Open Dynamic Situations of Classroom Use of Digital Technologies: Investigating Teachers' Interventions.

This study addresses teachers' activity when working with digital technologies (DT) in their classrooms. We build upon a model that considers teaching as managing open dynamic situations. Within the model, teachers' activity is viewed as diagnosing students' mathematical activity, managing uncertainties due to the characteristics of the situation and decision-making about didactic interventions. The study extends our earlier work and focuses on teachers' interventions in DT-based lessons, as they manage disturbances caused by unexpected difficulties. Our first observation is that there is a substantial change in how teachers diagnose these difficulties compared to paper-and-pencil environments. Notably, they need to make more inferences about the pedagogical support that is provided. Second, we show that in such conditions, rather than facing the single dynamicity of the class as a whole, the teacher has to deal with multiple, open dynamic situations (small groups named mini-classes), which are themselves intertwined in the dynamics of students' interactions with technology. Moreover, even if teachers are able to make reliable inferences concerning an individual student's current difficulties, they must also be able to make inferences about the scope of such difficulties within the class as a whole. We present four case studies that illustrate the diverse approaches that teachers take when managing such open dynamic situations and use them to illustrate the concepts and analytical tools that are introduced.

Dans cette étude, nous abordons les pratiques des enseignants qui utilisent les technologies numériques (TN) dans leurs salles de classe. Nous en élaborons un modèle qui conçoit l'enseignement comme une activité de gestion de situations dynamiques ouvertes. Au sein du modèle, la pratique de l'enseignement est vue comme une activité qui exige de poser un diagnostic sur les activités mathématiques des élèves, qui demande aussi de gérer les incertitudes selon les caractéristiques inhérentes à la situation et de prendre des décisions en matière d'interventions didactiques. Cette analyse constitue un prolongement d'une de nos études antérieures et elle se penche sur les interventions des enseignants quand ils donnent des cours fondés sur les TN et qu'ils doivent composer avec les perturbations amenées par des difficultés imprévues rencontrées. Nous constatons d'abord un changement important dans la façon qu'ont les enseignants d'évaluer ces difficultés en comparaison avec le diagnostic qu'ils poseraient dans un environnement papier-crayon. Notamment, ils doivent faire plus d'inférences concernant le soutien pédagogique fourni. Deuxièmement, nous démontrons que dans de telles conditions, plutôt que de faire face, dans son ensemble à une seule dynamique de classe, l'enseignant doit composer avec de multiples situations dynamiques ouvertes (des petits groupes appelés mini classes), qui sont elles-mêmes inextricablement liées aux dynamiques émanant d'interactions entre les élèves et la technologie. De plus, même si les enseignants sont capables de faire les bonnes déductions quant aux problèmes actuels rencontrés par un élève, ils doivent de même être capables d'évaluer la portée qu'ont ces difficultés dans l'ensemble de la classe. Nous présentons quatre études de cas qui illustrent les diverses approches adoptées par les enseignants pour gérer les situations dynamiques ouvertes et qui font valoir les concepts et les outils analytiques présentés.

A comparison of the impact of CPOE implementation and organizational determinants on doctor-nurse communications and cooperation.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the impact of CPOE implementation and of the workplace organizational determinants on the doctor-nurse cooperation and communication processes. METHOD: A first study was undertaken in eight different wards aimed to identify the different workplace organizations that support doctor-nurse communications'. A second study compared the impact of these organizations and of a CPOE on medication-related doctor-nurse communications. RESULTS: The doctor-nurse communications could be structured into three typical workplace organizations: the common round, the briefing and the opportunistic exchange organizations. The results (i) confirmed the impact of the organizational determinants on the cooperative activities and (ii) demonstrated the CPOE system has no significant impact within a given workplace organization. CONCLUSION: The success of the implementation of HIT applications relies partly on the identification of the actual (and sometimes hidden) structuring variables of teamwork and ultimately on their control at the time of implementation to ensure the quality and safety of the patient care provided.

Development of student drivers' self-assessment accuracy during French driver training: Self-assessments compared to instructors' assessments in three risky driving situations.

