Browsing by Author "Jacobsen, Michele DM"

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    Building Educational Practice and Culture in Infection Prevention and Control: A Design-Based Research Study
    (2017) Meyers, Gwyneth Louise; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Henderson, Elizabeth Ann; Friesen, Sharon L.; Lock, Jennifer Vivian; Seneviratne, Cydnee Christine; Reeves, Thomas Charles
    Emerging antibiotic resistant organisms and diseases such as Ebola pose significant public health threats. Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) programs are charged with educating healthcare workers (HCWs) to prevent the spread of such microorganisms and infections. Despite ongoing education by Infection Control Professionals (ICPs), HCWs’ adherence to IPAC practice remains low. While education is an expected core competency for ICPs, they are not prepared for this educator role and opportunities for educational professional development are limited. This gap leads to a narrow conceptualization of education, limited application of theory, and research challenges. Relying on conventional teaching methods, ICPs are frustrated with the poor results and are disengaged from their educational efforts. Using Design-based research as an interventional change methodology, the purpose of this research was to begin addressing these problems by designing, developing and implementing an innovative professional development experience in education for a group of ICPs in the Alberta Health Services IPAC program. This professional development experience was situated in the context of a community of learning (CoL) located in the ICPs’ workplace practice. Learning in the CoL was mediated through use of collaborative teaching and learning activities over a one year timeframe. The core interventionist strategy was to have the ICPs create a flipped learning experience the ICPs could use to teach HCWs. Drawing on contemporary constructivist concepts and principles from the Learning Sciences, this research resulted in the creation of an innovative design framework for the educational professional development of ICPs that successfully changed ICPs educational understanding and practice by building their pedagogical expertise and developing their identity as educators through the acquisition of knowledge, language and experience with which to reflect on and explore their teaching and learning practices. This study demonstrated the value of using DBR to explore teaching and learning in the context of a healthcare workplace setting where the focus is on the production and delivery of activities other than teaching and learning. The application of DBR to IPAC practice, whose focus is often to create change, suggests that DBR has potential use beyond the design and improvement of teaching and learning environments.
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    Honouring Wounds and Healing Forward: Teacher Health in Relation to the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (2024-02-03) Taylor, Lisa Marie; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Russell-Mayhew, Michelle Kathleen; Davis, Andrew Brent
    Teacher health has been researched for decades, particularly with regards to teacher stress and burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic further amplified stress levels for many teachers around the world. The purpose of the research detailed in this dissertation was to gain understanding and meaning regarding the nuances of teachers’ experiences of health in relation to the pandemic as well as to identify what can be done to better support teachers moving forward. Additionally, this research recognized the teacher as an individual who plays many roles in their life, where interaction with systems result in circumstances that can influence health. The research question used to guide this inquiry was: How might we understand teachers’ experiences of health and wellness in relation to the pandemic? An interpretive approach that embraced reflexive thematic analysis was used to further understanding and meaning regarding teacher health, and to offer ideas and possible solutions to move forward. Furthermore, the researcher’s approach to inquiry involved a complexity thinking theoretical lens. One-on-one, conversational interviews were conducted with eight primary-level teachers from a large school board in western Canada, which offered an opportunity to thoroughly explore the nuances of teachers’ experiences of health. Data analysis was conducted using reflexive thematic analysis that involved working to identify patterns and what stood out in interviews through ongoing engagement with the data. The themes and interpretations that were realized from this work acknowledge that teachers are wounded, that they have been neglected, and that their health is affected by their interactions with systems and system levels specific to context, using Bronfenbrenner’s nested systems (1979) to support this understanding. Additionally, to heal teachers, coordinated and flexible trans-systematic care is required. Furthermore, teachers’ experiences and suffering need to be recognized and heard at all system levels as a first step towards effectively caring for teachers. It is proposed that to work to heal teachers’ wounds moving forward, multiple layers and levels of support and care are necessary for in-service teachers as well as pre-service teachers, as a proactive approach to supporting future teachers.
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    In Our Hands: Designing for Mobile Devices
    (2018-01-17) Caissie, Belina; Friesen, Sharon L; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Lock, Jennifer Vivian; Dyjur, Patti; Stordy, Mary Margaret
    Two significant impacts on K–12 learning environments are the increasing diversity of learners and one-to-one learning environments. Over the last two decades, several large-scale, provincially-funded projects have supported one-to-one technology in education and equity in Alberta’s education system. For example, the iPad was appropriated by education at an unprecedented rate. This participatory action research study engaged fifth-grade students and their teacher in an exploration of their science learning and teaching with iPads as the one-to-one mobile device used. Two main types of action research cycles occurred: 1) technology and 2) teaching and learning. Multiple action research cycles were carried out concurrently to investigate: In what ways does the design of technology-enabled, inclusive learning environments impact teacher and student learning and agency in middle school? Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews, observations, researcher journaling, a survey, documents, and artifacts. Three process findings emerged through the student focus groups: challenges, customization, and choice. Seven impact findings were evident from the classroom observations and individual interviews: increased collaboration, improved student engagement, student empowerment, teacher empowerment, technology-enhanced learning environment, shifts in teachers’ perceptions of learners, and shifts in students’ perceptions. This study revealed that a technology-rich classroom does not automatically create a technology-enhanced learning environment. Systemic barriers mute the potential of one-to-one access. When the design of technology integration at both the school and school authority level creates significant barriers to effective student and teacher use of mobile devices as pedagogical tools, the ability of both teachers and students to act in new and innovative ways is thwarted. The inability to act in new and innovative ways makes it difficult for teachers and students to develop and exert their agency. The findings of this study imply that the potential of iPads is not being fully realized in the context of learning and teaching as well as provides insight on how iPads can be leveraged as pedagogical devices. Ten recommendations for educational stakeholders, including the Department of Education, educational leaders, teachers, and Faculties of Education, are presented to support a shift from technology-rich classrooms to technology-enhanced learning environments.
