Burn and earn: a randomized controlled trial incentivizing exercise during fall semester for college first-year students.

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Pope, Lizzy; Harvey-Berino, Jean

2013-03-01

To examine the viability of monetary incentives to increase fitness-center use and maintain/improve the Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) of first-year students over the fall semester. Randomized-controlled trial with no-treatment and incentive conditions involving 117 first-year students. For 12 weeks, students in the incentive condition received monetary payments ranging from $10 to $38.75 for meeting researcher-set fitness-center use goals that were identical across conditions. Fitness-center use was monitored through electronic ID-card check-in and check-out records at the campus fitness center. 63% of incentive-condition participants met the weekly fitness-center use goals on average compared to only 13% of control-condition participants, a significant difference, pstudents meeting weekly fitness-center use goals. However, the increased fitness-center use by the incentive condition did not prevent an increase in BMI during fall semester. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Changes in nursing students' perceptions of research and evidence-based practice after completing a research course.

Science.gov (United States)

Keib, Carrie N; Cailor, Stephanie M; Kiersma, Mary E; Chen, Aleda M H

2017-07-01

Nurses need a sound education in research and evidence-based practice (EBP) to provide patients with optimal care, but current teaching methods could be more effective. To evaluate the changes in nursing students 1) perceptions of research and EBP, 2) confidence in research and EBP, and 3) interest in research participation after completing a course in research and EBP. A pre-post assessment design was utilized to compare changes in students. This project was conducted at a small, private liberal arts institution with Bachelor of Science (BSN) students. Two cohorts of third-year BSN students (Year 1 N=55, Year 2 N=54) who were taking a required, semester-long Nursing Research and EBP course. Students' perceptions of and confidence in research and EBP were assessed pre- and post-semester using the Confidence in Research and EBP survey, which contained 7 demographic items, 9 Research Perceptions items, and 19 Confidence in Research items (5-point Likert scale; 1=Not at all confident, 5=Extremely confident). Two years of data were collected and analyzed in SPSS v.24.0. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests and Mann-Whitney-U tests were utilized to examine the data. Students had significant improvements in perceptions of and confidence in research and EBP (pnursing practice. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Indirect Effect of Alcohol Use on GPA in First-Semester College Students: The Mediating Role of Academic Effort

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Conway, James M.; DiPlacido, Joanne

2015-01-01

This study focused on first-semester college students, investigating (a) indirect effects of aggregate alcohol use on grade point average (GPA) through academic effort (skipping class and time on schoolwork) and (b) daily effects of alcohol use on reduced effort. Eighty students reported daily alcohol use and academic effort (skipping class and…

Identifying strategies to assist final semester nursing students to develop numeracy skills: a mixed methods study.

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Ramjan, Lucie M; Stewart, Lyn; Salamonson, Yenna; Morris, Maureen M; Armstrong, Lyn; Sanchez, Paula; Flannery, Liz

2014-03-01

It remains a grave concern that many nursing students within tertiary institutions continue to experience difficulties with achieving medication calculation competency. In addition, universities have a moral responsibility to prepare proficient clinicians for graduate practice. This requires risk management strategies to reduce adverse medication errors post registration. To identify strategies and potential predictors that may assist nurse academics to tailor their drug calculation teaching and assessment methods. This project builds on previous experience and explores students' perceptions of newly implemented interventions designed to increase confidence and competence in medication calculation. This mixed method study surveyed students (n=405) enrolled in their final semester of study at a large, metropolitan university in Sydney, Australia. Tailored, contextualised interventions included online practice quizzes, simulated medication calculation scenarios developed for clinical practice classes, contextualised 'pen and paper' tests, visually enhanced didactic remediation and 'hands-on' contextualised workshops. Surveys were administered to students to determine their perceptions of interventions and to identify whether these interventions assisted with calculation competence. Test scores were analysed using SPSS v. 20 for correlations between students' perceptions and actual performance. Qualitative open-ended survey questions were analysed manually and thematically. The study reinforced that nursing students preferred a 'hands-on,' contextualised approach to learning that was 'authentic' and aligned with clinical practice. Our interventions assisted with supporting students' learning and improvement of calculation confidence. Qualitative data provided further insight into students' awareness of their calculation errors and preferred learning styles. Some of the strongest predictors for numeracy skill performance included (1) being an international student, (2

A semester-long project-oriented biochemistry laboratory based on Helicobacter pylori urease.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Kate R; Dube, Danielle H

2015-01-01

Here we present the development of a 13 week project-oriented biochemistry laboratory designed to introduce students to foundational biochemical techniques and then enable students to perform original research projects once they have mastered these techniques. In particular, we describe a semester-long laboratory that focuses on a biomedically relevant enzyme--Helicobacter pylori (Hp) urease--the activity of which is absolutely required for the gastric pathogen Hp to colonize the human stomach. Over the course of the semester, students undertake a biochemical purification of Hp urease, assess the success of their purification, and investigate the activity of their purified enzyme. In the final weeks of the semester, students design and implement their own experiments to study Hp urease. This laboratory provides students with an understanding of the importance of biochemistry in human health while empowering them to engage in an active area of research. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

INTEGRATING GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SECONDARY STUDENT PROJECTS: THE GEOSPATIAL SEMESTER

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Bob Kolvoord

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Resumen:El Semestre Geoespacial es una actividad de educación geográfica centrada en que los estudiantes del último curso de secundaria en los institutos norteamericanos, adquieran competencias y habilidades específicas en sistemas de información geográfica, GPS y teledetección. A través de una metodología de aprendizaje basado en proyectos, los alumnos se motivan e implican en la realización de trabajos de investigación en los que analizan, e incluso proponen soluciones, diferentes procesos, problemas o cuestiones de naturaleza espacial. El proyecto está coordinado por la Universidad James Madison y lleva siete años implantándose en diferentes institutos del Estado de Virginia, implicando a más de 20 centros educativos y 1.500 alumnos. Los alumnos que superan esta asignatura de la enseñanza secundaria obtienen la convalidación de determinados créditos académicos de la Universidad de referencia.Palabras clave:Sistemas de información geográfica, enseñanza, didáctica de la geografía, semestre geoespacial.Abstract:The Geospatial Semester is a geographical education activity focused on students in their final year of secondary schools in the U.S., acquiring specific skills in GIS, GPS and remote sensing. Through a methodology for project-based learning, students are motivated and involved in conducting research using geographic information systems and analyze, and even propose solutions, different processes, problems or issues spatial in nature. The Geospatial Semester university management not only ensures proper coaching, guidance and GIS training for teachers of colleges, but has established a system whereby students who pass this course of secondary education gain the recognition of certain credits from the University.Key words:Geographic information system, teaching, geographic education, geospatial semester. Résumé:Le semestre géospatial est une activité axée sur l'éducation géographique des étudiants en derni

Undergraduates in a Sustainability Semester: Models of Social Change for Sustainability

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Miller, Hannah K.

2016-01-01

Interdisciplinary sustainability programs are emerging globally, but little is known about the learning in these educational contexts. This qualitative case study examined undergraduates' experience in a Sustainability Semester, using the agency/structure dialectic as a theoretical lens. Before the semester, students' models of change for…

Undergraduate nursing students' level of assertiveness in Greece: a questionnaire survey.

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Deltsidou, Anna

2009-09-01

A number of studies of nursing and midwifery have found stress and bullying to be frequent problems. Those suffering from bullying and stress need to have high levels of assertiveness to resist and to cope successfully. Hence, it was considered vital to assess the assertiveness level of nursing students throughout their training curriculum. The study population was composed of nursing students in different semesters at one school in Central Greece (n=298) who agreed to complete a questionnaire on assertiveness level assessment, which had been translated into Greek and adapted to this population. All students present in class completed the questionnaire, representing 80% of the total population of active students. Mean assertiveness scores between semesters were compared by ANOVA and comparisons between the responses of the first semester students and responses of advanced semester students were done by Pearson's chi square. The main finding of this study was that the assertiveness levels displayed by students increase slightly in advanced semesters by comparison to those displayed by first-semester students. Assertive behavior should be encouraged through learning methods. Nurses should preferably obtain this training throughout their studies. Instructors have an essential role in the improvement and achievement of assertiveness training curriculums for undergraduate nursing students.

First Impressions and Professor Reputation: Influence on Student Evaluations of Instruction

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Buchert, Stephanie; Laws, Eric L.; Apperson, Jennifer M.; Bregman, Norman J.

2008-01-01

We examined the effects of professor reputation versus first impressions on student evaluations of instruction. Students in 19 Psychology courses completed course evaluation surveys either before meeting the instructor or 2 weeks into the semester. Both groups then completed the course evaluation again at the end of the semester. Unlike…

The Science Semester: Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry for Prospective Elementary Teachers

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Ford, Danielle J.; Fifield, Steve; Madsen, John; Qian, Xiaoyu

2013-10-01

We describe the Science Semester, a semester-long course block that integrates three science courses and a science education methods course for elementary teacher education majors, and examine prospective elementary teachers’ developing conceptions about inquiry, science teaching efficacy, and reflections on learning through inquiry. The Science Semester was designed to provide inquiry-oriented and problem-based learning experiences, opportunities to examine socially relevant issues through cross-disciplinary perspectives, and align with content found in elementary curricula and standards. By the end of the semester, prospective elementary teachers moved from naïve to intermediate understandings of inquiry and significantly increased self-efficacy for science teaching as measured on one subscore of the STEBI-B. Reflecting on the semester, prospective teachers understood and appreciated the goals of the course and the PBL format, but struggled with the open-ended and student-directed elements of the course.

The Effects of Two Semesters of Secondary School Calculus on Students' First and Second Quarter Calculus Grades at the University of Utah

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Robinson, William Baker

1970-01-01

The predicted and actual achievement in college calculus is compared for students who had studied two semesters of calculus in high school. The regression equation used for prediction was calculated from the performance data of similar students who had not had high school calculus. (CT)

Turning Points: Improving Honors Student Preparation for Thesis Completion

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Patino, Cynthia

2012-01-01

This dissertation is an action research study that had as its primary goal to increase retention of honors college students at Arizona State University by implementing an additional advising session during the fifth semester of their academic career. Introducing additional, strategically-timed support for the honors thesis and demystifying the…

The Impact of Structural Competence towards Speaking Competence of the Fourth Semester Students of English Department

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Muhammad Nafi Annury

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to define any impact of structural competence towards speaking competence. In this research, the writer used descriptive co-relational method. It was used to describe whether there was an impact between two variables, i.e. structural competence (X as independent variable and speaking competence (Y as dependent variable. The subject of study was the fourth semester students of English department of Tarbiyah Faculty IAIN Walisongo Semarang. After the data had been analyzed, it was found that there was significant impact of structural competence especially in appropriateness. It helped students to arrange words into sentences that they utter.

Academic literacy diagnostic assessment in the first semester of first year at university

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Lorinda Palmer

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One vital aspect of the first semester of the first year at university is how academic literacy expectations are made explicit though teaching and assessment practices at the disciplinary level. This paper describes how an academic literacy diagnostic process, and the MASUS tool, was used to ascertain the academic literacy profile of a cohort of undergraduate nursing students [N=569] at the beginning and end of their first semester. Key findings of this quantitative descriptive case study were that only just over half of commencing students possessed appropriate academic literacy skills in all four aspects of the diagnostic and nearly 20% scored in the lowest band—suggesting difficulty with multiple aspects of academic literacy. By the end of semester, 77% of the students who had scored in the lowest band of the MASUS at the beginning of the semester had improved their scores to the middle or highest band, and 73% of them eventually attained a pass or higher grade for the course. The findings of this study suggest that large-scale academic literacy diagnostic assessment, when embedded and contextualized within a course of study, is an effective means of providing the early feedback and targeted support that many commencing university students need.

A Framework to Manage through Control and Automation a semester long student Project assignment in e-Learning Environment

OpenAIRE

Chaumun, Mamade Ajmal

2013-01-01

Managing semester-long project assignments is not always an easy task since teachers need to keep track of many elements of the project that will reflect in a proper assessment of the students’ work. Integrating an LMS into the educational process and therefore to assign, track, and assess the project may add to the complication, this can be very challenging and especially when students work in groups. Students expect support and guidance from teachers in all stages of the project...

Perceived autonomy in the first semester of mathematics studies

OpenAIRE

Liebendörfer, Michael; Hochmuth, Reinhard

2015-01-01

International audience; We focus on the perceived autonomy of mathematics students in their first semester at university. According to self-determination theory by Deci and Ryan (1985), students have to satisfy their need for autonomy in order to develop intrinsic motivation. Using two facets of autonomy, we analyse interview data to explore which situations foster or hinder the students' perceived autonomy. The main factors affecting students' autonomy are briefly discussed.

Losing Sleep over It: Daily Variation in Sleep Quantity and Quality in Canadian Students' First Semester of University

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Galambos, Nancy L.; Dalton, Andrea L.; Maggs, Jennifer L.

2009-01-01

Daily covariation of sleep quantity and quality with affective, stressful, academic, and social experiences were observed in a sample of Canadian 17-19-year-olds in their first year of university. Participants (N = 191) completed web-based checklists for 14 consecutive days during their first semester. Multilevel models predicting sleep quantity…

On flipping first-semester calculus: a case study

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Petrillo, Joseph

2016-05-01

High failure rates in calculus have plagued students, teachers, and administrators for decades, while science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programmes continue to suffer from low enrollments and high attrition. In an effort to affect this reality, some educators are 'flipping' (or inverting) their classrooms. By flipping, we mean administering course content outside of the classroom and replacing the traditional in-class lectures with discussion, practice, group work, and other elements of active learning. This paper presents the major results from a three-year study of a flipped, first-semester calculus course at a small, comprehensive, American university with a well-known engineering programme. The data we have collected help quantify the positive and substantial effects of our flipped calculus course on failure rates, scores on the common final exam, student opinion of calculus, teacher impact on measurable outcomes, and success in second-semester calculus. While flipping may not be suitable for every teacher, every student, and in every situation, this report provides some evidence that it may be a viable option for those seeking an alternative to the traditional lecture model.

Rendezvous with the World: Missouri Southern State University's Themed Semesters

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Stebbins, Chad

2011-01-01

Although most universities emphasize study abroad as the primary vehicle to internationalize the campus, in reality only a small percentage of students actually participate in this endeavor. The internationally themed semesters at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) reach virtually every student, and provide a global perspective and cultural…

A study of depression and anxiety, general health, and academic performance in three cohorts of veterinary medical students across the first three semesters of veterinary school.

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Reisbig, Allison M J; Danielson, Jared A; Wu, Tsui-Feng; Hafen, McArthur; Krienert, Ashley; Girard, Destiny; Garlock, Jessica

2012-01-01

This study builds on previous research on predictors of depression and anxiety in veterinary medical students and reports data on three veterinary cohorts from two universities through their first three semesters of study. Across all three semesters, 49%, 65%, and 69% of the participants reported depression levels at or above the clinical cut-off, suggesting a remarkably high percentage of students experiencing significant levels of depression symptoms. Further, this study investigated the relationship between common stressors experienced by veterinary students and mental health, general health, and academic performance. A factor analysis revealed four factors among stressors common to veterinary students: academic stress, transitional stress, family-health stress, and relationship stress. The results indicated that both academic stress and transitional stress had a robust impact on veterinary medical students' well-being during their first three semesters of study. As well, academic stress negatively impacted students in the areas of depression and anxiety symptoms, life satisfaction, general health, perception of academic performance, and grade point average (GPA). Transitional stress predicted increased depression and anxiety symptoms and decreased life satisfaction. This study helped to further illuminate the magnitude of the problem of depression and anxiety symptoms in veterinary medical students and identified factors most predictive of poor outcomes in the areas of mental health, general health, and academic performance. The discussion provides recommendations for considering structural changes to veterinary educational curricula to reduce the magnitude of academic stressors. Concurrently, recommendations are suggested for mental health interventions to help increase students' resistance to environmental stressors.

A Comprehensive Probability Project for the Upper Division One-Semester Probability Course Using Yahtzee

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Wilson, Jason; Lawman, Joshua; Murphy, Rachael; Nelson, Marissa

2011-01-01

This article describes a probability project used in an upper division, one-semester probability course with third-semester calculus and linear algebra prerequisites. The student learning outcome focused on developing the skills necessary for approaching project-sized math/stat application problems. These skills include appropriately defining…

Analysis of physical activity in emmetropic and myopic university students during semester and holiday periods: a pilot study.

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Battersby, Katherine; Koy, Linda; Phillips, Nicola; Sim, Joanna; Wilk, Jay; Schmid, Katrina L

2015-11-01

Previous studies (mostly questionnaire-based in children) suggest that outdoor activity is protective against myopia. There are few studies on young adults investigating both the impact of simply being outdoors versus performing physical activity. The aim was to study the relationship between the refractive error of young adults and their physical activity patterns. Twenty-seven university students, aged 18 to 25 years, wore a pedometer (Omron HJ720ITE) for seven days both during the semester and holiday periods. They simultaneously recorded the type of activity performed, its duration, the number of steps taken (from the pedometer) and their location (indoors/outdoors) in a logbook. Mean spherical refractive error was used to divide participants into three groups (emmetropes: +1.00 to -0.50 D, low myopes: -0.62 to -3.00 D, higher myopes: -3.12 D or greater myopia). There were no significant differences between the refractive groups during the semester or holiday periods; the average daily times spent outdoors, the duration of physical activity, the ratio of physical activity performed outdoors to indoors and amount of near work performed were similar. The peak exercise intensity was similar across all groups: approximately 100 steps per minute, a brisk walk. Up to one-third of all physical activity was performed outdoors. There were some significant differences in activities performed during semester and holiday times. For example, low myopes spent significantly less time outside (49 ± 47 versus 74 ± 41 minutes, p = 0.005) and performed less physical activity (6,388 ± 1,747 versus 6,779 ± 2,746 steps per day; p = 0.03) during the holidays compared to during semester. The fact that all groups had similar low exercise intensity but many were not myopic suggests that physical activity levels are not critical. There were differences in the activity patterns of low myopes during semester and holiday periods. This study highlights the need for a larger longitudinal

Development and Implementation of a Two-Semester Introductory Organic-Bioorganic Chemistry Sequence: Conclusions from the First Six Years

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Goess, Brian C.

2014-01-01

A two-semester second-year introductory organic chemistry sequence featuring one semester of accelerated organic chemistry followed by one semester of bioorganic chemistry is described. Assessment data collected over a six-year period reveal that such a course sequence can facilitate student mastery of fundamental organic chemistry in the first…

Navigating New Worlds: A Real-Time Look at How Successful and Non-Successful First-Generation College Students Negotiate Their First Semesters

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Morales, Erik E.

2012-01-01

This study of fifteen first generation American college freshmen documents their initial semester with a focus on factors and dispositions contributing to eventual success or failure. Students were identified prior to campus arrival, allowing for immediate and real-time data collection as they were experiencing the beginning of their college…

In-group and role identity influences on the initiation and maintenance of students' voluntary attendance at peer study sessions for statistics.

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White, Katherine M; O'Connor, Erin L; Hamilton, Kyra

2011-06-01

Although class attendance is linked to academic performance, questions remain about what determines students' decisions to attend or miss class. In addition to the constructs of a common decision-making model, the theory of planned behaviour, the present study examined the influence of student role identity and university student (in-group) identification for predicting both the initiation and maintenance of students' attendance at voluntary peer-assisted study sessions in a statistics subject. University students enrolled in a statistics subject were invited to complete a questionnaire at two time points across the academic semester. A total of 79 university students completed questionnaires at the first data collection point, with 46 students completing the questionnaire at the second data collection point. Twice during the semester, students' attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, student role identity, in-group identification, and intention to attend study sessions were assessed via on-line questionnaires. Objective measures of class attendance records for each half-semester (or 'term') were obtained. Across both terms, students' attitudes predicted their attendance intentions, with intentions predicting class attendance. Earlier in the semester, in addition to perceived behavioural control, both student role identity and in-group identification predicted students' attendance intentions, with only role identity influencing intentions later in the semester. These findings highlight the possible chronology that different identity influences have in determining students' initial and maintained attendance at voluntary sessions designed to facilitate their learning. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Holistic Wellness and Its Impact on First-Semester Grades

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Cereola, Sandy J.; Snyder, Cathleen S.; Cereola, Ronald J.; Horton, Brett W.

2014-01-01

Students enrolled in a first-semester, critical-thinking course assessed their perception of their own wellness using a 52-question survey. Within the survey, holistic wellness was measured along seven dimensions: (a) physical, (b) intellectual, (c) social, (d) occupational, (e) spiritual, (f) emotional, and (g) environmental. Individual…

Positive Effects of Restricting Student Note-Taking in a Capstone Psychology Course: Reducing the Demands of Divided Attention in the Classroom

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Long, Gerald M.

2014-01-01

Two versions of a senior-level capstone course with differing note-taking strategies were compared. In one semester, a traditional student note-taking format was used; in another semester, student note-taking was rendered unnecessary by providing students with complete instructor notes. Student performance in the course as well as student opinions…

A semester-long soil mapping project for an undergraduate pedology course

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Brown, David J.

2015-04-01

Most students taking a pedology course will never work as soil mappers. But many will use soil maps at some point in their careers. At Montana State University, students spent 3 "lab" hours a week, complementing two lectures a week, in the field learning how to study soils literally from the ground up. The only prerequisites for enrollment were completion of an introductory soil science class and 3rd year standing at the university. The area to be mapped, just a km from campus, included a steep mountain backslope, and a complex footslope-toeslope area with diverse soils. Students were divided into teams of 3-4, with approximately 40 students altogether split over two sections that overlapped in the field by one hour. In the first lab session, groups completed a very basic description of just one soil profile. In subsequent weeks, they rotated through multiple pits excavated in a small area, and expanded their soil profile descriptions and interpretations. As students developed proficiency, they were assigned more dispersed locations to study, working for the most part independently as I hiked between pits. Throughout this process, every pit was geolocated using a GPS unit, and every profile description was copied and retained in a designated class file. Student groups delineated map units using stereo air photography, then used these delineations to guide the selection of their final locations to describe. At the end of the course, groups used all of the combined and georeferenced profile descriptions to construct a soil map of the study area complete with map unit descriptions. Most students struggled to make sense of the substantial variability within their map units, but through this struggle -- and their semester of field work -- they gained an appreciation for the value and limitations of a soil map that could not be obtained from even the most entertaining lecture. Both the class and particularly the field sessions received consistently high student reviews

Can Earth Materials BE Adequately Covered in a - or Two-Semester Course?

Science.gov (United States)

Hefferan, K. P.; O'Brien, J.

2007-12-01

Traditional geology programs offer courses in mineralogy, optical mineralogy, igneous petrology, metamorphic petrology, sedimentology and economic geology. At many universities this suite of mineralogy/petrology courses has been supplanted by a one-semester or two-semester Earth Materials course. This interactive poster poses five questions to faculty and students related to the means by which Earth Materials can be delivered: 1) Available online syllabi demonstrate a wide variation in the topics addressed in Earth Materials courses; is there a standard core of key topics that must be covered and in what level of detail? 2) Can a one-semester or two- semester Earth Materials course adequately cover these topics? 3) Excellent textbooks exist in both mineralogy and in petrology; what textbooks, if any, adequately encompass Earth Materials? 4) How has the online environment changed the way in which we use textbooks in the classroom? 5) Given the evolution of geology programs, higher education and the global economy in the past twenty years, what additional changes can be anticipated with respect to delivery and demand of Earth Materials topics? Answers-- or at least related discussions-- to these questions are encouraged via verbal dialogue among participants and/or by comments written on the poster. Our goal is to solicit faculty, student and industry feedback to create a textbook, curricula and online materials that support an Earth Materials course.

A Semester-Long Project-Oriented Biochemistry Laboratory Based on "Helicobacter pylori" Urease

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Kate R.; Dube, Danielle H.

2015-01-01

Here we present the development of a 13 week project-oriented biochemistry laboratory designed to introduce students to foundational biochemical techniques and then enable students to perform original research projects once they have mastered these techniques. In particular, we describe a semester-long laboratory that focuses on a biomedically…

The understanding of core pharmacological concepts among health care students in their final semester.

Science.gov (United States)

Aronsson, Patrik; Booth, Shirley; Hägg, Staffan; Kjellgren, Karin; Zetterqvist, Ann; Tobin, Gunnar; Reis, Margareta

2015-12-29

The overall aim of the study was to explore health care students´ understanding of core concepts in pharmacology. An interview study was conducted among twelve students in their final semester of the medical program (n = 4), the nursing program (n = 4), and the specialist nursing program in primary health care (n = 4) from two Swedish universities. The participants were individually presented with two pharmacological clinically relevant written patient cases, which they were to analyze and propose a solution to. Participants were allowed to use the Swedish national drug formulary. Immediately thereafter the students were interviewed about their assessments. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was used to identify units of meaning in each interview. The units were organized into three clusters: pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and drug interactions. Subsequent procedure consisted of scoring the quality of students´ understanding of core concepts. Non-parametric statistics were employed. The study participants were in general able to define pharmacological concepts, but showed less ability to discuss the meaning of the concepts in depth and to implement these in a clinical context. The participants found it easier to grasp concepts related to pharmacodynamics than pharmacokinetics and drug interactions. These results indicate that education aiming to prepare future health care professionals for understanding of more complex pharmacological reasoning and decision-making needs to be more focused and effective.

Bringing research into a first semester organic chemistry laboratory with the multistep synthesis of carbohydrate-based HIV inhibitor mimics.

Science.gov (United States)

Pontrello, Jason K

2015-01-01

Benefits of incorporating research experiences into laboratory courses have been well documented, yet examples of research projects designed for the first semester introductory organic chemistry lab course are extremely rare. To address this deficiency, a Carbohydrate-Based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Inhibitor project consisting of a synthetic scheme of four reactions was developed for and implemented in the first semester organic lab. Students carried out the synthetic reactions during the last 6 of 10 total labs in the course, generating carbohydrate-based dimeric target molecules modeled after published dimers with application in HIV therapy. The project was designed to provide a research experience through use of literature procedures for reactions performed, exploration of variation in linker length in the target structure, and synthesis of compounds not previously reported in the scientific literature. Project assessment revealed strong student support, indicating enhanced engagement and interest in the course as a direct result of the use of scientific literature and the applications of the synthesized carbohydrate-based molecules. Regardless of discussed challenges in designing a research project for the first semester lab course, the finding from data analysis that a project implemented in the first semester lab had significantly greater student impact than a second semester project should provide motivation for development of additional research projects for a first semester organic course. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

USING QUESTION GENERATING TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR THE THIRD SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM OF MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF BENGKULU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Washlurachim Safitri Safitri

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research was to find out Using Question Generating Technique Toward Students Reading Comprehension At The Third Semester Students At English Study Program Of Muhammadiyah University Of Bengkulu. The design of this research was Quasi experimental research. The subject of this research is students at the third semester of English study program. They were A class  that consist of 20 students and D class that consist of 20 students. In collecting data, the researcher used some steps; firstly the students were given a pre-test before the researcher applied Question Generating Technique. Then, the researcher did the treatment for three meetings to the experimental class, after that the researcher did post test to both classes. The last, the researcher analyzed the result of reading test by using criteria for the assessment. The final step was the researcher discussed and concluded the data. The result of this research showed that the tobt was  4,880. Whereas, the degree of freedom of post-test is 68, means that the ttable was 2.021. Based on the scores gained, it shows that tobt is higher than ttable (9,911>4,880. There is a significant difference between the post-test mean of the experimental and control class. The result also showed that the students’ comprehension in reading was significantly. In conclusion, the Question Generating Technique had been successfully gave positive effect to the students’ reading comprehension particularly in reading subject in English study program of University Muhammadiyah of Bengkulu.  Key Words : Question Generating Technique, Reading comprehension,

Students' Perceptions of Journaling in Undergraduate Classes

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Fritson, Krista K.; Nelson, Destinee A.; Vontz, Hannah; Forrest, Krista D.

2013-01-01

Students' perceptions of journaling are examined with the hypothesis that students perceive reflective journaling as a beneficial tool that aids in their overall success in their courses. Students completed seven, one-page journals throughout the semester. A content analysis of the final journal reveals that students enjoy the process of…

Penerapan Model Pembelajaran Complete Sentence dalam Meningkatkan Keterampilan Menulis Karangan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cucu Wartini

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This research is motivated by the presence of serious problems in the aspect of essay writing skill. The purpose of this study is to know the improvment of student activity and student learning outcomes of writing essay skill material at 5th grade students of SDN Panyingkiran III Kabupaten Sumedang second semester in academic year 2015/2016, using complete sentenselearning.The research method used is classroom action research. Data collected through observation and tests. The result of this study for student activity, on first cycle 48% of students got very good criteria, second cycle 80% and third cycle 96%. For student learning outcomes, on first cycle just 40% students who pass the evaluation, second cycle 72% and third cycle 92%. Therefore, the process and learning outcomes got increased by using complete sentense on writing essay skill based experience.

Collaboration between students and teachers to accumulate a collection of anatomical preparations of high quality in order to loan them to students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Friker, Jutta

2005-04-01

Full Text Available In 2002 the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of Munich University (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität a project was started to involve students to build up a collection of anatomical preparations. The goal of this plan was to obtain long term preserved preparations for storage in boxes of plastic in order to loan them to students. The question to solve was whether it is possible and efficient to engage students. The cadavers were provided from the section hall. We used only material from animals without clinical symptoms. The students were provided with a list of themes to choose from, or they could submit a proposal. Before starting the preparation, as a first step, the basic material was conserved in a special non-toxic solution, developed at the institute of anatomy. Students could perform the preparations during the semester as well as in semester holidays. Scientific assistants helped the students throughout the project. The period specified to assemble the preparations was one semester plus semester holiday. Over the last two years we have received preparations of different quality. About one third of the preparations were of high quality and suitable for long term preservation. Approximately thirty percent of the students required two semesters to finish their preparations. The remaining preparations had to be rejected because students did not complete their project or the preparations were unsuitable for use. Students are very fascinated with this project. Every semester we accept only half of the applicants due to the overwhelming student interest. In summary, it is shown that the collaboration between the students and teachers can help to expand the learning and teaching tools. Students and teachers benefit from this teamwork. Although some preparations have to be eliminated, the students are able to apply their knowledge while gaining experience with the scalpel and tweeters.

Student Perceptions of Team-based Learning vs Traditional Lecture-based Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Frame, Tracy R; Cailor, Stephanie M; Gryka, Rebecca J; Chen, Aleda M; Kiersma, Mary E; Sheppard, Lorin

2015-05-25

To evaluate pharmacy student perceptions of team-based learning (TBL) vs traditional lecture-based learning formats. First professional year pharmacy students (N=111) at two universities used TBL in different courses during different semesters (fall vs spring). Students completed a 22-item team perceptions instrument before and after the fall semester. A 14-item teaching style preference instrument was completed at the end of the spring semester. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. Students who experienced TBL in the fall and went back to traditional format in the spring reported improved perceptions of teams and preferred TBL format over a traditional format more than students who experienced a traditional format followed by TBL. Students at both universities agreed that the TBL format assists with critical-thinking, problem-solving, and examination preparation. Students also agreed that teams should consist of individuals with different personalities and learning styles. When building teams, faculty members should consider ways to diversify teams by considering different views, perspectives, and strengths. Offering TBL early in the curriculum prior to traditional lecture-based formats is better received by students, as evidenced by anecdotal reports from students possibly because it allows students time to realize the benefits and assist them in building teamwork-related skills.

Impact of the second semester University Modeling Instruction course on students’ representation choices

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Daryl McPadden

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Representation use is a critical skill for learning, problem solving, and communicating in science, especially in physics where multiple representations often scaffold the understanding of a phenomenon. University Modeling Instruction, which is an active-learning, research-based introductory physics curriculum centered on students’ use of scientific models, has made representation use a primary learning goal with explicit class time devoted to introducing and coordinating representations as part of the model building process. However, because of the semester break, the second semester course, Modeling Instruction-Electricity and Magnetism (MI-EM, contains a mixture of students who are returning from the Modeling Instruction-mechanics course (to whom we refer to as “returning students” and students who are new to Modeling Instruction with the MI-EM course (to whom we refer to as “new students”. In this study, we analyze the impact of MI-EM on students’ representation choices across the introductory physics content for these different groups of students by examining both what individual representations students choose and their average number of representations on a modified card-sort survey with a variety of mechanics and EM questions. Using Wilcoxon-signed-rank tests, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests, Cliff’s delta effect sizes, and box plots, we compare students’ representation choices from pre- to postsemester, from new and returning students, and from mechanics and EM content. We find that there is a significant difference between returning and new students’ representation choices, which serves as a baseline comparison between Modeling Instruction and traditional lecture-based physics classes. We also find that returning students maintain a high representation use across the MI-EM semester, while new students see significant growth in their representation use regardless of content.

PENINGKATAN KETERAMPILAN BERBICARA BAHASA INGGRIS DENGAN METODE SUGGESTOPEDIA PADA MAHASISWA SEMESTER II-E TBI STAIN PAMEKASAN

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Sumihatul Ummah

2015-11-01

Full Text Available There are two problems in the result of research that will be discussed in this article. They are (1 how are the steps of the implementation of suggestopedia method in learning speaking English at the second semester students of E class TBI STAIN Pamekasan and (2 How are the increasing of speaking English skill for the second semester students of E class TBI STAIN Pamekasan in learning speaking English by using the suggestopedia method. The research method is classroom action research by using research strategy of Kemmis and Mc Taggert Model which consist of four (4 steps, namely planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The result of research provided that classically for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cycle indicated the increasing of students learning completeness scores, each of them are 38.23%, 67.54%, and 82.35%. While the students performance for each aspects are increasing from the 1st cycle up to 3rd cycle. The students performance of speaking English activities in the classroom from each aspects that more appear was grammar with score 85.2%. for the 2nd cycle was comprehensibility with score 88.2% and vocabulary with score 88.2%, and for the 3rd  cycle that more appear was fluency with score 91.2%.  Besides, for the frequency percentage of students performance from each cycles are more increasing, by the 1st  cycle 55% (enough, the 2nd cycle 70% (good, and the 3rd cycle 85% (very good. Finally, the suggestopedia method in learning speaking English can increase the result of students learning. In fact, the students look like be enthusiastic in learning speaking English. The students were active to joint with this subject from each cycle. By the good atmosphere, conducive situation of the classroom, and soft music made the students to be relax in learning the subject. It also was increase imagination, concentration, and liveliness for the students.

