Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Communication Assessment Tool (CAT)'

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-103).
CAT-SOOP is a tool which allows for automatic collection and assessment of various types of homework exercises. CAT-SOOP is capable of assessing a variety of exercises, including symbolic math and computer programs written in the Python programming language. This thesis describes the design and implementation of the CAT-SOOP system, as well as the methods by which it assesses these various types of exercises. In addition, the implementation of an add-on tool for providing novel forms of feedback about student-submitted computer programs is discussed.
by Adam J. Hartz.
M.Eng.

A simulação clínica tem sido compreendida como uma prática segura e reflexiva durante o processo ensino/aprendizagem em enfermagem. Ademais, a simulaçãopode ser uma oportunidade para que o estudante de enfermagem desenvolva habilidades de comunicação.Contudo é ausente na literatura brasileira, uma ferramenta que avalie a comunicação verbal e não verbal do estudante em ambientes simulados.A Health Communication Assessment Tool (HCAT), ferramenta desenvolvida por pesquisadores americanos, difundida em algumas universidades e países, mostrou-se válida e confiável para tal demanda, e avalia a comunicação de estudantes de enfermagem em simulação clínica. O objetivo geral desse estudo é realizar adaptação cultural da ferramenta Health Communication AssessmentTool -HCAT, para o português brasileiro.Trata-se de uma pesquisa metodológica, autorizada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa envolvendo Seres Humanos. A Health Communication Assessment Tool (HCAT) trata-se de uma escala composta por 24 afirmações - alterada pelos autores originais para 22 afirmações, durante o curso desta pesquisa - que busca avaliar o uso ou falta de uso de comportamentos de comunicação interpessoal e de comunicação em saúde(verbal ou não verbal).Foi utilizado o referencial teórico metodológico de Guillemin, Bombardier e Beaton (1993) aprimorado por Ferrer et. al (1996): a) tradução inicial para língua portuguesa; b) avaliação pelo Comitê de Juízes; c) retrotradução; d) avaliação semântica dos itens; e) pré-teste e análise das medidas adaptada,a qual será realizada em estudo posterior. O estudo foi desenvolvido em uma instituição de ensino superior pública do estado de São Paulo. A etapa de tradução inicial para língua portuguesa foi realizada por dois tradutores, de forma independente, dando origem à primeira versão consensual em português, a qual foi composta por 16 afirmações da tradução versão 1, cinco da tradução versão 2, e as demais afirmações (09, 11, 4 20) foram idênticas entre as traduções. Em seguida, a primeira versão consensual em português foi submetida à avaliação por um Comitê de Juízes para verificação de equivalências semânticas, idiomáticas, culturais e conceituais entre a versão original e a versão brasileira; nesta etapa houve mais de 80% de concordância entre os juízes em todas as afirmações, dando origem à segunda versão consensual em português. A retrotraduação foi submetida à avaliação dos autores finais, os quais sugeriram a exclusão de duas afirmações para adequação da ferramenta à nova versão em inglês. Para a avaliação semântica, participaram 10 professores de enfermagem, distribuídos entre a região Nordeste (2), Sudeste (4) e Sul (4), os quais foram convidados por e-mail e avaliaram semanticamente cada uma das afirmações da versão brasileira do HCAT. Todos os itens obtiveram avaliação de concordância acima de 80%, com exceção da \'afirmação 8\'que obteve 70 %. O pré-teste e análise das medidas adaptadas, não realizadas nesse estudo, se constituem na finalização do processo de validação do HCAT para o Brasil. A ferramenta deverá ser utilizada por uma amostra representativa de professores de enfermagem/ou educadores que atuam em simulação clínica. A versão brasileira do HCAT foi considerada adaptada culturalmente para o Brasil e poderá ser útil para avaliar a capacidade comunicativa dos estudantes de enfermagem durante cenários de simulação clínica
Clinical simulation has been understood as a safe and reflexive practice during the teaching/learning process in nursing. In addition, the simulation can be an opportunity for the nursing student to develop communication skills. However, there is no tool to evaluate verbal and nonverbal communication of the student in simulated environments in the Brazilian literature. The Health Communication Assessment Tool (HCAT) is a tool developed by American researchers, disseminated in some universities and countries, proved to be valid and reliable for such demand, and evaluates the communication of nursing students in clinical simulation. The general objective of this study is to develop a cultural adaptation of the Health Communication Assessment Tool -HCAT to Brazilian Portuguese. This is a methodological research, authorized by the Research Ethics Committee involving Human Beings. The Health Communication Assessment Tool (HCAT) is a scale compounded by 24 statements - altered by the original authors to 22 statements during the course of this research - that seeks to evaluate the use or lack of use of interpersonal communication and communication behaviors in health (verbal or nonverbal). In order to develop the cultural adaptation, the theoretical-methodological frame work elaborated by Guillemin, Bombardier and Beaton (1993) and enhanced by Ferrer et al. (1996) was used: a) initial translation from the original to Portuguese; b) evaluation by the Judges Committee; c) back-translation; d) semantic evaluation of the items; e) pre-test and analysis of the adapted measures which will be carried out in later study. This research was developed at a public higher education institution in the state of São Paulo. The initial translation to Portuguese was done by two translators, independently, giving rise to the first consensual version in Portuguese, which consisted of 16 statements of the first translated version, 05 of the second translated version, and the other statements (09, 11, 4, 20) were identical in both the translations. Afterwards, the first consensual version in Portuguese was submitted to a Judges Committee for evaluation of semantic, idiomatic, cultural and conceptual equivalences between the original version and the Brazilian version; at this stage there was more than 80% agreement among the judges in all the statements, resulting in the second consensual version in Portuguese. The back translation was submitted to the final authors for evaluation, who suggested the exclusion of two statements in order to adapt the tool to the new version in English. In what concerns the Semantic Evaluation, 10 nursing professors distributed among the Northeast (2), Southeast (4) and South (4) of Brazil were invited by e-mail and semantically evaluated each of the statements of the Brazilian version of the HCAT. All items showed an agreement in evaluation above 80%, with the exception of the statement \"8\" which had 70% agreement. The pre-test and analysis of the adapted measures, not developed in this study, represent the completion of the validation process of HCAT for Brazil. The tool shall be used by a representative sample of nursing teachers or educators who work in clinical simulation. The Brazilian version of the HCAT was considered culturally adapted to Brazil and can be useful to evaluate the communicative ability of nursing students during clinical simulation scenarios

