Module II - 3

Going backwards (as I sometimes do...principles of deduction), I think that doing a general "Google" search is sometimes easiest if I am looking for a broad definition of some particular piece of information, but I find myself wading through a number of links that may not be particularly related to what I'm looking for. Google doesn't allow for specific details as readily as the medical databases that we used for this assignment. There are some quick benefits to a Google search however. One can find common authors or frequent links to certain sites that might help in whittling down a topic idea. It's a good preliminary search.

A guideline index (NCG, even Medline) is great for identifying category searching and then drilling down to a specific topic, helpful if one has some idea about specifics but needs to get a little more about the issue and would like several medical links related to the topic.

For an actual literature search, the electoric index databases seem to fit the needs of the DNP student the best and allow for specific definitions, MeSH use and limits. I prefer PubMed because of this, but there is definitely a learning curve that takes some time to get past as opposed to a guideline index search or web-search.

Module II - 2

I have been using Endnote X for the past 3 years and have absolutely loved the feature of searching from within Endnote itself and then being able to create my library from my search results without having to import. Beyond the search strategies that I used, Endnote allows sorting by author name, publication date, article title or URL. It is much the same as the sort feature in Excel and makes it easy to find citations immediately. I used the abstract as a sort feature as well when I was looking for a particular article that I couldn't recall. The abstract helped me remember what the article was about and I could read it right there in my citation list without having to open the article to view. In addition, it's easy to import or export to other files, copy citations into other libraries or documents from the view pane below the selected citation, and insert citiations directly into a document that allows for immediate reference listings at the end of the document. Love ENDNOTE...although it took me a few tries and many "help" sessions to figure out how to do what the manual said I could do.

Module II - 1

I have 2 children with ADHD that I have been a "mother advocate" for as well as a patient advocate. I chose to search ADHD and risk for substance use because of social discussion related to substance use disorders and increased/decreased risk debate. I chose to use PubMed to search because of the access to multiple discipline journal archives.On my first generic search, there were several thousand articles. I was able to specify my search with MeSH headings (great tutorial video!)using AND, and OR to identify specifics and further created limits (research, human,recent 5 yrs), both of which took less than 10 minutes to do. Barriers for daily practice would be lack of familiarity with the database, knowledge on how to narrow searches and use the search tabs efficiently, and the overwhelming number of articles in general search terms if the user did not have a specific topic in mind.

I thought I was fairly proficient at information retrieval, but the tips presented in this lesson were very helpful. Thank you!

Module III - It's not about who I am, it's about "What" I'm like...

I did the multiple intelligence test today and was elated to see that my strengths were musical and interpersonal categories (I think I knew this about me). Actually, my scores ranged tightly between 33 and 38 across all the categories (Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Spatial-Visual, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal) with the exception of Linguistics where I scored a 30.

As with all self-scored assessments, I believe that the outcomes are partially based on how I would LIKE to view myself, though I think that most people would very much agree with my scoring in relation to what I think I gravitate towards. Overall, I agree with the strengths in the test based on how I view my own learning preferences. As a side note, I notice that the assessment identifies the outcomes as "Intelligence Strengths" which might give the user the impression that their Intelligence, or Intelligence Quotient might be somehow related...nice!

Okay, it's not really related to my IQ. Based on this learning style assessment, teaching techniques and technologies that incorporate action, sound, touch, and individual attention to help solidify my learning. It's all about the kinesthetic learning for me. Love a little background music! Here's my interpretation of this assignment: Find out how you tick first so that you can help others tock...\