Semester-Long Inquiry-Based Molecular Biology Laboratory: Transcriptional Regulation in Yeast

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Oelkers, Peter M.

2017-01-01

A single semester molecular biology laboratory has been developed in which students design and execute a project examining transcriptional regulation in "Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Three weeks of planning are allocated to developing a hypothesis through literature searches and use of bioinformatics. Common experimental plans address a…

Increasing Student Metacognition and Learning through Classroom-Based Learning Communities and Self-Assessment

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Amy Siegesmund

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Student overconfidence challenges success in introductory biology. This study examined the impact of classroom learning communities and self-assessment on student metacognition and subsequent impact on student epistemological beliefs, behaviors, and learning. Students wrote weekly self-assessments reflecting on the process of learning and received individual feedback. Students completed a learning strategies inventory focused on metacognition and study behaviors at the beginning and end of the semester and a Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG at the end of the semester. Results indicated significant changes in both metacognition and study behaviors over the course of the semester, with a positive impact on learning as determined by broad and singular measures. Self-assessments and SALG data demonstrated a change in student beliefs and behaviors. Taken together, these findings argue that classroom learning communities and self-assessment can increase student metacognition and change student epistemological beliefs and behaviors.

A real CDIO mechanical engineering project in 4th semester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritsen, Aage Birkkjær

In the past 6 years at the mechanical engineering study at the Engineering College of Aarhus we have been practicing project work on 4th Semester in the design of energy technology systems. In my presentation, I will give a description of the project, and the thoughts behind; pedagogic......-6 students, and will partly support the general theory being taught in the courses, but will also provide students with skills in teamwork, project work and system building. The pedagogical considerations behind the development of the project are quite simply that students learn best through active work...

On the pedagogy of pharmacological communication: a study of final semester health science students.

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Zetterqvist, Ann; Aronsson, Patrik; Hägg, Staffan; Kjellgren, Karin; Reis, Margareta; Tobin, Gunnar; Booth, Shirley

2015-10-26

There is a need to improve design in educational programmes for the health sciences in general and in pharmacology specifically. The objective of this study was to investigate and problematize pharmacological communication in educational programmes for the health sciences. An interview study was carried out where final semester students from programmes for the medical, nursing and specialist nursing in primary health care professions were asked to discuss the pharmacological aspects of two written case descriptions of the kind they would meet in their everyday work. The study focused on the communication they envisaged taking place on the concerns the patients were voicing, in terms of two features: how communication would take place and what would be the content of the communication. A phenomenographic research approach was used. The results are presented as outcome spaces, sets of categories that describe the variation of ways in which the students voiced their understanding of communication in the two case descriptions and showed the qualitatively distinct ways in which the features of communication were experienced. The results offer a base of understanding the students' perspectives on communication that they will take with them into their professional lives. We indicate that there is room for strengthening communication skills in the field of pharmacology, integrating them into programmes of education, by more widely implementing a problem-based, a case-oriented or role-playing pedagogy where final year students work across specialisations and there is a deliberate effort to evoke and assess advanced conceptions and skills.

Development of a Semester-Long, Inquiry-Based Laboratory Course in Upper-Level Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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Murthy, Pushpalatha P. N.; Thompson, Martin; Hungwe, Kedmon

2014-01-01

A semester-long laboratory course was designed and implemented to familiarize students with modern biochemistry and molecular biology techniques. The designed format involved active student participation, evaluation of data, and critical thinking, and guided students to become independent researchers. The first part of the course focused on…

Beyond the Tourist Gaze? Cultural Learning on an American "Semester Abroad" Programme in London

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Janes, Dominic

2008-01-01

Is the short-term study abroad experience, particularly when undertaken with a self-contained group of international students such as on a "semester abroad programme" accredited by a US university, little more than glorified tourism? This study investigates some of the ways in which a group of American students developed their…

PENERAPAN METODE PETA PIKIRAN DALAM MENULIS ESAI MAHASISWA SEMESTER V STKIP YDB LUBUK ALUNG

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Irawati Rahman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract This research is based on several problems found in students’ writing; (1 the structure of students’ essay is not complete; (2 the use of languge is not communicative; (3 the paragraph development is not coherent; and (4 the title of the essay is not appropriate. This reseach aims at implementing mind mapping technique in writing an essay. Mind mapping is a technique of teaching writing to help students map their idea in writing an essay. This research used quantitative research. The research sample was the fifth semester students of STKIP YBD Lubuk Alung registered in 2015/2016 academic year. The result of this research shows that mind mapping technique could increase students’ writing. This is indicated by the increase of students’ score after applying mind mapping technique. 25 students (92.6% got very good score and 2 others (7.43% got good score. Based on this finding, it is suggested for English teachers to use mind mapping technique to improve students’ writing skill. Kata Kunci: penerapan, teknik mind mapping, keterampilan menulis esai

Teacher and Student Intrinsic Motivation in Project-Based Learning

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Lam, Shui-fong; Cheng, Rebecca Wing-yi; Ma, William Y. K.

2009-01-01

In this study we examined the relationship between teacher and student intrinsic motivation in project-based learning. The participants were 126 Hong Kong secondary school teachers and their 631 students who completed evaluation questionnaires after a semester-long project-based learning program. Both teachers and students were asked to indicate…

The Student Storm Survey©: College Students' Thoughts on Their University's Response to a Natural Disaster

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Rosenthal, Gary T.; Boudreaux, Monique; Boudreaux, Dwight L.; Soignier, R. D.; Folse, Earl; Frias, Tracey; Soper, Barlow

2014-01-01

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastated the region that our University serves. Near the start of the semester, only one of the ten scheduled class days could be completed and administrators asked students and faculty to "continue the learning process" online via Blackboard©, our Electronic Delivery System (EDS). The Student Storm Survey©…

Fostering internationalization: an American-Danish semester-long undergraduate nursing student exchange program.

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Baernholdt, M; Drake, E; Maron, F; Neymark, K

2013-06-01

This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a semester-long exchange program between two Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs in the USA and Denmark. Nurses globally need to provide culturally sensitive care for an ethnically diverse population. Competencies on how to do so should start in basic nursing programs. A useful strategy is through immersion into another culture through an exchange program. Little is known about successful strategies for two-way or 360° exchange programs between schools from different countries. Guided by experiential learning theory, we developed an exchange program with the objective of enhancing nursing students' cultural competence through knowledge building, attitudes and behaviour development. Lessons learned and implications for educational institutions and policy are discussed. In internationalization of nursing education, an awareness of underlying cultural values regarding nursing competence and taking appropriate action are important for success. Other areas for a successful exchange program include matching of courses or content across schools, clear objectives and evaluation plans. Finally, flexibility and open communication are key components when setting up a 360° exchange program. © 2013 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2013 International Council of Nurses.

Software Engineering Frameworks: Textbooks vs. Student Perceptions

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McMaster, Kirby; Hadfield, Steven; Wolthuis, Stuart; Sambasivam, Samuel

2012-01-01

This research examines the frameworks used by Computer Science and Information Systems students at the conclusion of their first semester of study of Software Engineering. A questionnaire listing 64 Software Engineering concepts was given to students upon completion of their first Software Engineering course. This survey was given to samples of…

Success rate of 10th semester dental students of Tehran University of Medical students in infra alveolar nerve block injection technique

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Hoseinitodashki H.

2009-03-01

Full Text Available "nBackground and Aim: Inducing anesthesia is one of the important tasks in dentistry. Among various techniques for injection, the Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block (IANB technique is one of the most practical and prevalent methods. However, according to some proofs in reference books, the success rate for this technique is some how low. Therefore the success rate of IANB performed by 10th-semester undergraduare students from Faculty of Dentistry of Tehran University of Medical Sciences was assessed in this study. "nMaterials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study from patients referring to oral and maxillofacial surgery ward, 20 patients with predefined conditions were selected. For each of them, two IANB injections were done in two separated days; one by a student and the other by an attend (or resident of maxillofacial surgery ward. Success or failure of each injection was examined by Pin Prick test. In this study, the non-parametric Willcoxon test was used. "nResults: In this study, the success rate of IANB was 70% and 90%, respectively for students and attends (or resident. "nConclusion: Significant statistically difference was seen between the two groups, we hope that through further practical education, this differences rsduce in following similar studies.

Optimalisasi Prestasi Belajar Materi Elektromagnet dengan Menggunakan Pendekatan Eksperimen dalam Pembelajaran IPA pada Peserta Didik Kelas IX A SMP Negeri 3 Teras Semester Gasal Kabupaten Boyolali Tahun Pelajaran 2011/2012

OpenAIRE

Budiharjo Budiharjo

2015-01-01

This research purpose is to describe about effort to increase learning achievement giving task autonomous structure in learning electromagnet material of the student’s class IX A SMP Negeri 3 Teras Boyolali regency semester 2011/2012. Subject and data source of the research the students class IX A sum 40 students. Collecting data method uses observation, documentation and test. Analysis data uses critic and comparative. Reaching indicator uses KKM 63 and complete target 100%. Research procedu...

WKU Student Teachers Benefit from International Experience. F.E.A. Research and Policy Brief

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Carter, Fred

2010-01-01

Although only 20 percent of teacher education students nationwide who completed their training and were certified during the 2009 spring semester were employed as teachers during the 2009 fall semester (U.S. Department of Education ED Review statistics, Nov. 20, 2009), 100 percent of Western Kentucky University (WKU) teacher education spring 2009…

University of the Free State allied health professions students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Dietetics students taking a two semester physiology course completed voluntary questionnaires at the first and last contact sessions of the year. These data as well as students' June and November examination results were included in a database and analysed. In more than 90

Distinguishing between Exogenous and Endogenous Intent-to-Transfer Students

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Okun, Morris A.; Karoly, Paul; Martin, Jessica L.; Benshoff, Annja

2009-01-01

In this article, we distinguish between 2 types of students who intend to transfer and graduate from another institution. During the fall of 2006, 507 first-semester students attending a state university completed a survey. Seventy-six percent of the students indicated that they planned on graduating from the University (intent-to-persist), 16%…

One semester course in wind energy for advanced undergraduate and graduate engineering students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, K.

2006-01-01

The recent increase in energy consumption in India is resulting in high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Attempts to harness new renewable energy sources such as wind power is creating the need for trained manpower in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering. The course outline for a one semester course in wind energy for advanced undergraduate and graduate engineering students at the Indian Institute of Technology was presented in this paper. A history of wind energy was also presented along with the approaching global environmental crisis. International efforts and conventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were discussed. India's geography and relationship to wind resources were presented in terms of its latitude and geostrophic winds. The course outline also includes a section on measuring instruments (anemometers) and organization of wind data using Weibull distribution as well as the impacts of summer and monsoon winds. The aerodynamics of wind turbines including airfoils, airscrew theory, and its application to wind turbines were discussed. Rural and remote area usage of wind turbines as well as the structural design and construction of wind turbine blades using composite materials are also examined in the course. Last, the course presents a video cassette and a 16 mm film on wind energy and advises students that they are exposed to laboratory and field practices and encouraged to do practical projects. The course contains a discussion of policy issues such as reaching the common people, and industry-academia interaction. 8 refs., 10 figs

One semester course in wind energy for advanced undergraduate and graduate engineering students

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghosh, K. [Indian Inst. of Technology, Kanpur (India). Aerospace Engineering Dept.

2006-07-01

The recent increase in energy consumption in India is resulting in high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Attempts to harness new renewable energy sources such as wind power is creating the need for trained manpower in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering. The course outline for a one semester course in wind energy for advanced undergraduate and graduate engineering students at the Indian Institute of Technology was presented in this paper. A history of wind energy was also presented along with the approaching global environmental crisis. International efforts and conventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were discussed. India's geography and relationship to wind resources were presented in terms of its latitude and geostrophic winds. The course outline also includes a section on measuring instruments (anemometers) and organization of wind data using Weibull distribution as well as the impacts of summer and monsoon winds. The aerodynamics of wind turbines including airfoils, airscrew theory, and its application to wind turbines were discussed. Rural and remote area usage of wind turbines as well as the structural design and construction of wind turbine blades using composite materials are also examined in the course. Last, the course presents a video cassette and a 16 mm film on wind energy and advises students that they are exposed to laboratory and field practices and encouraged to do practical projects. The course contains a discussion of policy issues such as reaching the common people, and industry-academia interaction. 8 refs., 10 figs.

From Idea to Action: Promoting Responsible Management Education through a Semester-Long Academic Integrity Learning Project

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Lavine, Marc H.; Roussin, Christopher J.

2012-01-01

The authors describe a semester-long action-learning project where undergraduate or graduate management students learn about ethics, responsibility, and organizational behavior by examining the policy of their college or university that addresses academic integrity. Working in teams, students adopt a stakeholder management approach as they make…

Drinking, Drug Use, and Related Consequences Among University Students Completing Study Abroad Experiences: A Systematic Review.

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Aresi, Giovanni; Moore, Simon; Marta, Elena

2016-12-05

University students who complete study abroad experiences are potentially exposed to behaviors, in particular alcohol and drug use, that place their health at risk. There is a need to identify risk and protective factors and highlight knowledge gaps. A systematic review adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. Relevant bibliographic databases and online repositories were systematically searched for both qualitative and quantitative peer-reviewed studies. Eighteen articles were eligible for inclusion. Degree mobility students (DMSs-students pursuing a full bachelor or master degree in a foreign country) and Credit Mobility Students (CMSs-students participating in short term or semester study abroad programmes) show different patterns of at-risk behaviors compared to pre-departure, and to domestic or non-study abroad students. DMSs mostly consumed less alcohol and illicit substances compared to domestic students, but little information on pre-travel behavior and predictors of at-risk behaviors while abroad was available on DMSs. Most studies indicated that CMSs increased their alcohol use while abroad and reduced it when they returned home. However, there is no evidence of an increase in the negative consequences associated with alcohol misuse while abroad. Different pre-departure and abroad factors (e.g., perceptions of peer drinking norms, psychological and sociocultural adjustment abroad) were related to at-risk behaviors in the host country. University students who study abroad are understudied and potentially at risk from alcohol and drug use. Knowledge gaps are discussed in relation to possible future qualitative, mixed methods and longitudinal research.

Do different medical curricula influence self-assessed clinical thinking of students?

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Gehlhar, Kirsten; Klimke-Jung, Kathrin; Stosch, Christoph; Fischer, Martin R

2014-01-01

As a fundamental element of medical practice, clinical reasoning should be cultivated in courses of study in human medicine. To date, however, no conclusive evidence has been offered as to what forms of teaching and learning are most effective in achieving this goal. The Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) was developed as a means of measuring knowledge-unrelated components of clinical reasoning. The present pilot study examines the adequacy of this instrument in measuring differences in the clinical reasoning of students in varying stages of education in three curricula of medical studies. The Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) comprises 41 items in two subscales ("Flexibility in Thinking" and "Structure of Knowledge in Memory"). Each item contains a statement or finding concerning clinical reasoning in the form of a stem under which a 6-point scale presents opposing conclusions. The subjects are asked to assess their clinical thinking within this range. The German-language version of the DTI was completed by 247 student volunteers from three schools and varying clinical semesters. In a quasi-experimental design, 219 subjects from traditional and model courses of study in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia took part. Specifically, these were 5(th), 6(th) and 8(th) semester students from the model course of study at Witten/Herdecke University (W/HU), from the model (7(th) and 9(th) semester) and traditional (7(th) semester) courses of study at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and from the model course of study (9(th) semester) at the University of Cologne (UoC). The data retrieved were quantitatively assessed. The reliability of the questionnaire in its entirety was good (Cronbach's alpha between 0.71 and 0.83); the reliability of the subscales ranged between 0.49 and 0.75. The different groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney test, revealing significant differences among semester cohorts within a school as well as between students from similar

Motivation, Academic Assessments and First-Semester Success at a Midwestern Technical College

Science.gov (United States)

Dillon, Sarah A.

2017-01-01

This study examined college admission criteria and college readiness in an effort to reduce barriers in college admission. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was administered to a convenience sample of 74 participants among 503 students during their first semester at a two-year college. Scale scores were compared to demographic characteristics,…

Team-Based Learning Reduces Attrition in a First-Semester General Chemistry Course

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Comeford, Lorrie

2016-01-01

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional method that has been shown to reduce attrition and increase student learning in a number of disciplines. TBL was implemented in a first-semester general chemistry course, and its effect on attrition was assessed. Attrition from sections before implementing TBL (fall 2008 to fall 2009) was compared with…

The Use and Evaluation of Scaffolding, Student Centered-Learning, Behaviorism, and Constructivism to Teach Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and IR Spectroscopy in a Two-Semester Organic Chemistry Course

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Livengood, Kimberly; Lewallen, Denver W.; Leatherman, Jennifer; Maxwell, Janet L.

2012-01-01

Since 2002, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry have been introduced at the beginning of the first-semester organic chemistry lab course at this university. Starting in 2008, each individual student was given 20 unique homework problems that consisted of multiple-choice [superscript 1]H NMR and IR problems…

Interpersonal goals and change in anxiety and dysphoria in first-semester college students.

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Crocker, Jennifer; Canevello, Amy; Breines, Juliana G; Flynn, Heather

2010-06-01

Two longitudinal studies examined the associations between interpersonal goals (i.e., self-image and compassionate goals) and anxiety and dysphoria (i.e., distress). In Study 1, 199 college freshmen (122 women, 77 men) completed 12 surveys over 12 weeks. Compassionate goals predicted decreased distress, and self-image goals predicted increased distress from pretest to posttest when distress was assessed as anxiety, dysphoria, or a composite, and when the goals were worded as approach goals, avoidance goals, or a composite. In Study 2, 115 first-semester roommate pairs (86 female and 29 male pairs) completed 12 surveys over 12 weeks. Compassionate and self-image goals predicted distress in same-week, lagged-week, and pretest-to-posttest analyses; effects of compassionate goals remained significant when the authors controlled for several known risk factors. Having clear goals consistently explained the association between compassionate goals but not self-image goals and distress. Results supported a path model in which compassionate goals predict increased support given to roommates, which predicts decreased distress. Results also supported a reciprocal association; chronic distress predicted decreased compassionate and increased self-image goals from pretest to posttest, and weekly distress predicted decreased compassionate goals the subsequent week. The results suggest that compassionate goals contribute to decreased distress because they provide meaning and increase support given to others. Distress, in turn, predicts change in goals, creating the potential for upward and downward spirals of goals and distress. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Learning to Argue with Intermediate Macro Theory: A Semester-Long Team Writing Project

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Strasser, Georg; Wolfe, Marketa Halova

2014-01-01

The authors describe their experience with integrating a semester-long economic analysis project into an intermediate macroeconomic theory course. Students work in teams of "economic advisors" to write a series of nested reports that analyze the current state of the economy, and propose and evaluate policies for a decision-maker. The…

Social Modeling Influences and Alcohol Consumption during the First Semester of College: A Natural History Study

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Talbott, Laura L.; Moore, Charity G.; Usdan, Stuart L.

2012-01-01

The authors examine both the alcohol consumption pattern of freshmen students during their first semester and the degree to which social modeling of peer behavior impacts consumption. A total of 534 students, residing on campus, were prospectively examined at four 30-day intervals. Data were evaluated on the basis of age, gender, and the effects…

Continual evolution: the experience over three semesters of a librarian embedded in an online evidence-based medicine course for physician assistant students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kealey, Shannon

2011-01-01

This column examines the experience, over three years, of a librarian embedded in an online Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine course, which is a requirement for students pursuing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Pace University. Student learning outcomes were determined, a video lecture was created, and student learning was assessed via a five-point Blackboard test during year one. For years two and three, the course instructor asked the librarian to be responsible for two weeks of course instruction and a total of 15 out of 100 possible points for the course. This gave the librarian flexibility to measure additional outcomes and gather more in-depth assessment data. The librarian then used the assessment data to target areas for improvement in the lessons and Blackboard tests. Revisions made by the librarian positively affected student achievement of learning outcomes, as measured by the assessment conducted the subsequent semester. Plans for further changes are also discussed.

Digital Storytelling: A Method for Engaging Students and Increasing Cultural Competency

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Grant, Natalie S.; Bolin, Brien L.

2016-01-01

Digital storytelling is explored as a method of engaging students in the development of media literacy and cultural competency. This paper describes the perceptions and experiences of 96 undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university, after completing a digital storytelling project in a semester-long diversity course. Digital storytelling…

Sleep Duration and Academic Performance Among Student Pharmacists.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeek, Megan L; Savoie, Matthew J; Song, Matthew; Kennemur, Leanna M; Qian, Jingjing; Jungnickel, Paul W; Westrick, Salisa C

2015-06-25

To identify sleep patterns and frequency of daytime sleepiness and to assess the association between sleep duration and academic performance among student pharmacists. A cross-sectional design was used. An anonymous self-administered paper questionnaire was administered to first-year through third-year students at a pharmacy school. Questionnaires were completed by 364 student pharmacists (79.4% response rate and 93.8% cooperation rate). More than half of student pharmacists obtained less than 7 hours of sleep at night during a typical school week (54.7%) and a large majority on the night prior to an examination (81.7%). Almost half (47.8%) felt daytime sleepiness almost every day. Longer sleep duration the night prior to an examination was associated with higher course grades and semester grade point averages (GPAs). A majority of student pharmacists had suboptimal durations of sleep, defined as fewer than 7 hours. Adequate sleep the night prior to an examination was positively associated with student course grades and semester GPAs.

Third Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2016

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The following pages contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. The project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short master projects as well as regular 3rd semester...... overview of the purpose as well as the main activities. Further, a weighting between theoretical analysis, experimental work and computer modelling has been proposed. Usually, this weighting can be changed slightly in accordance with the wishes of the students. The contact persons listed will usually act...... in this catalogue can reveal the expertise and research areas of the different supervisors. Many private engineering companies have a homepage on which they state that they would like to collaborate with students on a master project. Find out more on the individual company home pages....

Effects of Clicker Use on Calculus Students' Mathematics Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Batchelor, John

2015-01-01

This paper reports the results of a survey study of clicker use and mathematics anxiety among students enrolled in an undergraduate calculus course during the Fall 2013 semester. Students in two large lecture sections of calculus completed surveys at the beginning and end of the course. One class used clickers, whereas the other class was taught…

Re-learning how to write: student successes and challenges in a targeted geoscience communication course

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Elwood Madden, M.; Miller-Deboer, C.; Eodice, M.; Miller, J.; Johnson, J.; Rifenburg, M.

2013-12-01

Students in OU's Geology and Geophysics (G&G) program must complete either English Technical Writing or a major-specific Geowriting class as sophomores or juniors. We asked students in Geowriting and students in a G&G colloquium course (required for G&G scholarship students and an elective for others) to complete surveys reporting their writing experiences and attitudes, as well as write an abstract for a Scientific American story to assess writing skills at the beginning and end of the semester. Geowriting students had stronger writing skills and more positive attitudes towards writing at the beginning of the semester than their colloquium peers, suggesting that students who were already interested and skilled in writing were self-selecting into the class. During the semester, Geowriting focused on improving the clarity, organization, efficiency, and mechanics of student writing and discussed how science writing is similar in some ways (argument, sentence structure, etc.), but also different in many aspects (concise, forthright, repetitive, etc) from writing tactics taught in high school and some college composition courses. Colloquium students attended the weekly scientific talks, but did not write in the class; however, some students were enrolled in freshman-level composition courses and Technical Writing. End-of-semester surveys showed Geowriting students had a more positive change in attitude and expectations towards writing than their colloquium peers. However, one significant difference in attitude towards writing was indicated by negative feelings towards in-class writing, which may be a result of 'writing fatigue' within the Geowriting group. This writing fatigue could be explained by student end-of -semester cognitive overload. Through other measures, colloquium students showed a greater improvement in writing skills (concise, clear, organized, etc) compared to Geowriting students; however, Geowriting students maintained higher skill levels than the

Generic learning skills in academically-at-risk medical students: a development programme bridges the gap.

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Burch, Vanessa C; Sikakana, Cynthia N T; Gunston, Geney D; Shamley, Delva R; Murdoch-Eaton, Deborah

2013-08-01

Widening access to medical students from diverse educational backgrounds is a global educational mandate. The impact, on students' generic learning skills profiles, of development programmes designed for students at risk of attrition is unknown. This study investigated the impact of a 12-month Intervention Programme (IP) on the generic learning skills profile of academically-at-risk students who, after failing at the end of the first semester, completed the IP before entering the second semester of a conventional medical training programme. This prospective study surveyed medical students admitted in 2009 and 2010, on entry and on completion of first year, on their reported practice and confidence in information handling, managing own learning, technical and numeracy, computer, organisational and presentation skills. Of 414 first year students, 80 (19%) entered the IP. Levels of practice and confidence for five of the six skills categories were significantly poorer at entry for IP students compared to conventional stream students. In four categories these differences were no longer statistically significant after students had completed the IP; 62 IP students (77.5%) progressed to second year. A 12-month development programme, the IP, effectively addressed generic learning skills deficiencies present in academically-at-risk students entering medical school.

Understanding student early departure from a Master of Public Health programme in South Africa

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T Dlungwane

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background. Student departure from university without completing a qualification is a major concern in higher education. Higher Education South Africa reported that in undergraduate studies, 35% of students depart after the first year and only 15% of students who enrol complete their degree within the minimum permissible time. At postgraduate level, the departure from Masters programmes in South Africa (SA ranged from 30% to 67% in 2010. Early departure refers to students who leave an academic programme within the first semester of commencing their studies. At one SA university, there were a total of 109 first-time Master of Public Health (MPH student registrations in 2013 and 2014. By the end of the first semester in the respective years, a total of 27 students actively deregistered from the programme and 11 students did not sit the first-semester examinations, representing an aggregate 35% rate of early departure. The factors associated with early departure at the University of KwaZulu-Natal are not well understood. Objective. To understand factors associated with early departure in the MPH programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Method. A mixed-methods design was implemented. Students who departed within the first semester of commencing the MPH programme in 2013/2014 were followed up. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Results. Failure to balance work and academic obligations with poor time management, stress and academic demands related to the programme, and insufficient academic progress were found to be associated with student early departure from the MPH programme. Conclusion. Student early departure from the MPH programme was influenced by multifaceted factors. Senior students can mentor new students as early as possible in their programme. The orientation block should include development activities such as time management, stress management and effective study skills to assist

Understanding the relationship between student attitudes and student learning

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Cahill, Michael J.; McDaniel, Mark A.; Frey, Regina F.; Hynes, K. Mairin; Repice, Michelle; Zhao, Jiuqing; Trousil, Rebecca

2018-02-01

Student attitudes, defined as the extent to which one holds expertlike beliefs about and approaches to physics, are a major research topic in physics education research. An implicit but rarely tested assumption underlying much of this research is that student attitudes play a significant part in student learning and performance. The current study directly tested this attitude-learning link by measuring the association between incoming attitudes (Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey) and student learning during the semester after statistically controlling for the effects of prior knowledge [early-semester Force Concept Inventory (FCI) or Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA)]. This study spanned four different courses and included two complementary measures of student knowledge: late-semester concept inventory scores (FCI or BEMA) and exam averages. In three of the four courses, after controlling for prior knowledge, attitudes significantly predicted both late-semester concept inventory scores and exam averages, but in all cases these attitudes explained only a small amount of variance in concept-inventory and exam scores. Results indicate that after accounting for students' incoming knowledge, attitudes may uniquely but modestly relate to how much students learn and how well they perform in the course.

Isaac Newton and Student College Completion

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Tinto, Vincent

2013-01-01

Success in college is built upon classroom success, but success in the classroom does not in itself ensure college completion. Completion arises from success in a sequence of classes one after another over time. It does so most frequently when students are presented with coherent course pathways to degree completion, are able to gain degree credit…

The Role of Goal Importance in Predicting University Students' High Academic Performance

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Kyle, Vanessa A.; White, Katherine M.; Hyde, Melissa K.; Occhipinti, Stefano

2014-01-01

We examined goal importance, focusing on high, but not exclusive priority goals, in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict students' academic performance. At the beginning of semester, students in a psychology subject (N = 197) completed TPB and goal importance items for achieving a high grade. Regression analyses revealed partial…

Exploring Self-Efficacy among Entry-Level and Advanced BSW Students

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Simmons, Christopher; Fisher, Amy Killen; Barnard, Marie; Allen, Susan C.

2017-01-01

This study compared a sample of entry-level and advanced BSW students, who completed pretest and posttest self-efficacy measures, to assess their level of confidence in performing social work tasks after 15 weeks of instruction. By the end of the semester, only advanced students made significant gains in self-efficacy beliefs, and they showed a…

IMPROVING THE ELASTICITY OF HIP MUSCLES AMONG THE POPULATION OF DEBRECEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

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Agnes Nagy

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Decreasing tendency of daily physical activity can be observed in the population of Debrecen University students. We started a physical education at the University of Debrecen which was called spine gymnastic. At the beginning of the semester we surveyed the health status and the health behaviour of the students focused on physical activity. The elasticity of hip muscles was also measured at the beginning and the end of the semester. After completing a 14-week spine gymnastic course, which included auto stretching and strengthening exercises, we found that all measured hip muscles improved.

Predicting College Success: Achievement, Demographic, and Psychosocial Predictors of First-Semester College Grade Point Average

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Saltonstall, Margot

2013-01-01

This study seeks to advance and expand research on college student success. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, the study investigates the contribution of psychosocial variables above and beyond traditional achievement and demographic measures to predicting first-semester college grade point average (GPA). It also investigates if…

Communication skills program in the first semester: An experience report

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Rafaela Liberali

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since 2001, Brazilian Guidelines for undergraduate medical education highlighted the need to include communication skills (CS in the curriculum. At the Federal University of Santa Catarina (South Brazil, CS were taught in the third year in theoretical classes as an overview of physician-patient relationships, and in a nonsystematic way in practical classes. In 2013, theory and practice were aligned, mediated by reflection, by adding three classes: CS overview; responding to strong emotions; and giving bad news. Two Portuguese translation of modules from DocCom, a web-based audiovisual learning resource on CS in Healthcare (AACH, DUCOM, 2005- 2015, were used. In 2015, we started to teach CS to the 53 students registered in the first semester of our medical course. We report on the program in the first semester of the course and students’ perceptions of it. The CS program consisted of seven 1.5-hr face-to-face sessions with all students, co-taught by the authors, a PhD student and a medical school professor. The content included CS overview and importance in healthcare; relationship-centered care, building relationships and gathering information; students’ experiences in the medical course; and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI. To encourage continuous reflection and align theory with practice, before or after theoretical brief presentations, additional resources were used: exercises to raise awareness of verbal and nonverbal communication, drawings on medical students’ life experiences, reflections about the poem “After a While” by Veronica Shoffstall and after listening to Bach’s Brandenburg concerto #1; DocCom modules #6 “Build a relationship” and #8 “Gather information” (viewed online to prepare for class followed by face-toface small group discussions (6-7 students in each about CS learned and theirs practice in role-play; peers’ and patients’ interviews; students’ MBTI identification (at distance and group dynamics

Characterizing the changes in teaching practice during first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach in a middle school science classroom

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Pinney, Brian Robert John

The purpose of this study was to characterize ways in which teaching practice in classroom undergoing first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach changes in whole-class discussion. Being that argument is explicitly called for in the Next Generation Science Standards and is currently a rare practice in teaching, many teachers will have to transform their teaching practice for inclusion of this feature. Most studies on Argument-Based Inquiry (ABI) agree that development of argument does not come easily and is only acquired through practice. Few studies have examined the ways in which teaching practice changes in relation to the big idea or disciplinary core idea (NGSS), the development of dialogue, and/or the development of argument during first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach. To explore these areas, this study posed three primary research questions: (1) How does a teacher in his first semester of Science Writing Heuristic professional development make use of the "big idea"?, (1a) Is the indicated big idea consistent with NGSS core concepts?, (2) How did the dialogue in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development?, (3) How did the argument in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development? This semester-long study that took place in a middle school in a rural Midwestern city was grounded in interactive constructivism, and utilized a qualitative design to identify the ways in which the teacher utilized big ideas and how dialogue and argumentative dialogue developed over time. The purposefully selected teacher in this study provided a unique situation where he was in his first semester of professional development using the Science Writing Heuristic Approach to argument-based inquiry with 19 students who had two prior years' experience in ABI. Multiple sources of data were collected, including

Conceptual Change in Psychology Students' Acceptance of the Scientific Foundation of the Discipline

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Amsel, Eric; Ashley, Aaron; Baird, Todd; Johnston, Adam

2014-01-01

Two studies explored conceptual change in undergraduate psychology students' acceptance of the scientific foundations of the discipline. In Study 1, Introductory Psychology students completed the Psychology as Science questionnaire (PAS) at the beginning and end of the semester and did so from their own (Self Condition) and their instructors'…

Design and Evaluation of a One-Semester General Chemistry Course for Undergraduate Life Science Majors

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Schnoebelen, Carly; Towns, Marcy H.; Chmielewski, Jean; Hrycyna, Christine A.

