BackgroundPhysicians' awareness of their important role in defusing the obesity epidemic has increased. However, the number of family practitioners who treat obesity problems continues to be low. Self-efficacy refers to the belief in one's ability to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments. Thus, practitioners who judge themselves incapable of managing obesity do not even try. We hypothesized that practitioners' self-efficacy and motivation would be enhanced as a result of participating in an interactive course designed to enrich their knowledge of obesity management.MethodsTwenty-nine family practitioners participated in the course, which was accompanied by qualitative interviews. The difference between the physicians' pre-course and post-course appraisals was tested by paired t-test. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative methods.ResultsPost-course efficacy appraisals were significantly higher than pre-course appraisals (p < 0.0005). A deeper insight on the practitioners' self-efficacy processes was gained through reflection of the practitioners on their self-efficacy during the interviews.ConclusionsUp-to-date information and workshops where skills, attitudes and social support were addressed were important in making the program effective.

To address serious deficiencies in physician training in end-of-life care, the authors developed and disseminated a faculty development curriculum. The overall goals of this curriculum were to enhance physician competence in end-of-life care, foster a commitment to improving care for the dying, and improve teaching related to end-of-life care. The authors provide descriptions of the curriculum and the train-the-trainer programs (2000-2002) that successfully prepared 17 medical faculty as in-house end-of-life care faculty developers at institutions nationwide. They also report on a study of the effects of the 16-hour, end-of-life care curriculum delivered by trained facilitators to 62 faculty and residents at their home sites. Program evaluation showed that the home-site seminars enhanced the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of participating faculty and residents. When project evaluation concluded in 2003, trained facilitators had disseminated the 16-hour curriculum as well as modified versions of the curriculum to approximately 3,400 medical teachers. An adapted version of the curriculum is available on the Internet for use in health professions education. The importance of this type of faculty development effort was confirmed by the positive impact of the 16-hour curriculum on participants' knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to end-of-life care, the high ratings of the program's educational and clinical relevance, and the finding that, on average, more than 50% of the material was new to them.

There is a consensus among mathematicians and mathematics educators that creativity plays an essential role in doing mathematics. Creative students are self-regulated students who take control over processes and experience high self-efficacy beliefs. The aim of this case study was to promote mathematical creativity and self-efficacy of elementary students through a collaborative research task, and qualitatively elicit their efficacy-beliefs about performing creative mathematics tasks. The research questions asked about the students' ability to show creativity in the classroom and about the extent to which the task enriched their mathematics knowledge, and made them realize the beauty of mathematical creativity. Participants were 24 sixth graders who attended a college of education once a week, to learn mathematics. This study revealed the potential of student engagement in creative mathematical work that demanded meta-awareness, self-regulation, and self-efficacy. As the confidence to work mathematically was communicated by their peers, many students expressed a change in their attitudes to their own mathematical competence and were more willing to engage with unknown or challenging mathematical tasks. The contribution of this study is twofold: finding ways of developing the students' creativity and enhancing their performance, and engaging them in an activity that made them realize the beauty, wealth, and elegance of mathematics, thus enhancing their self-efficacy to learn mathematics. We recommend providing students with opportunities to enhance their mathematical creativity by using creative tasks.