Persons with aphasia (PWAs) often demonstrate challenges in the areas of expressive language, comprehension, reading, and writing. Due to these deficits, PWAs have limited opportunity to express their opinions and contribute to treatment planning. This project focused on the development of a self-report needs assessment tool for PWAs that facilitates PWAs participation in treatment planning. The needs assessment tool was designed using aphasia-friendly features including pictographic/visual analog scale, key words in bold, simple wording, large font, consistent question formatting, flexible administration, and the use of a communication partner/interview. The needs assessment tool was administered to seven PWAs in the Bowling Green, Kentucky area. Participants were recruited from short-term rehabilitation facilities, long-term care facilities, and personal homes. The needs assessment tool is comprised of 12 items targeting interest in therapeutic offerings for inclusion in a new intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP). Results revealed the importance of flexible administration in response to participants’ communication abilities and limitations. With use of communicative support, the needs assessment tool provided an opportunity for PWAs to effectively express treatment preferences. Participants indicated moderate interest in an ICAP at Western Kentucky University and treatment options including individual speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and community outings.

Caring relationships established between nurse managers and staff nurses promote positive work environments. However, research about staff nurses’ perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors is limited. A 94-item Caring Assessment Tool-Administration (CAT-adm^©) was developed to measure staff nurses’ perceptions of nurse managers’ caring behaviors; however, it lacked robust psychometric testing. This study was undertaken to establish the CAT-adm^© survey as a reliable and valid tool to measure staff nurses’ perceptions of nurse managers’ caring behaviors.

The Quality-Caring Model^® (QCM^®) served as the theoretical framework. Specific aims were to 1) evaluate construct validity of the CAT-adm^© survey by describing factors that account for variance in staff nurses' perceptions of nurse manager caring, 2) estimate internal consistency, and 3) conduct item reduction analysis. Four research questions were: 1) Will the factor structure of observed data fit an 8-factor solution? 2) What is the internal consistency reliability of the CAT- adm^©? 3) What items can be reduced while maintaining an acceptable factor structure? and 4) What are staff nurses’ perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors?

A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. A sample of 703 staff nurses from Midwestern, Midatlantic and Southern Regions of the U.S. completed the CAT-adm^© survey electronically. Analysis included Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), univariate analysis, and descriptive statistics. CFA did not support an 8-factor solution. EFA supported a two-factor solution and demonstrated significant shared variance between the two factors. This shared variance supported a one-factor solution that could conceptually be labeled Caring Behaviors. Random selection reduced the scale to 25-items while maintaining a Cronbach’s Alpha of .98. Using the new 25-item scale, the composite score mean of staff nurses’ perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors indicated a moderately high level of caring. Suggestions for nursing administration, nurse manager practice, leadership, education and for future research were given.

The new 25-item CAT-adm^© survey has acceptable reliability and validity. The 25-item CAT-adm^© survey provides hospital administrators, nurse managers, and researchers with an instrument to collect valuable information about the caring behaviors used by nurse managers in relationship with staff nurses.

