received a wide range of learning opportunities during their placement, but that there was considerable variation in the regularity of learning activities. The most useful learning activities included a collaborative working relationships and activities involving the student and their practice teacher, such as feedback, reflecting on work, feelings and values, observing others, and being assisted to learn new skills. In contrast, providing theoretical perspectives and linking theory to practice were regarded as least useful. Students with a lower overall learning activity score, were less likely to develop an understanding of social work identity during their placement. These results contribute to a growing evidence base, which can inform social work academics and practice teachers about learning activities that need to be offered to promote practice competence and professional identity of students, in preparation for professionally qualifying.

Abstract Prior research has explored the impact of diverse anthropomorphic interventions on the effectiveness of AI (artificial intelligence) instructors. However, the exploration of interpersonal communication skills (e.g., self-disclosure) as anthropomorphic conversational cues for AI instructors is rare. Considering the positive impact of the self-disclosure of human instructors and guided by the social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) and computers are social actors (CASA) paradigm (Nass & Moon, 2000), this study explores the role of self-disclosure by AI instructors and the mediating role of emotional attachment between AI instructors’ self-disclosure and students’ learning experiences (learning interest and knowledge gain). Additionally, it examines the differences in students’ emotional attachment, learning interest, and knowledge gain between AI and human instructors. Through a 2 (AI instructor vs. human instructor) × 2 (self-disclosure: yes or no) experiment, this study concluded that 1) consistent with human instructors, self-disclosure by AI instructors led to higher emotional attachment, learning interest, and knowledge gain; 2) emotional attachment played an important mediating role in AI instructor self-disclosure and students’ learning interest and knowledge gain; and 3) in the context of self-disclosure, students exhibited similar levels of emotional attachment to both AI and human instructors, with no significant differences observed. Regarding learning outcomes, while students demonstrated a greater interest in learning during courses taught by AI instructors, the difference in knowledge gained from AI and human instructors was not significant. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the anthropomorphic cues of AI instructors and provide recommendations and insights for the future use of AI instructors in educational settings.

BACKGROUND: Due to changing population, culturally diverse clients with different perceptions of illness and health are present in healthcare settings. Therefore, it is increasingly important for nursing students to have high levels of cultural competence in order to meet diverse client needs. A training program is essential to enhance students' cultural competence. This study aimed to design, implement, and evaluate a cultural care-training program to improve cultural competence of undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: This exploratory mixed methods study used six steps proposed in the Talbot and Verrinder model to design a training program. In the first step, a conventional qualitative study was conducted and 18 participants were interviewed using purposive sampling. In the second and third steps, literature review and the classic Delphi technique were used for initiation and finalization of the program. The fourth, fifth, and sixth steps were completed by implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the cultural care program (five two-hour sessions) among 73 nursing students using a quasi-experimental design. Finally, effectiveness of program was evaluated through the cultural care inventory before and 1 month after the program. Data were analyzed via SPSS25, independent samples t- test, paired t- test, chi-square test, analysis of covariance, and multivariate linear regression tests. RESULTS: A systematic model was used to identify key elements of a cultural care program, including main topics, educational objectives and contents, assignments and activities for students, teaching and evaluation methods. The curricular objectives and educational contents were implemented in five sessions to produce measurable results. The quantitative step showed that nursing students' cultural competence in the intervention group (184.37 ± 22.43) improved significantly compared with the control group (153.19 ± 20.14) (t = 6.24, p = 0.001) after intervention. CONCLUSION: A cultural care training program can be designed by the model applied in this study in order to improve cultural competence of nursing students. This training program will be effective if students' learning needs, appropriate assignments, and acceptable teaching methods are addressed. Therefore, nurse educators can design comprehensive training programs to improve nursing students' cultural competence in different cultures and contexts. This training program is highly efficient because it is applicable in many disciplines of nursing education.

BACKGROUND: Self-regulated learning (SRL), which is learners' ability to proactively select and use different strategies to reach learning goals, is associated with academic and clinical success and life-long learning. SRL does not develop automatically in the clinical environment and its development during the preclinical to clinical learning transition has not been quantitatively studied. Our study aims to fill this gap by measuring SRL in medical students during the transitional period and examining its contributing factors. METHODS: Medical students were invited to complete a questionnaire at the commencement of their first clinical year (T0), and 10 weeks later (T1). The questionnaire included the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and asked about previous clinical experience. Information about the student's background, demographic characteristics and first clinical rotation were also gathered. RESULTS: Of 118 students invited to participate, complete paired responses were obtained from 72 medical students (response rate 61%). At T1, extrinsic goal orientation increased and was associated with gender (males were more likely to increase extrinsic goal orientation) and type of first attachment (critical care and community based attachments, compared to hospital ward based attachments). Metacognitive self-regulation decreased at T1 and was negatively associated with previous clinical experience. CONCLUSIONS: Measurable changes in self-regulated learning occur during the transition from preclinical learning to clinical immersion, particularly in the domains of extrinsic goal orientation and metacognitive self-regulation. Self-determination theory offers possible explanations for this finding which have practical implications and point the way to future research. In addition, interventions to promote metacognition before the clinical immersion may assist in preserving SRL during the transition and thus promote life-long learning skills in preparation for real-world practice.

The rapid emergence of information and communication technology (ICT) has had implications for the education system and initial teacher education (ITE) in particular. This study investigated the extent to which teacher education assists student teachers in developing their professional digital competence (PDC) in general and, more specifically, their competence in using ICT responsibly. Responsible use of ICT is here taken to include privacy and copyright issues, ethical issues and the ability to evaluate digital information. To explore Norwegian student teachers’ perspectives, awareness and experience of the responsible use of ICT, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 student teachers before their practice placements at local schools and with six students after their practice placements. Overall, the findings indicate that the student teachers mostly knew how to search for and evaluate digital information, but that they tended to choose the most convenient approach for search and evaluation. Further, it seems that the student teachers were aware to some extent of how to avoid advertisements, marketing or inappropriate content when using online resources in the classroom. However, they had limited competence in dealing with privacy and copyright issues in a teaching setting. One of the challenges identified through this study is that, during practice placements, the attention seems to be on the technical aspects of ICT rather than on pedagogical or responsible ways of using ICT. The study concludes that teacher education programmes need to include responsible use of ICT as an integral part of their programme, as well as during student teachers’ practice placements in schools, rather than providing stand-alone activities or courses of limited duration.

Reducing health inequity in the United States is a social mandate for nursing in the 21st century. The World Health Organization and others have defined and identified multiple social determinants of health (SDOH) that may negatively impact patient health and contribute to health inequity. Nurses, on the frontlines of healthcare, are uniquely positioned to assess for social determinants of health and positively address health equity. The purpose of this article is to explore social determinants of health and nursing education, including clinical and classroom opportunities. We also discuss faculty development and diversity as a strategy of impact, and conclude with a call to action and recommendations for nurse educators working to include SDOH in nursing program curricula.