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    The Relationship between Instructors, Academic Leaders, and Educational Developers in the Development of Online Teaching Capacity
    (2017-12-18) da Rosa dos Santos, Luciano; Lock, Jennifer; Groen, Janet E.; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Estefan, Andrew; Simmons, Nicola
    Online learning is expanding rapidly among higher education institutions; this requires faculty members to be prepared to teach in online environments. While some may have experience with online teaching and learning, others may feel the need to enroll in educational development programs to help them develop their competence and confidence in teaching online. Using an instrumental single case study approach, this research sought to understand the ways in which instructors from a professional faculty of a western Canadian university developed their capacity to teach online. The following question guided the inquiry: how does the relationship between instructors, academic leaders, and educational developers influence the process of online teaching capacity building in a professional faculty at a western Canadian university? Participants of this study included instructors and academic leaders of a professional faculty, and educational developers working at the university’s centre for educational development. Data were collected using interviews, surveys, and document analysis. Three key findings emerged from the analysis of the data: 1) how technological and pedagogical considerations affected online teaching and its capacity-building processes; 2) initiatives used by instructors to build their online teaching capacity, and 3) factors that influenced the processes for online teaching capacity building. These findings point to the need for synergetic relationships between online instructors, academic leaders, and educational developers for the development of online teaching capacity-building processes and practices that create the conditions for meaningful student learning.
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    Self-Regulated Learning for Chinese, Adult Language Learners: An Intervention Study in a Blended Learning Environment
    (2023-07) Dekker, William; Babb, Armando Paulino Preciado; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Koh, Kim Hong
    Blended learning is a well-established learning design providing much needed accessibility to learning resources and improved pedagogy through technological means. The flipped classroom model is one approach that can help promote engagement through the prioritization of learner-led discussions and collaborative work in the classroom while extending access to language learning practice outside of class time (Bergman & Sams, 2012; Forsey et al., 2013; Johnson & Marsh, 2016). Implicit within the design, however, is the introduction of non-linear access to information which often requires learners to assume more responsibility for their learning process, deploying self-regulated learning strategies to achieve their objectives (Perez-Alvarez et al., 2018). My dissertation explores the increased need for self-regulated learning experienced by Chinese, adult English language learners for achieving success in a blended, flipped learning environment. As a design-based research study, my focus was on the overarching objective of the development of an intervention. This objective was addressed in three, iterative stages of research involving the analysis of the context, and the design, development, and subsequent evaluation of prototypes. This process led to the creation of some initial design principles that were used to guide the development of a digital app that was deployed to a small group of participants. During the implementation and evaluation of the app-based intervention, an additional research objective relating to achievement goal orientation was adopted to explore the types of goals that language learners with high persistence were likely to pursue. Multiple, qualitative data sources were used to address the research questions including document analysis, focus groups, interviews, and field observations. Findings that emerged from the study contributed to the refinement of design principles and provided insight for subsequent development of the intervention. Findings suggested that personalized instructor feedback fulfilled an important emotional function for learners in this context. Enabling a dialogical feedback process between participants and the instructor helped engage learners in more thoughtful self-assessment using external feedback including data visualizations. This process contributed to the development of trust in the source of the feedback, which was more likely to lead to a change in behaviour. Additional insights concerning achievement goals were derived from the interviews, suggesting benefits of multiple different achievement goal profiles could be found. These findings lend further support to the value of using qualitative methods for investigating learner goal-orientations. This study included a small group of learners who demonstrated high persistence. It was recommended that future research involve a larger sample of learners to explore variations in response to the intervention to improve the effectiveness of the design and implementation.
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    The Decision to Leave a Doctor of Education Program: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design Study
    (2016-01-27) Janz, Linda Marie; Patterson, Margaret Edna; Jacobsen, Michele DM; Spencer, Brenda L.; Nilson, Michelle; Hansen, David Donald
    Although doctoral student attrition and persistence have been researched previously, attrition rates remain high and continue to be a cause for concern. This mixed methods study employed an explanatory sequential design to learn about the decision-making experiences of five former Doctor of Education (EdD) students from Canadian universities who left their academic programs prior to graduation. In the first phase of the study, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire. Interviews were conducted in the second, qualitative, phase to explain and to deepen the understanding of the quantitative results. In Phase One, finances, employment or job responsibilities, inability to complete program requirements within deadlines, and family responsibilities were found to have contributed to participants’ decisions to leave their EdD programs without graduating. During their interviews, participants expanded on their questionnaire responses. All participants identified a defining moment when they knew they would be leaving their EdD programs, and although participants expressed regret and disappointment at not graduating, all cited positive aspects to having been enrolled in their doctoral programs, and some spoke about the possibility of returning to doctoral studies in the future. The quantitative and qualitative findings from the two phases of the study are discussed within the context of previous research. Challenges with participant recruitment for this study are examined, and implications and recommendations are presented for current and future EdD students, EdD supervisors and supervisory committee members, and other leaders involved in the delivery of EdD programs.