Online alcohol interventions: A systematic review
- Authors: White, Angela , Kavanagh, David , Stallman, Helen , Klein, Britt , Kay-Lambkin, Frances , Proudfoot, Judith , Drennan, Judy , Connor, Jason , Baker, Amanda , Hines, Emily , Young, Ross
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Journal of Medical Internet Research Vol. 12, no. 5 (2010), p. e62p.1-e62p.12
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- Description: Background: There has been a significant increase in the availability of online programs for alcohol problems. A systematic review of the research evidence underpinning these programs is timely. Objectives: Our objective was to review the efficacy of online interventions for alcohol misuse. Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were conducted for English abstracts (excluding dissertations) published from 1998 onward. Search terms were: (1) Internet, Web*; (2) online, computer *; (3) alcohol*; and (4) Eeffect *, trial*, random* (where * denotes a wildcard). Forward and backward searches from identified papers were also conducted. Articles were included if (1) the primary intervention was delivered and accessed via the Internet, (2) the intervention focused on moderating or stopping alcohol consumption, and (3) the study was a randomized controlled trial of an alcohol-related screen, assessment, or intervention. Results: The literature search initially yielded 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 17 of which met inclusion criteria. Of these 17 studies, 12 (70.6%) were conducted with university students, and 11 (64.7%) specifically focused on at-risk, heavy, or binge drinkers. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 3216 (median 261), with 12 (70.6%) studies predominantly involving brief personalized feedback interventions. Using published data, effect sizes could be extracted from 8 of the 17 studies. In relation to alcohol units per week or month and based on 5 RCTs where a measure of alcohol units per week or month could be extracted, differential effect sizes to posttreatment ranged from 0.02 to 0.81 (mean 0.42, median 0.54). Pre-post effect sizes for brief personalized feedback interventions ranged from 0.02 to 0.81, and in 2 multi-session modularized interventions, a pre-post effect size of 0.56 was obtained in both. Pre-post differential effect sizes for peak blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) ranged from 0.22 to 0.88, with a mean effect size of 0.66. Conclusions: The available evidence suggests that users can benefit from online alcohol interventions and that this approach could be particularly useful for groups less likely to access traditional alcohol-related services, such as women, young people, and at-risk users. However, caution should be exercised given the limited number of studies allowing extraction of effect sizes, the heterogeneity of outcome measures and follow-up periods, and the large proportion of student-based studies. More extensive RCTs in community samples are required to better understand the efficacy of specific online alcohol approaches, program dosage, the additive effect of telephone or face-to-face interventions, and effective strategies for their dissemination and marketing.
- Description: Background: There has been a significant increase in the availability of online programs for alcohol problems. A systematic review of the research evidence underpinning these programs is timely. Objectives: Our objective was to review the efficacy of online interventions for alcohol misuse. Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were conducted for English abstracts (excluding dissertations) published from 1998 onward. Search terms were: (1) Internet, Web*; (2) online, computer *; (3) alcohol*; and (4) E\effect *, trial*, random* (where * denotes a wildcard). Forward and backward searches from identified papers were also conducted. Articles were included if (1) the primary intervention was delivered and accessed via the Internet, (2) the intervention focused on moderating or stopping alcohol consumption, and (3) the study was a randomized controlled trial of an alcohol-related screen, assessment, or intervention. Results: The literature search initially yielded 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 17 of which met inclusion criteria. Of these 17 studies, 12 (70.6%) were conducted with university students, and 11 (64.7%) specifically focused on at-risk, heavy, or binge drinkers. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 3216 (median 261), with 12 (70.6%) studies predominantly involving brief personalized feedback interventions. Using published data, effect sizes could be extracted from 8 of the 17 studies. In relation to alcohol units per week or month and based on 5 RCTs where a measure of alcohol units per week or month could be extracted, differential effect sizes to posttreatment ranged from 0.02 to 0.81 (mean 0.42, median 0.54). Pre-post effect sizes for brief personalized feedback interventions ranged from 0.02 to 0.81, and in 2 multi-session modularized interventions, a pre-post effect size of 0.56 was obtained in both. Pre-post differential effect sizes for peak blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) ranged from 0.22 to 0.88, with a mean effect size of 0.66. Conclusions: The available evidence suggests that users can benefit from online alcohol interventions and that this approach could be particularly useful for groups less likely to access traditional alcohol-related services, such as women, young people, and at-risk users. However, caution should be exercised given the limited number of studies allowing extraction of effect sizes, the heterogeneity of outcome measures and follow-up periods, and the large proportion of student-based studies. More extensive RCTs in community samples are required to better understand the efficacy of specific online alcohol approaches, program dosage, the additive effect of telephone or face-to-face interventions, and effective strategies for their dissemination and marketing.
Shaping science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum in Australian schools: An ecological systems analysis
- Authors: Falloon, Garry , Powling, Markus , Fraser, Sharon , Hatisaru, Vesife
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Australian journal of education Vol. 66, no. 2 (2022), p. 171-195
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- Description: Improving young people's engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is being promoted worldwide as a means of addressing projected shortfalls in expertise needed to further nations' economic, social and environmental goals. Responding to this, schools are reforming traditional discipline-based curricula into interdisciplinary approaches based on problem and project-based designs, to make STEM learning more relevant and meaningful for students. This study drew on a dataset of 449 Australian principal and teacher interviews, to identify factors influencing STEM curriculum in their schools. It utilised Ecological Systems Theory to build understanding relating to the influence of activities and outputs originating at macro, exo and meso system levels, on STEM curriculum and practices in classrooms. Results demonstrated how many innovative schools were able to successfully leverage community, business and national resources to enhance their STEM curriculum, while others struggled due to limitations imposed by geographic or socio-economic factors, or limited access to resources, expertise or advice. Central to achieving this was the powerful influence of principals' and teachers' 'proximal processes and developmental assets' in establishing effective and engaging interdisciplinary STEM curricula, despite constraints imposed by, at best, ambiguous national and state curriculum and policies, rigid assessment regimes and compliance-focused reporting requirements.
Virtual online teaching in transport law
- Authors: Michael, Spisto , Christine, Lee
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Victoria University Law and Justice Journal Vol. 8, no. 1 (2018), p. 33-43
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- Description: The virtual classroom is a new and modern structure used now in university teaching around the world. By using the virtual classroom in Transport Law, it was soon discovered that once one overcomes the technical issues, the virtual classroom provides university tuition to students in very advantageous ways like no other traditional face-to-face class can. The virtual classroom, with its numerous functionalities, provides a level of student class participation, which is unprecedented in face-to-face classes. It also allows a greater opportunity for student attendance, as students simply have to be in front of their computer or any hand-held device, which is capable of audio-visual linkups. It is also very appealing to students, as it saves them time and money with public transport and/or parking. A much improved classroom attendance record as compared to face-to-face classes has also been noticed. The students' levels of understanding of the subject matter have also vastly improved through the mechanisms employed in virtual classroom teaching. As technology improves on a daily basis, the virtual classroom will become more and more popular as students rely on online teaching. Universities also need to understand that technology is here to stay and this means that they need to place more and more emphasis on online virtual classroom teaching eventually, it is submitted that if some of the universities do not highlight the importance of online teaching and virtual classrooms, students will simply shop elsewhere until they find a place of teaching that supports the online virtual classroom structure in the courses they wish to undertake.