ABSTRACT
ASSISTments is a free online learning tool for improving students’ mathematics achievement by providing immediate feedback and hints to students, detailed information on how students performed to teachers, and instructional suggestions for teachers to use. Researchers at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation conducted an intrinsic, longitudinal multiple-case study of 7th-grade mathematics teachers’ implementation of ASSISTments and its impact on their instruction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined teachers’ use of ASSISTments in three instructional contexts: in- person only, remote only, and both in-person and remote. Our findings indicate that teachers in all contexts changed their instructional practices for homework review and for determining whether their students had understood lessons. Teachers used the ASSISTments auto-generated reports to focus their homework reviews, based on their students’ performance, and to provide instructional interventions and/or re-teaching. They also used the instructional suggestions provided by the ASSISTments platform to plan lessons to re-teach concepts or to review prior instruction with their students. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Australia in January 2020, there have been over 7,000 reported cases and just over 100 associated deaths. The strategies that Australia adopted have been succeeding in flattening the COVID-19 curve while addressing non-COVID-19 related health concerns. This case study identified specific strategies that Australia has utilized to achieve routine health service delivery and explored which approaches could potentially be applied in different settings whilst controlling the spread of COVID-19. Methods: It was an exploratory case study on Australian health management strategies to sustain routine primary health care services for patients with chronic medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis was conducted on grey literature, articles and information uploaded on the official websites of the Australian government and the academic institutions. Results: During the pandemic, Australia emphasizes on primary care responses by running fever clinics, mobilizing outreach teams and conducting home care visits. Priority is given to patients with chronic diseases and disabilities. Existing telehealth services are expanded to cover the whole community and include a wide range of consultations. Pharmacy home delivery through postal or private transport services is initiated. Community pharmacies involve in medication adherence or management and chronic disease management support activities including blood pressure measurement, inhaler techniques and diabetes screening. Conclusions: Australia provides a high standard of medical care which has also shown to be adaptable to global health emergencies such as COVID-19. Among the current strategies, telehealth and additional uses of pharmacy services appear to be translatable to other settings such as Myanmar and Sudan. Although the full effects of these health care strategies will not be seen for some time yet, Australia can be seen as an example for how to provide services to maintain the health of a population during a pandemic.