Data Skills Online

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Data Skills Online

• A Maternal and Child Health Toolbox for Analytic
  and Technology Training of Public Health
  Professionals

APHA Annual Meeting October 2001
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Project Description

• Service Provided Free, self-instructional,
  web-based training
• Target audience State and local public health
  professionals
• Project Goal Train professionals in skills that
  can be used on demand on the job, such as
• Working with population based data
• Developing and reporting measures for the Title V
  Block Grant
• Monitoring and evaluating program activities
• Developing strategies to meet the needs of the
  MCH population
• Courseware Used WebCT 3.6 (Web Course Tools)
• Tool Access
• User registers by providing their contact and
  demographic information
• User selects a tool and creates account with
  login ID and password
• User downloads and prints a Certificate upon
  completion of a tool
• Funding Period September 2000 May 2002

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Web Site Features

• Web Site
• Registration Form
• Online Tools Page
• View descriptions of tools
• View tables of contents
• Read logon instructions
• Technical Skills Test
• Assess your computers capacity
• Practice navigating in WebCT
• Practice navigating in a PDF file
• Practice downloading a document
• Technical Support Page
• Registration and logon instructions
• Troubleshooting tips
• DSO staff contact information

• WebCT Courseware
• Create a free account with a username and
  password
• Add DSO tools to your account
• Hyperlinks to glossary definitions
• Table of contents available within each tool
• Certificates of completion available for printing

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Curricula Offered

• Currently Available
• Subscribing to a List
• Browser Basics and Searching
• Web Design
• Creating Spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel
• Overview of Primary Data Collection Instruments
• Designing Questionnaires
• Developing an Analysis Plan for a Quantitative
  Study
• Geographic Information Systems
• Several Plug-In Tutorials

• Under Development
• Understanding Title V Performance Measures and
  the Title V Information System
• PRAMS Data Analysis for Title V Performance
  Measures
• Conducting a Health Services Needs Assessment for
  CSHCN
• Economic Analysis in MCH
• Measuring Maternal Morbidity
• Assessing Infant Mortality Factors at State and
  Local Levels
• Creating a Relational Database in Microsoft
  Access 2000

Currently being field tested and soon to be
released
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Marketing Venues

• Listservs (e.g. State Title V directors, City
  MatCH, UNC SPH alumni)
• Search engines (e.g. Yahoo, Excite, HotBot)
• Web site links (Public Health Foundation, UNC
  SPH, UC Berkeley SPH)
• National organization newsletters (NACCHO
  membership monthly, ASTHO, Society of Public
  Health Educators, AMCHP)

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Tool Abstracts

• Technology Tools
• "Subscribing to a List"
• This tool is designed to teach professionals
  about how to participate through email in the
  different lists that organizations use to
  disseminate information. Upon completion of the
  tool, the user will be able to
•         Conduct a search for a list of interest
•         Subscribe to a list
•         Send and receive messages on the list
•  
• "Browser Basics and Searching"
• This tool is designed to help professionals learn
  about the World Wide Web, and how to find
  information using Internet Explorer or Netscape
  Navigator. Upon completion of the tool, the user
  will be able to
• Describe what the World Wide Web is and how to
  explore it using either Microsoft Internet
  Explorer or Netscape Navigator
• Use a search engine to search the web for a topic
  of interest
• Create bookmarks in a web browser
• "Web Design"
• This tool is designed to teach professionals how
  to produce their own personal web page using
  Microsoft FrontPage, Microsoft Word, Corel
  WordPerfect, and Netscape Composer. Design and
  technical issues involved in the three stages of
  web site development--Planning, Design, and
  Maintenance, will be considered. Upon completion
  of the tool, the user will be able to
• Describe the basic principles of good web page
  design
• Create simple web pages and upload them