Promoting self-assessment accuracy among student drivers could help improve road safety for young novice drivers (Minimum Requirement for Driving Instructor Training, 2005). It is crucial to investigate the development of this ability in student drivers, although few studies have been conducted on this issue to our knowledge. The present study was aimed at examining the development of accuracy in student drivers' self-assessments. Students' self-ratings of their skills were compared to instructors' ratings based on the students' progression through the four steps of the French driver training course. The ratings were collected from two versions of an ad hoc questionnaire about students' ability to turn right, overtake another vehicle, and turn left in driving situations. The questionnaire included a three-part assessment scale (six driving subtasks required to perform the maneuver, the number of driving subtasks managed simultaneously, and the student's autonomy), demographic data, and the students' progress in the training program. The participants were 149 student drivers (58 men and 91 women) with a mean age of 22.2 years, and 38 professional driving instructors (36 men and 2 women) from 13 driving schools in Paris. The psychometric quality of the scale was satisfactory (α(s)>.9) concerning the self-ratings as well as the instructors' ratings in the three parts of the scale. As a whole and as expected, the self-ratings and the instructors' ratings became increasingly positive as the training progressed, on each part of the assessment scale. The students' and the instructors' ratings did not differ significantly between the three driving situations tested, nor between male and female students in each training step. Furthermore, students' overestimation of their driving skills was mainly observed on step 1, less on steps 2 and 3, but never on step 4. Thus, the students became rather aware of their current driving skills as the driver training course progressed. The results on the development of the self-assessment accuracy in driver training are discussed.

Time course of driving-skill self-assessments during French driver training.

Promoting self-assessment accuracy among student drivers could help improve the road safety for young novice drivers (Minimum Requirement for Driving Instructor Training, 2005). However, it is essential to first examine the time course of student drivers' assessments of their own driving skills. As a result, the present study examined the time course of student drivers' self-assessments in relation to their general driving abilities during the four steps of French driver training. We used Victoir et al.'s (2005) self-efficacy scale, which we translated into French. We set four goals for the present study: (1) to examine the psychometric qualities of this self-assessment scale, (2) to study the time courses of the students' self-assessments, (3) to investigate the relationship of these time courses to the number of driving hours that the students estimated that they needed to complete before taking the driving test, and (4) to compare the number of hours estimated by the students to the number of hours estimated by their driving instructors. In total, 150 students (58 men and 92 women) and 38 instructors from 13 driving schools in Paris participated in the present study. The self-assessment scale was composed of 12 items that were rated on a 7-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (certainly so) to 7 (certainly not). The internal consistency of the scale was satisfactory (α=.88). The self-assessments became increasingly positive as the training progressed (at the beginning of training, M=3.45 vs. at the completion of the training, M=4.8). Globally, the men assessed themselves more positively than the women. However, no significant gender difference was observed at each training step. The students' self-ratings were negatively correlated with the number of driving hours that they estimated they still needed before taking the driving test. This number did not differ significantly from the number of hours that was estimated by the instructors at each training step throughout the training. The results describing the time course of the student drivers' self-assessments during driver training and this time course's correlation with the estimated number of driving hours still needed to take the driver test were discussed.

Does CPOE actually disrupt physicians-nurses communications?

This study addresses the question of the respective impact of organizational vs. technical environment variables on the collaborative aspects of healthcare work situations. It analyzes the physicians-nurses communications during the medication use process, according to both the organization of their work and their technical environment. Participant observations, interviews and recording of the dialogs were performed in 4 hospitals functioning with either a CPOE or a Paper based system. The study (i) presents the identification and description of the communications' processes involving doctors-nurses face-to-face communications and the supports that mediate medication information and (ii) focuses on the amount of face-to-face communications depending on the organization of work and the technical system used. The analyses demonstrate that the organizational variables have a larger impact than the technical environment on the quality and quantity of the communications and cooperation activities.

Seniors' perceived driving skill in a postlicense training program: comparison of instructors' assessments and self-assessments by seniors' age and sex.

This exploratory study was carried out during a postlicense training program for senior drivers. The aim was to study driving-ability assessments made by 37 older drivers and by instructors, according to age (< 72 yr.; > 72 yr.) and sex. After an open-road test course, both the older drivers' self-assessments and the instructors' assessments were collected on an ad hoc questionnaire that considered both general and specific aspects of driving ability. The seniors' ratings of their own driving ability were consistent with the instructors' ratings, at both levels considered. For general driving ability, men were evaluated more positively than were women, both by themselves and by the instructors. For specific aspects of driving, men got higher ratings than did women for driving on roundabouts. Concerning driving on four-lane roads, men in the younger senior group (< 72 yr.) were assessed more positively than were women in that group, whereas no significant gender-related difference was found among the older seniors. Concerning visual skills, the younger participants assessed their own visual skills more positively than did the older participants. In contrast, the instructors' assessments of the younger and older seniors were not significantly different. The results are discussed in terms of possible ways of improving training programs for licensed senior drivers.

Organizational vs. technical variables: impact on the collective aspects of healthcare work situations.

This study addresses the question of the respective impact of organizational vs. technical environment variables on the collective aspects of healthcare work situations. It analyzes the physicians-nurses communications during the medication use process, according to both the organization of their work and their technical environment. It demonstrates that the organizational variables have a larger impact than the technical environment on the communications and cooperation activities.