2018-01-01

The chemistry curriculum for undergraduate life science majors at Purdue University has been transformed to better meet the needs of this student population and prepare them for future success. The curriculum, called the 1-2-1 curriculum, includes four consecutive and integrated semesters of instruction in general chemistry, organic chemistry, and…

School Adjustment, Social Support, and Mental Health of Mainland Chinese College Students in Hong Kong

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Chui, Raymond Chi-Fai; Chan, Chi-Keung

2017-01-01

We investigated the relationship of school adjustment and social support with the mental health of mainland Chinese college students studying in Hong Kong. During the spring semester in 2011, 384 mainland Chinese college students across the postsecondary institutions in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire. Results showed that better school…

A study of the effectiveness of a four semester preservice Secondary Science Teacher Education program regarding changes in teacher perceptions and practices

Science.gov (United States)

Yakar, Zeha

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development and change in constructivist behaviors of preservice science teachers of the Iowa-Secondary Science Teacher Education Program (SSTEP) over the four semester sequence. Constructivist behaviors were investigated from four perspectives; including actual classroom performances as viewed from videotapes, teacher perceptions of teacher use of constructivist teaching practices, and teacher beliefs as gained from open-ended questions, and written artifacts. The participants of the study included a total of 41 secondary science preservice teachers in four different semesters of their teacher preparation program. Three instruments were used to generate the main data to answer the research questions. The three instruments were: (1) Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), (2) Philosophy of Teaching and Learning (PTL), and (3) videotape portfolio evaluated with the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Major findings include the following: (1) Preservice teachers' perceptions regarding constructivist approaches become significantly and increasingly more student-centered in terms of Personal Relevance, Critical Voice, Shared Control, and Student Negotiation as they prepare through the four semester sequence. (2) Preservice teachers' conceptions concerning teaching and learning become significantly and increasingly more student-centered in terms of what students need to do to improve their understanding of science concepts. (3) Preservice teachers conceptions and their perceptions about actual classroom practices rarely align with observed teaching practices in their classrooms. Although preservice teachers hold student-centered beliefs and perceptions, their actual classroom teaching practices were "transitional constructivist". (4) Preservice teachers' constructivist practices of teaching and learning began to decline in the third semester with preservice teachers moving towards more teacher

The relationship between teacher burnout and student motivation.

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Shen, Bo; McCaughtry, Nate; Martin, Jeffrey; Garn, Alex; Kulik, Noel; Fahlman, Mariane

2015-12-01

Teacher burnout is regarded as a serious problem in school settings. To date, studies on teachers' stress and burnout have largely centred on teachers' own characteristics, socialization, and behaviours, but few have explored the connection between teachers' burnout and students' motivation via their own perceptions of teachers' behaviour and emotional well-being. This study adopted Maslach et al.'s (2001, Annu. Rev. Psychol., 52, 397) job burnout construct and self-determination theory to investigate the relationships between teachers' burnout and students' autonomous motivation over one-semester physical education classes. A total of 1,302 high school students and their 33 physical education teachers in 20 high schools from two school districts in a major Midwest metropolitan area in the United States. The two school districts were demographically similar. Students and physical education teachers completed questionnaires assessing relevant psychological constructs. There were two time points for collecting students' data. One was at the beginning of a fall semester, and the other was at the end of that semester. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses were conducted. It was revealed that teachers' emotional exhaustion was negatively related to students' perceived teacher autonomy support (TAS); in turn, there was a negative relationship between teachers' feeling of depersonalization and students' autonomous motivation development even when controlling for inadequate TAS. The dimensions of teachers' burnout might play different roles in the transmission from teachers to students. Teachers' status of burnout is an important environmental factor associated with students' quality of motivation. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

What Works for Doctoral Students in Completing Their Thesis?

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Lindsay, Siân

2015-01-01

Writing a thesis is one of the most challenging activities that a doctoral student must undertake and can represent a barrier to timely completion. This is relevant in light of current and widespread concerns regarding doctoral completion rates. This study explored thesis writing approaches of students post or near Ph.D. completion through…

Pharmacy students' ability to identify plagiarism after an educational intervention.

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Degeeter, Michelle; Harris, Kira; Kehr, Heather; Ford, Carolyn; Lane, Daniel C; Nuzum, Donald S; Compton, Cynthia; Gibson, Whitney

2014-03-12

Objective. To determine if an educational intervention in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program increases pharmacy students' ability to identify plagiarism. Methods. First-year (P1), second-year (P2), and third-year (P3) pharmacy students attended an education session during which types of plagiarism and methods for avoiding plagiarism were reviewed. Students completed a preintervention assessment immediately prior to the session and a postintervention assessment the following semester to measure their ability. Results. Two hundred fifty-two students completed both preintervention and postintervention assessments. There was a 4% increase from preintervention to postintervention in assessment scores for the overall student sample (pplagiarism can significantly improve students' ability to identify plagiarism.

Investigating the Correlation Between Pharmacy Student Performance on the Health Science Reasoning Test and a Critical Thinking Assignment.

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Nornoo, Adwoa O; Jackson, Jonathan; Axtell, Samantha

2017-03-25

Objective. To determine whether there is a correlation between pharmacy students' scores on the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) and their grade on a package insert assignment designed to assess critical thinking. Methods. The HSRT was administered to first-year pharmacy students during a critical-thinking course in the spring semester. In the same semester, a required package insert assignment was completed in a pharmacokinetics course. To determine whether there was a relationship between HSRT scores and grades on the assignment, a Spearman's rho correlation test was performed. Results. A very weak but significant positive correlation was found between students' grades on the assignment and their overall HSRT score (r=0.19, p critical-thinking skills in pharmacy students.

What Do Students Really Do in Learning Groups

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Considine, Jennifer R.

2013-01-01

This article describes an activity in which upon completion of this semester-long project, students should be able to: analyze and reflect upon their own communication behaviors in a group setting, and explain the importance of examining actual communication practices as opposed to retrospective self-report of communication practices. This project…

SetonWorldWide: A Case Study of Student Success

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DiSalvio, Philip

2009-01-01

This case study offers a strategic model of methods and services resulting in relatively high student success rates as defined by course completion of introductory first and second semester online courses. This strategic model is presented in the context of Sloan-C's "Five Pillars of Quality Online Education."

The efficacy of incentives to motivate continued fitness-center attendance in college first-year students: a randomized controlled trial.

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Pope, Lizzy; Harvey, Jean

2014-01-01

To determine whether fitness-center attendance established with the provision of weekly monetary incentives persisted after the discontinuation, or decreased frequency, of incentives. One hundred seventeen first-year college students participated during the 2011-2012 academic year. A randomized controlled trial with control, discontinued-incentive, and continued-incentive conditions was conducted. During fall semester, students in incentive conditions received weekly monetary payments for meeting fitness-center attendance goals. During spring semester, discontinued-incentive condition participants no longer received incentives, whereas continued-incentive condition participants received payments on a variable-interval schedule. ID-card attendance records tracked fitness-center attendance. Goal completion decreased from 63% in the incentive groups during the fall semester to 3% in the discontinued-incentive condition, and 39% in the continued-incentive condition during the spring semester. There was not a significant interaction between condition and body mass index change, F(6, 332) = 0.67, p = .68. Incentive discontinuation resulted in students no longer meeting fitness-center attendance goals. A variable-interval reward schedule better maintained attendance.

Lecture Notes in Statistics. 3rd Semester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The lecture note is prepared to meet the requirements for the 3rd semester course in statistics at the Aarhus School of Business. It focuses on multiple regression models, analysis of variance, and log-linear models.......The lecture note is prepared to meet the requirements for the 3rd semester course in statistics at the Aarhus School of Business. It focuses on multiple regression models, analysis of variance, and log-linear models....

Implementation of Scientific Community Laboratories and Their Effect on Student Conceptual Learning, Attitudes, and Understanding of Uncertainty

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Lark, Adam

Scientific Community Laboratories, developed by The University of Maryland, have shown initial promise as laboratories meant to emulate the practice of doing physics. These laboratories have been re-created by incorporating their design elements with the University of Toledo course structure and resources. The laboratories have been titled the Scientific Learning Community (SLC) Laboratories. A comparative study between these SLC laboratories and the University of Toledo physics department's traditional laboratories was executed during the fall 2012 semester on first semester calculus-based physics students. Three tests were executed as pre-test and post-tests to capture the change in students' concept knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of uncertainty. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was used to evaluate students' conceptual changes through the semester and average normalized gains were compared between both traditional and SLC laboratories. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS) was conducted to elucidate students' change in attitudes through the course of each laboratory. Finally, interviews regarding data analysis and uncertainty were transcribed and coded to track changes in the way students understand uncertainty and data analysis in experimental physics after their participation in both laboratory type. Students in the SLC laboratories showed a notable an increase conceptual knowledge and attitudes when compared to traditional laboratories. SLC students' understanding of uncertainty showed most improvement, diverging completely from students in the traditional laboratories, who declined throughout the semester.

The Mindful Way Through the Semester: An Investigation of the Effectiveness of an Acceptance-Based Behavioral Therapy Program on Psychological Wellness in First-Year Students.

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Danitz, Sara B; Orsillo, Susan M

2014-07-01

First-year students in higher education deal with an increasing number of mental health issues. Cost-effective and time-efficient programs that ease transitions and reduce risk of depression are needed. To date, programs informed by both cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based-behavioral therapy (ABBT) approaches have produced some positive outcomes, but methodological limitations limit their utility. The aim of the present study was to address some of these limitations, by developing and preliminary testing the efficacy of a one-session ABBT intervention with first-year undergraduates and first-year law students. Ninety-eight first-year students were randomly assigned to receive either a single-session 90-min ABBT workshop within their first month of school or to a waitlist control condition. Students who received the intervention reported significantly less depression and more acceptance. Moreover, increase in acceptance over the course of the semester was associated with reductions in depression. Implications of these findings for future interventions are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Shared Faculty-Student Lifestyle Habits and Their Implications for College Student Retention

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Boateng, Kwasi; Plopper, Bruce L.; Keith, David M.

2016-01-01

Previous research confirms that first-semester grade-point average (GPA) is related to college student persistence, retention, and graduation. Thus, it is important to identify factors related to enhancing first-semester GPA. In this study, researchers asked faculty and students in the disciplines of journalism, strategic communication or public…

Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication During the First Semester of College

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Small, Meg L.; Morgan, Nicole; Abar, Caitlin; Maggs, Jennifer L.

2011-01-01

Objective Recent studies suggest that parents maintain influence as their adolescents transition into college. Advances in communication technology make frequent communication between parents and college students easy and affordable. This study examines the protective effect of parent-college student communication on student drinking behaviors, estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (eBAC), and serious negative consequences of drinking. Participants Participants were 746 first-year, first-time, full-time students at a large university in the U.S. Methods Participants completed a baseline and 14 daily web-based surveys. Results The amount of time spent communicating with parents on weekend days predicted the number of drinks consumed, heavy drinking, and peak eBAC consistent with a protective within-person effect. No association between communication and serious negative consequences was observed. Conclusions Encouraging parents to communicate with their college students, particularly on weekend days, could be a relatively simple, easily implemented protective process to reduce dangerous drinking behaviors. PMID:21660810

Group Projects in Social Work Education: The Influence of Group Characteristics and Moderators on Undergraduate Student Outcomes

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Postlethwait, Ariana E.

2016-01-01

This study examined the impact of group size, group formation, group conflict, and division of labor on student outcomes in a group project for a sample of 112 BSW research seminar students at a large university in the Midwest. Students completed surveys on their experiences with the group project at the end of the semester. Multiple regression…

Student-Centered Instruction in a Theoretical Statistics Course

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Bates Prins, Samantha C.

2009-01-01

This paper provides an example of how student-centered instruction can be used in a theoretical statistics class. The author taught a two-semester undergraduate probability and mathematical statistics sequence using primarily teacher-centered instruction in the first semester and primarily student-centered instruction in the second semester. A…

Program Costs and Student Completion

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Manning, Terri M.; Crosta, Peter M.

2014-01-01

Community colleges are under pressure to increase completion rates, prepare students for the workplace, and contain costs. Colleges need to know the financial implications of what are often perceived as routine decisions: course scheduling, program offerings, and the provision of support services. This chapter presents a methodology for estimating…

Bringing the excitement and motivation of research to students; Using inquiry and research-based learning in a year-long biochemistry laboratory : Part II-research-based laboratory-a semester-long research approach using malate dehydrogenase as a research model.

Science.gov (United States)

Knutson, Kristopher; Smith, Jennifer; Nichols, Paul; Wallert, Mark A; Provost, Joseph J

2010-09-01

Research-based learning in a teaching environment is an effective way to help bring the excitement and experience of independent bench research to a large number of students. The program described here is the second of a two-semester biochemistry laboratory series. Here, students are empowered to design, execute and analyze their own experiments for the entire semester. This style of laboratory replaces a variety of shorter labs in favor of an in depth research-based learning experience. The concept is to allow students to function in independent research groups. The research projects are focused on a series of wild-type and mutant clones of malate dehydrogenase. A common research theme for the laboratory helps instructors administer the course and is key to delivering a research opportunity to a large number of students. The outcome of this research-based learning laboratory results in students who are much more confident and skilled in critical areas in biochemistry and molecular biology. Students with research experience have significantly higher confidence and motivation than those students without a previous research experience. We have also found that all students performed better in advanced courses and in the workplace. Copyright © 2010 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

HOW DO STUDENTS PERCIEVE AND APPRECIATE “FAILURE” DURING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Rowland

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Since 2011 we have conducted Authentic Large-scale Undergraduate Research Experiences (ALURES with our Sophomore and Junior biochemistry cohorts - so far over 1000 students have participated.The students in 2011-2014 wrote reflections about their experiences mid-semester and/or at the end of semester. Their writing indicates a growing awareness of the value of failure and struggle, as well as a healthy respect for the power of peer support and interaction.We asked the question “what do our students see as a “failure”, and does their understanding of the value of struggle change as a result of the ALURE experience?In 2015 we are conducting a longitudinal study of our ALURE students as they progress through the semester – the students have completed a series of five semi-structured interviews and the URSSA survey. We are examining their development of research and scientific literacy through the lens of productive failure.Our results indicate that although we feel we are designing productive failure into our undergraduate research experiences, we do not appear to be providing a high enough sense of risk or responsibility. This means that the students do not experience a sense of struggle or project ownership with the authenticity we desire. This is causing us to redesign our ALURE offerings.

The Content Analysis, Material Presentation, and Readability of Curriculum 2013 Science Textbook for 1st Semester of Junior High School 7th Grade

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Endik Deni Nugroho

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Based on the early observation by researchers of the two Science textbooks 7thGrade about biological material, 1stand 2ndsemester of curriculum 2013, there were errors in the material presentation and legibility. This study aimed to compare and find the contents suitability of the book based on standard of competence and basic competences, readability, materials presentation and supporting material in the science textbook VII grade, 1st and 2nd semester and measured student legibility. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach by using document analysis. The data resources were obtained by using purposive, the data collection was triangulation, data analysis was inductive/qualitative and the results emphasized the meaning. This research results showed that the Integrated Sciences and Sciences textbook 1st and 2nd semester meet the standards of the core competencies and basic competence on the syllabus curriculum 2013 and also meet the books standart. The results of the analysis conducted in misstatement concept and principles and material llustration in the Integrated Science textbook 1st semester were found 5 misstatement concept, for the presentation of the principles and material illustration was found no error. In the book Integrated Sciences there was no delivery errors concept, principle, and material illustration. Science textbook 1st semester found 8 concepts misstatements and 8 illustration material misstatements. In general, Integrated Sciences and Sciences textbooks 1st and 2nd semester are illegibility so not appropriate for students.

Curricular Activities that Promote Metacognitive Skills Impact Lower-Performing Students in an Introductory Biology Course.

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Dang, Nathan V; Chiang, Jacob C; Brown, Heather M; McDonald, Kelly K

2018-01-01

This study explores the impacts of repeated curricular activities designed to promote metacognitive skills development and academic achievement on students in an introductory biology course. Prior to this study, the course curriculum was enhanced with pre-assignments containing comprehension monitoring and self-evaluation questions, exam review assignments with reflective questions related to study habits, and an optional opportunity for students to explore metacognition and deep versus surface learning. We used a mixed-methods study design and collected data over two semesters. Self-evaluation, a component of metacognition, was measured via exam score postdictions, in which students estimated their exam scores after completing their exam. Metacognitive awareness was assessed using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and a reflective essay designed to gauge students' perceptions of their metacognitive skills and study habits. In both semesters, more students over-predicted their Exam 1 scores than under-predicted, and statistical tests revealed significantly lower mean exam scores for the over-predictors. By Exam 3, under-predictors still scored significantly higher on the exam, but they outnumbered the over-predictors. Lower-performing students also displayed a significant increase in exam postdiction accuracy by Exam 3. While there was no significant difference in students' MAI scores from the beginning to the end of the semester, qualitative analysis of reflective essays indicated that students benefitted from the assignments and could articulate clear action plans to improve their learning and performance. Our findings suggest that assignments designed to promote metacognition can have an impact on students over the course of one semester and may provide the greatest benefits to lower-performing students.

An Examination of Cross-Cultural Curriculum Development and Student Cross-Cultural Competencies in a School-Based Consultation Course

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Arra, Christopher T.

2010-01-01

The goal of this case study was to describe the cross-cultural consultation experiences of school psychology graduate students as they progressed through a semester-long school-based consultation course. Graduate students enrolled in a consultation course completed both quantitative and qualitative assessment measures. The course instructor used…

Assessing students' knowledge regarding the roles and responsibilities of a pharmacist with focus on care transitions through simulation.

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Serag-Bolos, Erini S; Miranda, Aimon C; Gelot, Shyam R; Dharia, Sheetal P; Shaeer, Kristy M

2017-07-01

To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-focused transitions of care (TOC) simulation on students' perceptions and knowledge of pharmacist roles in the healthcare continuum. Educational Activity and Setting: Two simulations, highlighting pharmacist roles in various practice settings, were conducted within the Pharmaceutical Skills courses in the third-year doctor of pharmacy curriculum. Patient cases were built utilizing electronic medical records (EMR). Students' knowledge was assessed before and after the simulations regarding pharmacist involvement in medication reconciliation, reduction in patient readmissions, reduction of inappropriate medication use, roles and communication on an interprofessional team, and involvement with health information technology (HIT) during care transitions. Fifty-one third-year pharmacy students were anonymously evaluated prior to and following the simulation to assess changes in knowledge and perceptions during the fall semester. Thirty-two (62.7%) students completed the pre-simulation and 21 (41.2%) students completed the post-simulation assessments, respectively. In the spring semester, 40 (80%) students completed the pre-simulation and 23 (46%) students finished the post-simulation assessments. Students predominately had community pharmacy work experience (n=28, 55%). Overall, students enjoyed the variety of pharmacist-led encounters throughout the simulation and assessments demonstrated an increase in knowledge after the simulations. TOC simulations enhance students' understanding of the significant impact that pharmacists have in ensuring continuity of care as members of an interdisciplinary team. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Practice Makes Perfect: Improving Students' Skills in Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism with a Themed Methods Course

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Estow, Sarah; Lawrence, Eva K.; Adams, Kathrynn A.

2011-01-01

To address the issue of plagiarism, students in two undergraduate Research Methods and Analysis courses conducted, analyzed, and wrote up original research on the topic of plagiarism. Students in an otherwise identical course completed the same assignments but examined a different research topic. At the start and end of the semester, all students…

Enhancing traditional, televised, and videotaped courses with Web-based technologies: a comparison of student satisfaction.

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Sole, M L; Lindquist, M

2001-01-01

Varied distance learning strategies can be used to deliver nursing courses, including interactive television, videotape, and Web-based approaches. (1) To assess student assess student satisfaction with a critical care elective course offered simultaneously via traditional and distance learning formats in which Web-based strategies were added, and (2) to compare satisfaction of students taking the traditional course versus those taking the class via distance technology. Students (n = 113) who took the course during the spring 1998 and 1999 semesters completed a teacher-constructed evaluation at the end of the semester. Mean ratings on the evaluation were positive. Ratings of interaction, communication with instructor, and facilitation of learning were higher from students who took the traditional course. The application of Web-based technologies may be one factor for the overall course satisfaction. However, it is important to continue to evaluate strategies that work best for students taking courses via distance technology.

Blended Learning Tools in Geosciences: A New Set of Online Tools to Help Students Master Skills

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Cull, S.; Spohrer, J.; Natarajan, S.; Chin, M.

2013-12-01

In most geoscience courses, students are expected to develop specific skills. To master these skills, students need to practice them repeatedly. Unfortunately, few geosciences courses have enough class time to allow students sufficient in-class practice, nor enough instructor attention and time to provide fast feedback. To address this, we have developed an online tool called an Instant Feedback Practice (IFP). IFPs are low-risk, high-frequency exercises that allow students to practice skills repeatedly throughout a semester, both in class and at home. After class, students log onto a course management system (like Moodle or Blackboard), and click on that day's IFP exercise. The exercise might be visually identifying a set of minerals that they're practicing. After answering each question, the IFP tells them if they got it right or wrong. If they got it wrong, they try again until they get it right. There is no penalty - students receive the full score for finishing. The goal is low-stakes practice. By completing dozens of these practices throughout the semester, students have many, many opportunities to practice mineral identification with quick feedback. Students can also complete IFPs during class in groups and teams, with in-lab hand samples or specimens. IFPs can also be used to gauge student skill levels as the semester progresses, as they can be set up to provide the instructor feedback on specific skills or students. When IFPs were developed for and implemented in a majors-level mineralogy class, students reported that in-class and online IFPs were by far the most useful technique they used to master mineral hand sample identification. Final grades in the course were significantly higher than historical norms, supporting students' anecdotal assessment of the impact of IFPs on their learning.

Using Online Blogs to Develop Student Teachers' Behaviour Management Approaches

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Reupert, Andrea; Dalgarno, Barney

2011-01-01

This paper reports on a study involving 74 third and 17 fourth year student teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (Primary) course at an Australian regional, multi-campus university. These pre-service primary teachers completed the single semester, compulsory subject Managing the Learning Environment, which involves the application of…

USING THINK-PAIR-SHARE TO IMPROVE SPEAKING ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SECOND SEMESTER ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM OF TRIDINANTI UNIVERSITY PALEMBANG

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Jenny Elvinna Manurung

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The study aimed at improving the speaking achievement of the second semester students of Tridinanti Palembang by using Think-Pair-Share strategy (TPR. This study was an action research study. The steps in conducting the study were planning, actions and observation of action and reflections. The population of the study was all of the second semester students of Tridinanti University in the academic year 2016/2017. The sample used one class (10students. The data collections used by the researcher were tests and observation. The learning improvement indicators included in two things; (1 learning achievement, (2 teaching and learning process. In the study, the implementation was conducted into two cycles. The results showed that the average score of students’ speaking achievement was 66 in cycle I and the observation result was 62.82. The result had not been reached the target yet that was >70. At least more than 85% students could achieve the score above 70. Thus, cycle II was necessary to be implemented. In cycle II, the average score of speaking test was 81and the observation result was 81.06. The students had reached the target and the cycle was stopped. In conclusion, the implementation of TPR had brought significant improvement to the students’ speaking achievement.

Accounting for Non-Accounting Students: What Affects Their Performance?

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Suhaiza Ismail; Nurkamariah Kasim

2012-01-01

This study aims to examine the factors affecting the examination performance of non-accounting students in completing an accounting course, that is, Management Accounting. A questionnaire survey was administered to a total of 147 non-accounting students who enrolled in a Management Accounting course for a semester. The factors considered are gender, prior academic performance, year of study and learning approaches adopted which include deep, surface and strategic approaches. Using multiple re...

Student Perceptions of and Confidence in Self-Care Course Concepts Using Team-based Learning.

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Frame, Tracy R; Gryka, Rebecca; Kiersma, Mary E; Todt, Abby L; Cailor, Stephanie M; Chen, Aleda M H

2016-04-25

Objective. To evaluate changes in student perceptions of and confidence in self-care concepts after completing a team-based learning (TBL) self-care course. Methods. Team-based learning was used at two universities in first professional year, semester-long self-care courses. Two instruments were created and administered before and after the semester. The instruments were designed to assess changes in student perceptions of self-care using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) domains and confidence in learning self-care concepts using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to evaluate pre/post changes, and Mann Whitney U tests were used to evaluate university differences. Results. Fifty-three Cedarville University and 58 Manchester University students completed both instruments (100% and 92% response rates, respectively). Student self-care perceptions with TPB decreased significantly on nine of 13 items for Cedarville and decreased for one of 13 items for Manchester. Student confidence in self-care concepts improved significantly on all questions for both universities. Conclusion. Data indicate TBL self-care courses were effective in improving student confidence about self-care concepts. Establishing students' skill sets prior to entering the profession is beneficial because pharmacists will use self-directed learning to expand their knowledge and adapt to problem-solving situations.

Current Alcohol Use is Associated with Sleep Patterns in First-Year College Students.

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Van Reen, Eliza; Roane, Brandy M; Barker, David H; McGeary, John E; Borsari, Brian; Carskadon, Mary A

2016-06-01

To examine whether differences exist in self-reported sleep patterns and self-reported alcohol use for first-semester college students who do or do not report drinking during the last 6 months (mo) of high school. Participants were 878 first-year college students. Students completed a survey in late May/early June about alcohol use and consequences, during the last 6 mo of high school; they later completed a daily record of sleep behavior and alcohol use across the first 9 weeks of the first semester of college. High school drinking status (past 6 mo) was classified as positive (HS-6 mo+) or negative (HS-6mo-) based on any indication of drinking on the May/June survey. Collegiate drinking was determined from first-semester daily diary alcohol reports as non-drinkers (0 reported drinks), drinkers (one or fewer heavy episodic drinking episodes (HED)), and drinkers reporting more than one HED episode. Sleep patterns were compared for non-drinkers, drinkers, and HED with no high school drinking history (HS-6mo-/HED). In addition, a separate analysis compared sleep patterns for college HED with (HS-6mo+/HED) and without (HS-6mo-/HED) high school self-reported alcohol use. Increased alcohol consumption in the first semester of college was associated with later bedtimes and rise times. We found no association of high school alcohol use and sleep in those with collegiate HED. Later sleep timing in those with greater alcohol use, supports a connection between sleep patterns and alcohol use. Such an early appearance of this connection may herald the development of alcohol use disorder in some individuals. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Inter-teaching: Improving the Academic Performance of Auditing Students in Vietnam

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Mark Wheaton

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of inter-teaching; a student engagement pedagogy associated with behavioural and engagement theories and designed to engage students in their own learning. This methodology was introduced as a response to create a more positive outcome for students studying an auditing course who have historically experienced difficulties with successfully completing the subject. Inter-teaching was implemented and its effectiveness measured by comparing the final exam grade distributions from inter-teaching and the lecture tutorial teaching methods. Using a quantitative research methodology, students fail grade distributions were significantly lower in the inter-teaching semesters compared to previous semesters where the instructional method of teaching was the lecture model. The results suggested that inter-teaching may be a more effective method of teaching, resulting in an improved academic performance in the auditing course. It is expected that this study will contribute towards the effectiveness of student learning, an improvement in pass rates, and overall greater student satisfaction in advanced accounting courses.

Curricular Activities that Promote Metacognitive Skills Impact Lower-Performing Students in an Introductory Biology Course†

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Dang, Nathan V.; Chiang, Jacob C.; Brown, Heather M.

2018-01-01

This study explores the impacts of repeated curricular activities designed to promote metacognitive skills development and academic achievement on students in an introductory biology course. Prior to this study, the course curriculum was enhanced with pre-assignments containing comprehension monitoring and self-evaluation questions, exam review assignments with reflective questions related to study habits, and an optional opportunity for students to explore metacognition and deep versus surface learning. We used a mixed-methods study design and collected data over two semesters. Self-evaluation, a component of metacognition, was measured via exam score postdictions, in which students estimated their exam scores after completing their exam. Metacognitive awareness was assessed using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and a reflective essay designed to gauge students’ perceptions of their metacognitive skills and study habits. In both semesters, more students over-predicted their Exam 1 scores than under-predicted, and statistical tests revealed significantly lower mean exam scores for the over-predictors. By Exam 3, under-predictors still scored significantly higher on the exam, but they outnumbered the over-predictors. Lower-performing students also displayed a significant increase in exam postdiction accuracy by Exam 3. While there was no significant difference in students’ MAI scores from the beginning to the end of the semester, qualitative analysis of reflective essays indicated that students benefitted from the assignments and could articulate clear action plans to improve their learning and performance. Our findings suggest that assignments designed to promote metacognition can have an impact on students over the course of one semester and may provide the greatest benefits to lower-performing students. PMID:29904551

AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY IN ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUB (ECC PROGRAM AT THE 3rd SEMESTER

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M. Fadhly Farhy Abbas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This research is based on students’ speaking ability who had followed the EnglishConversation Club (ECC program especially for the third semester of English Department. Thepurpose of this study was to analyze the students’ speaking ability at the 3rd semester in the EnglishConversation Club FKIP UNILAK Pekanbaru. The type of the research was mixed method in typeof explanatory design. The number of participant was 53 students. The researcher used twoinstruments, those were test and interview. In analyzing the data, it used in descriptive statistics.The result of the analysis showed that the average score of 3rd semester students’ speaking abilitywas 45.42. It can be concluded that the students’ speaking ability was categorized into failed . Thescore of Standard Deviation was 7.02, Variance was 49.30, and Range was 36 points . It meansthat the students’ speaking ability was homogeneous. According to the Z-Score, it can be seen that49.06% students’ ability was higher than average and 50.94% students ability was below theaverage. In conclusion, the students’ ability in learning speaking English was failed, it had beenaffected by some factors, those were lack of vocabulary, grammar and motivation. It was supportedby the interview, eventhough the students’ perception to English Conversation Club (ECCprogram was positive, but in fact, the students’ frequency to speak English was seldom, they wereless practice speaking English everyday.Keywords : Speaking , English Conversation Club (ECC

Video-based Learning Versus Traditional Method for Preclinical Course of Complete Denture Fabrication.

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Fayaz, Amir; Mazahery, Azita; Hosseinzadeh, Mohammad; Yazdanpanah, Samane

2015-03-01

Advances in computer science and technology allow the instructors to use instructional multimedia programs to enhance the process of learning for dental students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a new educational modality by using videotapes on the performance of dental students in preclinical course of complete denture fabrication. This quasi-experimental study was performed on 54 junior dental students in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU). Twenty-five and 29 students were evaluated in two consecutive semesters as controls and cases, respectively for the same course. The two groups were matched in terms of "knowledge about complete denture fabrication" and "basic dental skills" using a written test and a practical exam, respectively. After the intervention, performance and clinical skills of students were assessed in 8 steps. Eventually, a post-test was carried out to find changes in knowledge and skills of students in this regard. In the two groups with the same baseline level of knowledge and skills, independent T-test showed that students in the test group had a significantly superior performance in primary impression taking (p= 0.001) and primary cast fabrication (p= 0.001). In terms of anterior teeth set up, students in the control group had a significantly better performance (p= 0.001). Instructional videotapes can aid in teaching fabrication of complete denture and are as effective as the traditional teaching system.

Learning Doctor-Patient Communication – Evaluating the effectiveness of the communication training course at Leipzig University from the students' point of view

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Cämmerer, Jana

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: At the University of Leipzig, the requirements of the Licensing Regulations for Doctors (Approbationsordnung für Ärzte for the practical training of communication skills are actively implemented by a two-semester communication course. During this course, student tutors impart the basics of interpersonal as well as selected aspects of doctor-patient communication using interactive training methods. This article reports on the effect the training has on the self-assessed communication skills of the medicine students.Methods: The students’ self-perceived communication skills were assessed, both at the beginning and after the completion of the first and second course semesters using questionnaires related to the course’s learning goals. Pre-post comparisons were then carried out. 142 students (of 163 students in total participated in the survey at the start of the course, of which 117 completed the T2-questionnaire at the end of the first course semester. Only the 84 students who also completed the questionnaires in the second course semester were included in the statistical analysis. These responses were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The comparison of the self-assessments between the four measurement points showed that statistically significant learning progress for all assessed communication skills had taken place from the point of view of the students. The largest changes between measurements, and therefore the greatest learning progress, could be seen in knowledge related skills.Conclusion: From the students’ point of view the communication training contributes significantly to the acquisition of communication skills. The results suggest that this “hands-on” course concept is suited to successfully enhance the students’ communication skills. The course concept should therefore be retained for both the course in its current form as well as for any extension of the course into the

Replacing lecture with peer-led workshops improves student learning.

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Preszler, Ralph W

2009-01-01

Peer-facilitated workshops enhanced interactivity in our introductory biology course, which led to increased student engagement and learning. A majority of students preferred attending two lectures and a workshop each week over attending three weekly lectures. In the workshops, students worked in small cooperative groups as they solved challenging problems, evaluated case studies, and participated in activities designed to improve their general learning skills. Students in the workshop version of the course scored higher on exam questions recycled from preworkshop semesters. Grades were higher over three workshop semesters in comparison with the seven preworkshop semesters. Although males and females benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades and increased retention by female students; although underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades by URM students. As well as improving student performance and retention, the addition of interactive workshops also improved the quality of student learning: Student scores on exam questions that required higher-level thinking increased from preworkshop to workshop semesters.