Thesis (MOccTher)-- University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Malingering, the intentional simulation or exaggeration of symptoms for secondary gain, has a significant financial impact on disability insurance given its prevalence. Multidisciplinary professionals involved in disability determination therefore require a tool which would assist in the screening of suspected malingerers. AIM: The Credibility Assessment Tool (CAT), a tool which was developed as part of the Performance APGAR, was reviewed in terms of its validity and application to the screening of malingering. Research objectives included the review of face and content validity through a literature review and concept analysis, as well as the review of construct and concurrent validity by comparing the results with the operationalised malingering construct and available malingering protocols. The adapted Slick criteria as proposed by Aronoff, applicable to chronic pain, neurocognitive, neurological and psychiatric symptoms, was identified as the most suitable criterion standard for use of comparison. DESIGN: The research design was a descriptive analytical design, which was performed retrospectively with a report review from insurance referrals to the researcher. Informed consent was obtained from insurers who legally own the reports. A saturated sample of convenience of 184 cases with depression and pain as predominant symptoms were analysed. Recall bias were minimised through omission of personal identifiers and the use of a peer check of 20 random cases. Results in the peer check were suggestive of poor inter-rater reliability, rather than recall bias. METHOD: Cases were analysed according to the guidelines from the respective authors of the CAT and adapted Slick criteria, however this was further defined to ensure that the study could be replicated. RESULTS: Face validity was adequate in terms of purpose, item selection and association between consistency criteria, however require improvement in terms of standardised instruction and weighting of the scale. Content validity was rated as adequate to excellent, given that it supports criteria linked to the malingering construct. Construct validity was adequate as demonstrated by association between concepts obtained through concept analysis. Correlation between the CAT and adapted Slick was strong (r>0.5) however caution is expressed that this requires further research. CONCLUSION: Recommendations for further research included the review of content validity with subject experts, criterion and predictive valid through a case-control study of known-groups, as well as the reliability of the CAT, and the use of specialised ADL indices for malingering detection. Adaptation to the CAT was depicted in the proposed Consistency Assessment Tool.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Malingering, die opsetlike nabootsing of oordrywing van simptome vir sekondêre gewin, het ‘n beduidende finansiële impak op ongeskiktheidsversekering as gevolg van die prevalensie daarvan. Multidissiplinêre professionele persone betrokke by ongeskiktheidsevaluasies het daarom ‘n meetinstrument nodig om moontlike malingeerders te identifiseer. DOEL: Die Credibility Assessment Tool (CAT), wat ontwikkel was as deel van die Performance APGAR, was ondersoek in terme van geldigheid en toepassing op malingering. Navorsingsdoelwitte het die ondersoek van voorkoms- en inhoudsgeldigheid deur ‘n literatuurstudie en konsep analise behels, sowel as konstruk- en korrelasie geldigheid deur die vergelyking van die resultate met beskikbare malingering protokolle en operasionele konstrukte. Die aangepaste Slick kriteria soos voorgestel deur Aronoff, wat toepaslik is op kroniese pyn, neurokognitiewe, neurologiese en psigiatriese simptome, was ge-identifiseer as die meeste gepaste kriterium standaard vir vergelyking. ONTWERP: Die studieontwerp was ‘n beskrywende analitiese studie wat retrospektief uitgevoer was deur ‘n ondersoek van verslae van versekeraars. Ingeligte toestemming was verkry van versekeraars wat die wetlike eienaars van die verslae is. ‘n Gerieflikheidsteekproef van 184 gevalle met depressie en pyn as hoof simptome was geanaliseer. Sydighede was verminder deur persoonlike inligting te verwyder en die gebruik van ‘n eweknie evaluasie van 20 ewekansige getrekte gevalle. Voorlopige resultate dui onbevredigende betroubaarheid aan, eerder as sydighede. METODE: Gevalle was ge-evalueer volgends die riglyne van die verskeie outeure van die CAT en aangepaste Slick kriteria, en was sodanig verder gedefinieer om te verseker dat die studie herhaal kan word. RESULTATE: Voorkomsgeldigheid was voldoende, maar verbetering is aanbeveel in terme van gestandardiseerde instruksie en skaal verdeling. Inhoudsgeldigheid was beduidend in vergelyking met die wetenskaplike literatuur en die geoperasionaliseerde konstrukte. Konstrukgeldigheid was bevestig deur die positiewe verhoudings tussen die aangepaste Slick en CAT kriteria. ‘n Sterk korrelasie was gevind tussen die aangepaste Slick en CAT, maar hierdie moet versigtig geinterpreteer word aangesien verdere navorsing verlang word. GEVOLGTREKKING: Aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing sluit in die ondersoek van die inhoudsgeldigheid met eksperte, kriterium- en voorspellingsgeldigheid, sowel as die betroubaarheid van die CAT en die gebruik van gespesialiseerde ADL indekse vir uitkenning van malingering. Aanpassing vir die CAT word ook voorgestel.

