Evaluation of a learner-designed course for teaching health research skills in Ghana

Bates, Imelda; Ansong, Daniel; Bedu-Addo, George; Agbenyega, Tsiri; Akoto, Alex Yaw Osei; Nsiah-Asare, Anthony; Karikari, Patrick

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-7-18

Cited by 25 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…The findings from our study possibly, support theories from developed countries concerning the process of social learning at work (Engestrom 2001;Bates et al 2007). Work-based learning was enhanced by group activities that promote reflective practice and higher order thinking (Spalding 1999).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Research methodology workshops evaluation using the Kirkpatrick’s model: Translating theory into practice

et al. 2014

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The course outcomes achievement and suggestions given for improvements offer insight into the program which were encouraging and very useful. Encouraging "research culture" and work-based learning are probably the most powerful determinants for research promotion. These findings therefore encourage faculty development unit to continue its training and development in the research methodology aspects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Research methodology workshops evaluation using the Kirkpatrick’s model: Translating theory into practice

et al. 2014

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“…We draw on three contrasting case studies to provide a practical illustration about how to implement the steps along the pathway in order to bring about change in capacity (see Case Studies below); details of two of these studies have been published elsewhere [16,18]. The case studies represent efforts to strengthen research capacity at the organisational level in a teaching hospital, a research laboratory, and universities in Africa.…”

Section: Background: the Problem To Be Addressedmentioning

confidence: 99%

A practical and systematic approach to organisational capacity strengthening for research in the health sector in Africa

Bates

Boyd

Smith

et al. 2014

Health Res Policy Sys

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BackgroundDespite increasing investment in health research capacity strengthening efforts in low and middle income countries, published evidence to guide the systematic design and monitoring of such interventions is very limited. Systematic processes are important to underpin capacity strengthening interventions because they provide stepwise guidance and allow for continual improvement. Our objective here was to use evidence to inform the design of a replicable but flexible process to guide health research capacity strengthening that could be customized for different contexts, and to provide a framework for planning, collecting information, making decisions, and improving performance.MethodsWe used peer-reviewed and grey literature to develop a five-step pathway for designing and evaluating health research capacity strengthening programmes, tested in a variety of contexts in Africa. The five steps are: i) defining the goal of the capacity strengthening effort, ii) describing the optimal capacity needed to achieve the goal, iii) determining the existing capacity gaps compared to the optimum, iv) devising an action plan to fill the gaps and associated indicators of change, and v) adapting the plan and indicators as the programme matures. Our paper describes three contrasting case studies of organisational research capacity strengthening to illustrate how our five-step approach works in practice.ResultsOur five-step pathway starts with a clear goal and objectives, making explicit the capacity required to achieve the goal. Strategies for promoting sustainability are agreed with partners and incorporated from the outset. Our pathway for designing capacity strengthening programmes focuses not only on technical, managerial, and financial processes within organisations, but also on the individuals within organisations and the wider system within which organisations are coordinated, financed, and managed.ConclusionsOur five-step approach is flexible enough to generate and utilise ongoing learning. We have tested and critiqued our approach in a variety of organisational settings in the health sector in sub-Saharan Africa, but it needs to be applied and evaluated in other sectors and continents to determine the extent of transferability.

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“…The Society decided in 2013 to develop a programme called the Building Reproductive Research and Audit Capacity and Activity in the Pacific (BRRACAP) Study (Ekeroma, Kenealy, Shulruf, McCowan, & Hill, 2014) that would include evaluating effectiveness of research workshops. Research workshops form an important primary component of research capacity building programmes and their effectiveness has been measured in knowledge and skills gained (Ajuwon & Kass, 2008;Bates et al, 2007;Goto, Nguyen, Nguyen, & Hughes, 2005). Evidence of publication output, following training workshops, which were not part of a research capacity building programme, have been limited due to short-term follow-up (Sunita Dodani & LaPorte, 2008) for instance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There have been limited opportunities for reproductive health clinicians in the Pacific Islands to attend research workshops and there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of introduced research capacity building interventions (Bates et al, 2007). Further, any research workshops in the Pacific Islands would have to address the training needs of nurses and physicians in clinical teams as we had emphasized that clinical research was clinical team-work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Capacity for Research and Audit: Outcomes of a Training Workshop for Pacific Physicians and Nurses

Ekeroma

Kenealy

Shulruf

et al. 2015

Journal of Education and Training Studies

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Building the research capacity of clinicians in the Pacific Island countries is important in addressing evidence gaps relevant to local policy and clinical practice. This paper aimed to assess the effectiveness of a reproductive health research workshop in increasing research knowledge and intention to perform research amongst a diverse group of clinicians. An online survey of clinicians and stakeholders in the Pacific Islands informed a research workshop curriculum. Physicians and nurses/midwives (n = 28) from six Pacific Island countries were selected as workshop participants as part of a research capacity building program. Questionnaires before after the workshop were used to measure the changes in knowledge, confidence, competence, attitudes and intention to perform research and these were analysed thematically. Sixty-three of 85 (74%) stakeholders and clinicians responded to an online survey, which informed workshop curriculum development. Of the 28 workshop participants, seven were obstetrician-gynaecologists, eight junior physicians and eleven nurses/midwives. The mean pre-test score was 36% (10) and the post-test was 43% (6) (p<0.01). By profession, the obstetricians had higher prior research knowledge whereas nurses had a higher knowledge gain after the workshop. Attitude, intention and motivation to perform research was high and the participants learnt that research is important, to start small; to use routinely collected data; to encourage others to do research; and to network regionally. This paper has confirmed that online surveys, in low resource settings, can have an acceptable response rate. It has also shown that a research workshop for a diverse group of clinicians can be effective in increasing knowledge although knowledge gained was more significant amongst nurses/midwives compared to physicians. The other benefits of the research workshop were increased motivation and attitudes for research, which if well supported, should result in an increase in research output in the Pacific Islands. Future evaluation will assess the long-term effectiveness of annual research workshops and mentoring support in improving research performance and evidence utilisation in care.

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Evaluation of a learner-designed course for teaching health research skills in Ghana

Cited by 25 publications

References 21 publications

Research methodology workshops evaluation using the Kirkpatrick’s model: Translating theory into practice

Research methodology workshops evaluation using the Kirkpatrick’s model: Translating theory into practice

A practical and systematic approach to organisational capacity strengthening for research in the health sector in Africa

Building Capacity for Research and Audit: Outcomes of a Training Workshop for Pacific Physicians and Nurses

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