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Tool Abstracts

• Analytic Tools 
• "Overview of Primary Data Collection Instruments"
• This tool is designed to assist professionals in
  determining which type of primary data to gather,
  depending on the issue to be studied, and
  specific research questions. Upon completion of
  the tool, the user will be able to
•   Identify modes of primary data collection, and
  know when to defer to secondary data
•   Know where to locate secondary data sources
  specific to MCH
•   Identify methods for administering
  questionnaires/surveys
•   Describe advantages and disadvantages of
  different methods of survey administration
•   Given a scenario, determine the types of
  primary data to collect, the modes of collection,
  and methods for administration
•  
• "Designing Questionnaires"
• This tool is designed to assist the professional
  in developing a questionnaire for quantitative
  and qualitative primary data collection. The
  user will be introduced to the components of
  questionnaires and approaches to developing them.
  Upon completion of the tool, the user will
• Understand the different types of questions
  designed for questionnaires
• Understand guidelines and basic principles of
  writing and formatting effective questions
• Know the rationale for pre-testing questionnaires
  
• Be aware of ethical considerations when
  administering questionnaires

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Tool Abstracts

• "Developing an Analysis Plan for a Quantitative
  Study"
• This tool is designed to assist the professional
  in making decisions about how to examine and
  present numerical data on health-related issues.
  The tool will guide the user through the steps of
  a study, and provide suggestions for writing a
  final report based on descriptive or inductive
  data. Upon completion of the tool, the user will
  be able to
• Describe the rationale for developing a
  quantitative analysis plan
• Describe the main differences between a
  descriptive study and an inductive study
• List and describe the components of a
  quantitative analysis plan
• Determine which univariate or bivariate
  statistical tests to use
• Understand how to interpret results of
  univariate or bivariate statistical tests
• Develop an analysis plan
• "Geographic Information Systems"
• This tool is designed to teach professionals
  about geographic information systems (GIS), which
  are tools used to collect and display data in the
  form of maps. GIS is typically used to help
  answer spatial questions by facilitating
  visualization, spatial analysis, modeling, and
  decision-making. Upon completion of the three
  lessons in this tool, users will be able to
• Describe basic GIS theory and terminology
• Be familiar with the practical application of GIS
  methods including data grouping, map
  construction, and the appropriate use of colors
  and shading
• Describe strengths and limitations of GIS data
  sources and software applications
• Construct a simple map using ArcExplorer software

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Six-Month Follow-Up Participants Who Completed a
Tool from 01/01/01 04/30/01
Have you shared information about the Data Skills
Online web site with co-workers? (N57)
Have You trained or assisted one or more
colleagues in a skill that you learned by
completing a Data Skills Online tool? (N57)
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Year of Most Recent Degree (N574) January
8-September 14, 2001
Education Level of Registrants (N586) January
8-September 14, 2001
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Data Skills Online Registrants by State
(N586)January 8 September 14, 2001
A total of 586 individuals representing 48
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Palau, and
Tanzania have registered for at least one of the
tools available as of September 14, 2001.
Concentration of registrants is highest in GA,
NC, SC, and VA because of project initiatives
(including on site training) at the public health
region level.
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Data Skills Online Participants, by MCH
Occupation (N586) January 8 - September 14, 2001
Non-MCH Professionals MCH Professionals
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Users are Saying. . .

• I thought I knew a lot about surveying for data.
  This short course broadened my knowledge and
  made me think about new ways to enhance and make
  data collection more useful. (Primary Data
  Collection tool)

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Users are Saying. . .

• Overall, this experience has been extremely
  valuable to me, in raising my confidence level in
  using the Internet and the computer in general.
  I am much more comfortable with the terminology
  and various software capabilities, at a time when
  it is a professional survival skill. (Web Design
  tool)

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Users are Saying. . .

• Overall, this experience has been extremely
  valuable to me, in raising my confidence level in
  using the Internet and the computer in general.
  I am much more comfortable with the terminology
  and various software capabilities, at a time when
  it is a professional survival skill. (Web Design
  tool)

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Users are Saying. . .

• This was a very enlightening project. I can see
  many ways that I will be able to use this
  knowledge to gather and analyze data to determine
  if we are providing sufficient health care in my
  community.(Developing an Analysis Plan for a
  Quantitative Study tool)