Student Engagement and Completion in Precalculus Precalculus Mega Section: Efficiently Assisting Student Engagement and Completion with Communications and Information Technology

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Brusi, Rima; Portnoy, Arturo; Toro, Nilsa

2013-01-01

The Precalculus Mega Section project was developed with the main purpose of improving the overall performance of the student body in Precalculus, an important gatekeeper course that affects student engagement and completion, with typical drop/failure rates of over 50 percent. Strategies such as integration of technology and additional practice…

Quantitative and Qualitative Results: Cooperative Learning Implementation with Hispanic Community College Freshmen

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Morgan, Bobbette M.; Keitz, Ruth A.; Wells, Lori

2013-01-01

Five classes of Art Appreciation first semester undergraduate Hispanic students assigned to one professor were selected to experience cooperative learning over a full semester. Pre-semester surveys and post-semester surveys were completed by 104 Hispanic freshmen college students. Strategies used in the classes included Think-Pair-Share, Ticket…

Dealing with complex and ill-structured problems: results of a Plan-Do-Check-Act experiment in a business engineering semester

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Riis, Jens Ove; Achenbach, Marlies; Israelsen, Poul; Kyvsgaard Hansen, Poul; Johansen, John; Deuse, Jochen

2017-07-01

Challenged by increased globalisation and fast technological development, we carried out an experiment in the third semester of a global business engineering programme aimed at identifying conditions for training student in dealing with complex and ill-structured problems of forming a new business. As this includes a fuzzy front end, learning cannot be measured in traditional, quantitative terms; therefore, we have explored the use of reflection to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The experiment adopted a Plan-Do-Check-Act approach and concluded with developing a plan for new learning initiatives in the subsequent year's semester. The findings conclude that (1) problem-based learning develops more competencies than ordinarily measured at the examination, especially, the social/communication and personal competencies are developed; (2) students are capable of dealing with a complex and ambiguous problem, if properly guided. Four conditions were identified; (3) most students are not conscious of their learning, but are able to reflect if properly encouraged; and (4) improving engineering education should be considered as an organisational learning process.

Sleep bruxism, awake bruxism and sleep quality among Brazilian dental students: a cross-sectional study.

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Serra-Negra, Júnia Maria; Scarpelli, Ana Carolina; Tirsa-Costa, Débora; Guimarães, Flávia Helena; Pordeus, Isabela Almeida; Paiva, Saul Martins

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of sleep bruxism, awake bruxism and sleep quality among dental students of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was performed including 183 Brazilian dental students aged from 17 to 46 years old. The complete course curriculum consists of 9 semesters. Students enrolled in the first semester, the middle semester and the final semester of the course participated in the survey. The PSQI-BR (the Brazilian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index) was used for data collection. The PSQI-BR was distributed during lecture classes. Sleep bruxism and awake bruxism diagnosis was based on self-reported data. Descriptive analysis, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Poisson regression with robust estimator were the statistical tests used. Sleep bruxism prevalence was 21.5% and awake bruxism prevalence was 36.5%. Sleep duration components were associated with sleep bruxism (PR=1.540; 95% CI: 1.00-2.37) and awake bruxism (PR=1.344; 95% CI: 1,008-1,790). There was an association between awake bruxism and habitual sleep efficiency component (PR=1.323; 95% CI: 1.03-1.70). Sleep disturbance component and awake bruxism were associated (PR=1.533; 95% CI: 1.03-2.27). Poor sleep quality was an important factor among dental students, who reported sleep bruxism as well as among those who presented awake bruxism.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Learning Styles Questionnaire: 40-Item Version

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Klein, Britt; McCall, Louise; Austin, David; Piterman, Leon

2007-01-01

Sixty-six English-speaking postgraduate distance-education medical students completed the Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ: 40-item version). This was completed while attending a residential workshop at the beginning of the semester, and 44 of these students completed the same LSQ questionnaire 5 months later at the completion of the semester.…

Enhancing Student Self-Study Attitude and Activity with Motivational Techniques

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Kent Rhoads

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Research has shown that students will exhibit a positive attitude towards self-study, but that they will often fail to complete self-study activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate positive instructor interactions and motivation of students to complete self- study activities and students’ attitudes towards self-study. Six English instructors at the University of Shizuoka created a one-semester self-access study log for use in the university self-access language laboratory in order to find out how many students would complete the log. One of the six instructors applied motivational techniques in the classroom in an effort to engender greater student self-study. Later a questionnaire was administered to 465 student participants to determine their self-study attitudes and activities. The data collected from the questionnaire and the high participation in the self- study activities suggest the positive impact the motivational actions employed by the instructor had on his students' attitudes towards self-study activities.

Providing Students with Interdisciplinary Support to Improve Their Organic Chemistry Posters

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Widanski, Bozena; Thompson, Jo Ann; Foran-Mulcahy, Katie; Abafo, Amy

2016-01-01

A two-semester-long interdisciplinary support effort to improve student posters in organic chemistry lab is described. In the first semester, students' literature search report is supported by a workshop conducted by an Instruction Librarian. During the subsequent semester, a second workshop is presented by the Instruction Librarian, an English…

Using a Molecular-Genetic Approach to Investigate Bacterial Physiology in a Continuous, Research-Based, Semester-Long Laboratory for Undergraduates

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Jeremiah Foster Ault

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Designing investigative laboratory exercises that encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and independent thought for upper-division biology courses is a difficult but worthwhile task. In an effort to do so, we developed a semester-long, continuous, research-based investigative laboratory that integrates numerous genetic and molecular biology methods into the investigation of a bacterial physiological process. In this lab, students use random Tn5 transposon mutagenesis to create prodigiosin pigment mutants in the bacterium, Serratia marcescens. This is followed by phenotypic characterization, cloning, and sequencing the Tn insertion site to identify genes involved in pigment biosynthesis. During this lab, students gain ample experience performing basic lab techniques while learning about — and applying — methods for elucidating gene function. The approach to the laboratory and the outcomes are intimately integrated into the teaching of many fundamental physiological processes underlying prodigiosin production in bacteria. The result is a cohesive course that integrates the theory and application of molecular genetic techniques with the study of bacterial physiology. Assessments of student learning objectives demonstrated that students greatly improved their understanding of both physiological processes and the genetic techniques used to investigate them. In addition, students felt that this semester-long exercise provided the necessary laboratory experience they needed and desired in preparation for careers in molecular biology, microbiology, and biochemistry.

Factors Influencing Academic Performance of Students Enrolled in a Lower Division Cell Biology Core Course

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Soto, Julio G.; Anand, Sulekha

2009-01-01

Students' performance in two semesters of our Cell Biology course was examined for this study. Teaching strategies, behaviors, and pre-course variables were analyzed with respect to students' performance. Pre-semester and post-semester surveys were administered to ascertain students' perceptions about class difficulty, amount of study and effort…

Academic Identity Status, Goal Orientation, and Academic Achievement among High School Students

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Hejazi, Elaheh; Lavasani, Masoud Gholamali; Amani, Habib; Was, Christopher A.

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between academic identity status, goal orientations and academic achievement. 301 first year high school students completed the Academic Identity Measure and Goal Orientation Questionnaire. The average of 10 exam scores in the final semester was used as an index of academic…

The role of self-regulated learning in explaining examination performance of college students in first-semester general chemistry

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Beckley, Scott

Many college students struggle with first-semester general chemistry. Prior studies have shown that a student's prior knowledge of chemistry, a cognitive factor, does not account for the total variance when measured by examination scores. This study explored the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) to identify the degree of success or failure of students with two outcome variables (i.e., American Chemical Society Comprehensive First-Term General Chemistry Examination (Form 2009) and hour-examination averages). The SRL construct consists of three interrelated components (i.e., cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational). SRL theory focuses on the idea of reciprocal determinism, in which the impact of one component of self-regulation affects the other two components. In the quantitative portion of this mixed methods study, eight measures of SRL were used to determine the `level' of self-regulation for each student. SRL variables were used in regression analysis and provided additional and unique variances. Cluster analysis techniques identified two distinct groups of students (i.e., adaptive and maladaptive). Generally, adaptive learners were associated with higher levels of SRL and success in the course; maladaptive learners had lower levels of SRL and struggled with the course demands. For the qualitative portion of the study, student volunteers (n = 8) were interviewed to gauge their views on the role of instruction in influencing their examination performances. The findings indicated that perceptions of teaching methods, demands of the course, course structure, feedback, and assessments were associated with the students' levels of self-regulation. Interviews revealed four SRL styles. Rote memorizers tended to fragment instruction and then memorize each fragment, while algorithmic memorizers tended to imitate the step-by-step problem-solving strategies of the instructor or the textbook. Globalizers were intrinsically motivated to learn the material but tended to

Prospective Teachers Proportional Reasoning and Presumption of Student Work

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Mujiyem Sapti

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to describe the proportional reasoning of prospective teachers and their predictions about students' answers. Subjects were 4 prospective teacher  7th semester Department of Mathematics Education, Muhammadiyah University of Purworejo. Proportional reasoning task used to obtain research data. Subjects were asked to explain their reasoning and write predictions of student completion. Data was taken on October 15th, 2014. Interviews were conducted after the subjects completed the task and recorded with audio media. The research data were subject written work and interview transcripts. Data were analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques. In solving the proportional reasoning task, subjects using the cross product. However, they understand the meaning of the cross product. Subject also could predict students' reasoning on the matter.

How important is medical ethics and history of medicine teaching in the medical curriculum? An empirical approach towards students' views.

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Schulz, Stefan; Woestmann, Barbara; Huenges, Bert; Schweikardt, Christoph; Schäfer, Thorsten

2012-01-01

It was investigated how students judge the teaching of medical ethics and the history of medicine at the start and during their studies, and the influence which subject-specific teaching of the history, theory and ethics of medicine (GTE)--or the lack thereof--has on the judgement of these subjects. From a total of 533 students who were in their first and 5th semester of the Bochum Model curriculum (GTE teaching from the first semester onwards) or followed the traditional curriculum (GTE teaching in the 5th/6th semester), questionnaires were requested in the winter semester 2005/06 and in the summer semester 2006. They were asked both before and after the 1st and 5th (model curriculum) or 6th semester (traditional curriculum). We asked students to judge the importance of teaching medical ethics and the history of medicine, the significance of these subjects for physicians and about teachability and testability (Likert scale from -2 (do not agree at all) to +2 (agree completely)). 331 questionnaire pairs were included in the study. There were no significant differences between the students of the two curricula at the start of the 1st semester. The views on medical ethics and the history of medicine, in contrast, were significantly different at the start of undergraduate studies: The importance of medical ethics for the individual and the physician was considered very high but their teachability and testability were rated considerably worse. For the history of medicine, the results were exactly opposite. GTE teaching led to a more positive assessment of items previously ranked less favourably in both curricula. A lack of teaching led to a drop in the assessment of both subjects which had previously been rated well. Consistent with the literature, our results support the hypothesis that the teaching of GTE has a positive impact on the views towards the history and ethics of medicine, with a lack of teaching having a negative impact. Therefore the teaching of GTE

How Important is Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Teaching in the Medical Curriculum? An Empirical Approach towards Students' Views

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Schulz, Stefan; Woestmann, Barbara; Huenges, Bert; Schweikardt, Christoph; Schäfer, Thorsten

2012-01-01

Objectives: It was investigated how students judge the teaching of medical ethics and the history of medicine at the start and during their studies, and the influence which subject-specific teaching of the history, theory and ethics of medicine (GTE) - or the lack thereof - has on the judgement of these subjects. Methods: From a total of 533 students who were in their first and 5th semester of the Bochum Model curriculum (GTE teaching from the first semester onwards) or followed the traditional curriculum (GTE teaching in the 5th/6th semester), questionnaires were requested in the winter semester 2005/06 and in the summer semester 2006. They were asked both before and after the 1st and 5th (model curriculum) or 6th semester (traditional curriculum). We asked students to judge the importance of teaching medical ethics and the history of medicine, the significance of these subjects for physicians and about teachability and testability (Likert scale from -2 (do not agree at all) to +2 (agree completely)). Results: 331 questionnaire pairs were included in the study. There were no significant differences between the students of the two curricula at the start of the 1st semester. The views on medical ethics and the history of medicine, in contrast, were significantly different at the start of undergraduate studies: The importance of medical ethics for the individual and the physician was considered very high but their teachability and testability were rated considerably worse. For the history of medicine, the results were exactly opposite. GTE teaching led to a more positive assessment of items previously ranked less favourably in both curricula. A lack of teaching led to a drop in the assessment of both subjects which had previously been rated well. Conclusion: Consistent with the literature, our results support the hypothesis that the teaching of GTE has a positive impact on the views towards the history and ethics of medicine, with a lack of teaching having a negative

Investigating Student Perceptions of the Chemistry Laboratory and Their Approaches to Learning in the Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Spencer Granett

This dissertation explores student perceptions of the instructional chemistry laboratory and the approaches students take when learning in the laboratory environment. To measure student perceptions of the chemistry laboratory, a survey instrument was developed. 413 students responded to the survey during the Fall 2011 semester. Students' perception of the usefulness of the laboratory in helping them learn chemistry in high school was related to several factors regarding their experiences in high school chemistry. Students' perception of the usefulness of the laboratory in helping them learn chemistry in college was also measured. Reasons students provided for the usefulness of the laboratory were categorized. To characterize approaches to learning in the laboratory, students were interviewed midway through semester (N=18). The interviews were used to create a framework describing learning approaches that students use in the laboratory environment. Students were categorized into three levels: students who view the laboratory as a requirement, students who believe that the laboratory augments their understanding, and students who view the laboratory as an important part of science. These categories describe the types of strategies students used when conducting experiments. To further explore the relationship between students' perception of the laboratory and their approaches to learning, two case studies are described. These case studies involve interviews in the beginning and end of the semester. In the interviews, students reflect on what they have learned in the laboratory and describe their perceptions of the laboratory environment. In order to encourage students to adopt higher-level approaches to learning in the laboratory, a metacognitive intervention was created. The intervention involved supplementary questions that students would answer while completing laboratory experiments. The questions were designed to encourage students to think critically about the

General chemistry: expanding the learning outcomes and promoting interdisciplinary connections through the use of a semester-long project.

Science.gov (United States)

Wenzel, Thomas J

2006-01-01

The laboratory component of a first-semester general chemistry course for science majors is described. The laboratory involves a semester-long project undertaken in a small-group format. Students are asked to examine whether plants grown in soil contaminated with lead take up more lead than those grown in uncontaminated soil. They are also asked to examine whether the acidity of the rainwater affects the amount of lead taken up by the plants. Groups are then given considerable independence in the design and implementation of the experiment. Once the seeds are planted, which takes about 4 wk into the term, several shorter experiments are integrated in before it is time to harvest and analyze the plants. The use of a project and small working groups allows for the development of a broader range of learning outcomes than occurs in a "traditional" general chemistry laboratory. The nature of these outcomes and some of the student responses to the laboratory experience are described. This particular project also works well at demonstrating the connections among chemistry, biology, geology, and environmental studies.

Experiential Learning for Native American Students at Tribal Colleges and Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Sauve, M. L.; Moore, K.

2003-12-01

/spring semester, books for all courses, housing for the duration of the program, travel to/from internship sites, and a weekly stipend to cover meals and personal expenses. As with all the other Washington Semester Programs, the American Indian Internship Program/WINS provides a unique opportunity for the young people of sovereign Native American nations to build leadership skills while living, studying, and interning in Washington, DC., and to bring those skills back to their communities. While this challenging experience is open to all American Indian and Alaskan Native students, it is particularly valuable to students from tribal colleges and universities. The Washington experience serves to expand the tribal college students' understanding of the government's policies towards Indian Nations, the structure of government agencies and their functions, and their impact on tribal communities. Students meet Natives from other tribes and schools from across the country in a very diverse campus community. Our students have a 95 percent completion rate and nearly 10 percent return to do another session, One of the most significant effects of this Program is to reinforce students commitment to completing their undergraduate education. In addition, once students have been exposed to the professional and academic environment offered at the WINS Program and at internship sites, many students have been inspired to also pursue a graduate or professional degree.

Exploring the Effects of Hope on GPA and Retention among College Undergraduate Students on Academic Probation

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Holly Seirup

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This study analyzed the impact of hope on the academic achievement and retention of 235 students on academic probation at a private Northeastern university. Probationary students were enrolled in a mandatory online course designed to facilitate academic and nonacademic skills, to improve student GPAs and overall retention. The Hope Scale (Snyder et al. (1991 was administered to identify whether students with greater levels of hope would experience an increase in academic success upon completion of the course. Students were broken down into groups of high, medium, and low hope based on their scores on the instrument. Results showed students who completed the course were more likely to be retained than those who did not complete the course, had a slight increase in GPA by the end of the semester, and high-hope students showed the greatest overall gain in GPAs.

The Correlation Between Parenting Parents' and Students' Motivation in Learning English on 4rd Semester at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (Fkip) University Batanghari Jambi Academic Year 2016/2017

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dewi, kartika

2017-01-01

Parenting parents is very important for children to provide encouragement or motivation in learning. With parenting a good influence for children, although many types of parenting applied parents' of children dependent parents' upbringing is applied parents to children.. The purpose in this research want to know whether there is any correlation between Parenting Parents' and Students Motivation in learning English on43rd Semester at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Univers...

Peer assessment of student-produced mechanics lab report videos

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, Scott S.; Aiken, John M.; Lin, Shih-Yin; Greco, Edwin F.; Alicea-Muñoz, Emily; Schatz, Michael F.

2017-12-01

We examine changes in students' rating behavior during a semester-long sequence of peer evaluation laboratory exercises in an introductory mechanics course. We perform a quantitative analysis of the ratings given by students to peers' physics lab reports, and conduct interviews with students. We find that peers persistently assign higher ratings to lab reports than do experts, that peers begin the semester by giving high ratings most frequently and end the semester with frequent middle ratings, and that peers go through the semester without much change in the frequency of low ratings. We then use student interviews to develop a model for student engagement with peer assessment. This model is based on two competing influences which appear to shape peer evaluation behavior: a strong disinclination to give poor ratings with a complementary preference to give high ratings when in doubt, and an attempt to develop an expertlike criticality when assessing peers' work.

Student engagement in pharmacology courses using online learning tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Karaksha, Abdullah; Grant, Gary; Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra; Nirthanan, S Niru; Davey, Andrew K

2013-08-12

To assess factors influencing student engagement with e-tools used as a learning supplement to the standard curriculum in pharmacology courses. A suite of 148 e-tools (interactive online teaching materials encompassing the basic mechanisms of action for different drug classes) were designed and implemented across 2 semesters for third-year pharmacy students. Student engagement and use of this new teaching strategy were assessed using a survey instrument and usage statistics for the material. Use of e-tools during semester 1 was low, a finding attributable to a majority (75%) of students either being unaware of or forgetting about the embedded e-tools and a few (20%) lacking interest in accessing additional learning materials. In contrast to semester 1, e-tool use significantly increased in semester 2 with the use of frequent reminders and announcements (ponline teaching and learning resources were only effective in increasing student engagement after the implementation of a "marketing strategy" that included e-mail reminders and motivation.

Perception, awareness and practice of research-oriented medical education among undergraduate students of a medical college in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Subhankar; Adhikari, Anjan; Haldar, Dibakar; Biswas, Payel

2016-01-01

The addition of research-oriented medical education (ROME) to the existing curriculum could promote logical thinking, rapid literature search and a better understanding of research methodology. Creation of research temperament could lead to innovations in healthcare. We assessed the perception, awareness and practice of ROME among undergraduate students. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 234 students of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata selected by the simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pre-designed, pre-tested, validated questionnaire by direct interviews. The mean (SD) perception score was 44.2 (5.03). Students from outside West Bengal (p=0.05), women (p=0.03) and students whose parents were doctors (p=0.01) had significantly higher scores. Students in the second and fourth semesters had a better perception than those in the sixth and eighth semesters. Awareness of research fellowships granted to undergraduate students such as the Indian Council of Medical Research-Short-term studentship (ICMR-STS) was low among the second semester students (13.9%), but more than half (59.3%) of the students in the eighth semester were aware (difference across semesters, pAwareness about journals, conferences and 'research bodies promoting student research' was low. Students in the senior semesters spent more time on research (6th semester 72.2% and 8th semester 88.9%) than those in the junior semesters (2nd: 66.7% and 4th: 77.8%; difference across semesters, p=0.03). About 3% of students participated in extracurricular research and/or had presented work at a conference. There is a good perception about the need for research but a lack of awareness of the why and how, as well as hardly any practice of ROME among medical students of this medical college.

Writing throughout the Biochemistry Curriculum: Synergistic Inquiry-Based Writing Projects for Biochemistry Students

Science.gov (United States)

Mertz, Pamela; Streu, Craig

2015-01-01

This article describes a synergistic two-semester writing sequence for biochemistry courses. In the first semester, students select a putative protein and are tasked with researching their protein largely through bioinformatics resources. In the second semester, students develop original ideas and present them in the form of a research grant…

Nursing students motivation toward their studies – a survey study

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Nilsson Kerstin EL

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study focuses on Swedish nursing students' motivation toward their studies during their three year academic studies. Earlier studies show the importance of motivation for study commitment and result. The aim was to analyze nursing students' estimation of their degree of motivation during different semester during their education and to identify reasons for the degree of motivation. Methods A questionnaire asking for scoring motivation and what influenced the degree of motivation was distributed to students enrolled in a nursing programme. 315 students who studied at different semesters participated. Analyzes were made by statistical calculation and content analysis. Results The mean motivation score over all semesters was 6.3 (ranked between 0–10 and differed significantly during the semesters with a tendency to lower score during the 5th semester. Students (73/315 with motivation score 6 reported positive opinions to becoming a nurse (125/234, organization of the programme and attitude to the studies. The mean score value for the motivation ranking differed significantly between male (5.8 and female (6.8 students. Conclusion Conclusions to be drawn are that nursing students mainly grade their motivation positive distributed different throughout their entire education. The main motivation factor was becoming a nurse. This study result highlights the need of understanding the students' situation and their need of tutorial support.

Enhancing Student Adaption to a Case Based Learning Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2010-01-01

these at the end of the semester, showing the development of the student in terms of adapting to the learning model. The idea will be explained more closely in the final paper. RESEARCH METHOD The research part of the experiment was carried out as action research, as the teacher of the course in the same time......INTRODUCTION Since Aalborg University (AAU) was started it has been using an educational model, where Problem Based Learning is the turning point. Each semester the students on the Engineering Educations form groups of 3-6 persons, which uses half of the study time within the semester to solve......) in groups. It appeared to be difficult for the students to adapt to two different PBL approaches at the same time, and with the project being the most popular the learning outcome of the case studies was not satisfactory after the first semester, but improved on the following semesters. In 2009...

Does the Arrangement of Embedded Text versus Linked Text in Homework Systems Make a Difference in Students Impressions, Attitudes, and Perceived Learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Zumalt, Caitlin J.; Williamson, Vickie M.

2016-01-01

Students in a first-semester general chemistry course at a large southwestern university completed a 3-week homework assignment using MindTap, a Cengage Learning product. MindTap is the first major electronic system that has homework questions embedded in the text, such that students read a short section of the textbook and then answer a question…

Student Understanding of Time in an Introductory Astronomy Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Traxler, A. L.; Batuski, D. J.; Comins, N. F.; Thompson, J. R.

2005-09-01

The astronomy lab at the University of Maine consists of discrete weekly lessons in which students work in small groups. Individual pretests and post-tests accompany each lesson. The lesson studied here covers the topic of time, including sidereal time, Apparent Solar Time, and time zones. The pretest consists of four multiple-choice questions, which are also administered after instruction as a post-test. In the fall 2004 semester, the pretest was rewritten to focus on some major conceptual components of the lab, while the lesson materials were not modified from previous years. Examination of class performance (n = 96) revealed no significant improvements in score from pre- to post-lesson. In the spring 2005 semester, the lesson was altered to incorporate the Starry Night software for simulating the sky instead of the celestial sphere models previously used. The goal of the change was to give students a more interactive environment for completing the laboratory exercise, which was otherwise altered as little as possible. Data from the spring semester show some gains on the pre/post-test questions covering sidereal time and Daylight Savings Time. Results to date have informed planned modifications to the lesson. A. L. T. was supported during this research by the University of Maine through a Provost Fellowship.

Dealing with Complex and Ill-Structured Problems: Results of a Plan-Do-Check-Act Experiment in a Business Engineering Semester

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, Jens Ove; Achenbach, Marlies; Israelsen, Poul; Kyvsgaard Hansen, Poul; Johansen, John; Deuse, Jochen

2017-01-01

Challenged by increased globalisation and fast technological development, we carried out an experiment in the third semester of a global business engineering programme aimed at identifying conditions for training students in dealing with complex and ill-structured problems of forming a new business. As this includes a fuzzy front end, learning…

Perfectionism, Stress, and Social (Dis)Connection: A Short-Term Study of Hopelessness, Depression, and Academic Adjustment among Honors Students

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Kenneth G.; Leever, Brooke A.; Christopher, John; Porter, J. Diane

2006-01-01

This study tested models of perfectionism predicting psychological distress and academic adjustment and moderators and mediators of those associations in 2 successive cohorts of high-achieving university honors students (N = 499). Participants completed measures earl and late in the semester. Adaptive (high standards) and maladaptive…

Examining the Level of Career maturity among Foreign Asian Students by measuring Academic Level

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Mustafa Tekke

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The Asian individuals are dependent and collectivist compared with the western individuals that are independent and individualistic. Foreign Asian students choosing similar courses with their country friends do not reveal their career maturity and also lead to negative effect on their choices.  This study aims at examining the level of career maturity of foreign Asian students in Malaysia based on academic level by using the Career Maturity Inventory. Two hundred and twenty nine ( Male=106, Female= 123 international students studying in various semesters completed the Career Maturity Inventory and it was reported that there were no significant differences between respondents of different academic semesters with regard to level of career maturity, this might reflect an educational level bias in the construction of the career decision-making. The findings of the current study are not consistent with theoretical expectations and prior research that international undergraduate senior students would be having higher career maturity than international undergraduate fresh students. Research emphasizes the reason behind might result from dependent and collectivist Asian culture that leading to fresh international students are higher career maturity compared to senior international students.

What Did You Try Last Semester? How Did It Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, John W.

1999-02-01

As I write this, the end of the semester is less than a week away. This is a good time to reflect on what I tried this time that I had not done before, how well it worked, and how that applies to the process of change and reform in chemical education. Nearly a year ago, a good friend gave me a copy of a brief note by the Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association, Gerald Wheeler (1). Its title was "Why doesn't change stick?" Quoting the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, Wheeler suggested that it might be taking all the running we could do just to maintain the status quo. He asked readers to look systematically at "the failed reform efforts begun in the 1960s" and questioned whether those efforts had actually changed anything. Although the reform efforts Wheeler questioned were aimed at the pre-college level, his point is a good one for college as well as high school teachers to consider, especially at a time when new projects are aiming to reform science education systemically. (See pages 158-160 and page 163 for more information on these projects.) If reform efforts are typically meteoric, burning brightly for but a short time and then disappearing, what might we do to make them less so? I think that the power to make reform less meteoric lies within all of us. It involves incremental, rather than revolutionary, change. My model for reform is one in which each of us continually experiments with manageable changes in courses and pedagogy, evaluating their effectiveness, casting out the less than successful ones, retaining and refining those that help students learn more effectively, and keeping the rest of the community informed about what works and what does not. This model requires continual work and dedication from all of us, but not superhuman effort that is impossible to sustain over the long term. A meteor shower definitely gets our attention, but far more light is shed by the fixed stars, and they'll still be there next week. The

Preparing for fieldwork: Students' perceptions of their readiness to provide evidence-based practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Evenson, Mary E

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceptions of their confidence to use research evidence to complete a client case analysis assignment in preparation for participation in fieldwork and future practice. A convenience sample of 42 entry-level occupational therapy Masters students, included 41 females and one male, ages 24 to 35. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used. Students participated in a problem-based learning approach supported by educational technology. Measures included a pre- and post-semester confidence survey, a post-semester satisfaction survey, and an assignment rubric. Based on paired t-tests and Wilcoxin Signed Ranks Tests, statistically significant differences in pre- and post-test scores were noted for all 18 items on the confidence survey (plearning methods were significantly associated with students' perceptions of their confidence to use research evidence to analyze a client case. These results cannot necessarily be generalized due to the limitations of using non-standardized measures with a convenience sample, without a control group, within the context of a single course as part of one academic program curriculum.

Students' conceptions of evidence during a university introductory forensic science course

Science.gov (United States)

Yeshion, Theodore Elliot

Students' Conceptions of Science, Scientific Evidence, and Forensic Evidence during a University Introductory Forensic Science Course This study was designed to examine and understand what conceptions undergraduate students taking an introductory forensic science course had about scientific evidence. Because the relationships between the nature of science, the nature of evidence, and the nature of forensic evidence are not well understood in the science education literature, this study sought to understand how these concepts interact and affect students' understanding of scientific evidence. Four participants were purposefully selected for this study from among 89 students enrolled in two sections of an introductory forensic science course taught during the fall 2005 semester. Of the 89 students, 84 were criminal justice majors with minimal science background and five were chemistry majors with academic backgrounds in the natural and physical sciences. All 89 students completed a biographical data sheet and a pre-instruction Likert scale survey consisting of twenty questions relating to the nature of scientific evidence. An evaluation of these two documents resulted in a purposeful selection of four varied student participants, each of whom was interviewed three times throughout the semester about the nature of science, the nature of evidence, and the nature of forensic evidence. The same survey was administered to the participants again at the end of the semester-long course. This study examined students' assumptions, prior knowledge, their understanding of scientific inference, scientific theory, and methodology. Examination of the data found few differences with regard to how the criminal justice majors and the chemistry majors responded to interview questions about forensic evidence. There were qualitative differences, however, when the same participants answered interview questions relating to traditional scientific evidence. Furthermore, suggestions are

Peer assessment of student-produced mechanics lab report videos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott S. Douglas

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We examine changes in students’ rating behavior during a semester-long sequence of peer evaluation laboratory exercises in an introductory mechanics course. We perform a quantitative analysis of the ratings given by students to peers’ physics lab reports, and conduct interviews with students. We find that peers persistently assign higher ratings to lab reports than do experts, that peers begin the semester by giving high ratings most frequently and end the semester with frequent middle ratings, and that peers go through the semester without much change in the frequency of low ratings. We then use student interviews to develop a model for student engagement with peer assessment. This model is based on two competing influences which appear to shape peer evaluation behavior: a strong disinclination to give poor ratings with a complementary preference to give high ratings when in doubt, and an attempt to develop an expertlike criticality when assessing peers’ work.

Student Engagement in Pharmacology Courses Using Online Learning Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Karaksha, Abdullah; Grant, Gary; Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra; Nirthanan, S. Niru

2013-01-01

Objective. To assess factors influencing student engagement with e-tools used as a learning supplement to the standard curriculum in pharmacology courses. Design. A suite of 148 e-tools (interactive online teaching materials encompassing the basic mechanisms of action for different drug classes) were designed and implemented across 2 semesters for third-year pharmacy students. Assessment. Student engagement and use of this new teaching strategy were assessed using a survey instrument and usage statistics for the material. Use of e-tools during semester 1 was low, a finding attributable to a majority (75%) of students either being unaware of or forgetting about the embedded e-tools and a few (20%) lacking interest in accessing additional learning materials. In contrast to semester 1, e-tool use significantly increased in semester 2 with the use of frequent reminders and announcements (pstudent engagement after the implementation of a “marketing strategy” that included e-mail reminders and motivation. PMID:23966728

DOE/PSU Graduate Student Fellowship Program for Hydropower

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cimbala, John M. [Pennsylvania State Univ., State College, PA (United States)

2014-03-30

The primary objective of this project is to stimulate academic interest in the conventional hydropower field by supplying research support for at least eight individual Master of Science (MS) or Doctoral (PhD) level research projects, each consisting of a graduate student supervised by a faculty member. We have completed many of the individual student research projects: 2 PhD students have finished, and 4 are still working towards their PhD degree. 4 MS students have finished, and 2 are still working towards their MS degree, one of which is due to finish this April. In addition, 4 undergraduate student projects have been completed, and one is to be completed this April. These projects were supervised by 7 faculty members and an Advisory/Review Panel. Our students and faculty have presented their work at national or international conferences and have submitted several journal publications. Three of our graduate students (Keith Martin, Dan Leonard and Hosein Foroutan) have received HRF Fellowships during the course of this project. All of the remaining students are anticipated to be graduated by the end of Fall Semester 2014. All of the tasks for this project will have been completed once all the students have been graduated, although it will be another year or two until all the journal publications have been finalized based on the work performed as part of this DOE Hydropower project.

Calculus, Biology and Medicine: A Case Study in Quantitative Literacy for Science Students

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Kim Rheinlander

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a course designed to enhance the numeracy of biology and pre-medical students. The course introduces students with the background of one semester of calculus to systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations as they appear in the mathematical biology literature. Evaluation of the course showed increased enjoyment and confidence in doing mathematics, and an increased appreciation of the utility of mathematics to science. Students who complete this course are better able to read the research literature in mathematical biology and carry out research problems of their own.

Typewriting--Less-Than-a-Semester Credit Basis

Science.gov (United States)

Schramm, Dwayne

1974-01-01

Five advantages to be gained in teaching typing in a time structure less rigid than the traditional semester are itemized. The implications for typewriting teachers as a more individualized approach is used are considered. (AG)

Some participants may be better than others: sustained attention and motivation are higher early in semester.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Michael E R; Loveless, Kellie M; Thomas, Nicole A; Loetscher, Tobias; Churches, Owen

2015-01-01

Many studies use multiexperiment designs where experiments are carried out at different times of semester. When comparing between experiments, the data may be confounded by between-participants effects related to motivation. Research indicates that course-credit participants who engage in research early in semester have different personality and performance characteristics compared to those tested late in semester. This study examined whether the semester effect is caused by internal (inherent motivation of the participant) or external (looming exams, essays) factors. To do this, sustained attention and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation was measured in groups of course-credit (n = 40) and paid (n = 40) participants early and late in semester. While there was no difference in sustained attention between the groups early in semester, the course-credit group performed significantly worse late in semester. The course-credit group also showed a significant decrease in intrinsic motivation with time whereas the paid participants showed no change. Because changes were not seen for both groups, the semester difference cannot be due to external factors. Instead, the data demonstrate that course-credit participants who engage early have high sustained attention and intrinsic motivation compared to their late counterparts, who leave their participation to the last minute. Researchers who use multiexperimental designs across semester need to control for these effects--perhaps by using paid participants who do not vary across semester.