Introduction: The need for endodontic treatment in dental care is a well-established in the literature. A substantial perceived need for referring endodontic cases to endodontic specialists has been reported. In order to improve the success rate for endodontic treatment by general dental practitioners (GDPs), the referral of the more complex cases to an experienced endodontist should be made possible in the best interest of the patient. In order to be able to refer such cases appropriately, two requirements need to be satisfied. Firstly, GDPs need to be able to predictably identify the cases with higher complexity and higher risk of adverse outcomes, then treat or refer to the appropriate practitioner. Secondly, there needs to be a sufficient number of endodontic specialists or endodontic workforce with appropriate referral pathways available. Aims: The aims of this project are therefore twofold. First is to develop a valid and reliable digital assessment tool that can help GDPs assess and classify complex non-surgical root canal treatments (NSRCT). Secondly is to determine the prevalence of endodontic complexity in general dental practice to help assess the level of need for endodontic treatment, training and therefore inform commissioning within the health system. Methodology: The first part of the research focused on the development of the Endodontic Complexity Assessment Tool (E-CAT). This included a review of the current literature, iterative analysis of the complexity factors and the development of digital software to enhance the tool’s efficiency and practicality. Inter-observer and intra-observer reliability studies were conducted with 15 dentists utilising the tool to assess 15 clinical cases and repeating the experiment 9 months later. External validation of the tool was sought with a panel of 35 endodontists to assess the same 15 cases. The consensus of the panel on the complexity of each case was considered as “gold standard” assessment and was compared to the outcome of achieved by the E-CAT. For the prevalence study, 30 fully qualified dentists working within general dental practice across the UK were recruited. Each dentist assessed 10-15 consecutive potential endodontic cases as encountered in their day-to-day clinical practice. The data was collected using the online E-CAT. The tool allowed the data to be recorded into a secure database. Information on tooth-related factors, systemic factors, oral diagnosis and patient-related factors was recorded. Three levels of complexity were defined for the analysis; class I (uncomplicated), class II (moderately complicated) and class III (highly complicated). The data was analysed to express period prevalence with a 95% confidence interval using SPSS statistical software. Results: The E-CAT was successfully developed with a total of 22 complexity criteria; the tool was hosted on a secure university server under the domain of www.e-cat.uk. The inter-user and intra-user reliability was found to be 0.80 and 0.90 respectively. The consensus of the endodontists panel matched to all 15 cases assessed. The inter-examiner correlation of the panel was 0.51. The average time to assess a case was 01:36 minute. A total of 435 endodontic cases were recorded for the prevalence study. The distribution of complexity over classes I, II and III was 39.8%, 31.9% and 28.3% respectively. History of previous root canal intervention formed 22.9% of the cases encountered. The majority of the cases (64.4%) appeared to have < 15 degree root curvature, 30.6% had 15-40 degree curvature and only 4.0% had > 40° curvature. Teeth with existing extra-coronal restorations formed 18.8% of the cases encountered. Radiographically, visible or moderately reduced canal space was reported in 76.9% of the cases, while 20.9% had severely reduced canal space and only 3.2% were perceived to have invisible canal space. History of trauma was encountered in 8.9% of the evaluated cases. Conclusion: The E-CAT provides an efficient and reliable platform to assess the complexity of NSRCT. The results obtained in the prevalence study provide a good resource and databank for researchers, public health commissioners and academic institutions to access wide range of information concerning the prevalence and distribution of endodontic complexity. The results obtained in this research indicate a possible shortage of endodontic specialist service in the UK, especially within the National Health Service.

Adjusting one’s communication is a fundamental requirement for human interaction (Gasiorek, 2016a). Individuals adapt communication behavior according to the circumstances surrounding the situation, resulting in different patterns and forms of speech relative to spouses, family members, coworkers, or friends. Yet, researchers in instructional communication have not yet substantially applied adjustment as a theoretical lens for understanding instructor-student classroom interactions (Gasiorek & Giles, 2012; Soliz & Giles, 2014; Soliz & Bergquist, 2016). Apart from overlooking this useful theoretical approach, instructional communication scholarship can also be improved by accounting for 1) shifting group identities in higher education that change how instructors and students communicate, 2) incomplete conceptualizations of student perceptions in existing research, and 3) a consistent lack of concern for the hierarchical structure of educational data. This dissertation seeks to resolve these limitations through an application of one of the most prominent theories of adjustment: communication accommodation theory (CAT; Giles, 1973; Giles, Willemyns, Gallois, & Anderson, 2007a). The research specifically extends the CAT framework to an instructional setting by investigating how student perceptions of instructor nonaccommodation across several modes of communication (i.e., nonverbal, linguistic/verbal, content, support) influence information processing ability, relationships with instructors, and beliefs about instructors. Data were collected from 573 undergraduate students across 38 sections of a basic communication course (BCC). Students completed an online questionnaire assessing perceptions of the appropriateness of their instructor’s behavior (i.e., nonaccommodation), extraneous load, communication satisfaction, instructor-student rapport, instructor credibility, and instructor communication competence. The results first forward a nuanced measure for assessing nonaccommodation in a manner consistent with the theoretical propositions of CAT. Second, a series of analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) showed significant associations between perceptions of nonaccommodation across modes and students’ reported classroom outcomes. Interestingly, several of the individual, direct relationships disappeared when multiple modes of nonaccommodation were considered simultaneously, introducing the possibility that individuals may prioritize the appropriateness of certain behaviors within context. The data hierarchy (i.e., students enrolled in course sections) did exert some influence on the relationships between variables, yet the majority of variance accounted for across models occurred at the student level. Implications of the results related to both theory and practice within the basic communication course are presented in the discussion.

In recent years the NHS has moved towards a patient-centred approach, placing the emphasis on changing health -related behaviour and developing the communication skills of healthcare staff. Registered Dietitians (RDs) have an important role in supporting patients with health -related behaviour change and are required to communicate effectively with patients. The aim of this research, using a mixed methods approach, was to explore and develop the area of Communication Skills for Behaviour Change (CSBS) within one-to-one consultations between patients and RDs in the UK. A cross-sectional survey of British Dietetic Association (BDA) members was undertaken to ascertain their views on the use of CSBC in dietetics and preferred teaching methods at both pre- and post- registration level. A tool for the assessment of CSBC within dietetic patient consultations (DIET-COMMS) was developed and tested for its psychometric properties and utility in practice. Finally semi-structured interviews were undertaken with experienced RDs who had undertaken inter-rater reliability testing with DIET-COMMS to explore their views on best practice for CSBC in dietetics.

