Disconnected Youth and Gangs in the United States

描述(由申请人提供)：这个项目的目的是开发、制作和评估一个基于能力的多媒体电子学习课程，面向人类服务专业人员。整个计划将用于在网上提供21个半小时的六个模块的电子学习课程，为用户提供基于家庭或机构的技术，以接受高质量的综合继续教育课程。用户将通过他们的家庭机构或个人注册该课程，以提高他们对断开联系的青少年、帮派和帮派相关活动的了解。课程的设计将满足新员工和经常性培训的要求。在第一阶段，我们将为六个单元中的第一个单元制定内容和措施，这些单元涉及处理与帮派脱节的青少年，涉及评估与帮派有关的风险和家庭参与所需的信息。重点将是帮助公共服务人员制定与帮派有关的家庭和儿童的工作战略。迄今为止，在公共服务领域，针对潜在或活跃帮派成员的高危青年以及向这些人及其家人提供有效服务的情况一直不佳。在许多社区内，针对失去联系的青年和帮派的大多数服务，如果不是全部，都是由执法部门承担的，现有的社区公共服务提供小组的合作和参与有限。一旦以网络格式开发和测试，该课程可以很容易地随着新的社区、州和联邦信息和政策的变化而更新。该项目将开发和测试美国电子学习课程中断开连接的青年和帮派的第一个模块。评价的目的是了解培训材料是如何使用的，确定成功的领域和改进的机会。因此，该项目的评价计划侧重于满意度和知识的基本问题。满意度--指对材料的满意度、网站的外观和感觉、材料使用过程中的参与度以及在线学习课程中的导航便利性。满意度、材料的相关性和知识获取将通过开放式问题和Likert量表(具有定义的锚的七分量表)的组合来评估，该量表旨在对与满意度相关的情感维度进行评级。知识收获--知识将被客观和主观地衡量。将通过侧重于能力/学习目标的简短、直接的评估来客观地衡量知识。本研究采用前测/后测对照组设计。在第二阶段，我们将开发五个剩余的相关学习单元，并在未来的电子学习课程中采用先进的用户/产品业务开发方法，这些方法将源于消费者在人类服务提供领域内提出的概念。 与公共卫生相关：将制定拟议的培训单元，以提高从事青少年及其家庭工作的专业人员的能力。这些单元专门计划提供结合成人学习和经验理论的实践培训，以解决缺乏称职的稳定劳动力的问题。拟议的电子学习课程将直接解决越来越多的需要服务的脱节青年，以及缺乏直接与儿童和家庭一起工作的合格的公共服务人员的问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this project is to develop, produce, and evaluate a competency-based multimedia, eLearning course for human service professionals. The overall program will be used to deliver a 21/2 -hour, six-module, eLearning course on the web, providing users with a home or agency-based technology for receiving a high quality and comprehensive continuing education course. Users will register for the course through their home agencies or individually to advance their knowledge of disconnected youth, gangs, and gang related activities. The course will be designed to meet new-worker and recurrency training requirements. In Phase I, we will develop content and measures for the first of six modules on dealing with disconnected youths in relation to information needed to assess gang related risks and family involvement. The emphasis will be on helping human service workers develop strategies for working with gang involved families and children. To date, within the human services field, there has been poor targeting of at-risk youths who are potential or active gang members and provision of effective services to these individuals and their families. Within many communities, most if not all services geared towards disconnected youth and gangs are undertaken by law enforcement with limited collaboration and involvement of existing community-based human services delivery groups. Once developed and tested in web-format, the course can be easily updated as new community, state and federal information and policies change. The project will develop and test the first module of a Disconnected Youth and Gangs in the US eLearning course. The purpose of the evaluation is to understand how the training materials are used, identify areas that are successful and opportunities for improvement. Accordingly, the evaluation plan for this project focuses on fundamental issues of satisfaction and knowledge. Satisfaction - pertains to satisfaction with the materials, the look and feel of the website, level of engagement during use of the materials, and ease of navigation within the eLearning course. Satisfaction, relevance of material, and knowledge gain will be assessed with a combination of open-ended questions and Likert scales (seven-point scales with defined anchors) constructed to rate affective dimensions associated with satisfaction. Knowledge gain - knowledge will be measured objectively and subjectively. Knowledge will be measured objectively by a short, direct assessment focused on the competencies/learning objectives. A pretest/posttest with comparison group design will be used in the study. In Phase II, we will develop five remaining related learning modules and incorporate a cutting edge user/product business development approach for future eLearning courses that will originate with concepts developed by consumers within the field of human services delivery. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed training modules will be developed to enhance the competencies of those professionals who work with youths and their families. The modules are specifically planned to provide practical training that incorporates adult learning and experiential theories to address the shortage of a competent stable workforce. The proposed eLearning course will directly address the increasing number of disconnected youths needing services and the lack of qualified human services staffs that work directly with children and families.