The Challenges for Persistence with Two-Year College Student Transfers and How One Survey Attempts to Identify Pathways of Success for Geoscience Students

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, C. E.; Van Der Hoeven Kraft, K.; Wolfe, B.

2014-12-01

With the rapid growth in enrollments at two-year colleges (2YCs), these institutions provide a rich talent pool for future science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates at four-year universities, particularly students from underrepresented groups (American Geosciences Institute [AGI], 2014). This is particularly true for the geosciences because over 25% of recent geoscience graduates with a bachelor's degree attended a 2YC for at least one semester (AGI, 2013). However, it is difficult to successfully track 2YC transfers because many 2YC students do not complete an associate's degree and very few institutions offer a geoscience-specific associate's degree. In order to recruit future geoscientists from this pool of students, researchers need to better understand the barriers these students face when trying to transfer and how they are able to successfully navigate these barriers. During spring 2014 graduation, AGI surveyed students completing their bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees about their educational background, experiences and future plans after graduation. Those graduates who attended a 2YC for at least one semester provided insight into their enrollment decisions as they transferred into a four-year university. The sample from this survey represents 154 responses from a total of 596 responses. General demographics reveal an older population (average age: 30, median: 27), a higher percent of male students (54% male, 40% female) and Caucasians (76%, 10% non Caucasian) than a traditional 2YC student. Students attending 2YC nationally are on average 28 years old (median: 24), are 57% women, and are 51% Caucasian (AACC Fast Facts, 2014). In addition, responses indicated some of the factors that influenced their ability to successfully transfer into 4-year geoscience programs including personal motivation and successful transfer of credits.

Researching with undergraduate students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wulf-Andersen, Trine Østergaard; Mogensen, Kevin; Hjort-Madsen, Peder

2013-01-01

The article presents a particular case of undergraduate students working on subprojects within the framework of their supervisors' (the authors') research project during Autumn Semester 2012 and Spring Semester 2013. The article's purpose is to show that an institutionalized focus on students...... as "research learners" rather than merely curriculum learners proves productive for both research and teaching. We describe the specific university learning context and the particular organization of undergraduate students' supervision and assistantships. The case builds on and further enhances a well......-established and proven university model of participant-directed, problem-oriented project work. We explore students' and researchers' experiences of being part of the collaboration, focusing on learning potentials and dilemmas associated with the multiple roles of researcher and student that characterized...

AUTOESTIMA EN ESTUDIANTES DE PRIMER SEMESTRE DEL PROGRAMA DE PSICOLOGÍA DE UNA UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA DE LA COSTA CARIBE COLOMBIANA -- SELF-ESTEEM OF FIRST-SEMESTER STUDENT FROM THE PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN COAST

OpenAIRE

LILIA ANGéLICA CAMPO TERNERA; YADIRA MARTÍNEZ DE BIAVA

2009-01-01

Studied the level of self-esteem of students entering first semester psychology program, to then determine the effect of an intervention plan, and that self-esteem directly influences then behavior of individuals, will put the question: Which is the level of self-esteem in young people who enter the program in psychology?; for this descriptive study was organized with 128 university students of differents sexes. They were selected intencionally and were applied Coopersmith self esteem invento...

TASK BASED APPROACH IN WRITING ARTICLE (A Field Study: The Seventh Semester Students of PBI 2008 D of STKIP Ponorogo in Academic Year 2011/2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tintin Susilowati

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstrak: Menulis adalah salah satu skill dari keterampilan bahasa yang masih menjadi masalah serius  bagi mahasiswa secara umum bahkan bagi mahasiswa semester tujuh jurusan pendidikan bahasa Inggris. Berdasarkan data ditemukan bahwa banyak mahasiswa semester tujuh memiliki keterbatasan pengetahuan tentang struktur paragrap terkait dengan esensi dan proposi dalam penulisan pendahuluan, tubuh dari paragrap untuk mengembangkan ide, serta kesimpulan bahkan mereka juga masih mengalami kesulitan dalam menulis sebuah paragrap. Paragrap seharusnya telah dikuasai oleh mahasiswa semester atas. Sebagai mahasiswa semester tujuh, mereka seharusnya telah mampu untuk menghasilkan tulisan jurnalistik seperti artikel. Penulisan artikel artikel, diterapkan dalam pembelajaran di kelas  menulis. Dalam materi menulis, diuraikan melalui serangkaian kegiatan dari langkah awal sampai produk akhir secara sisematis menggunakan “Task-Based Approach”. Implementasi dari pembelajaran ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Data diambil dari hasil tulisan mahasiswa dan di analisa menggunakan skala rubrik. Dengan Task-Based Approach, mahasiswa diarahkan untuk mampu menulis artikel. Pembelajaran dilakukan berbasis tugas dengan fokus yang berbeda untuk tiap pertemuan namun tujuan akhirnya mahasiswa mampu menulis artikel secara utuh setelah melakukan  tugas-tugas yang diberikan.

Integrating Inquiry-Based Science and Education Methods Courses in a "Science Semester" for Future Elementary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, J.; Fifield, S.; Allen, D.; Brickhouse, N.; Dagher, Z.; Ford, D.; Shipman, H.

2001-05-01

In this NSF-funded project we will adapt problem-based learning (PBL) and other inquiry-based approaches to create an integrated science and education methods curriculum ("science semester") for elementary teacher education majors. Our goal is to foster integrated understandings of science and pedagogy that future elementary teachers need to effectively use inquiry-based approaches in their classrooms. This project responds to calls to improve science education for all students by making preservice teachers' experiences in undergraduate science courses more consistent with reforms at the K-12 level. The involved faculty teach three science courses (biology, earth science, physical science) and an elementary science education methods course that are degree requirements for elementary teacher education majors. Presently, students take the courses in variable sequences and at widely scattered times. Too many students fail to appreciate the value of science courses to their future careers as teachers, and when they reach the methods course in the junior year they often retain little of the science content studied earlier. These episodic encounters with science make it difficult for students to learn the content, and to translate their understandings of science into effective, inquiry-based teaching strategies. To encourage integrated understandings of science concepts and pedagogy we will coordinate the science and methods courses in a junior-year science semester. Traditional subject matter boundaries will be crossed to stress shared themes that teachers must understand to teach standards-based elementary science. We will adapt exemplary approaches that support both learning science and learning how to teach science. Students will work collaboratively on multidisciplinary PBL activities that place science concepts in authentic contexts and build learning skills. "Lecture" meetings will be large group active learning sessions that help students understand difficult

The European Project Semester at ISEP: The Challenge of Educating Global Engineers

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Malheiro, Benedita; Silva, Manuel; Ribeiro, Maria Cristina; Guedes, Pedro; Ferreira, Paulo

2015-01-01

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European…

Ethnic and Gender Differences in First-Year College Students' Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

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D'Lima, Gabrielle Maria; Winsler, Adam; Kitsantas, Anastasia

2014-01-01

Critical ethnic and gender gaps exist in college retention and graduation rates. Early achievement motivation may play an important role in student persistence. A sample of undergraduates completed surveys tapping motivation at the beginning (n = 591) and end (n = 232) of their first semester in college. African American and Caucasian students…

Writing throughout the biochemistry curriculum: Synergistic inquiry-based writing projects for biochemistry students.

Science.gov (United States)

Mertz, Pamela; Streu, Craig

2015-01-01

This article describes a synergistic two-semester writing sequence for biochemistry courses. In the first semester, students select a putative protein and are tasked with researching their protein largely through bioinformatics resources. In the second semester, students develop original ideas and present them in the form of a research grant proposal. Both projects involve multiple drafts and peer review. The complementarity of the projects increases student exposure to bioinformatics and literature resources, fosters higher-order thinking skills, and develops teamwork and communication skills. Student feedback and responses on perception surveys demonstrated that the students viewed both projects as favorable learning experiences. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

GANGGUAN CEMAS PADA MAHASISWA SEMESTER I DAN VII PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN DOKTER FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN UNIVERSITAS UDAYANA

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Dyah Chandratika

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Penting untuk dilakukan penelitian mengenai gangguan cemas pada mahasiswa kedokteran karena tingginya tingkat stres mahasiswa terutama pada tahun pertama perkuliahan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui prevalensi dan perbedaan skor  gangguan  cemas  pada mahasiswa  semester  I dan  VII serta untuk  mengetahui perbedaan skor gangguan cemas antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan di Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Udayana. Desain penelitian ini adalah cross sectional analitik. Pengambilan sampel dilakukan secara random sampling. Sampel mengisi identitas, kuesioner L-MMPI, kuesioner Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS. Kemudian dihitung prevalensi gangguan cemas tiap kelompok serta data dianalisis menggunakan uji t-independen. Terdapat 15 orang (25,0% mahasiswa semester I dan 7 orang (11,7% mahasiswa semester VII yang mengalami gangguan cemas. Dari hasil uji t-independen antara skor gangguan cemas mahasiswa semester I dan VII diperoleh nilai p = 0,001 (<0,05. Sedangkan diperoleh p = 0,080 antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan pada semester I dan p = 0,744 antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan pada semester VII. Prevalensi gangguan cemas pada mahasiswa semester I yaitu 25,0% sedangkan 11,7% pada mahasiswa semester VII. Terdapat perbedaan bermakna antara skor gangguan cemas mahasiswa semester I dan VII. Tidak ditemukan perbedaan bermakna skor gangguan cemas antara laki-laki dan perempuan.   

Longitudinal Study of the Impacts of a Climate Change Curriculum on Undergraduate Student Learning: Initial Results

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Kristin C. Burkholder

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The present study assesses the efficacy of a semester-long undergraduate sustainability curriculum designed from a systems approach. The three-course curriculum, which incorporated environmental science and ethics courses along with an integrative course using a community-based learning pedagogy, was intended to provide students with experience using knowledge and skills from distinct disciplines in a holistic way in order to address the complex problems of the human acceptance of and response to anthropogenic climate change. In the fall of 2013, 23 of the 24 sophomore general education students enrolled in the three courses were surveyed at the beginning and end of the semester; 17 of those same students completed the survey again in the spring of 2016, their senior year. Results, which focus on the 17 students who continued to participate through their senior year, were analyzed with quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The pre/post data from the surveys demonstrated significant improvement in climate literacy, certainty, concern and urgency over the course of the semester; the senior data indicated that those improvements were largely retained. The study also suggests that the nine-credit curriculum improved transferable skills such as interdisciplinary thinking, self-confidence and public speaking. A qualitative analysis of three student cases, informed by a focus group (n = 7 of seniors along with other sources of information, suggested retention of such transferable skills, and, in some cases, deeper involvement in climate and sustainability action.

Early Engagement in Course-Based Research Increases Graduation Rates and Completion of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Degrees

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Rodenbusch, Stacia E.; Hernandez, Paul R.; Simmons, Sarah L.; Dolan, Erin L.

2016-01-01

National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research laboratories. Yet there are few if any studies that examine the long-term effects of participating in CUREs on desired student outcomes, such as graduating from college and completing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major. One CURE program, the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), has engaged thousands of first-year undergraduates over the past decade. Using propensity score–matching to control for student-level differences, we tested the effect of participating in FRI on students’ probability of graduating with a STEM degree, probability of graduating within 6 yr, and grade point average (GPA) at graduation. Students who completed all three semesters of FRI were significantly more likely than their non-FRI peers to earn a STEM degree and graduate within 6 yr. FRI had no significant effect on students’ GPAs at graduation. The effects were similar for diverse students. These results provide the most robust and best-controlled evidence to date to support calls for early involvement of undergraduates in research. PMID:27252296

Ethical views, attitudes and reactions of Romanian medical students to the dissecting room.

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Bob, M H; Popescu, Codruţa Alina; Armean, M S; Suciu, Soimita Mihaela; Buzoianu, Anca Dana

2014-01-01

Our objective was to evaluate the attitudes and views of first year medical students towards cadaver dissection in anatomy learning and discuss various findings in relation with ethical problems). The study was conducted at the "Iuliu Hat ieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, during the academic year 2012-2013 at the end of the second semester. There were 121 first year medical students included. We developed a questionnaire to asses among other, the degree of fear, anxiety and stress in the dissection room, methods of coping, ethical aspects of dissection and hand it to the students. 34.7% of students experienced different levels of fear on exposure to the dissection room practical sessions. Many students experienced anxiety in reaction to dissection. In the first semester most students reported physical and behavioral reaction towards certain stimuli, with a decrease in the second semester. Recurring visual images of cadavers, reported by 57% of students in the first semester, dropped to 44.6% in the second semester. Students used most frequently the "rationalization and emotional detachment" as a coping method. Anatomists, most often the firsts who need to be aware of emotional and ethical issues, need to explain in detail the steps necessary for dissection and that dissection is performed with the respect of legislation, ethics and human rights.

College cafeteria snack food purchases become less healthy with each passing week of the semester.

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Wansink, Brian; Cao, Ying; Saini, Prerna; Shimizu, Mitsuru; Just, David R

2013-07-01

Snacks, stress and parties all contribute to the weight gain – the elusive ‘Freshman 15’ – that some college-goers unfortunately experience. The present study examines how a` la carte snack choice changes on a university campus during each progressing week of the academic calendar. How a` la carte snack choices change on a university campus with each progressing week of the academic calendar was examined. The data were collected from three large cafeterias (or dining halls) on Cornell University’s campus during four semesters (Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007 and Spring 2008), for 18 weeks in each semester. After the a` la carte snack items were divided into healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks, the percentage share for each food category was calculated. Within each semester, the unhealthy snack food choices increased consistently by 0?4% per week (b50?00418, P,0?01). Furthermore, a sharp (8 %) increase occurred in the final two weeks of the semester. In contrast, healthy snack food choices decreased by almost 4% (b520?0408, P,0?01) in the final two weeks during the fall semester. These results demonstrate an increased demand for hedonic, or unhealthy, snack foods as the college semester progresses and in particular at the very end of the semester. To counter this tendency towards unhealthy snacking, cafeterias and stores should make extra effort to promote healthy alternatives during the later weeks of the semester.

The Language Environments of Exchange Students at Scandinavian Universities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caudery, Tim; Petersen, Margrethe; Shaw, Philip

2007-01-01

-student subculture. A few do break out of the bubble, learn the local language, and experience the local culture. Here we report on preliminary findings from a project intended to identify the factors leading to successful learning of both English and the local languages. Around 20-40 students at each of four...... institutions, two in Sweden, two in Denmark, were interviewed three times over a semester and asked to complete simple language tests. English proficiency improved in most cases, though not all features of language improved; Swedish/Danish was only learnt by those with good initial English and appropriate...

Preservice Music Teacher Voice Use, Vocal Health, and Voice Function before and during Student Teaching

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Brunkan, Melissa C.

2018-01-01

Preservice music teachers often use their voices differently during the semesters leading up to student teaching as compared to during the semester itself. Vocal demands often increase and change as students move from a student role to full-time teacher role. Consequently, music student teachers frequently experience vocal distress symptoms that…

Optimal Strategy in the "Price Is Right" Showcase Showdown: A Module for Students of Calculus and Probability

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Swenson, Daniel

2015-01-01

We walk through a module intended for undergraduates in mathematics, with the focus of finding the best strategies for competing in the Showcase Showdown on the game show "The Price Is Right." Students should have completed one semester of calculus, as well as some probability. We also give numerous suggestions for further questions that…

Differences in academic performance and self-regulated learning based on level of student participation in supplemental instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Mack, Ana C.

This study examined differences in academic performance and self-regulated learning based on levels of student participation in Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions in two introductory undergraduate biology and chemistry courses offered at University of Central Florida in the Spring 2006 semester. The sample consisted of 282 students enrolled in the biology class and 451 students enrolled in chemistry. Academic performance was measured using students' final course grades and rates of withdrawal from the courses. The self-regulated learning constructs of motivation, cognition, metacognition, and resource management were measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Relationships between students' gender and ethnic background and levels of SI participation were also analyzed in this research. Findings in both biology and chemistry courses revealed a statistically significant decrease in student motivation from beginning to end of semester. In chemistry, frequent SI participants also showed statistically significantly higher levels of motivation at the end of the semester than occasional and non-SI participants. There were no statistically significant gains in cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies from beginning to end of semester. However, statistically significant differences in resource management were observed at the end of the semester among SI attendance groups in both courses. Students in the high SI attendance group were more likely to use learning resources than those who did not participate regularly or did not participate at all. Statistically significant differences in academic performance based on students' SI participation were found in both biology and chemistry courses. Frequent SI participants had significantly higher final percentage grades and were more likely to receive grades of A, B, or C, than those who either did not attend SI regularly of did not participate at all. They were also less

Gender disparities in second-semester college physics: The incremental effects of a “smog of bias”

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Lauren E. Kost-Smith

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Our previous research [Kost et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010101 (2009] examined gender differences in the first-semester, introductory physics class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. We found that: (1 there were gender differences in several aspects of the course, including conceptual survey performance, (2 these differences persisted despite the use of interactive engagement techniques, and (3 the post-test gender differences could largely be attributed to differences in males’ and females’ prior physics and math performance and their incoming attitudes and beliefs. In the current study, we continue to characterize gender differences in our physics courses by examining the second-semester, electricity and magnetism course. We analyze three factors: student retention from Physics 1 to Physics 2, student performance, and students’ attitudes and beliefs about physics, and find gender differences in all three of these areas. Specifically, females are less likely to stay in the physics major than males. Despite males and females performing about equally on the conceptual pretest, we find that females score about 6 percentage points lower than males on the conceptual post-test. In most semesters, females outperform males on homework and participation, and males outperform females on exams, resulting in course grades of males and females that are not significantly different. In terms of students’ attitudes and beliefs, we find that both males and females shift toward less expertlike beliefs over the course of Physics 2. Shifts are statistically equal for all categories except for the Personal Interest category, where females have more negative shifts than males. A large fraction of the conceptual post-test gender gap (up to 60% can be accounted for by differences in males’ and females’ prior physics and math performance and their pre-Physics 2 attitudes and beliefs. Taken together, the results of this study suggest

Investigating undergraduate students' ideas about the fate of the Universe

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Conlon, Mallory; Coble, Kim; Bailey, Janelle M.; Cominsky, Lynn R.

2017-12-01

As astronomers further develop an understanding of the fate of the Universe, it is essential to study students' ideas on the fate of the Universe so that instructors can communicate the field's current status more effectively. In this study, we examine undergraduate students' preinstruction ideas of the fate of the Universe in ten semester-long introductory astronomy course sections (ASTRO 101) at three institutions. We also examine students' postinstruction ideas about the fate of the Universe in ASTRO 101 over five semester-long course sections at one institution. The data include precourse surveys given during the first week of instruction (N =264 ), postinstruction exam questions (N =59 ), and interviews. We find that, preinstruction, more than a quarter of ASTRO 101 students either do not respond or respond with "I don't know" when asked what the long-term fate of the Universe is. We also find that, though the term was not necessarily used, students tend to describe a "big chill" scenario in the preinstruction surveys, among a wide variety of other scenarios. A fraction of students describe the fate of smaller-scale systems, possibly due to confusion of the hierarchical nature of structure in the Universe. Preinstruction, students mention the Universe's expansion when describing how astronomers know the fate of the Universe but do not discuss how we know the Universe is expanding or the relationship between expansion and the fate of the Universe. Postinstruction, students' responses shift toward greater degrees of completeness and correctness.

Impact of Students' Participation to a Facebook Group on their Motivation and Scores and on Teacher's Evaluation

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Bernard Montoneri

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The development of Information and communications technology (ICT has brought rapid and profound changes in the field of Education. Nowadays, teachers and students alike are engaging on social networks such as Facebook. This study discusses the benefits of using social network in the classroom. It aims at assessing the impact of Facebook on students' motivation and scores in a course of European Literature in a university of central Taiwan. A class of students was taught during the first semester of academic year 2013-2014 (September-January using a traditional way of teaching. During the second semester (February-June 2014, the teacher used multimedia and Facebook to teach to the same students. They joined a "secret group", that is a group in which only students from the class can join, post, view posts, like, and comment. This research compares various data from the first and second semester to measure students' improvement in motivation, their participation to the group and their scores. The data collected from the Facebook group during the whole second semester and students' evaluation of the educator at the end of each semester. Students are expected to make some progress and teacher's evaluation should improve. Even though Taiwanese students generally read and write in Chinese on Facebook, it is expected that they exclusively use English to read, share, and comment texts and information concerning the books studied during the second semester, thus increasing their chances to improve their reading and writing skills.

What lessons to be learnt from reflective learning journals written by students to improve learning and intercultural awareness?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2009-01-01

and given special help to develop team and project work skills. When Danish and foreign students are grouped in mixed teams on the 2nd semester, the Danish students still are experts in project work and they are not familiar with taking in less skilled newcomers. A new course was established for Danish 1st......  This paper addresses the problem of mixing Danish engineering students having 3 years of experience with project work in teams, with foreign students starting on Master Engineering educations with close to zero PBL experience. The first semester the foreign students are working in teams together...... semester Master students in 2007, with a double purpose of both developing team work and intercultural skills further and restart the students reflection and talking about how they actually work together, to prepare them to take in foreign students on the 2nd semester. To secure the latter part...

Mathematical problem solving ability of sport students in the statistical study

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Sari, E. F. P.; Zulkardi; Putri, R. I. I.

2017-12-01

This study aims to determine the problem-solving ability of sport students of PGRI Palembang semester V in the statistics course. Subjects in this study were sport students of PGRI Palembang semester V which amounted to 31 people. The research method used is quasi experiment type one case shoot study. Data collection techniques in this study use the test and data analysis used is quantitative descriptive statistics. The conclusion of this study shown that the mathematical problem solving ability of PGRI Palembang sport students of V semester in the statistical course is categorized well with the average of the final test score of 80.3.

Exercises in statistics for HA & HA(dat.) & BSc(B), 3rd semester

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The booklet contains excercises to be used for the tutorials related to the 3rd semester course in statistics on the bachelors progarmme at the Aarhus School of Business.......The booklet contains excercises to be used for the tutorials related to the 3rd semester course in statistics on the bachelors progarmme at the Aarhus School of Business....

Can Completing a Mental Health Nursing Course Change Students' Attitudes?

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Hastings, Todd; Kroposki, Margaret; Williams, Gail

2017-05-01

Nursing program graduates rarely choose mental health nursing as a career. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine attitudes of 310 nursing students towards persons with mental illness. Students completed surveys on the first and last days of their program's psychiatric mental health nursing course. The pre- and post-test survey analysis indicated that students improved their attitude, knowledge and preparedness to care for persons with mental illness. However, students maintained little interest in working as a mental health nurse. Modifications in mental health nursing courses could be made to improve students' interest in choosing a career in mental health nursing.

Cyclic efforts to improve completion rates of masters’ degree students in nursing

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Lizeth Roets

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Supervisors at Higher Education Institutions are challenged to shorten throughput of Master’s degree students in nursing as researchers are needed to improve the art and science of the nursing profession. Globally the completion time for a postgraduate degree in the health sciences varies between 4.7 and 5.5 years. The purpose of the study was to describe strategies that were implemented to shorten completion time and attrition rate of postgraduate students. A cyclic technical, scientific collaborative mode within an action research methodology was used to identify factors impeding completion time in this study. Contrary to other studies, supervision was not an inhibiting factor in this study. Physical, technical, academic and financial aspects were identified by postgraduate students through questionnaires and informal discussion groups with supervisors as well as progress reports. Strategies were implemented to address these. Following implementation of all strategies, 42% of the postgraduate students in the School of Nursing completed their Master’s degree within two years. This implies a 34% improvement. Although the completion rate improved it was still unsatisfactory and new challenges were identified during the second cycle, for example, the number of inexperienced supervisors increased and they needed mentoring. Speed mentoring is a possible solution to the problem.

Increasing Completion Rate of an M4 Emergency Medicine Student End-of-Shift Evaluation Using a Mobile Electronic Platform and Real-Time Completion

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Matthew C. Tews

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Medical students on an emergency medicine rotation are traditionally evaluated at the end of each shift with paper-based forms, and data are often missing due to forms not being turned in or completed. Because students’ grades depend on these evaluations, change was needed to increase form rate of return. We analyzed a new electronic evaluation form and modified completion process to determine if it would increase the completion rate without altering how faculty scored student performance. Methods: During fall 2013, 29 faculty completed paper N=339 evaluations consisting of seven competencies for 33 students. In fall 2014, an electronic evaluation form with the same competencies was designed using an electronic platform and completed N=319 times by 27 faculty using 25 students’ electronic devices. Feedback checkboxes were added to facilitate collection of common comments. Data was analyzed with IBM® SPSS® 21.0 using multi-factor analysis of variance with the students’ global rating (GR as an outcome. Inter-item reliability was determined with Cronbach alpha. Results: There was a significantly higher completion rate (p=0.001 of 98% electronic vs. 69% paper forms, lower (p=0.001 missed GR rate (1% electronic. vs 12% paper, and higher mean scores (p=0.001 for the GR with the electronic (7.0±1.1 vs. paper (6.8±1.2 form. Feedback checkboxes were completed on every form. The inter-item reliability for electronic and paper forms was each alpha=0.95. Conclusion: The use of a new electronic form and modified completion process for evaluating students at the end of shift demonstrated a higher faculty completion rate, a lower missed data rate, a higher global rating and consistent collection of common feedback. The use of the electronic form and the process for obtaining the information made our end-of-shift evaluation process for students more reliable and provided more accurate, up-to-date information for student feedback and when

Using Action Research to Teach Students to Manage Team Learning and Improve Teamwork Satisfaction

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Scott-Ladd, Brenda; Chan, Christopher C. A.

2008-01-01

This article reports on a study investigating strategies that students can use to develop skills in managing team learning. Two groups of second-year management students participated in a semester-long action research project over two semesters. The students were educated on team development, team processes and conflict management and how to…

Znaczenie semestralnego rozkładu zajęć w prawidłowym żywieniu studentów = The importance of semester timetable in correct student’s nutrition

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Ewelina Kozłowska

2016-08-01

    Słowa kluczowe: żywienie, studenci, rozkład zajęć. Keywords: nutrition, students, timetable.   Streszczenie Wprowadzenie i cel pracy: Grupą społeczną szczególnie narażoną na uleganie antyzdrowotnym zachowaniom żywieniowym są studenci, których dzień zdeterminowany jest narzuconym przez uczelnię semestralnym planem zajęć. Celem podjętych badań było określenie wpływu satysfakcji z semestralnego rozkładu zajęć na sposób żywienia młodzieży akademickiej. Materiał i metoda:  Badanie przeprowadzono wśród stu wybranych studentów Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Lublinie posługując się autorskim kwestionariuszem ankiety. Analizę statystyczną wykonano nieparametrycznym testem statystycznym χ2 Pearsona. Wyniki: 70% studentów  jest  niezadowolonych z obecnego planu zajęć, biorąc pod uwagę możliwość zdrowego odżywiania się. Najliczniejszą grupę studentów oceniających plan zajęć jako dostosowany do ich potrzeb żywieniowych stanowią osoby mieszkające w akademikach. Stwierdzono istotną statystycznie zależność między niezadowoleniem z planu zajęć, a brakiem czasu na samodzielne przygotowanie pełnowartościowych posiłków (p=0,000653. Plan zajęć nie wpływa istotnie na częstotliwość pojadania między posiłkami, jednakże studenci niezadowoleni z niego częściej jedzą w pośpiechu. Wnioski: Młodzież akademicka napotyka na utrudnienia w stosowaniu zaleceń zdrowego odżywiania, które wynikają bezpośrednio z nieodpowiadającego im planu zajęć. Osoby odpowiedzialne za  tworzenie rozkładów zajęć w trosce o zdrowie studentów powinni mieć na uwadze ich potrzeby żywieniowe.     Abstract Introduction and work aim: Social group particularly exposed to anti-health nutritional behaviour are students, whose day is determined by the University imposed semester timetable. An aim of the study was to define the impact of satisfaction from a semester timetable on nutrition of the university students

Evaluating the effectiveness of real-time feedback on the bedside hand hygiene behaviors of nursing students.

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Ott, Lora K; Irani, Vida R

2015-05-01

Traditional hand hygiene teaching methods lack long-term effectiveness. A longitudinal, within-subject design explored the influence of real-time hand microbe feedback and a critical-thinking decision exercise on nursing student hand hygiene behaviors. In three community hospitals, the students' (n = 68) hand swabs were tested for normal flora, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus at three time points. Students completed the Partnering to Heal (PTH) online exercise on hospital-acquired infection prevention decisions. Normal flora colony counts decreased across the semester and MRSA-positive cultures increased in frequency and colony counts. MRSA-positive cultures were not associated with caring for patients in isolation precautions. Significantly higher colony counts were noted in the students who completed the PTH than those who did not complete the PTH. This study explores innovative pedagogy bringing the nonvisible microbial risk to the consciousness of nursing students in an attempt to change hand hygiene behaviors. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Differences between Lab Completion and Non-Completion on Student Performance in an Online Undergraduate Environmental Science Program

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Corsi, Gianluca

2011-12-01

Web-based technology has revolutionized the way education is delivered. Although the advantages of online learning appeal to large numbers of students, some concerns arise. One major concern in online science education is the value that participation in labs has on student performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between lab completion and student academic success as measured by test grades, scientific self-confidence, scientific skills, and concept mastery. A random sample of 114 volunteer undergraduate students, from an online Environmental Science program at the American Public University System, was tested. The study followed a quantitative, non-experimental research design. Paired sample t-tests were used for statistical comparison between pre-lab and post-lab test grades, two scientific skills quizzes, and two scientific self-confidence surveys administered at the beginning and at the end of the course. The results of the paired sample t-tests revealed statistically significant improvements on all post-lab test scores: Air Pollution lab, t(112) = 6.759, p virtual reality platforms and digital animations. Future research is encouraged to investigate possible correlations between socio-demographic attributes and academic success of students enrolled in online science programs in reference to lab completion.

Assessing Strategic Cultural Competency: Holistic Approaches to Student Learning through Media

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Judith; Swaffar, Janet

2012-01-01

The current study investigated the impact of a German television program on changes in 4th-semester German students' reflections on cultural perceptions over the course of 1 semester. Sixty-nine students at the University of Texas at Austin watched 4 episodes of the popular German television program "Lindenstrasse". After viewing,…

The impact of embedded support for underprepared students in a college chemistry course

Science.gov (United States)

Hesser, Tiffany L.

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of embedded support on academic success for students requiring remediation in college chemistry. Additional support for underprepared students incorporated within a course is recommended by Connecticut's Public Act 12-40, An Act Concerning College Readiness and Completion. For this study, embedded support consisted of weekly instructional support sessions and introduced the concepts of metacognitive awareness and motivation in learning. Students' progression through the course was measured using a series of standardized questions. Metacognitive awareness and motivation levels were measure at the start and completion of the semester using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and Motivated Student Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). It was found that with embedded support, underprepared students performed academically at a level equivalent to that of their college-ready peers. Based on these results, this embedded support model as an evidence-based practice should be considered in class development or policies surrounding students identified as underprepared.

Many Labs 3 : Evaluating participant pool quality across the academic semester via replication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ebersole, Charles R.; Atherton, Olivia E.; Belanger, Aimee L.; Skulborstad, Hayley M.; Allen, Jill M.; Banks, Jonathan B.; Baranski, Erica; Bernstein, Michael J.; Bonfiglio, Diane B. V.; Boucher, Leanne; Brown, Elizabeth R.; Budiman, Nancy I.; Cairo, Athena H.; Capaldi, Colin A.; Chartier, Christopher R.; Chung, J.M.H.; Cicero, David C.; Coleman, Jennifer A.; Conway, John G.; Davis, William E.; Devos, Thierry; Fletcher, Melody M.; German, Komi; Grahe, Jon E.; Hermann, Anthony D.; Hicks, Joshua A.; Honeycutt, Nathan; Humphrey, Brandon; Janus, Matthew; Johnson, David J.; Joy-Gaba, Jennifer A.; Juzeler, Hannah; Keres, Ashley; Kinney, Diana; Kirshenbaum, Jacqeline; Klein, Richard A.; Lucas, Richard E.; Lustgraaf, Christopher J. N.; Martin, Daniel; Menon, Madhavi; Metzger, Mitchell; Moloney, Jaclyn M.; Morse, Patrick J.; Prislin, Radmila; Razza, Timothy; Re, Daniel E.; Rule, Nicholas O.; Sacco, Tdonald F.; Sauerberger, Kyle; Shrider, Emily; Shultz, Megan; Siemsen, Courtney; Sobocko, Karin; Sternglanz, R. Weylin; Summerville, Amy; Tskhay, Konstantin O.; van Allen, Zack; Vaughn, Leigh Ann; Walker, Ryan J.; Weinberg, Ashley; Wilson, John Paul; Wirth, James H.; Wortman, Jessica; Nosek, Brian A.