Smallholder farmers often have great entrepreneurial qualities that build on generations of experience. However, many farm management practices are poorly adapted to current climate change conditions. In order for farmers to understand the risks they are undertaking by following certain farming practices and to adapt accordingly, a decision support tool is being developed by researchers at TU Delft. The tool runs a socio-hydrological model, created in Python, in the back-end and provides farmer specific investment and profit data for different crops in the front-end. The aim of this study is to develop a risk assessment process that integrates hydro-climatic variability in the decision support tool, and to identify ways of communicating risk to smallholder farmers in Maharashtra, India. Two sources of variability were characterised based on a literature review of Indian farmers’ own risk perceptions; the untimely onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon and the frequency of dry spells. A sensitivity analysis was then carried out to investigate their respective effects on the farmers’ crop yields. The method proposed to evaluate these risks used a single variable, precipitation data, and a two-dimensional risk matrix to compound the two risk factors, over a time span of 14 years (2003-2016). However, the results indicate that it might be more beneficial to define dry spells in terms of crop water stress, instead of a precipitation threshold. This study also proposed a method for translating a cumulative distribution curve into a risk representation that is adapted for low-literacy users by combining numbers and text with graphics, color and voice descriptions. Ultimately, however, the usability of the tool cannot be determined solely through literature, but must involve the end-users in its design.
Småskaliga jordbrukare är goda entreprenörer som samlat på sig kunskaper och erfarenheter över flera generationer. Däremot är vissa metoder som jordbrukarna använder sig av idag för att förvalta sitt jordbruk inte anpassade till nutida klimatförändringar. För att jordbrukarna ska förstå riskerna som de åtar sig vid valet av dessa metoder försöker forskare vid TU Delft nu ta fram ett verktyg för att underlätta jordbrukares förmåga att ta självständiga men välgrundade beslut om sitt jordbruk. Verktyget är baserat på en socio-hydrologisk modell som är framtagen i Python och som förser specifika investerings- och inkomstdata för enskilda jordbrukare. Syftet med detta kandidatarbete är att bidra till verktyget genom att undersöka de hydroklimatiska risker som uppstår till följd av föränderliga och osäkra klimatologiska förhållanden för jordbrukare i delstaten Maharashtra, Indien. Två riskfaktorer karakteriserades baserat på en litteraturstudie om indiska jordbrukares riskuppfattningar: avvikelser i starten på den indiska sommarmonsunen och antal torrperioder under monsunsäsongen. Dessutom utfördes en känslighetsanalys för att undersöka om och hur den existerande modellens utdata av skörd påverkades av de valda riskfaktorerna. Monsunstarten och torrperioderna togs fram genom metoder som enbart använde historiska nederbördsdata över tidsperioden 2003-2016 och kombinerades sedan med hjälp av en tvådimensionell riskmatris. Resultaten visade att det fanns anledning att ifrågasätta hur torrperioderna definierades och att det kan vara mer fördelaktigt att undersöka vattenbrist för grödan, snarare än att enbart förlita sig på nederbördsdata. Vidare föreslog denna studie en metod för att översätta en kumulativ fördelningsfunktion till en grafisk riskframställning som är anpassad till användare med låg läskunnighet genom att kombinera siffror med text, grafik, färg och ljudförklaringar. I slutändan kan dock inte användbarheten av verktyget enbart avgöras utifrån litteratur, utan måste även inkludera återkoppling från slutanvändarna.

Includes bibliographical references
Background: Errors in communication are prevalent in healthcare and affect patient safety and cause unnecessary patient deaths. Reporting early signs of physiological or clinical deterioration could improve patient safety and prevent 'failure to rescue' or unexpected intensive care admissions, cardiac arrest or death. The structured Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) communication tool enables nurses to provide doctors with pertinent information about a deteriorating patient in a logical order, based on a complete assessment. In addition, nurses have increased confidence in their findings and are better able to initiate a call and to convince a doctor to provide orders promptly or see a patient. Aim: The aim of this sub-study of a randomized controlled trial was to develop and validate a modified SBAR communication tool incorporating components of a local MEWS vital signs observations chart. Methods: The modified SBAR communication tool was developed following a review of available published examples and validated by employing a mixed methods approach: 1) cognitive interviews (n=3 nurses, 2 doctors), 2) determining the index of content validity with nurses (n=5), physicians (n=5) and surgeons (n=8) and 3) inter-rater reliability testing, with calculation of kappa values (n=2 nurses). Results: Cognitive interviews prompted more changes to the modified SBAR communication tool than determined by the content validity index. For cognitive interviews, there were 15/42 (35.71 %) modifications: 11 items were added (26.19 %) and three removed, (7.14 %) resulting in 49 items whereas for content validity index there were 4/49 (8.16%) modifications, 5/49 (10.20%) items removed and one item added (2.04%). Four of 49 items (8.16%) rated as relevant by <70% of nurses and doctors were revised or deleted. No additional modifications were needed following review by surgeons, as all items were rated as relevant by the pre-determined ≥70% of experts. Inter-rater reliability of the SBAR tool was established by two nurses who were mostly in substantial to full agreement on 37/45 items on the modified tool. The exceptions were: 'Calling from' (Cohen's Kappa-0.05) and 'this is a change from' (Cohen's Kappa-0.07), representing agreement below the level of chance. However, the high percentage agreement and nature of the questions suggest that the questions are sound. Percentage agreement amongst participants for these items was 91 % (95% confidence interval (CI): 71 to 99 ) and 86% (95% CI: 65 to 97 ) respectively. Deciding whether a doctor should see the patient now (Cohen's Kappa 0.09) or in the next 30 minutes, achieved fair agreement (Cohen's Kappa 0.20). This reflects a difference in clinical judgement as the decision when to call for assistance depended on the individual nurse's clinical judgement. IRR was not possible to test on 4/45 items, as those items required a response by the person being summoned. Overall, nine of 42 items were removed, 12 were added and 19 substantially modified, leaving 45 items. Conclusion: The modified SBAR communication tool was valid and reliable for use in a local context in conjunction with the Cape Town Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) vital EWS) vital signs chart.

