The paper describes an experiment carried out during the Spring/2002 academic semester with computer science students at the University of Sheffield. The aim of the experiment was to assess extreme programming and compare it with a traditional approach. With this purpose the students constructed software for real clients. We observed 20 teams working for 4 clients. Ten teams worked with extreme...

Background Working effectively in teams is an important 21st century skill as well as a fundamental component of the ABET professional competencies. However, successful teamwork is challenging, and empirical studies with adolescents concerning how the collaboration quality of team members is related to team performance are limited. Purpose/Hypothesis This study investigated the relationship bet...

BACKGROUND Concerns about patient safety and reducing harm have led to a particular focus on initiatives that improve healthcare quality. However Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives have in the past typically faltered because they fail to fully engage healthcare professionals, resulting in apathy and resistance amongst this group of key stakeholders. Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care (PW...

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) software can benefit substantially from an explicit focus on quality improvement. This is especially true as we face increased demands in both modeling and software complexities. At the same time, just desiring improved quality is not sufficient. We must work with the entities that provide CSE research teams with publication venues, funding, and profe...

BACKGROUND There are many instruments available freely for evaluating obstetric care quality in low-resource settings. However, this profusion can be confusing; moreover, evaluation instruments need to be adapted to local issues. In this article, we present tools we developed to guide the choice of instruments and describe how we used them in Burkina Faso to facilitate the participative develop...

IT SHOULD come as no surprise to most nurses that the best and most experienced clinical members of wards or unit teams do not necessarily make the most effective managers. Yet employers persist in appointing senior clinical staff into ward or unit managerial posts, or worse, encourage clinical staff to take up managerial posts and then burden them further by asking them to retain clinica! resp...

There are no easy solutions to the problem of improving the quality of care. Research has shown how difficult it can be, but has failed to provide reliable and effective ways to change services and professional performance for the better. Much depends on the perspectives of users and the attitudes and behaviours of professionals in the context of their organisations and healthcare teams. Qualit...