2016-01-01

The university participant pool is a key resource for behavioral research, and data quality is believed to vary over the course of the academic semester. This crowdsourced project examined time of semester variation in 10 known effects, 10 individual differences, and 3 data quality indicators over

The Relationship between Positive Well-Being and Academic Assessment: Results from a Prospective Study on Dental Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Teodora Preoteasa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Presumably, the academic stress that builds throughout the academic year has a negative effect on dental students’ psychological well-being and may have a relationship with academic performance. This research aimed to analyse the variation of positive well-being in second-year dental students, across the academic semester, in relation to consecutive examinations as part of academic assessment system (1 and to observe the relationship between academic performance during semester evaluation period and dental students’ positive well-being (2. Methods. A prospective study was conducted on second-year dental students, data on positive well-being being collected with WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5, at the beginning of the semester and after three consecutive mandatory examinations. Results. One hundred and forty-six dental students were included (77% response rate. Repeated ANOVA showed a significant progressive decline of positive well-being over the semester, which was clinically significant for an important part of them. Students who performed better in the semester evaluation period registered higher well-being levels at the beginning of the semester but a more pronounced decline of it until the semester evaluation period. Conclusion. Based on this research, a relationship between positive well-being, academic assessments, and academic performance is suggested, when evaluating them in a prospective frame.

Development of leadership behaviors in undergraduate nursing students: a service-learning approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Foli, Karen J; Braswell, Melanie; Kirkpatrick, Jane; Lim, Eunjung

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine leadership behaviors developed by nursing students and peers before and after a service-learning experience. Nurses have been called to fill growing needs in the health care setting, rendering care to vulnerable and diverse populations in a wide range of organizations. Leadership behaviors are therefore essential. Baccalaureate students (N = 65) completed the Student Leadership Practices Inventory-Self at the beginning and end of the semester. The students also rated peers using the Leadership Practices Inventory-Observer and answered six questions about service-learning. Repeated measures of analysis of variance for pre- and posttests revealed that leadership behaviors improved (p leadership course is an effective approach to the development of leadership behaviors.

Personal microbiome analysis improves student engagement and interest in Immunology, Molecular Biology, and Genomics undergraduate courses

Science.gov (United States)

Bridgewater, Laura C.; Jensen, Jamie L.; Breakwell, Donald P.; Nielsen, Brent L.; Johnson, Steven M.

2018-01-01

A critical area of emphasis for science educators is the identification of effective means of teaching and engaging undergraduate students. Personal microbiome analysis is a means of identifying the microbial communities found on or in our body. We hypothesized the use of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom could improve science education by making courses more applied and engaging for undergraduate students. We determined to test this prediction in three Brigham Young University undergraduate courses: Immunology, Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, and Genomics. These three courses have a two-week microbiome unit and students during the 2016 semester students could submit their own personal microbiome kit or use the demo data, whereas during the 2017 semester students were given access to microbiome data from an anonymous individual. The students were surveyed before, during, and after the human microbiome unit to determine whether analyzing their own personal microbiome data, compared to analyzing demo microbiome data, impacted student engagement and interest. We found that personal microbiome analysis significantly enhanced the engagement and interest of students while completing microbiome assignments, the self-reported time students spent researching the microbiome during the two week microbiome unit, and the attitudes of students regarding the course overall. Thus, we found that integrating personal microbiome analysis in the classroom was a powerful means of improving student engagement and interest in undergraduate science courses. PMID:29641525

Impact of Interprofessional Simulation on Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Teamwork and Collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Linda; Ernstmeyer, Kim; Kirking, Ellen

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a multipatient, interprofessional simulation session on nursing students' attitudes toward nurse-physician collaboration using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration. Final-semester nursing students, along with medical resident and students from other health programs, participated in a simulation exercise that included a period of prebriefing, simulation, and debriefing. Participants completed pre- and postsimulation surveys to assess the impact on collaboration. In total, 268 nursing students completed the survey. Participants had a more positive attitude toward nurse-physician collaboration following the simulation event, compared with prior to it. Significant differences between male and female nursing students were found on mean postsimulation scores and for three of the four subscales of the tool. Interprofessional simulation may be an effective way to enhance collaborative relationships, which ultimately may influence patient safety and quality of care. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):321-327.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Fostering Distance Training Programme (DTP) Students' Access to Semester Examination Results via SMS at University of Rwanda-College of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Nizeyimana, Gerard; Yonah, Zaipuna O.; Nduwingoma, Mathias

2015-01-01

This paper presents a situation analysis and implementation of Distance Training Programme (DTP) Semester Examination Results Access (SERA) through Short Message Service (SMS) available anytime and anywhere. "Texting" or SMS mobile phone messaging is rapidly increasing communication in business and community service. The prompting…

Effect of interprofessional clinical education programme length on students' attitudes towards teamwork.

Science.gov (United States)

Renschler, Lauren; Rhodes, Darson; Cox, Carol

2016-05-01

This article reports on a study involving a range of health professions students who participated in similar one-semester (short) or two-semester (long) interprofessional clinical education programmes that focused on clinical assessment of senior citizens living independently in the community. Students' attitudes towards teamwork skills and perceptions of their own teamwork skills both before and after the programmes were assessed using two validated scales. Osteopathic medical student participants reported no significant changes in attitudes towards interprofessional healthcare teamwork skills or their perceptions of their own interprofessional teamwork skills after either the one- or two-semester programmes. For athletic training, speech-language pathology, exercise sciences, public health, and nursing students, though, attitudes towards teamwork skills significantly improved (p teamwork attitude change, but with a significant difference between medical as compared to nursing, allied health, and public health students.

Effect of portfolio assessment on student learning in prenatal training for midwives.

Science.gov (United States)

Kariman, Nourossadat; Moafi, Farnoosh

2011-01-01

The tendency to use portfolios for evaluation has been developed with the aim of optimizing the culture of assessment. The present study was carried out to determine the effect of using portfolios as an evaluation method on midwifery students' learning and satisfaction in prenatal practical training. In this prospective cohort study, all midwifery students in semester four (n=40), were randomly allocated to portfolio and routine evaluation groups. Based on their educational goals, the portfolio groups prepared packages which consisted of a complete report of the history, physical examinations, and methods of patient management (as evaluated by a checklist) for women who visited a prenatal clinic. During the last day of their course, a posttest, clinical exam, and student satisfaction form were completed. The two groups' mean age, mean pretest scores, and their prerequisite course that they should have taken in the previous semester were similar. The mean difference in the pre and post test scores for the two groups' knowledge and comprehension levels did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The average scores on questions in Bloom's taxonomy 2 and 3 of the portfolio group were significantly greater than those of the routine evaluation group (P=0.002, P=0.03, respectively). The mean of the two groups' clinical exam scores was significantly different. The portfolio group's mean scores on generating diagnostic and therapeutic solutions and the ability to apply theory in practice were higher than those of the routine group. Overall, students' satisfaction scores in the two evaluation methods were relatively similar. Portfolio evaluation provides the opportunity for more learning by increasing the student's participation in the learning process and helping them to apply theory in practice.

Online Access Patterns and Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasir Butrous

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper follows accessing patterns of five cohorts of postgraduate students enrolled in a core unit within a master of business administration (MBA program. The unit is designed to provide numerous opportunities for student participation in Discussion Boards using Blackboard technology. Discussion Boards create numerous opportunities for interaction amongst online learners to share and exchange their experiences, creating a sense of a virtual community. Relationships between accessing patterns for each week of the semester for each student are explored in relation to their performance using course statistics generated by the Blackboard technology. Close examination of the significant differences in access patterns to the course window and its components of communication, content, and student areas reveal middle of the semester (week 7 as the common critical point that differentiates high achieving students from low achieving students. Identifying critical points provides the faculty staff member an opportunity to introduce intervention strategies in order to improve the learning experience of all the students.

Predicting Persistence and Withdrawal of Open Admissions Students at Virginia State University.

Science.gov (United States)

Tambe, Joseph T.

1984-01-01

A study of persistence/dropout among open admissions college students found: (1) accurate predictions cannot be made for individual students at the time of matriculation; and (2) it is possible to predict that about 80 percent of future groups will fall in the persist category after two semesters, 51 percent after four semesters. (CMG)

Improving student performance in an introductory biology majors course: A social action project in the scholarship of teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Sara Lang Ketchum

This social action study followed an introductory biology course for a three-year period to determine whether changes in teaching personnel, instructional techniques and reorientation to student-centered learning would impact student performance. The course was redirected from a traditional lecture-laboratory format to one emphasizing active learning inquiry methods. Student retention, achievement, and failure were observed for three years in addition to one year prior, and one year following, the study. The study examined the two semester introductory biology course required of all biology majors and those intending a career in science, medicine or dentistry. During the first semester of the study, the dropout rate decreased from 46% to 21%. Prior to the study, 39% of the students completing the course received a grade of D or F while only 4% received a grade of B or above. During the first semester of the study 14% of the students received a grade of D or F while 46% received a B, B+ or A grade. Similar results were seen in other semesters of the study. A statistical comparison of student retention and performance was carried out using grade data for classes taught by the original faculty, the action study faculty and the post-study faculty. The differences between the original faculty and the action study faculty were statistically significant. Effect size calculations indicated large differences between the action study faculty and the two other faculty groups in terms of student retention, achievement and failure. The results are attributed to both the personnel change and, more significantly, the change in teaching methods and emphasis on student-active learning. Comparison between the pre- and post-study teams showed less dramatic effect sizes than when the action study data were compared with the data from either other team. Nevertheless, the post-study results showed that although the retention rate dropped during the year after the study, the improvement

SMA DOE Student Fellowship Initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steel Manufacturers Association

2004-12-24

Steel companies in many areas of the country have found it increasingly difficult to attract talented recent graduates of college and university engineering and applied science programs to the Electric Arc Furnace iron & steel industry. College student involvement in co-operative programs at steel companies can attract needed talent to the industry. Additionally, certain R & D needs identified in the Steel Industry Technology Roadmap are addressed as co-operative program activities. The Steel Manufacturers Association (''SMA'') therefore established a co-operative education program for selected college students who have completed the first or second year of a four or five-year college program, to be recognized as SMA Co-Operative Fellows, in regard to their summer and fall semester projects with SMA's member companies.

HealthyhornsTXT: A Text-Messaging Program to Promote College Student Health and Wellness.

Science.gov (United States)

Glowacki, Elizabeth M; Kirtz, Susan; Hughes Wagner, Jessica; Cance, Jessica Duncan; Barrera, Denise; Bernhardt, Jay M

2018-01-01

Text-messaging interventions positively affect health behaviors, but their use on college campuses has been limited. Text messaging serves as a relatively affordable way to communicate with large audiences and is one of the preferred modes of communication for young adults. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a campus-wide, health text-messaging program. The subscriber pool consisted of approximately 6,000 undergraduate students from a large, southern university. From that pool, 1,095 participants (64% female; 41% White) completed a posttest survey. Text messages covered a range of health topics and information about campus resources. Research was conducted from August through December 2015. Process data were collected throughout the semester; participants' attitudes were assessed via an online survey at the program's conclusion. Students demonstrated engagement with the messages throughout the semester as evidenced by replies to text-back keywords and clicks on website links embedded within messages. Messages about sleep, stress management, and hydration were considered most relevant. The majority of participants (61%) reported increased awareness regarding their health. Text-messaging interventions are a feasible strategy to improve college student health.

Use of High-Definition Audiovisual Technology in a Gross Anatomy Laboratory: Effect on Dental Students' Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Maha; Sleiman, Naama H; Thomas, Maureen; Kashani, Nahid; Ditmyer, Marcia M

2016-02-01

Laboratory cadaver dissection is essential for three-dimensional understanding of anatomical structures and variability, but there are many challenges to teaching gross anatomy in medical and dental schools, including a lack of available space and qualified anatomy faculty. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of high-definition audiovisual educational technology in the gross anatomy laboratory in improving dental students' learning outcomes and satisfaction. Exam scores were compared for two classes of first-year students at one U.S. dental school: 2012-13 (no audiovisual technology) and 2013-14 (audiovisual technology), and section exams were used to compare differences between semesters. Additionally, an online survey was used to assess the satisfaction of students who used the technology. All 284 first-year students in the two years (2012-13 N=144; 2013-14 N=140) participated in the exams. Of the 140 students in the 2013-14 class, 63 completed the survey (45% response rate). The results showed that those students who used the technology had higher scores on the laboratory exams than those who did not use it, and students in the winter semester scored higher (90.17±0.56) than in the fall semester (82.10±0.68). More than 87% of those surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that the audiovisual devices represented anatomical structures clearly in the gross anatomy laboratory. These students reported an improved experience in learning and understanding anatomical structures, found the laboratory to be less overwhelming, and said they were better able to follow dissection instructions and understand details of anatomical structures with the new technology. Based on these results, the study concluded that the ability to provide the students a clear view of anatomical structures and high-quality imaging had improved their learning experience.

Improved sleep patterns positively affect learning outcome among Danish nursing students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sølling, Ina Koldkjær; Carøe, Per

physiology is taught at the nursing education programme; this does not mean that nursing students develop good sleep habits. Methods: To support learning an innovative method was chosen where nursing students were motivated to develop good sleep habits through peer learning. Nursing students were taught...... in groups by other students, so-called sleep ambassadors. On the basis of a training programme they developed a creative concept with exercises, tests (memory and power of concentration) and social activities in connection with theoretical teaching in the subject of sleep. This concept was followed......-up by social media activities motivated the nursing students to change their sleep habits. Results: This project has been completed by one of two classes of first semester students at the nursing education programme at UCN. This class demonstrated better examination results and a lower drop-oup rate compared...

Attachment to parents, social anxiety, and close relationships of female students over the transition to college.

Science.gov (United States)

Parade, Stephanie H; Leerkes, Esther M; Blankson, A Nayena

2010-02-01

The current study examined the process by which attachment to parents influences satisfaction with and ease in forming friendships at college. One hundred seventy-two female college freshmen completed a measure of parental attachment security the summer before their first semester of college (July 2006) and measures to assess satisfaction with and ease in forming close relationships at the end of their first semester (December 2006). Students ranged in age from 18 to 20 years (M = 18.09, SD = 0.33) and were diverse in their racial makeup (30% racial minority). Consistent with predictions derived from attachment theory, secure attachment to parents was positively associated with ease in forming friendships among racial minority and white participants and satisfaction with friendships among minority participants. Moreover, indirect effects of parental attachment security on relationship outcomes through social anxiety were significant for minority participants but not for white participants. Findings may be useful in the development of retention programs targeted at incoming university freshmen, particularly minority students.

Assessment of stress in the inclusion of nursing students in hospital practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Gilberto Fernandes Pereira

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective. To verify the presence of stress among undergraduate nursing students in different stages of hospital practice. Method. Descriptive, cross-sectional study addressing 86 nursing students in their 6th, 7th, and 9th semesters in 2011. An instrument developed by Costa and Polak for the Assessment of Stress Among Nursing Students was used. It is composed of six domains: performance of practical activities, professional communication, time management, environment, professional training, and theoretical activity. Results. Most participants were women (95% and the average age was 23 years old. A total of 84% of students passed the program's courses and 91% participated in extracurricular activities. Stressors are present during the entire program but intensify when students are introduced to care practice with an emphasis on the domain of professional training; related stress was high in all the semesters. The scores concerning the practical activity domain were higher only in the 6th semester. There were statistically significant levels at 0.01 and 0.10 in the difference in the averages in the domains of training and time management, respectively, between the semesters. As the students advance in the program, scores obtained in the domains presented by AEEE change. As stress can interfere in the performance and learning of nursing students, coping strategies should be devised to enable them to deal with stress during the program.

Communication Apprehension among Nilai College Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uryani Sabri

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In recent years, ESL studies have found that most graduates are critically lacking in speaking skills, especially among Malaysia graduates. With constant struggle to communicate in English which is their second language, they become apprehensive when the need to use the language arises. The purpose of this study is to investigate communication apprehension among students from Nilai University College and whether the communication apprehension would differ among students from different semester. The respondents for the study were two classes from two different semesters with 30 students each. In this study, the PRCA-24 was used to collect data. By conducting this study, it is hoped to provide valuable insights on students’ communication apprehension.

Scaling Up: Adapting a Phage-Hunting Course to Increase Participation of First-Year Students in Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Staub, Nancy L; Poxleitner, Marianne; Braley, Amanda; Smith-Flores, Helen; Pribbenow, Christine M; Jaworski, Leslie; Lopatto, David; Anders, Kirk R

2016-01-01

Authentic research experiences are valuable components of effective undergraduate education. Research experiences during the first years of college are especially critical to increase persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) model provides a high-impact research experience to first-year students but is usually available to a limited number of students, and its implementation is costly in faculty time and laboratory space. To offer a research experience to all students taking introductory biology at Gonzaga University (n = 350/yr), we modified the traditional two-semester SEA-PHAGES course by streamlining the first-semester Phage Discovery lab and integrating the second SEA-PHAGES semester into other courses in the biology curriculum. Because most students in the introductory course are not biology majors, the Phage Discovery semester may be their only encounter with research. To discover whether students benefit from the first semester alone, we assessed the effects of the one-semester Phage Discovery course on students' understanding of course content. Specifically, students showed improvement in knowledge of bacteriophages, lab math skills, and understanding experimental design and interpretation. They also reported learning gains and benefits comparable with other course-based research experiences. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that students experienced this course as a true undergraduate research experience. © 2016 N. L. Staub et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Longitudinal study of a cooperation-driven, socio-scientific issue intervention on promoting students' critical thinking and self-regulation in learning science

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsin-Hui; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Lin, Huann-shyang; Huang, Yu-Ning; Hong, Zuway-R.

2017-10-01

This longitudinal study explored the effects of a Cooperation-driven Socioscientific Issue (CDSSI) intervention on junior high school students' perceptions of critical thinking (CT) and self-regulation (SR) in Taiwan. Forty-nine grade 7 students were randomly selected as an experimental group (EG) to attend a 3-semester 72-hour intervention; while another 49 grade 7 students from the same school were randomly selected as the comparison group (CG). All participants completed a 4-wave student questionnaire to assess their perceptions of CT and SR. In addition, 8 target students from the EG with the lowest scores on either CT or SR were purposefully recruited for weekly observation. These target students and their teachers were interviewed one month after the intervention in each semester. Analyses of covariance and paired-wise t-tests revealed that the EG students' perceptions of CT and SR in learning science were improved during the study and were significantly better than their counterparts' at the end of the study. Systematic interview and classroom observation results were consistent with the quantitative findings. This study adds empirical evidence and provides insights into how CDSSI can be integrated into planning and implementing effective pedagogical strategies aimed at increasing students' perceptions of CT and SR in learning science.

DENTAL STUDENTS' PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING DURING EXAMINATION PERIOD AND HOLIDAY.

Science.gov (United States)

Preoteasa, Cristina Teodora; Imre, Marina; Preoteasa, Elena

2015-01-01

Psychological well-being is recognized as an important health component, which influences the behavior, ability to cope with stressful events, work performance, and generally the ability to achieve one's full potential. To comparatively assess the psychological well-being of dental students during the summer semester examination period and summer holiday. A single-arm, prospective study was conducted in second year dental students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Bucharest. The psychological well-being was assessed using the WHO-Five Well-being Index. Students' psychological well-being was statistically significantly better during the summer holiday (median=19) than during the summer semester examination period (median = 11.5), Z = 3.69, p holiday, but it was significantly correlated with the WHO-Five Well-being Index score corresponding to the summer holiday, and no association was observed with the WHO-Five Well-being Index score corresponding to the summer semester examination period. Within the limits of this study, psychological well-being is likely to be negatively influenced, on a fairly large scale, by the semester examination period. Therefore, it is recommended to identify the most appropriate methods of examination with regards to the psychological load that might be a threat to the validity of students' evaluation. Additionally, training students about adequate coping strategies, designed as interventions at individual or group level, may be required.

A Large Scale Problem Based Learning inter-European Student Satellite Construction Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Frederik Dalsgaard; Alminde, Lars; Bisgaard, Morten

2006-01-01

that electronic communication technology was vital within the project. Additionally the SSETI EXPRESS project implied the following problems it didn’t fit to a standard semester - 18 months for the satellite project compared to 5/6 months for a “normal” semester project. difficulties in integrating the tasks......A LARGE SCALE PROBLEM BASED LEARNING INTER-EUROPEAN STUDENT SATELLITE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT This paper describes the pedagogical outcome of a large scale PBL experiment. ESA (European Space Agency) Education Office launched January 2004 an ambitious project: Let students from all over Europe build....... The satellite was successfully launched on October 27th 2005 (http://www.express.space.aau.dk). The project was a student driven project with student project responsibility adding at lot of international experiences and project management skills to the outcome of more traditional one semester, single group...

Self-Image and Expectations of First Year Engineering Students in a Brazilian University.

Science.gov (United States)

de Campos, Reinaldo Calixto; Grinberg, Patricia; Garcia, Ivan; Parise, Jose Alberto; da Silveira, Marcos Azevedo; Dumont, Ney

This paper is an attempt to comprehend, in a more objective way, the students undertaking the second semester at the Technical and Scientific Center from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). The research was carried out at the beginning of the semester, in one of the classes formed by students undertaking General…

The Impact of a Group Communication Course on Veterinary Medical Students' Perceptions of Communication Competence and Communication Apprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Kedrowicz, April A

2016-01-01

This paper explores the impact of a group communication course on veterinary medical students' perceptions of communication competence and communication anxiety. Students enrolled in the Group Communication in Veterinary Medicine course completed the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension and the Communicative Competence Scale at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the semester. Results show that first-year veterinary students' self-perceptions of communication competence increased and their self-reported levels of communication apprehension decreased across multiple contexts from Time 1 to Time 2. This research provides support for experiential communication training fostering skill development and confidence.

Comparison of student confidence and perceptions of biochemistry concepts using a team-based learning versus traditional lecture-based format.

Science.gov (United States)

Gryka, Rebecca; Kiersma, Mary E; Frame, Tracy R; Cailor, Stephanie M; Chen, Aleda M H

To evaluate differences in student confidence and perceptions of biochemistry concepts using a team-based learning (TBL) format versus a traditional lecture-based format at two universities. Two pedagogies (TBL vs lecture-based) were utilized to deliver biochemistry concepts at two universities in a first-professional year, semester-long biochemistry course. A 21-item instrument was created and administered pre-post semester to assess changes in confidence in learning biochemistry concepts using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (eight items, 5-point, Likert-type) and changes in student perceptions of biochemistry utilizing the theory of planned behavior (TPB) domains (13 items, 7- point, Likert-type). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to evaluate pre-post changes, and Mann Whitney U tests for differences between universities. All students (N=111) had more confidence in biochemistry concepts post-semester, but TBL students (N=53) were significantly more confident. TBL students also had greater agreement that they are expected to actively engage in science courses post-semester, according to the perceptions of biochemistry subscale. No other differences between lecture and TBL were observed post-semester. Students in a TBL course had greater gains in confidence. Since students often engage in tasks where they feel confident, TBL can be a useful pedagogy to promote student learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence and predictors of orthorexia nervosa among German students using the 21-item-DOS.

Science.gov (United States)

Depa, Julia; Schweizer, Jenny; Bekers, Sandra-Kristin; Hilzendegen, Carolin; Stroebele-Benschop, Nanette

2017-03-01

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) describes the constant pathological preoccupation with "healthy" nutrition. The current results regarding the prevalence of ON differ widely possibly because of invalid measurement tools. This study aimed to investigate ON prevalence in a sample of German students and to examine age, gender, semester, and nutritional knowledge as potential predictors of ON by comparing nutrition science (NS) with economics (ES) students. A total of 446 university students participated in the survey (NS 188, ES 268). ON was determined using the 21-item-DOS, which is a well-constructed, validated, and reliability-tested questionnaire. Age, gender, and semester were also assessed. Of the total sample, 3.3 % were classified as having ON and 9.0 % were at risk of developing ON. Older students scored significantly higher on the subscale "avoidance of additives" compared with younger students and students of lower semester suffered significantly more often from ON than students of higher semester. In addition, comparing field of study showed no significant difference in the prevalence of ON or the risk of developing ON between female NS and ES students. However, mean values for the three DOS subscales were higher among female NS students, albeit far below values indicating pathological behavior. The prevalence of ON appears to be low in this sample of German university students. Female NS students do not seem to have higher prevalence of ON or risk of developing ON.

Exploring physics students' engagement with online instructional videos in an introductory mechanics course

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Yin; Aiken, John M.; Seaton, Daniel T.; Douglas, Scott S.; Greco, Edwin F.; Thoms, Brian D.; Schatz, Michael F.

2017-12-01

The advent of new educational technologies has stimulated interest in using online videos to deliver content in university courses. We examined student engagement with 78 online videos that we created and were incorporated into a one-semester flipped introductory mechanics course at the Georgia Institute of Technology. We found that students were more engaged with videos that supported laboratory activities than with videos that presented lecture content. In particular, the percentage of students accessing laboratory videos was consistently greater than 80% throughout the semester. On the other hand, the percentage of students accessing lecture videos dropped to less than 40% by the end of the term. Moreover, the fraction of students accessing the entirety of a video decreases when videos become longer in length, and this trend is more prominent for the lecture videos than the laboratory videos. The results suggest that students may access videos based on perceived value: students appear to consider the laboratory videos as essential for successfully completing the laboratories while they appear to consider the lecture videos as something more akin to supplemental material. In this study, we also found that there was little correlation between student engagement with the videos and their incoming background. There was also little correlation found between student engagement with the videos and their performance in the course. An examination of the in-video content suggests that students engaged more with concrete information that is explicitly required for assignment completion (e.g., actions required to complete laboratory work, or formulas or mathematical expressions needed to solve particular problems) and less with content that is considered more conceptual in nature. It was also found that students' in-video accesses usually increased toward the embedded interaction points. However, students did not necessarily access the follow-up discussion of these

ROUNTABLE AS A TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING WRITING A NARRATIVE TEXT: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ON THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF THE ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF IKIP PGRI SEMARANG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Musarokah

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study mainly aims at applying Roundtable technique in teaching writing narrative text for the fourth semester students of English Education Department of IKIP PGRI Semarang in the academic year 2012-2013. This study also aims at finding out the problems faced by the students and the lecturer when the technique is applied in teaching learning process. The design of this study is a qualitative research. Observation and interview were used to collect the data. In analyzing the data, there are three steps done, namely data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusion. The result of the study is that to apply Roundtable technique in teaching narrative text, there are some steps done: 1 the students were grouped into six each of which consisted of 5 to 6 students, 2 the groups were given the same topic, 3 the lecturer gave a paper and a pen to each group, 4 roles were labeled to each student based on the generic structure of narrative text, 5 students in each group wrote narrative text based on the roles got, 6 each group submitted their work, 7 each group evaluated and corrected the other group’s work, and 8 each group reported their group evaluation to the whole class. There were some problems faced by the students when the technique applied: 1 the students seemed to face difficulty when they had to continue their friend’s work, and 2 the students tend to ask their friends in individual work because of their lack of vocabulary mastery, 3 chaos happened in some groups due to different perspective they had toward the story. Instead of the problems faced by the students, the lecturer also faced the difficulties in running this technique: 1 the lecturer got involved to deep in the group management and 2 the lecturer found it difficult in giving guidance to the students.

Benefits of completing homework for students with different aptitudes in an introductory electricity and magnetism course

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F. J. Kontur

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We examine how student aptitudes impact how much students learn from doing graded online and written homework in an introductory electricity and magnetism course. Our analysis examines the correlation between successful homework completion rates and exam performance as well as how changes in homework completion correlate with changes in exam scores for students with different physics aptitudes. On average, successfully completing many homework problems correlated to better exam scores only for students with high physics aptitude. On the other hand, all other students showed zero or even a negative correlation between successful homework completion and exam performance. Low- and medium-aptitude students who did more homework did no better and sometimes scored lower on exams than their low- and medium-aptitude peers who did less homework. Our work also shows that long-term changes in homework completion correlated to long-term changes in exam scores only for students with high physics aptitude, but not for students with medium or low aptitude. We offer several explanations for the disparity in homework learning gains, including cognitive load theory, ineffective homework strategies, and various mismatches between homework and exams. Several solutions are proposed to address these possible deficiencies in graded online and written homework.

Benefits of completing homework for students with different aptitudes in an introductory electricity and magnetism course

Science.gov (United States)

Kontur, F. J.; de La Harpe, K.; Terry, N. B.

2015-06-01

We examine how student aptitudes impact how much students learn from doing graded online and written homework in an introductory electricity and magnetism course. Our analysis examines the correlation between successful homework completion rates and exam performance as well as how changes in homework completion correlate with changes in exam scores for students with different physics aptitudes. On average, successfully completing many homework problems correlated to better exam scores only for students with high physics aptitude. On the other hand, all other students showed zero or even a negative correlation between successful homework completion and exam performance. Low- and medium-aptitude students who did more homework did no better and sometimes scored lower on exams than their low- and medium-aptitude peers who did less homework. Our work also shows that long-term changes in homework completion correlated to long-term changes in exam scores only for students with high physics aptitude, but not for students with medium or low aptitude. We offer several explanations for the disparity in homework learning gains, including cognitive load theory, ineffective homework strategies, and various mismatches between homework and exams. Several solutions are proposed to address these possible deficiencies in graded online and written homework.

Engagement as predictors of performance in a single cohort of undergraduate chiropractic students.

Science.gov (United States)

Rix, Jacqueline; Dewhurst, Philip; Cooke, Caroline; Newell, David

2017-03-01

To investigate the potential association of novel academic and nonacademic factors with chiropractic student academic performance. Students enrolled into year 1 of a chiropractic master's degree (MChiro) at our college were selected for this study. Data collected included demographics, attendance, virtual learning environment use, additional learning needs, previous degree qualifications, and summative marks. Differences between students who had to take an examination more than once (resit) and nonresit students were explored using t test and χ 2 analysis. Relationships between attendance and end-of-year marks were explored using regression analysis. Male students outperformed female students in four of the six units and as the total year average. Students who attended risk [ RR] = 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-4.9). Students who performed poorly (<70%) in the semester 1 unit of a course on human structure and failed the semester 1 practical assessment of a course on clinical management were significantly more likely to have one or more resit assessments in semester 2 units ( RR = 3.5 [95% CI, 2.2-5.7]; RR = 3.2 [95% CI, 2.0-4.9]). Attendance and unit 105 were independent predictors of one or more resits at the end-of-year ( R 2 = 0.86, p < .001). Attendance and first semester summative marks were associated with end-of-year performance. As such, these markers of performance may be used to flag struggling students in the program.

A Survey Tool for Assessing Student Expectations Early in a Semester

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Karl R.B. Schmitt

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Quality learning is fostered when faculty members are aware of and address student expectations for course learning activities and assessments. However, faculty often have difficulty identifying and addressing student expectations given variations in students’ backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs about education. Prior research has described significant discrepancies between student and faculty expectations that result from cultural backgrounds (1, technological expertise (2, and ‘teaching dimensions’ as described by Trudeau and Barnes (4. Such studies illustrate the need for tools to identify and index student expectations, which can be used to facilitate a dialogue between instructor and students. Here we present the results of our work to develop, refine, and deploy such a tool.

Introducing an Innovative Project Management Framework for First Year Students – Project Work in a PBL Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Lise B.; Møller, Michael Labovic

2010-01-01

Students at Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark are educated according to the Aalborg Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach which entails working in groups and completing a project each semester. In accordance with this approach students are offered a course – Co-operation, Learning and Project...... in general acknowledge the benefits of thorough project plans and schedules, they often experience difficulties developing them and abiding by them. These experienced difficulties are caused by lack of motivation and competence within this particular area of project management. This paper describes how a new...

A Convergent Mixed-Methods Exploration of the Effects of Community-Engaged Coursework on Graduate Student Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinour, Lauren M; Szaro, Jacalyn; Blumberg, Renata; Bose, Mousumi

2018-03-06

To examine the impact of a community-engaged assignment on graduate student learning in the nutritional sciences. Convergent mixed-methods design with parallel data collection and terminal merging of data. Data were composed of grant proposals, reflection papers, and informal course evaluations from 2 semesters of the same course. Fall students wrote proposals on behalf of a community partner whereas spring students wrote fictitious grants to improve nutrition on their campus. A large public university in northeastern US. Students enrolled in the fall (n = 19) or spring (n = 14) semester of the same graduate nutrition course. Grant quality, student engagement, and collaboration with peers. Quantitative rubric-based rating of grant proposals, emergent and thematic qualitative coding of open-ended responses, and independent-samples t test of Likert-scale questions. Data were compared between semesters and reported in a contiguous narrative approach. Students across semesters experienced academic and personal gains from the assignment. Comparatively, fall students expressed enhanced engagement, improved group dynamics, more frequent application of the assignment to their lives, and a better aggregate grant score. Both experiential and community-engaged coursework can enhance learning outcomes at the graduate level and prepare students for careers in nutrition. Copyright © 2018 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Benefits of completing homework for students with different aptitudes in an introductory electricity and magnetism course

OpenAIRE

F. J. Kontur; K. de La Harpe; N. B. Terry

2015-01-01

We examine how student aptitudes impact how much students learn from doing graded online and written homework in an introductory electricity and magnetism course. Our analysis examines the correlation between successful homework completion rates and exam performance as well as how changes in homework completion correlate with changes in exam scores for students with different physics aptitudes. On average, successfully completing many homework problems correlated to better exam scores only fo...