Indirect assessments are widely used to identify environmental factors that may be manipulated or integrated in the development of direct assessments and behavior interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. To date, there are no indirect assessments that can be used to evaluate the extent to which children who engage in problem behavior wait to receive reinforcement. However, there are effective behavior interventions to increase waiting. A treatment package consisting of functional communication training (FCT) and schedule thinning (i.e., multiple schedules) has been identified as an effective intervention to increase waiting in children who engage in problem behavior maintained by social contingencies. Nonetheless, in studies in which a schedule thinning procedure has been used, the terminal waiting durations are typically selected arbitrarily. Therefore, we conducted three studies to evaluate the use of an indirect assessment to increase waiting within an FCT and schedule treatment package in children with developmental disabilities. The purpose of Study I was to develop the Waiting Assessment Interview Tool (WAIT) to obtain current waiting durations for subjects who engaged in problem behavior maintained by social contingencies. The purpose of Study II was to complete the WAIT with caregivers and behavior service providers and to compare their results to a latency functional analysis (FA) conducted with all children. Finally, the purpose of Study III was to use the WAIT completed by informants to systematically individualize the initial component durations used during the schedule thinning procedure. A second purpose was to use the informants’ preferred waiting times as final waiting targets for all subjects.

As electronic waste and unsustainable Information- and communication product consumption is a growing global problem, more effective tools are required for people and businesses to measure and improve their social and environmental impacts. The Agenda 2030 plan for sustainable development addresses this issue and calls for proper and safer treatment of material extraction, recycling and disposal. TCO Development have created an IT impact assessment tool which addresses this specific problem by giving procurers and purchasers the ability to browse and compare sustainable IT products. To be an effective tool, usability and user engagement attributes have to be considered, as well as the context of the user. The target audience of IT procurement officers are defined and a qualitative study is conducted to evaluate which changes to the design are important to implement to increase the usability and user engagement of the IT sustainability impact assessment tool. The evaluation of the tool shows general positive feedback towards the general layout, design and functionality. Only a few severe errors are discovered which are identified to be in the filtering process. Errors regarding the sensitivity of the slider tool, the excess of options when choosing a TCO certificate version, and confusing terminology while choosing a product type are a few problems which are discovered. A few corrective design alterations were presented based on these discoveries. Moving forward, the iterative design process should continue to address the remaining usability errors. Furthermore, developers and designers should prioritize improving the aspects of data accuracy, transparency as well as system integration to improve corresponding user engagement attributes.
Elektroniskt avfall och ohållbar konsumtion av informations- och kommunikationsprodukter är ett växande problem i världen. Fler och effektivare verktyg behövs för att människor och företag ska kunna mäta och förbättra sin sociala och miljömässiga påverkan. Agenda 2030-planen för hållbar utveckling berör denna fråga genom att efterlysa säkra och hållbara metoder för materialutvinning, återvinning och avfallshantering av produkter. TCO Development har skapat ett verktyg som bedömer IT-produkters klimatavtryck vilket tillåter inköpare och upphandlare att gå igenom och jämföra hållbara IT-produkter med varandra. För att fungera effektivt behöver verktygets attribut för användbarhet och användarengagemang tillgodoses. Vidare behöver kontexten för verktygets användning analyseras. Målgruppen för verktyget definierades och en kvalitativ studie genomfördes därefter för att identifiera vilka designförändringar som är viktiga att implementera för att öka användbarheten och engagemanget hos användarna. Resultatet av studien visar att det finns en generell positiv attityd gentemot den allmänna layouten, designen och funktionaliteten hos  verktyget. Endast ett fåtal allvarliga avvikelser upptäcktes och kunde isoleras till filtreringsprocessen. Känsligheten av skjutreglaget, ett överflöd av certifieringsalternativ att välja bland, samt missvisande terminologi vid val av produkttyp är några problem som upptäcktes. Utifrån dessa, kunde förslag på åtgärdande designförändringar presenteras. I framtiden bör TCO Development fortsätta arbeta iterativt med designprocessen och fokusera på de kvarvarande användbarhetsavvikelserna. Vidare bör utvecklare och designers prioritera verktygets förmåga att presentera korrekt och transparent data, såväl som integrationen med externa system. På så vis kan de tillhörande attributen för användarengagemang förbättras.

The Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired, 3rd edition (APT/HI-3) was adapted into an auditory perception assessment tool for Spanish-speaking children called the Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired—Spanish (APT/HI-S). Test items from the APT/HI-S were then validated by three groups of Spanish-English bilinguals to determine if selected words were developmentally and linguistically appropriate for 3-year old children. Survey results revealed that 37 out of 62 words were considered developmentally and grammatically appropriate. The APT/HI-S was then administered to two 3-year old and two 5-year old children, two with typical hearing and two with hearing loss. Results revealed that language proficiency played an integral role in the measurement of auditory perception skills. The children demonstrated better performance when tested in their dominant language, reinforcing the need to have a language-specific assessment tool to obtain a more accurate picture of auditory and speech perception skills in children.

Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2015
Ob ject ive: Effective communication is an essential aspect of high-quality patient care and an important ability for physicians and for other health professionals. Therefore, interpersonal and communication skills have been identified as a core competency that must be demonstrated by physicians. To date, assessment of communication skills, in the portuguese context, has not been well established. The Communication Assessment Tool (CAT), developed by Makoul e t a l assesses patient perceptions of physicians' interpersonal and communication skills. We undertook this study to explore patient perceptions about communication with physicians of different specialties, using the CAT, a psychometrically validated instrument for patient assessment of physician communication skills. For this study we used an european portuguese translated version of CAT that we pretend to validate in the portuguese context. M e th o d s : We began to translate the CAT, a psychometrically validated survey, into european portuguese. We then conducted a field, prospective, cross-sectional questionnaire study, considered exempt, in the Associação Protetora dos Diabéticos de Portugal (APDP), during a three month period, starting on April of 2015 and ending on July of 2015, using the CAT, a 15 items instrument, with physicians and patients from a variety of specialties. 14 items focus on the physician and one targets the staff. Items were answered via a five point response scale, in which one means poor and five means excellent. Pilot testing established that the CAT differentiates between physicians who rated high or low on a separate satisfaction scale. All patients are adults, with more than 18 years old, with diverse ethnic back-grounds, and were eligible if the following exclusion criteria did not apply: primary psychiatric issues, critically ill or physiologically unstable. Part of the sociodemographic characteristics was soon answered, even before the medical's appointment, to engage in a compromise; nevertheless, CAT's questions were immediately answered after the end of the same medical's appointment. CAT filling took place in the waiting room of the APDP. Resu lts: 172 patients were enrolled, but only 150 patients completed the CAT properly, so we analyzed 150 patient surveys, ranged in age from 18 to over 84 years old (50.7% of participants aged between 45 and 64 years), 51.3% were female. Highest ratings were "treated me with respect" (64.0% excellent), "greeted me in a way that made me feel comfortable" (62.0% excellent), and "showed care and concern" (54.7% excellent). The lowest scoring items were for encouraging the patients to ask questions (34.7% excellent), involving the patients in decisions as much as they wanted (38.7% excellent), letting the patients talk without interruptions (46.0% excellent), and checking to be sure the patient understood everything (46.0% excellent) with the same score. Overall scale reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97). Con clusio n : The CAT is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring patient perceptions of physician performance in the area of interpersonal and communication skills in the portuguese context, as already happens in other countries. The field test demonstrated that the CAT can be successfully completed by both physicians and patients across clinical specialties. The CAT can be used, since it is a useful tool, to gauge patient perceptions of physicians' communication skills during an appointment.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Caring relationships established between nurse managers and staff nurses promote positive work environments. However, research about staff nurses' perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors is limited. A 94-item Caring Assessment Tool-Administration (CAT-adm©) was developed to measure staff nurses' perceptions of nurse managers' caring behaviors; however, it lacked robust psychometric testing. This study was undertaken to establish the CAT-adm© survey as a reliable and valid tool to measure staff nurses' perceptions of nurse managers' caring behaviors. The Quality-Caring Model® (QCM®) served as the theoretical framework. Specific aims were to 1) evaluate construct validity of the CAT-adm© survey by describing factors that account for variance in staff nurses' perceptions of nurse manager caring, 2) estimate internal consistency, and 3) conduct item reduction analysis. Four research questions were: 1) Will the factor structure of observed data fit an 8-factor solution? 2) What is the internal consistency reliability of the CAT- adm©? 3) What items can be reduced while maintaining an acceptable factor structure? and 4) What are staff nurses' perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors? A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. A sample of 703 staff nurses from Midwestern, Midatlantic and Southern Regions of the U.S. completed the CAT-adm© survey electronically. Analysis included Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), univariate analysis, and descriptive statistics. CFA did not support an 8-factor solution. EFA supported a two-factor solution and demonstrated significant shared variance between the two factors. This shared variance supported a one-factor solution that could conceptually be labeled Caring Behaviors. Random selection reduced the scale to 25-items while maintaining a Cronbach's Alpha of .98. Using the new 25-item scale, the composite score mean of staff nurses' perceptions of nurse manager caring behaviors indicated a moderately high level of caring. Suggestions for nursing administration, nurse manager practice, leadership, education and for future research were given. The new 25-item CAT-adm© survey has acceptable reliability and validity. The 25-item CAT-adm© survey provides hospital administrators, nurse managers, and researchers with an instrument to collect valuable information about the caring behaviors used by nurse managers in relationship with staff nurses.