Theories of the Universe: A One Semester Course for Honors Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Dimmock, John O.; Adams, Mitzi; Sever, Tom

1999-01-01

For the last two years The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has delivered a one semester course entitled Theories of The Universe as a seminar for undergraduate honors students. The enrollment is limited to fifteen students to encourage a maximum amount of interaction and discussion. The course has been team-taught enlisting the support of four scientists from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as well as UAH faculty from the history, philosophy, biology and physics departments. The course mixes history, mythology, philosophy, religion, and, of course, science and astronomy. The course traces mankind's view of the universe and how that has changed from about 30,000 years BCE to the current observations and models. Starting with a brief history of mankind we trace the evolution of ideas including Prehistoric European, Babylonian, Egyptian, Asian, North, Central and South American, African, Chinese, Greek, Middle Ages, Copernican, Galileo, Kepler, the Renaissance and Enlightenment, Newton, Einstein, and Hawking etc. Namely, we try to touch on just about every different view to puzzles of quantum cosmology, missing mass and the cosmological constant. By the end of the course, students should have a good understanding of: (1) the human desire and need for understanding; (2) the interplay between observations, modeling and theory development, and the need for revisions based on further observations; (3) the role of developing technology in advancing knowledge; (4) the evolution of our views of the universe and our relation to it; and (5) where we are today in our quest. Students are required to write two term papers and present them to the class. The final exam is a open discussion on our views of what we have learned.

Pathways of Sleep, Affect, and Stress Constellations during the First Year of College: Transition Difficulties of Emerging Adults

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Ari, Lilac Lev; Shulman, Shmuel

2012-01-01

One hundred and fifty Israeli first-year college students were assessed twice: during the first semester following the commencement of their undergraduate studies and toward the end of the second semester. At each semester, participants completed web-based daily diaries for seven consecutive days assessing daily sleep, affective mood, stress, and…

“For a Long Time Our Voices have been Hushed”: Using Student Perspectives to Develop Supports for Neurodiverse College Students

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Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen; Bublitz, Dennis; Donachie, Annemarie; Wong, Vincent; Brooks, Patricia J.; D’Onofrio, Joanne

2017-01-01

Although the challenges that autistic students face adapting to college are often pronounced, they are similar to the challenges that students with other disabilities face (e.g., difficulties with social interaction, self-advocacy, and executive functioning). However, extant evaluations of services for autistic college students are very limited despite an emerging literature examining supports for college students with a range of other disabilities. Given that many autistic students do not self-identify as autistic in college, and consequently might avoid autism-specific services, autistic students might benefit from services that are designed to support a broad range of neurodiverse students, or services that are structured according to the principles of Universal Design. In order to develop such services, we assessed the self-reported needs of autistic college students and their peers with other disabilities. Guided by needs assessments and feedback from students, we developed and evaluated two semesters of mentor-led group programming for autistic college students and students with other disabilities. The first semester of the program focused on social skills; after receiving feedback from participants, the curriculum for the second semester focused on self-advocacy. Participation in social-skills groups was associated with decreased anxiety and autism symptoms. Participation in self-advocacy groups was associated with increased perceived social support from friends, academic self-efficacy, and more accurate definitions of self-advocacy. This research suggests that supports for neurodiverse college students should be developed with their input and should include opportunities to engage with diverse peers. PMID:28458645

The effect of two grading systems on the performance of medical students during oral examinations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ba-Ali, Shakoor; Jemec, Gregor B E; Sander, Birgit

2017-01-01

group (p = 0.45). Moreover, the average mark was higher among the international students (mean = 10.3, on the seven-point grading scale) than in the Danish speaking classes (mean = 9.1). CONCLUSION: The seven-point grading scale seems to motivate students to yield a better performance; hence tiered......INTRODUCTION: Either a pass/fail approach or a seven-point grading scale are used to evaluate students at the Danish universities. The aim of this study was to explore any effect of the assessment methods on student performances during oral exams. METHODS: In a prospective study including 1......,037 examinations in three medical subjects, we investigated the difference in the test scores between the spring- and autumn semester. In the spring semester, the students could either pass or fail the subject (pass/fail) while in the following autumn semester, the students were assessed by tiered grading (seven...

[From freshmanship to the first "Staatsexamen"--increase of depression and decline in sense of coherence and mental quality of life in advanced medical students].

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, Pascal H M; Tektas, Ozan Y; Paulsen, Friedrich; Scholz, Michael

2014-08-01

Psychiatric disorders (Burnout, depression, anxiety disorders) are common among medical students with a distinctly higher prevalence compared to the general public. Although medi-cal students show a normal health status at the beginning of their university study period, a deterioration of these aspects in higher semesters is evident and continues when they become residents. In our study ESTRELLAS we examined 530 medical students in the preclinical semesters (1st-4th) before their first "Staatsexamen" with validated psychological questionnaires for depression, anxiety, quality of life and sense of coherence. Students in their 1st semester show normal values like the general public. During the 4 semesters a slow and continuous rise of depressive symptoms and anxiety was detected. Quality of life and sense of coherence constantly deteriorated. An increase of physical symptoms was not detected. In the 4th semester the number of depressive students had already doubled. The development of worsening psychological problems and resulting psychiatric disorders seems to be a continuous process, starting with the beginning of the medical studies and growing continuously during the preclinical semesters. Effect-ive strategies for coping with distress should be integrated in the medical curriculum at universities from the very first semester on. Relaxation techniques could thus be an opportunity. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Ergonomic factors that cause the presence of pain muscle in students of dentistry

OpenAIRE

Díaz Caballero, Antonio José; Gomez Palencia, Isabel Patricia; Díaz Cárdenas, Shyrley

2010-01-01

Objective: To identify the ergonomic factors and the presence of muscular pain in dental students of VIII, IX, X semesters presently practicing at the clinics of the College of Dentistry of university of Cartagena, Colombia, South America. Materials and methods: This is a descriptive study carried out in dental students of the VIII, IX, and X semesters which were undergoing clinical practice at the College of Dentistry of University of Cartagena. A convenience sample of 83 students who m...

The Aftermath of Remedial Math: Investigating the Low Rate of Certificate Completion among Remedial Math Students

Science.gov (United States)

Bahr, Peter Riley

2013-01-01

Nationally, a majority of community college students require remedial assistance with mathematics, but comparatively few students who begin the remedial math sequence ultimately complete it and achieve college-level math competency. The academic outcomes of students who begin the sequence but do not complete it are disproportionately unfavorable:…

Just as smart but not as successful: obese students obtain lower school grades but equivalent test scores to nonobese students.

Science.gov (United States)

MacCann, C; Roberts, R D

2013-01-01

The obesity epidemic in industrialized nations has important implications for education, as research demonstrates lower academic achievement among obese students. The current paper compares the test scores and school grades of obese, overweight and normal-weight students in secondary and further education, controlling for demographic variables, personality, ability and well-being confounds. This study included 383 eighth-grade students (49% female; study 1) and 1036 students from 24 community colleges and universities (64% female, study 2), both drawn from five regions across the United States. In study 1, body mass index (BMI) was calculated using self-reports and parent reports of weight and height. In study 2, BMI was calculated from self-reported weight and height only. Both samples completed age-appropriate assessments of mathematics, vocabulary and the personality trait conscientiousness. Eighth-grade students additionally completed a measure of life satisfaction, with both self-reports and parent reports of their grades from the previous semester also obtained. Higher education students additionally completed measures of positive and negative affect, and self-reported their grades and college entrance scores. Obese students receive significantly lower grades in middle school (d=0.83), community college (d=0.34) and university (d=0.36), but show no statistically significant differences in intelligence or achievement test scores. Even after controlling for demographic variables, intelligence, personality and well-being, obese students obtain significantly lower grades than normal-weight students in the eighth grade (d=0.39), community college (d=0.42) and university (d=0.31). Lower grades may reflect peer and teacher prejudice against overweight and obese students rather than lack of ability among these students.

Assessment of stress among physiotherapy students at Riphah Centre of Rehabilitation Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabih, Fazaila; Siddiqui, Farah Rashid; Baber, Muhammad Naveed

2013-03-01

To assess stress and psychological morbidity in undergraduate students of physiotherapy at Riphah Centre of Rehabilitation Sciences (RCRS). A cross-sectional study was conducted from 2008 to 2010 at RCRS. Two hundred and thirty one students from first semester to fourth semester were included in the study. The data was collected through a semi-structured proforma and the Student Life Stress Inventory (SLSI) scale. Data was analysed by applying t-test and ANOVA with SPSS version 17. Two hundred and three respondents (88%) reported feeling stressed: 97(42%) students were mildly stressed, 92(40%) were moderately stressed, and 14 (6%) were severely stressed. Significant gender differences were found on the total score of stress, stressors and reactions. The findings revealed that females face more stressors especially pressures (pstress is higher in 4th semester RCRS students. The findings reveal the higher level of stress in undergraduate physiotherapy students. The high psychological morbidity necessitates the need for interventions like counseling and psychological support to improve the quality of life for these allied health care professionals.

Strategies against burnout and anxiety in medical education--implementation and evaluation of a new course on relaxation techniques (Relacs) for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Katharina; Scholz, Michael; Ropohl, Axel; Bräuer, Lars; Paulsen, Friedrich; Burger, Pascal H M

2014-01-01

Burnout and stress-related mental disorders (depression, anxiety) occur in medical students and physicians with a significantly higher prevalence than in the general population. At the same time, the learning of coping mechanisms against stress is still not an integral part of medical education. In this pilot study we developed an elective course for learning relaxation techniques and examined the condition of the students before and after the course. 42 students participated in the semester courses in 2012 and 2013 as well as in a survey at the start and end of each course. The students were instructed in autogenic training (AT) and progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobsen (PMR) with the goal of independent and regular exercising. At the beginning and the end of the semester/course the students were interviewed using standardized, validated questionnaires on burnout (BOSS-II) and anxiety (STAI-G), depression (BDI), quality of life (SF-12) and sense of coherence (SOC-L9). We compared the results of our students participating in Relacs with results from eight semester medical students (n = 88), assessed with the same questionnaires at similar points of time within their semester. Participating students showed a significant decline in cognitive and emotional burnout stress and in trait anxiety. Furthermore, they showed a reduction in state anxiety and a conspicuous decrease in mean depression. The sense of coherence increased at the same time. A comparative cohort of medical students of 8th semester students, showed lower values for the specified measurement parameters at the beginning, but showed no progressive changes. Our course introducing AT and PMR led to a significant reduction of burnout and anxiety within the participating group of medical students. Even the course attendance for just one semester resulted in significant improvements in the evaluated parameters in contrast to those students who did not attend the course.

Strategies against burnout and anxiety in medical education--implementation and evaluation of a new course on relaxation techniques (Relacs for medical students.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharina Wild

Full Text Available Burnout and stress-related mental disorders (depression, anxiety occur in medical students and physicians with a significantly higher prevalence than in the general population. At the same time, the learning of coping mechanisms against stress is still not an integral part of medical education. In this pilot study we developed an elective course for learning relaxation techniques and examined the condition of the students before and after the course. 42 students participated in the semester courses in 2012 and 2013 as well as in a survey at the start and end of each course. The students were instructed in autogenic training (AT and progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobsen (PMR with the goal of independent and regular exercising. At the beginning and the end of the semester/course the students were interviewed using standardized, validated questionnaires on burnout (BOSS-II and anxiety (STAI-G, depression (BDI, quality of life (SF-12 and sense of coherence (SOC-L9. We compared the results of our students participating in Relacs with results from eight semester medical students (n = 88, assessed with the same questionnaires at similar points of time within their semester. Participating students showed a significant decline in cognitive and emotional burnout stress and in trait anxiety. Furthermore, they showed a reduction in state anxiety and a conspicuous decrease in mean depression. The sense of coherence increased at the same time. A comparative cohort of medical students of 8th semester students, showed lower values for the specified measurement parameters at the beginning, but showed no progressive changes. Our course introducing AT and PMR led to a significant reduction of burnout and anxiety within the participating group of medical students. Even the course attendance for just one semester resulted in significant improvements in the evaluated parameters in contrast to those students who did not attend the course.

Predicting Successful Completion Using Student Delay Indicators in Undergraduate Self-Paced Online Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Janine M.

2016-01-01

Self-paced online courses meet flexibility and learning needs of many students, but skepticism persists regarding the quality and the tendency for students to procrastinate in self-paced courses. Research is needed to understand procrastination and delay patterns of students in online self-paced courses to predict successful completion and…

Students are doing it for themselves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Sanne

2014-01-01

Though the notion of the ‘problem’ is central to self-directed and research-like problem-oriented learning approaches in universities, few studies have focused on how students themselves conceptualize it. The purpose of this study is to investigate how university students communicatively frame ‘the...... problem-oriented problem’ in their own problem-oriented writing, and how such frames develop over time. The corpus of analysis consists of a total of 30 student reports each presenting a self-generated problem-oriented project within the humanities, performed and written collaboratively. Thirteen...... of the reports were produced after one semester and 17 after four semesters of academic studies. The results show that while one half of the students can be said to articulate heuristic problems, the other half only manage to present subjects without problems. It is suggested that in order to challenge...

Strategies against Burnout and Anxiety in Medical Education – Implementation and Evaluation of a New Course on Relaxation Techniques (Relacs) for Medical Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ropohl, Axel; Bräuer, Lars; Paulsen, Friedrich; Burger, Pascal H. M.

2014-01-01

Burnout and stress-related mental disorders (depression, anxiety) occur in medical students and physicians with a significantly higher prevalence than in the general population. At the same time, the learning of coping mechanisms against stress is still not an integral part of medical education. In this pilot study we developed an elective course for learning relaxation techniques and examined the condition of the students before and after the course. 42 students participated in the semester courses in 2012 and 2013 as well as in a survey at the start and end of each course. The students were instructed in autogenic training (AT) and progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobsen (PMR) with the goal of independent and regular exercising. At the beginning and the end of the semester/course the students were interviewed using standardized, validated questionnaires on burnout (BOSS-II) and anxiety (STAI-G), depression (BDI), quality of life (SF-12) and sense of coherence (SOC-L9). We compared the results of our students participating in Relacs with results from eight semester medical students (n = 88), assessed with the same questionnaires at similar points of time within their semester. Participating students showed a significant decline in cognitive and emotional burnout stress and in trait anxiety. Furthermore, they showed a reduction in state anxiety and a conspicuous decrease in mean depression. The sense of coherence increased at the same time. A comparative cohort of medical students of 8th semester students, showed lower values for the specified measurement parameters at the beginning, but showed no progressive changes. Our course introducing AT and PMR led to a significant reduction of burnout and anxiety within the participating group of medical students. Even the course attendance for just one semester resulted in significant improvements in the evaluated parameters in contrast to those students who did not attend the course. PMID:25517399

Mobile phone usage pattern among undergraduate medical students at a Medical College of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bobby Paul

2014-12-01

Full Text Available AbstractObjective: Mobile phone usage has reached all ages across all segments of society, and its radiofrequency waves are an increasing concern among the general population. To find out the pattern of mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students and their perceived symptoms and awareness about negative health effects due to their exposure to the radiofrequency waves. Methods: A descriptive type of epidemiological study was conducted among 295 undergraduate medical students in the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, in August 2012 after obtaining Institutional Ethical Clearance. Data were collected by a pre-designed and pre-tested, semi structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS software, version 19.0. Results: Among the 1st semester students, browsing of the internet became the predominant activity; while listening to music and radio was the preferred activity among the 3rd, 5th and 7th semester students. In lecture class, 1st semester students (62.5% switch off; 40.6% of 5th semester students receive and 63.63% of 7th semester students keep the phone in silence mode. Duration of mobile phone usage was maximum among students who perceived headache as a side effect of usage. About 62.3% study subjects cited accidents as a harmful effect, followed by lack of concentration. Conclusions: Regulatory bodies should lay down specific regulations and guidelines regarding mobile phone usage in class as well as during patient care. Further research is needed to comment on long term health outcome keeping in view its usage and popularity among younger people. Keywords: Mobile phone use, medical students, hazard awareness 

Student and high-school characteristics related to completing a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) major in college

Science.gov (United States)

LeBeau, Brandon; Harwell, Michael; Monson, Debra; Dupuis, Danielle; Medhanie, Amanuel; Post, Thomas R.

2012-04-01

Background: The importance of increasing the number of US college students completing degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) has prompted calls for research to provide a better understanding of factors related to student participation in these majors, including the impact of a student's high-school mathematics curriculum. Purpose: This study examines the relationship between various student and high-school characteristics and completion of a STEM major in college. Of specific interest is the influence of a student's high-school mathematics curriculum on the completion of a STEM major in college. Sample: The sample consisted of approximately 3500 students from 229 high schools. Students were predominantly Caucasian (80%), with slightly more males than females (52% vs 48%). Design and method: A quasi-experimental design with archival data was used for students who enrolled in, and graduated from, a post-secondary institution in the upper Midwest. To be included in the sample, students needed to have completed at least three years of high-school mathematics. A generalized linear mixed model was used with students nested within high schools. The data were cross-sectional. Results: High-school predictors were not found to have a significant impact on the completion of a STEM major. Significant student-level predictors included ACT mathematics score, gender and high-school mathematics GPA. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that on average students are equally prepared for the rigorous mathematics coursework regardless of the high-school mathematics curriculum they completed.

Using consultation in student groups to improve development of team work skills amongst more reluctant students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2015-01-01

the students a very deep learning of the subjects they study and also very good problem solving skills and team work competencies both highly appreciated by the Danish companies. An important aspect of the first semester of the education is a course where the students get tools and tricks for good...... later discussing the answers with the team members, enhancing their reflections on the experiences gained by using the methods in the project work. This paper describes the setup of the course and the consultation and analyses the effects of the change by comparing the two cohorts of Bait students from......Since Aalborg University (AAU) was founded it has been using an educational model, where Problem Based Learning is the turning point. Each semester the students work in groups using half of the study time to solve and document a real-world engineering problem. Working with problems gives...

A Qualitative Investigation of Student Engagement in a Flipped Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Steen-Utheim, Anna Therese; Foldnes, Njål

2018-01-01

The flipped classroom is gaining acceptance in higher education as an alternative to more traditional methods of teaching. In the current study, twelve students in a Norwegian higher education institution were in-depth interviewed about their learning experiences in a two-semester long mathematics course. The first semester was taught using…

Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates--Fall 2010 Cohort (Signature Report No. 12)

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Doug; Dundar, Afet; Wakhungu, Phoebe Khasiala; Yuan, Xin; Nathan, Angel; Hwang, Youngsik

2016-01-01

This fifth annual report on national college completion rates offers a look at the six-year outcomes for students who began postsecondary education in fall 2010, toward the end of the Great Recession. It looks at the various pathways students took toward degree completion, as well as the completion rates through May 2016 for the different student…

Does Burnout Begin with Student-Teaching? Analyzing Efficacy, Burnout, and Support during the Student-Teaching Semester

Science.gov (United States)

Fives, Helenrose; Hamman, Doug; Olivarez, Arturo

2007-01-01

The burnout process may begin as early as the student-teaching experience [Gold, Y., 1985. Does teacher burnout begin with student teaching? "Education", 105, 254-257]. Data from 49 student-teachers in the southwest United States were gathered twice during their student-teaching practicum. Data assessing teacher efficacy, teacher…

Dental students' motivation and the context of learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Bettina Tjagvad; Netterstrom, Ingeborg; Kayser, Lars

2009-01-01

This qualitative study shows dental students' motives for choosing the dental education and how the motives influence their motivation at the first semester of study. Further the study demonstrates the relevance of the context of learning. This issue is of importance when planning a curriculum...... for the dental education. The material consists of interviews with eight dental students. The results show that dental students were focused on their future professional role, its practical dimensions and their future working conditions. Their motivation for choosing the dental education was found to influence...... their motivation for studying and their experience of the relevance of the first semester. The dental students who had co-education with the medical students at the first year of study missed a dental context and courses with clinically relevant contents. In conclusion, our data signify the importance...

Using reflective learning journals to improve students learning and awareness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2008-01-01

students are working in teams together and given special help to develop team and project work skills. When Danish and foreign students are grouped in mixed teams on the 2nd semester, still the Danish students are experts in project work and they are not familiar with taking in less skilled newcomers...... examples from the learning journals, proving that the students reach the learning goals of the course being able to discuss a more professional approach to their team work and they plan how to help foreigners entering their team.......This paper addresses the problem of mixing Danish engineering students having 3 years of experience with project work in teams (PBL setting at Aalborg University), with foreign students starting on Master Engineering educations with close to zero PBL experience. The first semester the foreign...

Students' views of cooperative learning and group testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Jay

2007-01-01

Today's radiologic technology students must learn to collaborate and communicate to function as part of the health care team. Innovative educational techniques such as cooperative learning (working collectively in small groups) and group testing (collaborating on tests) can foster these skills. Assess students' familiarity with and opinions about cooperative learning and group testing before and after participation in a semester-long course incorporating these methods. Twenty-eight students enrolled in a baccalaureate-level radiologic technology program in Louisiana were surveyed at the beginning and end of the semester. Results showed that students were more knowledgeable about and more accepting of cooperative learning and group testing after participating in the course. However, some students continued to prefer independent learning. Students are open to new learning methods such as cooperative learning and group testing. These techniques can help them develop the skills they will need to function collaboratively in the workplace.

Semester-long inquiry-based molecular biology laboratory: Transcriptional regulation in yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Oelkers, Peter M

2017-03-04

A single semester molecular biology laboratory has been developed in which students design and execute a project examining transcriptional regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three weeks of planning are allocated to developing a hypothesis through literature searches and use of bioinformatics. Common experimental plans address a cell process and how three genes that encode for proteins involved in that process are transcriptionally regulated in response to changing environmental conditions. Planning includes designing oligonucleotides to amplify the putative promoters of the three genes of interest. After the PCR, each product is cloned proximal to β-galactosidase in a yeast reporter plasmid. Techniques used include agarose electrophoresis, extraction of DNA from agarose, plasmid purification from bacteria, restriction digestion, ligation, and bacterial transformation. This promoter/reporter plasmid is then transformed into yeast. Transformed yeast are cultured in conditions prescribed in the experimental design, lysed and β-galactosidase activity is measured. The course provides an independent research experience in a group setting. Notebooks are maintained on-line with regular feedback. Projects culminate with the presentation of a poster worth 60% of the grade. Over the last three years, about 65% of students met expectations for experimental design, data acquisition, and analysis. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(2):145-151, 2017. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Early Engagement in Course-Based Research Increases Graduation Rates and Completion of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Degrees.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodenbusch, Stacia E; Hernandez, Paul R; Simmons, Sarah L; Dolan, Erin L

2016-01-01

National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research laboratories. Yet there are few if any studies that examine the long-term effects of participating in CUREs on desired student outcomes, such as graduating from college and completing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major. One CURE program, the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), has engaged thousands of first-year undergraduates over the past decade. Using propensity score-matching to control for student-level differences, we tested the effect of participating in FRI on students' probability of graduating with a STEM degree, probability of graduating within 6 yr, and grade point average (GPA) at graduation. Students who completed all three semesters of FRI were significantly more likely than their non-FRI peers to earn a STEM degree and graduate within 6 yr. FRI had no significant effect on students' GPAs at graduation. The effects were similar for diverse students. These results provide the most robust and best-controlled evidence to date to support calls for early involvement of undergraduates in research. © 2016 S. Rodenbusch et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Student attitude towards communication skills learning in a Caribbean medical school.

Science.gov (United States)

Shankar, Pr; Dubey, Ak; Balasubramanium, R; Dwivedi, Nr

2013-01-01

Medical student attitudes towards communication skills are important for curriculum planners and teachers. Xavier University School of Medicine (XUSOM) is a private medical school admitting students mainly from the United States and Canada. Attitude of students towards communication skills has not been previously studied in the institution. Hence the present study was carried out. The study was carried out among the first, second, third and fourth semester undergraduate medical (MD) students at XUSOM, Aruba during July 2013 using the communication skills attitude scale (CSAS). Respondents' age, gender, nationality, occupation of parents, place of residence of family, semester of study were noted. The positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated and compared among different subgroups of respondents (pcommunication skills. The mean positive attitude scale (PAS) score was 47.65 (maximum being 65) and the mean negative attitude scale (NAS) score was 31.06 (maximum 65). PAS score was significantly higher among respondents whose fathers were not in health related professions. NAS scores were significantly lower among the third and fourth semester respondents. Students overall had a positive attitude towards communication skills but negative attitudes were also noted Based on results of the study and a review of literature we are planning to start communication skills learning in the institution right from the first semester and students will be provided opportunities for supervised practice during early clinical exposure, hospital observership and with standardised patients. The medical humanities module will be expanded and communication skills learning will continue during the clinical years with higher order skills being taught.

Pre-Clinical Medical Students' Exposure to and Attitudes Toward Pharmaceutical Industry Marketing.

Science.gov (United States)

Fein, Eric H; Vermillion, Michelle L; Uijtdehaage, Sebastian H J

2007-12-01

Background - Recent studies have examined the exposures and attitudes of physicians and third- and fourth-year medical students toward pharmaceutical industry marketing, but fewer studies have addressed these topics among pre-clinical medical students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess pre-clinical students' level of exposure to the pharmaceutical industry and their attitudes toward marketing. Method - First and second-year medical students at UCLA completed a 40-item survey based on previous studies. Results - Over three quarters of pre-clinical students (78.5% or 226 of 288) responded to the survey. Exposure to pharmaceutical industry marketing started very early in medical school. Most second-year students (77%) had received gifts including drug samples after three semesters. Most felt that this would not affect their future prescribing behavior. Conclusions - These findings and findings from related studies, coupled with the students' desire to learn more about the issue, suggest that an early educational intervention addressing this topic may be warranted in American medical schools.

3rd Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The report contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. Most of the project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short candidate projects as well as regular 3rd semester...

3rd Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2012

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Johan

The report contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. Most of the project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short candidate projects as well as regular 3rd semester...

How chemistry students study for an exam: A phenomenographic analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Lowrey, Kirsten Andrea

2002-08-01

The purpose of this research was to understand the different ways that students in a second-semester general chemistry course studied for an exam. I conducted this research using a qualitative methodology based on phenomenography (Marton, Hounsell & Entwistle, 1997). I conducted interviews before and after the first exam in CHM 116. I analyzed these interviews to describe students' studying styles. I analyzed the data from four students and presented this data as case studies. I completed a cross-case analysis that included data from five additional students. My results describe three different studying styles that were found: visual, self-regulated, and quantitative. Each studying style included a description of the characteristics associated with students who use the style, including epistemological beliefs, specific study behaviors, and affective response to learning chemistry. My implications discuss the relationship between this study and learning styles research, as well as other phenomenographic research. Suggestions are made for how to adapt teaching methods to take into account the different studying styles.

Student and Instructor-Centered Approaches to Teaching Precalculus

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Tara C.; Lu', Hùng

2015-01-01

This paper describes the results of a two-semester-long study of the effects of student-centered instruction on Precalculus courses. We also describe our teaching approaches centering around students, which include a mixture of lectures, student presentations, group work, discussion, and guided investigations. Students were taught with either the…

Examination performances of German and international medical students in the preclinical studying-term--a descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Huhn, D; Resch, F; Duelli, R; Möltner, A; Huber, J; Karimian Jazi, K; Amr, A; Eckart, W; Herzog, W; Nikendei, C

2014-01-01

Medical students with a migration background face several specific problems during their studies. International surveys show first indications that this group of students performs worse in written, oral or practical exams. However, so far, nothing is known about the performance of international students in written pre-clinical tests as well as in pre-clinical State Examinations for German-speaking countries. A descriptive, retrospective analysis of the exam performances of medical students in the pre-clinical part of their studies was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine of Heidelberg in for the year 2012. Performance in written tests of the final exams in the second (N=276), third (N=292) and fourth semester (N=285) were compared between German students, students from EU countries and students from non-EU countries. Same comparison was drawn for the performance in the oral exam of the First State Examination in the period from 2009 - 2012 (N=1137). German students performed significantly better than students with a non-EU migration background both in all written exams and in the oral State Examination (all pstudents with an EU migration background was significantly better than that of students with a non-EU background in the written exam at the end of the third and fourth semester (pstudents completed the oral exam of the First State Examination significantly earlier than students with a non-EU migration background (students with a country of origin outside of the European Union has to be seen as a high-risk group among students with a migration background. For this group, there is an urgent need for early support to prepare for written and oral examinations.

From biology to mathematical models and back: teaching modeling to biology students, and biology to math and engineering students.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiel, Hillel J; McManus, Jeffrey M; Shaw, Kendrick M

2010-01-01

We describe the development of a course to teach modeling and mathematical analysis skills to students of biology and to teach biology to students with strong backgrounds in mathematics, physics, or engineering. The two groups of students have different ways of learning material and often have strong negative feelings toward the area of knowledge that they find difficult. To give students a sense of mastery in each area, several complementary approaches are used in the course: 1) a "live" textbook that allows students to explore models and mathematical processes interactively; 2) benchmark problems providing key skills on which students make continuous progress; 3) assignment of students to teams of two throughout the semester; 4) regular one-on-one interactions with instructors throughout the semester; and 5) a term project in which students reconstruct, analyze, extend, and then write in detail about a recently published biological model. Based on student evaluations and comments, an attitude survey, and the quality of the students' term papers, the course has significantly increased the ability and willingness of biology students to use mathematical concepts and modeling tools to understand biological systems, and it has significantly enhanced engineering students' appreciation of biology.

From Biology to Mathematical Models and Back: Teaching Modeling to Biology Students, and Biology to Math and Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

McManus, Jeffrey M.; Shaw, Kendrick M.

2010-01-01

We describe the development of a course to teach modeling and mathematical analysis skills to students of biology and to teach biology to students with strong backgrounds in mathematics, physics, or engineering. The two groups of students have different ways of learning material and often have strong negative feelings toward the area of knowledge that they find difficult. To give students a sense of mastery in each area, several complementary approaches are used in the course: 1) a “live” textbook that allows students to explore models and mathematical processes interactively; 2) benchmark problems providing key skills on which students make continuous progress; 3) assignment of students to teams of two throughout the semester; 4) regular one-on-one interactions with instructors throughout the semester; and 5) a term project in which students reconstruct, analyze, extend, and then write in detail about a recently published biological model. Based on student evaluations and comments, an attitude survey, and the quality of the students' term papers, the course has significantly increased the ability and willingness of biology students to use mathematical concepts and modeling tools to understand biological systems, and it has significantly enhanced engineering students' appreciation of biology. PMID:20810957

With State Support Now Tied to Completion, Tennessee Colleges Must Refocus

Science.gov (United States)

Kelderman, Eric

2012-01-01

Before last year, public colleges in Tennessee had a very good reason to fill classroom seats through the first couple of weeks of the term. Each institution's share of the state appropriations for higher education was largely based on enrollment at that point in the semester. Now, however, those colleges stand to lose state money if students do…

The characteristics of failure among students who experienced pseudo thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Anggraini, D.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Pramudya, I.

2018-04-01

The purpose of this research is to describe the thinking process of students who experienced pseudo thinking when solving the straight line equation. The result of this study shows the characteristics of error that caused students to experience pseudo thinking when solving the problem and their relation with students’ metacognition skill. This qualitative research was conducted in State 16 Junior High School in Surakarta, Indonesia during the odd semester of 2017/2018 academic year. The subjects of the study were students Junior High School students of 8th grade chosen using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through the administration of think aloud method. The result showed that the characteristics of errors among the subjects are: 1) the answers resulted from pseudo thinking when solving the problem were obtained from the spontaneous, fast, unconscious and uncontrolled thinking process; 2) students had misconception; 3) students had tendency to memorize the formula and imitate the completion procedure; 4) students experienced fuzzy memory when solving the problem. From the mistakes among students who experienced pseudo thinking, their metacognition ability could be inferred.

Group Supervision and Japanese Students' Successful Completion of Undergraduate Theses

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Kiyomi

2013-01-01

This paper explores, from a sociocultural perspective, the nature and functions of "zemi" or seminars in which Japanese undergraduate students received group supervision for research and thesis writing. The study also investigates how the "zemi" contributed to completion of their theses. It was found that the "zemi"…

Guided and Unguided Student Reflections

OpenAIRE

Matheson, Amanda; Wood, Laura; Franklin, Scott V.

2017-01-01

Self-reflection is important metacognitive skill, enabling students to build coherence into their learning and embed content in a broader context. While various pedagogical techniques exist to encourage student reflection, little research has examined the differences between formally guided, partially guided and unguided reflections. This study focuses on student responses to online Guided Reflection Forms (GRFs) from students in a first-semester non-physics class and, separately, a sophomore...