碩士
國立政治大學
教育研究所
98
The purpose of this study is to explore what is the necessary competency for international business communication and use them to develop the assessment tool. Through literature review, expert interviews, expert panel and questionnaire survey, the study builds the international business competency model and assessment tool to offer a structure helping Taiwanese talents to go on the world stage smoothly. According to the result, there are three levels and nine dimensions in the international business competency for Taiwanese. It includes “must have”, “nice to have” and “goal” levels, which contain sensitivity, sympathy, aggressiveness, flexibility, business profession ability, language using ability, message delivering ability, listening and achieving consensus. Moreover, the research also develops behavior indicators for each dimension. In the part of assessment tool, the efficacy is confirmed by reliability, validity and discrimination analysis. The international business communication competency model and assessment tool are all confirmed the efficacy. In the end, the researcher provides the suggestions for training, assessment and follow-up academic studies.

M.Tech.
In order to be competitive in the global village, most countries in the world have embarked upon the implementation of sound educational systems and South Africa is no exception. The economic empowerment of a nation depends on the success of its educational system, interalia on the strength of the teaching, learning and assessment strategies on which the system operates. Over the years there has been many studies undertaken for the sake of developing successful models in assessment methods. An attempt has been made through this study to investigate assessments strategies that could be used to enable students to take ownership of their learning, thus empowering them and helping them. The approach is based on the use of a variety of tools that will complement the aim of the study. In this regard rubrics and task lists were used in a series of assignments in the Communication Skills course offered to Engineering and Radiography students at the Technikon Witwatersrand. An analysis of the results exhibited a positive shift towards students' ability to become responsible for their own learning. This provides a springboard to examine the impact of this venture on the exit level performances of students in other subjects in the long run.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
創新設計工程系工業設計碩士班
106
In order to cope with the major crisis as the lack of global water resources issues in global water resources, the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have sequentially established the approach to water footprint calculation. Since then, the issue of water footprint became another highly-concerned environmental issue next to the issue of carbon footprint. On the other hand, The environmental impact of new developing prototype is always assessed by the environmental health and safety specialists after small-scale pilot production even launch into the market；and then the improving solution is found after the discussion with the designer. The above-mentioned process indeed needs to be speeded up from business perspective. Therefore, in order to avoid the water of time and costs, this research tried to develop an instant green design and computer aided evaluation tool “Water Footprint Evaluator (WFE)” for the solution by integrating the water footprint and function performance of product. The said tool was constructed on the business software “SolidWorks®” as the platform and applied the application programming interface (API) technique. Through the said tool, expectantly the designer can easily make an instant assessment of water footprint and function performance of their new product in the early stage of development. The assessment scope of WFE involves material production, component production, post production / finishing, and assembly. The said tool was successfully simulated and demonstrated by the two examples, a camera module and a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) of a mobile communication device.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies
Communication between client and server is a key factor in the modern age. Nowadays, telecommunications are at the base of every system and Software that is available. The way Software communicates can determine the efficacy of it. In the GIS world, a server is often used for offloading expensive tasks such as geospatial operations or statistical analysis. This technique improves the performance of the Software systems and makes them able to scale based on the demand on real time. For making the communication between client and server more efficient, interoperable and standard, the OGC released the standard WPS. WPS defines abstract operations that are able to describe a client server communication for remote process executions. This thesis focuses on the asynchronous execution feature introduced in the version 2.0 of WPS. The main goal is to study how asynchronous process execution can benefit a client both in performance and availability. The result are promising and it is demonstrated that WPS is a solid standard for describing web services operations. Based on the obtained results, future studies can extend the standard in order to make it more general and suitable for more situations.

Despite the increasing importance of digitization in all facets of teaching and learning, digital moderation (eModeration) has received little attention in research and practice. No evidence-based requirements on the secondary school environment could be found for the development of a digital moderation system. This finding provided the rationale for an investigation into the requirements for an efficient eModeration system for IT and CAT assessments at grade 12 level in South Africa. A critical literature review was employed to explore eModeration and the requirements for a digital moderation system. This study is novel in exploring the applicability of post-adoption technology acceptance models to a pre-adoption system. The inquiry was guided by the overarching research question of: What are the requirements for an efficient eModeration system for IT and CAT SBA assessments at grade 12 level in SA? This dissertation concludes that there is currently no dedicated eModeration system in use in the secondary school environment. This study draws on the eModeration literature, the technology adoption literature and empirical research in the private secondary school environment of IT and CAT assessments at grade 12 level in South Africa to provide an evidence-based contribution to the requirements for an efficient eModeration system. The findings serve as a theoretical basis for future research into eModeration systems and can make a practical contribution to future practices and policies within schools and assessment bodies.
School of Computing
M. Sc. (Computing)