The supplemental instruction program: Student perceptions of the learning environment and impact on student academic achievement in college science at California State University, San Marcos

Science.gov (United States)

Hizer, Suzanne Elizabeth

Higher education in science has been criticized and calls to increase student learning and persistence to degree has been recognized as a national problem by the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, and the National Academy of Sciences. One mode of academic assistance that may directly address this issue is the implementation of Supplemental Instruction (SI) in science courses. SI is a specific model of academic assistance designed to help students in historically difficult science classes master course content, thus increasing their academic achievement and retention. This study assessed the SI program at California State University, San Marcos, in supported science courses. Specifically, academic achievement based on final course grades were compared between SI participating and nonparticipating students, multiple affective factors were measured at the beginning and end of the semester, and students' perceptions of the classroom and SI session learning environments recorded. Overall, students who attended five or more SI sessions achieved higher final course grades. Students who chose to participate in SI had higher initial levels of responsibility and anxiety. Additionally, SI participants experienced a reduction in anxiety over the semester whereas nonparticipants experienced an increase in anxiety from beginning to the end of the semester. The learning environment of SI embodies higher levels of constructivist principles of active learning such as cooperation, cohesiveness, innovation, and personalization---with one exception for the physics course, which is a based on problem-based learning. Structural equation modeling of variables indicates that high self-efficacy at the end of the semester is directly related to high final course grades; this is mediated by cohesion in the classroom and the cooperation evidenced in SI sessions. These findings are elaborated by student descriptions of what happened in SI

Student-generated illustrations and written narratives of biological science concepts: The effect on community college life science students' achievement in and attitudes toward science

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Robert Christopher

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two conceptually based instructional strategies on science achievement and attitudes of community college biological science students. The sample consisted of 277 students enrolled in General Biology 1, Microbiology, and Human Anatomy and Physiology 1. Control students were comprised of intact classes from the 2005 Spring semester; treatment students from the 2005 Fall semester were randomly assigned to one of two groups within each course: written narrative (WN) and illustration (IL). WN students prepared in-class written narratives related to cell theory and metabolism, which were taught in all three courses. IL students prepared in-class illustrations of the same concepts. Control students received traditional lecture/lab during the entire class period and neither wrote in-class descriptions nor prepared in-class illustrations of the targeted concepts. All groups were equivalent on age, gender, ethnicity, GPA, and number of college credits earned and were blinded to the study. All interventions occurred in class and no group received more attention or time to complete assignments. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) via multiple regression was the primary statistical strategy used to test the study's hypotheses. The model was valid and statistically significant. Independent follow-up univariate analyses relative to each dependent measure found that no research factor had a significant effect on attitude, but that course-teacher, group membership, and student academic characteristics had a significant effect (p < .05) on achievement: (1) Biology students scored significantly lower in achievement than A&P students; (2) Microbiology students scored significantly higher in achievement than Biology students; (3) Written Narrative students scored significantly higher in achievement than Control students; and (4) GPA had a significant effect on achievement. In addition, given p < .08: (1

Pengaruh Metode Demonstrasi Terhadap Prestasi Belajar Mata Pelajaran Pemeliharaan/servisSistem Pengapian Konvensional Siswa Kelas XI Semester Genap SMK Tamansiswa Yogyakarta TahunAjaran 2013/2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahtiar Wilantara

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the method of demonstration effect is better than the lecture method of learning achievement maintenance / servicing of conventional ignition systems of SMK Tamansiswa Yogyakarta. This research was conducted at SMK Tamansiswa Yogyakarta in May and June 2014. This type of research is quasi-experimental. The population in this study are 61 students of class XI. The sampling technique using saturation sampling technique. Class XI was chosen from class A and class XI B controls selected as the experimental class. Data collection techniques learning achievement maintenance / servicing of conventional ignition system use a pretest and posttest. Test the validity of the instrument using the judgment experts. Before the items were used for the study, it has been previously tested in class XI C in April 2014. The reliability problem is obtained using the formula K - 20, the results of R11 = 0.933, p = 0.000, so the matter declared reliable. Data analysis techniques were calculated using t-test, prior to the trial to test the prerequisite analysis includes tests of normality and homogeneity tests. Descriptive research results show that the trend of learning achievement maintenance / servicing of conventional ignition systems of class XI student of SMK Tamansiswa Yogyakarta semester academic year 2013/2014 is taught using lecture method included in the medium category and the method of demonstration in the very high category. In the t-test obtained t = 20.200 and p = 0.000, for p < 0.005 means that there are significant differences of learning achievement maintenance / servicing of conventional ignition systems of class XI student of SMK Tamansiswa Yogyakarta semester 2013/2014 academic year. They are taught using the lecture method and demonstration method. Judging from the average hasi turns teaching methods using the method demonstration of 24.345 and 13.897 of the lecture method, this means the method of demonstration

Examination performances of German and international medical students in the preclinical studying-term – A descriptive study

Science.gov (United States)

Huhn, D.; Resch, F.; Duelli, R.; Möltner, A.; Huber, J.; Karimian Jazi, K.; Amr, A.; Eckart, W.; Herzog, W.; Nikendei, C.

2014-01-01

Introduction: Medical students with a migration background face several specific problems during their studies. International surveys show first indications that this group of students performs worse in written, oral or practical exams. However, so far, nothing is known about the performance of international students in written pre-clinical tests as well as in pre-clinical State Examinations for German-speaking countries. Method: A descriptive, retrospective analysis of the exam performances of medical students in the pre-clinical part of their studies was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine of Heidelberg in for the year 2012. Performance in written tests of the final exams in the second (N=276), third (N=292) and fourth semester (N=285) were compared between German students, students from EU countries and students from non-EU countries. Same comparison was drawn for the performance in the oral exam of the First State Examination in the period from 2009 - 2012 (N=1137). Results: German students performed significantly better than students with a non-EU migration background both in all written exams and in the oral State Examination (all pstudents with an EU migration background was significantly better than that of students with a non-EU background in the written exam at the end of the third and fourth semester (pstudents completed the oral exam of the First State Examination significantly earlier than students with a non-EU migration background (students with a country of origin outside of the European Union has to be seen as a high-risk group among students with a migration background. For this group, there is an urgent need for early support to prepare for written and oral examinations. PMID:25228931

Student comprehension of mathematics through astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Search, Robert

The purpose of this study is to examine how knowledge of astronomy can enhance college-level learning situations involving mathematics. The fundamental symbiosis between mathematics and astronomy was established early in the 17th century when Johannes Kepler deduced the 3 basic laws of planetary motion. This mutually harmonious relationship between these sciences has been reinforced repeatedly in history. In the early 20th century, for example, astronomer Arthur Eddington used photographic evidence from a 1919 solar eclipse to verify Einstein's mathematical theory of relativity. This study was conducted in 5 undergraduate mathematics classes over the course of 2 years. An introductory course in ordinary differential equations, taught in Spring Semester 2013, involved 4 students. A similar course in Spring Semester 2014 involved 6 students, a Summer Semester 2014 Calculus II course involved 2 students, and a Summer 2015 Astronomy course involved 8 students. The students were asked to use Kepler's astronomical evidence to deduce mathematical laws normally encountered on an undergraduate level. They were also asked to examine the elementary mathematical aspects involved in a theoretical trajectory to the planet Neptune. The summer astronomy class was asked to draw mathematical conclusions about large numbers from the recent discoveries concerning the dwarf planet Pluto. The evidence consists primarily of videotaped PowerPoint presentations conducted by the students in both differential equations classes, along with interviews and tests given in all the classes. All presentations were transcribed and examined to determine the effect of astronomy as a generator of student understanding of mathematics. An analysis of the data indicated two findings: definite student interest in a subject previously unknown to most of them and a desire to make the mathematical connection to celestial phenomena.

Longitudinal study of student conceptual understanding in electricity and magnetism

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S. J. Pollock

2009-12-01

Full Text Available We have investigated the long-term effect of student-centered instruction at the freshman level on juniors’ performance on a conceptual survey of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M. We measured student performance on a research-based conceptual instrument—the Brief Electricity & Magnetism Assessment (BEMA–over a period of 8 semesters (2004–2007. Concurrently, we introduced the University of Washington's Tutorials in Introductory Physics as part of our standard freshman curriculum. Freshmen took the BEMA before and after this Tutorial-based introductory course, and juniors took it after completion of their traditional junior-level E&M I and E&M II courses. We find that, on average, individual BEMA scores do not change significantly after completion of the introductory course—neither from the freshman to the junior year, nor from upper-division E&M I to E&M II. However, we find that juniors who had completed a non-Tutorial freshman course scored significantly lower on the (post-upper-division BEMA than those who had completed the reformed freshman course—indicating a long-term positive impact of freshman Tutorials on conceptual understanding.

The Lichen-GIS Project, Teaching Students How to Use Bioindicator Species to Assess Environmental Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Wagner

2009-12-01

Full Text Available A content-driven biology course for preservice, K-8 teachers has been developed. This course uses the constructivist approach, where instructors engage students by organizing information around concept-based problems. To this end a semester-long inquiry-based project was introduced where students studied lichen populations on trees located on their campus to monitor air quality. Data were incorporated into a geographical information systems (GIS database to demonstrate how it can be used to map communities. Student teams counted the number of each lichen type within a grid placed on each tree trunk sampled and entered this information into a GIS database. The students constructed maps of lichen populations at each sample site and wrote abstracts about their research. Student performance was assessed by preparation of these abstracts as well as scores on pre- and posttests of key content measures. Students also completed a survey to determine whether the project aided in their comprehension as well as their interest in incorporating this activity into their own curricula. The students’ pre- and posttest results showed an eightfold improvement in the total score after the semester project. Additionally, correct responses to each individual content measure increased by at least 35%. Total scores for the abstract ranged from 12 to 20 points out of 20 total points possible (60% to 100% with a mean score of 15.8 points (78%. These results indicate that this exercise provided an excellent vehicle to teach students about lichens and their use as bioindicators and the application of geospatial technologies to map environmental data.

An Assessment of the Effects of Two Experimental Arrangements on the Classroom Behavior of Student Teachers as Measured By IOTA.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Donald Edward

This study found no significant difference in classroom teaching performance between participants enrolled in the three semester on-site teacher preparation sequence and participants enrolled in a one semester on-campus and two semester on-site sequence. Subjects were 39 volunteer undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Secondary…

Peer Mentoring During Practicum to Reduce Anxiety in First-Semester Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Danielle; Verklan, Terese

2016-11-01

The clinical setting creates significant anxiety for students that can decrease their ability to learn. This quasi-experimental study examined whether nursing students who participate in peer mentoring during their first clinical experience (n = 18) experienced less anxiety than those in traditional clinical experiences (n = 19). Anxiety was measured using the standardized State Trait Anxiety Index and the Clinical Experiences Anxiety Form (CEAF). Data were analyzed using descriptive and nonparametric statistics. A significant decrease was demonstrated in clinical situation-specific anxiety, as measured by the CEAF, among students who were peer mentored as compared with students who were not. Peer mentoring shows promise as an effective strategy to reduce anxiety among novice nursing students. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(11):651-654.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

College students with dyslexia: persistent linguistic deficits and foreign language learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, D M; Snyder, L E; Hill, B

2000-01-01

The first of these two studies compared college students with dyslexia enrolled in modified Latin and Spanish classes and non-dyslexic students enrolled in regular foreign language classes on measures of foreign language aptitude, word decoding, spelling, phonological awareness and word repetition. The groups did not differ on age or grade point average. Analyses indicated that students with dyslexia performed significantly poorer on the foreign language aptitude measures as well as on both phonological tasks, reading and spelling. In the second study, students with learning disabilities who were enrolled in a modified Latin class were not significantly different from their peers in a regular Latin class on grade point average or on performance on a proficiency examination at the end of the second semester. The data suggest that while phonological processing deficits persist into adulthood, students with dyslexia are able to acquire appropriate skills and information to successfully complete the University's foreign language requirement in classes modified to meet their needs.

Does increasing student activity and reducing lecturing improve learning outcome in courses?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2014-01-01

learnt. The setup of the traditional and the new version of the course is explained and the effects of the change analyzed by comparing two cohorts of first semester Software Engineering and Computer Science students. The course is aimed at improving the potential of freshmen students project work...... helping them to develop their skills in cooperation, learning and project management. After the semester each student group write a process analysis where they reflect on these issues and come up with ideas to improve their performance in the next project. The effect of the changes in the course...

Creating Student Engagement: The Kickstarter Active Learning Project

Science.gov (United States)

Manzon, Elliott

2017-01-01

Students can become disengaged from marketing material if they cannot see the direct application. Marketing material needs to be applied to a meaningful business task to engage and motivate students. This article introduces the Kickstarter Active Learning Project--an innovative semester-long project in which students create a Kickstarter…

Exploring Factors Related to Completion of an Online Undergraduate-Level Introductory Statistics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Johnson, Glenn

2017-01-01

Data were collected from 353 online undergraduate introductory statistics students at the beginning of a semester using the Goals and Outcomes Associated with Learning Statistics (GOALS) instrument and an abbreviated form of the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS). Data included a survey of expected grade, expected time commitment, and the…

Physics for computer science students with emphasis on atomic and semiconductor physics

CERN Document Server

Garcia, Narciso

1991-01-01

This text is the product of several years' effort to develop a course to fill a specific educational gap. It is our belief that computer science students should know how a computer works, particularly in light of rapidly changing tech­ nologies. The text was designed for computer science students who have a calculus background but have not necessarily taken prior physics courses. However, it is clearly not limited to these students. Anyone who has had first-year physics can start with Chapter 17. This includes all science and engineering students who would like a survey course of the ideas, theories, and experiments that made our modern electronics age possible. This textbook is meant to be used in a two-semester sequence. Chapters 1 through 16 can be covered during the first semester, and Chapters 17 through 28 in the second semester. At Queens College, where preliminary drafts have been used, the material is presented in three lecture periods (50 minutes each) and one recitation period per week, 15 weeks p...

Evaluation of Student-made Blogs in Basicand Advanced Biochemistry Classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Cubas

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Preliminary results of the experience of student-made clinical biochemistry blogs were reported at SBBq-2010 (abstract K-5. Herein, five teaching-semesters and the opinion of former students were evaluated. Since the teaching-semester of 2008-1, Basic Biochemistry (BioBio students should prepare blog-assignments on clinical issues. Students' acceptance was evaluated through 6-point Likert-type questionnaires. Positive responses were those marking 4 to 6. A total of 348 BioBio students from five teaching-semesters answered the questionnaire; 77% of them agreed that preparing blogs was enjoyable, having a positive effect on their formation. Moreover, 81% of students agreed that BioBio blogs are relevant learning tools and 78% believedthat BioBio blogs boosted interest for biochemistry. Moreover, students' acceptance 1 year after taking BioBio was evaluated. Students (n=50 were dividedin (i those who had attended BioBio only, and (ii those who had also taken Advanced Biochemistry, together with blog tutoring. In the first group, 72% agreed that the information acquired during blog elaboration was useful atthe time of interview; 76% judged that blog elaboration boosted interest for the discipline. For thosein the second group evaluations were 100% and 82%, respectively. Results show maintenance of acceptance over 1 year and effective interest for blog-assignment for thosein basic and advanced biochemistry classes.

A Hybrid Integrated Laboratory and Inquiry-Based Research Experience: Replacing Traditional Laboratory Instruction with a Sustainable Student-Led Research Project

Science.gov (United States)

Hartings, Matthew R.; Fox, Douglas M.; Miller, Abigail E.; Muratore, Kathryn E.

2015-01-01

The Department of Chemistry at American University has replaced its junior- and senior-level laboratory curriculum with two, two-semester long, student-led research projects as part of the department's American Chemical Society-accredited program. In the first semester of each sequence, a faculty instructor leads the students through a set of…

Metacognitive Enrichment for Community College Students

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Wyre, Steven H.

2012-01-01

Recent research was conducted to explore how introducing metacognitive enrichment into courses containing implicit or explicit critical thinking goals would affect the students' personal epistemological maturity. At the beginning of a fall semester at a moderate sized community college in the southeastern United States, 733 students were divided…

Connecting Library Use to Student Success

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LeMaistre, Tiffany; Shi, Qingmin; Thanki, Sandip

2018-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between use of online library resources and student success at a small, teaching-focused, baccalaureate college. Researchers also measured whether library users were representative of the student population. Use of online library resources was a significant predictor of semester grade point average (GPA),…

Benefits of Completing Homework for Students with Different Aptitudes in an Introductory Electricity and Magnetism Course

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Kontur, F.?J.; de La Harpe, K.; Terry, N.?B.

2015-01-01

We examine how student aptitudes impact how much students learn from doing graded online and written homework in an introductory electricity and magnetism course. Our analysis examines the correlation between successful homework completion rates and exam performance as well as how changes in homework completion correlate with changes in exam…

Students' Perception of the Use of Story Telling Technique to Improve Pronunciation Skills

OpenAIRE

Nukmatus Syahria

2016-01-01

The complexities of skills in the Pronunciation created many hindrances for the students in mastering the Pronunciation Practice subject. Most of the first semester students of Adi Buana University were failed during the mid test since they have very little background knowledge of the Pronunciation skills and they tend to get bored during the teaching and learning activities. The writer tried to apply the story telling technique in the middle of the semester to foster the pronunciation skills...

[Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Poor Quality Sleep, and Low Academic Performance in Medical Students].

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Machado-Duque, Manuel Enrique; Echeverri Chabur, Jorge Enrique; Machado-Alba, Jorge Enrique

2015-01-01

Quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) affect cognitive ability and performance of medical students. This study attempts to determine the prevalence of EDS, sleep quality, and assess their association with poor academic performance in this population. A descriptive, observational study was conducted on a random sample of 217 medical students from the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and the Epworth sleepiness scale. Sociodemographic, clinic and academic variables were also measured. Multivariate analyses for poor academic performance were performed. The included students had a mean age of 21.7±3.3 years, of whom 59.4% were men. Almost half (49.8%) had EDS criteria, and 79.3% were poor sleepers (PSQI ≥ 5), while 43.3% had poor academic performance during the last semester. The bivariate analysis showed that having used tobacco or alcohol until intoxicated, fairly bad subjective sleep quality, sleep efficiency < 65%, and being a poor sleeper were associated with increased risk of low performance. Sleep efficiency < 65% was statistically associated with poor academic performance (P=.024; OR = 4.23; 95% CI, 1.12-15.42) in the multivariate analysis. A poor sleep quality determined by low efficiency was related to poor academic achievement at the end of semester in medical students. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Sleep Quality and Academic Progression among Students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Northwest of Iran

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Horyeh Sarbazvatan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Sleep deprivation and drowsiness are very common among university students. The aim of this study was to examine the sleep quality and academic achievement among university students across all medical disciplines in Northwest of Iran. Methods: This study was based on data from a longitudinal study, the "Health and Lifestyle of University Students" (HeLiS. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI, a self-administered questionnaire consisting of general information about sleep quality, was completed by students during the first eight weeks of the first semester and academic achievement was assessed via Grade Point Average (GPA in the two semesters following the administration of the PSQI. Results: The mean age of students was 19.16±1.04 and the majority were female (64%. The mean overall score on the PSQI was 6.87±2.25; the majority of students (70% had a global PSQI score greater than 5, indicating they were poor sleepers. Only 28% reported getting over 7 hours of sleep. Female students had higher scores than male students in subjective sleep quality, which was statistically significant (2.15 vs. 1.95 respectively, P = 0.01; however, there was no difference between males and females on other component scores or on the global score. Results of a multiple regression model showed that PSQI score was a predictor of academic achievement (β=-.07, P=0.035, which implies that GPA will be lower among students whose quality of sleep is lower. Conclusion: Based on our sleep quality should be considered and assessed, and sleep hygiene should be promoted among medical university students in order to improve academic achievement.

Depression among Indian university students and its association with perceived university academic environment, living arrangements and personal issues.

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Deb, Sibnath; Banu, Parveen R; Thomas, Shinto; Vardhan, R Vishnu; Rao, P Tirupathi; Khawaja, Nigar

2016-10-01

The aim of the study is to ascertain the level of depression among university students across gender, academic stream, semesters, perception of family environment and relationship with parents, academic performance, and family income. In addition, the study examines the association between students' perceived university academic environment, living arrangements, personal issues, and depression. Seven hypotheses were formulated for verification. A total of 717 students were recruited following the multistage cluster sampling method, and data were collected by a specially designed structured questionnaire, academic achievement record and a standardized University Students Depression Inventory. Findings disclosed that 37.7%, 13.1%, and 2.4% of the students were suffering from moderate, severe, and extremely severe depression. A significant difference was found across semester, that is, semester II students reported a higher level of depression than semester III students. So far as academic stream is concerned, students from humanities and social science were found to be suffering from more depression compared to students from science and management streams. The study further disclosed that the students who reported positive views about the university academic environment and living arrangements had lower level of depression compared to their counterparts. Personal resilience's such as being able to sharing personal problems with others and doing regular exercise were found to be associated with positive mental health. The findings of the study emphasize the need for immediate mental health support services for about 15.6% of the students who were either suffering from severe or extremely severe depression at the University. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

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Warnock, James N.; Mohammadi-Aragh, M. Jean

2016-03-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, 'Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?' The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.

Teaching Communication Skills to Medical and Pharmacy Students Through a Blended Learning Course.

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Hess, Rick; Hagemeier, Nicholas E; Blackwelder, Reid; Rose, Daniel; Ansari, Nasar; Branham, Tandy

2016-05-25

Objective. To evaluate the impact of an interprofessional blended learning course on medical and pharmacy students' patient-centered interpersonal communication skills and to compare precourse and postcourse communication skills across first-year medical and second-year pharmacy student cohorts. Methods. Students completed ten 1-hour online modules and participated in five 3-hour group sessions over one semester. Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) were administered before and after the course and were evaluated using the validated Common Ground Instrument. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to examine pre/postcourse domain scores within and across professions. Results. Performance in all communication skill domains increased significantly for all students. No additional significant pre/postcourse differences were noted across disciplines. Conclusion. Students' patient-centered interpersonal communication skills improved across multiple domains using a blended learning educational platform. Interview abilities were embodied similarly between medical and pharmacy students postcourse, suggesting both groups respond well to this form of instruction.

Impact of guided reciprocal peer questioning on nursing students' self-esteem and learning.

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Lakdizaji, Sima; Abdollahzadeh, Farahnaz; Hassankhanih, Hadi; Kalantari, Manizhe

2013-07-01

Self-esteem is essential for clinical judgments. Nursing students in clinical environments should make a bridge between theoretical education and clinical function. This study was aimed to survey the effect of guided questioning in peer groups on nursing students' self-esteem and clinical learning. In this quasi-experimental study, all nursing students in semester 4 (60) were selected. The autumn semester students (n = 28) were chosen as the control group, and the spring semester students (n = 32) as the experimental group. The experimental group underwent the course of cardiac medical surgical training by the Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning. The control group was trained by lecture. After confirmation of the validity and reliability of tools including Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the researcher-made questionnaire, data were collected and analyzed by SPSS version 17.0. There was no significant difference concerning demographic and educational characteristics between the two groups. Mean score differences of self-esteem and learning were not significant before teaching, while they were significantly promoted after teaching in the experimental (P self-esteem and students' learning, can be applied alone or in combination with the other methods. Conducting this study for other students and for theoretical courses is suggested.

Identifying motivators and barriers to student completion of instructor evaluations: A multi-faceted, collaborative approach from four colleges of pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

McAuley, James W; Backo, Jennifer Lynn; Sobota, Kristen Finley; Metzger, Anne H; Ulbrich, Timothy

To identify motivators and barriers to pharmacy student completion of instructor evaluations, and to develop potential strategies to improve the evaluation process. Completed at four Ohio Colleges of Pharmacy, Phase I consisted of a student/faculty survey and Phase II consisted of joint student/faculty focus groups to discuss Phase I data and to problem solve. In Phase I, the top three student-identified and faculty-perceived motivators to completion of evaluations were to (1) make the course better, (2) earn bonus points, and (3) improve the instructor's teaching. The top three student-identified barriers to completion of evaluations were having to (1) evaluate multiple instructors, (2) complete several evaluations around the same time, and (3) complete lengthy evaluations. Phase II focus groups identified a number of potential ways to enhance the motivators and reduce barriers, including but not limited to making sure faculty convey to students that the feedback they provide is useful and to provide examples of how student feedback has been used to improve their teaching/the course. Students and faculty identified motivators and barriers to completing instructor evaluations and were willing to work together to improve the process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Social jetlag" in morning-type college students living on campus: implications for physical and psychological well-being.

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Lau, Esther Yuet Ying; Wong, Mark Lawrence; Ng, Eddie Chi Wai; Hui, Chi-chiu Harry; Cheung, Shu Fai; Mok, Doris Shui Ying

2013-08-01

Although on-campus residence allows easier access to campus facilities, existing studies showed mixed results regarding the relationship between college residence and students' well-being indicators, such as sleep behaviors and mood. There was also a lack of studies investigating the role of chronotype in the relationship between on-campus residence and well-being. In particular, the temporal relationships among these factors were unclear. Hence, this longitudinal study aims to fill in these gaps by first reporting the well-being (measured in terms of mood, sleep, and quality of life) among students living on and off campus across two academic semesters. We explored factors predicting students' dropout in university residences. Although students living on campus differ in their chronotypes, activities in campus residence (if any) are mostly scheduled in the nighttime. We therefore tested if individual differences in chronotype interact with campus residence in affecting well-being. Our final sample consisted of 215 campus residents and 924 off-campus-living students from 10 different universities or colleges in Hong Kong or Macau. Their mean age was 20.2 years (SD=2.3); 6.5% of the participants are female. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires online on their sleep duration, sleep quality, chronotype, mood, and physical and psychological quality of life. Across two academic semesters, we assessed if students living on and off campus differed in our well-being measures after we partialed out the effects of demographic information (including age, sex, family income, and parents' education) and the well-being measures at baseline (T1). The results showed that, campus residents exhibited longer sleep duration, greater sleep efficiency, better sleep quality, and less feeling of stress than off-campus-living students. From one semester to the next, around 10% of campus residents did not continue to live on campus. Logistic regression showed that a morning

Assessment of Written Expression Skills of University Students in Terms of Text Completion Technique

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Abdulkadir KIRBAŞ

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Writing is to transfer the visualised ideas on the paper. Writing, one of the language skills, is a significant tool of communication which provides the permanency of information conveying emotions and thoughts. Since writing has both cognitive and physical aspects, it makes writing the hardest and the latest language skill to improve. The studies show that writing activity is the most difficult skill students have difficulty. In higher education, in order to improve writing skills of students and give basic information and skills about writing skills written expression, composition and writing education lessons are taught both in the department of Turkish Language and Literature and in the departments of Turkish Language in the Faculties of Education. One of the aims of these lessons is to teach students written expression techniques together with the purposes and practices. One of the written expression techniques is text completion skill that improves student’s creativity and enhances her/his imaginary world. The purpose of this study is to assess students’ skills of using text completion technique with reference to the writing studies of students in higher education. the sample of the study consists of 85 college students studying in the department of Turkish Language and Literature in Gümüşhane University in 2016-2017 academic year. The data of the study were obtained from the written expression studies of the students. The introduction part of the article ‘On Reading’ by F. Bacon was given to the students and they were required to complete the text. ‘Text Completion Rating Scale in Writing Expression’ was developed to assess the data of the study by taking opinions of lecturers and Turkish education experts. The data of the study were presented with percentage and frequency rates. At the end of the study, it was concluded that students had weakness in some skills such as writing an effective body part about the topic given

Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes of Community College Students.

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Hartnett, Barbara M.; Zettle, Thomas E.

For seven consecutive semesters, questionnaires were administered to the students enrolled in Illinois Central College's human sexuality course to determine their sexual experience, practices, and orientation. The surveys also sought to assess the students' attitudes toward homosexuality, pornography, masturbation, extramarital relations,…

Why Do Students Choose Not to Follow All Instructions When Completing Assessment Tasks?

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Fleet, Wendy

2013-01-01

As academics we often assume that allocating marks to a task will influence student decision-making when it comes to completing that task. Marks are used by lecturers to indicate the relative importance of each of the criteria used for marking the assessment task and we expect the student to respond to the marks' allocation. This Postcard suggests…

Mapping student thinking in chemical synthesis

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Weinrich, Melissa

In order to support the development of learning progressions about central ideas and practices in different disciplines, we need detailed analyses of the implicit assumptions and reasoning strategies that guide students' thinking at different educational levels. In the particular case of chemistry, understanding how new chemical substances are produced (chemical synthesis) is of critical importance. Thus, we have used a qualitative research approach based on individual interviews with first semester general chemistry students (n = 16), second semester organic chemistry students (n = 15), advanced undergraduates (n = 9), first year graduate students (n = 15), and PhD candidates (n = 16) to better characterize diverse students' underlying cognitive elements (conceptual modes and modes of reasoning) when thinking about chemical synthesis. Our results reveal a great variability in the cognitive resources and strategies used by students with different levels of training in the discipline to make decisions, particularly at intermediate levels of expertise. The specific nature of the task had a strong influence on the conceptual sophistication and mode of reasoning that students exhibited. Nevertheless, our data analysis has allowed us to identify common modes of reasoning and assumptions that seem to guide students' thinking at different educational levels. Our results should facilitate the development of learning progressions that help improve chemistry instruction, curriculum, and assessment.

Value Education Through Distance Learning: Opinions of Students who already Completed Value Education

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Handan DEVECI

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Individuals in a society should be systematically trained on value education so that they can appreciate values such as love, respect, tolerance, and honesty. Employment of value training approaches within Anadolu University Open and Distance Learning System will make it possible to educate many people on values. The purpose of this research is to determine the opinions of university students about providing value education through distance learning system. This study has been completed via use of semi-structured interview technique based on qualitative research approach. The participants are registered students studying at Social Studies Teacher Training Program, Faculty of Education, Anadolu University during the fall term of 2013-2014 academic years. Based on the selection criteria, 15 students who had already completed value education course and who were familiar with Anadolu University’s open and distance learning system partook in the study. Research data was analyzed through content analysis. Participating students believe that value education is a necessary component of social life and that students within distance learning system should be provided with value education. Furthermore, participants stated that value education could be integrated into distance learning. Based on the findings, it is possible to conclude that offering value education to students through distance learning system may significantly contribute to social life as it facilitates maintaining social order and raising effective citizens.

Student and Teacher Perceptions of a Single-Sex Middle School Learning Environment.

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Smith, Nancy

A study of a single-sex learning environment was conducted in a public school, Edward Hand Middle School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students were grouped homogeneously by sex for all major subjects for a period of one semester and grouped heterogeneously for one semester. The study examined the effects that the…

Problem solving strategies integrated into nursing process to promote clinical problem solving abilities of RN-BSN students.

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Wang, Jing-Jy; Lo, Chi-Hui Kao; Ku, Ya-Lie

2004-11-01

A set of problem solving strategies integrated into nursing process in nursing core courses (PSNP) was developed for students enrolled in a post-RN baccalaureate nursing program (RN-BSN) in a university in Taiwan. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effectiveness of PSNP on students' clinical problem solving abilities. The one-group post-test design with repeated measures was used. In total 114 nursing students with 47 full-time students and 67 part-time students participated in this study. The nursing core courses were undertaken separately in three semesters. After each semester's learning, students would start their clinical practice, and were asked to submit three written nursing process recordings during each clinic. Assignments from the three practices were named post-test I, II, and III sequentially, and provided the data for this study. The overall score of problem solving indicated that score on the post-test III was significantly better than that on post-test I and II, meaning both full-time and part-time students' clinical problem solving abilities improved at the last semester. In conclusion, problem-solving strategies integrated into nursing process designed for future RN-BSN students are recommendable.

Undergraduate Student Intentions for Postgraduate Study

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Jepsen, Denise Mary; Neumann, Ruth

2010-01-01

Little is known of how and when undergraduate students decide to progress to postgraduate studies. This study examined the effect of a single semester on intentions to undertake postgraduate study. The study was conducted twice in two years using approximately 120 students enrolled in a third year "Behaviour in Organisations" unit at a…

Gender and racial/ethnic differences in body image development among college students.

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Gillen, Meghan M; Lefkowitz, Eva S

2012-01-01

In the present study we used longitudinal methods to examine body image development during the early part of college. Students (N=390; 54% female) who identified as African American (32%), Latino/a American (27%), and European American (41%) completed surveys during their first, second, and third semesters at college. There were overall gender and racial/ethnic differences in all three aspects of body image, and both stability and change in body image development. Female students' appearance evaluation became more positive, whereas male students' appearance evaluation showed no significant change. Individuals' body areas satisfaction increased over time, but remained stable when controlling for BMI. Appearance orientation did not change, and there were no racial/ethnic differences in body image development. Experiences in the college environment may play a role in these trends. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Where have all the students gone? They are all on Facebook Now

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Dennis Landgrebe; Sørensen, Mia Thyrre; Ryberg, Thomas

2016-01-01

This paper reports and discusses findings from a study carried out amongst a subset of 5th semester students (app. 80) in the programme CDM, Aalborg University (AAU). The purpose of the study was to uncover what networked technologies students use to support their studies and their problem......, 2015). In the paper we therefore discuss the technologies they use and their motives for doing so. The study has however unearthed some deeper questions and concerns. For one thing it became apparent that students’ uses of networked technologies were heavily reliant on commercial mainstream solutions....... Services such as Facebook, Dropbox and Google Docs were the dominant choices of technology and students chose these - without much reflection - as they were the easiest and most widely used. Secondly, it became apparent how these services formed a completely parallel or alternative technological...

Assessment of a novel method for teaching veterinary parasitology.

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Pereira, Mary Mauldin; Yvorchuk-St Jean, Kathleen E; Wallace, Charles E; Krecek, Rosina C

2014-01-01

A student-centered innovative method of teaching veterinary parasitology was launched and evaluated at the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) in St. Kitts, where Parasitology is a required course for second-semester veterinary students. A novel method, named Iron Parasitology, compared lecturer-centered teaching with student-centered teaching and assessed the retention of parasitology knowledge of students in their second semester and again when they reached their seventh semester. Members of five consecutive classes chose to participate in Iron Parasitology with the opportunity to earn an additional 10 points toward their final grade by demonstrating their knowledge, communication skills, clarity of message, and creativity in the Iron Parasitology exercise. The participants and nonparticipants were assessed using seven parameters. The initial short-term study parameters used to evaluate lecturer- versus student-centered teaching were age, gender, final Parasitology course grade without Iron Parasitology, RUSVM overall grade point average (GPA), RUSVM second-semester GPA, overall GPA before RUSVM, and prerequisite GPA before RUSVM. The long-term reassessment study assessed retention of parasitology knowledge in members of the seventh-semester class who had Iron Parasitology as a tool in their second semester. These students were invited to complete a parasitology final examination during their seventh semester. There were no statistically significant differences for the parameters measured in the initial study. In addition, Iron Parasitology did not have an effect on the retention scores in the reassessment study.

Persistence and withdrawal by students in a preservice science and mathematics teacher education course

Science.gov (United States)

Tulip, David F.; Lucas, Keith B.

1991-12-01

At a time when recruitment into preservice teacher education courses in mathematics and science is difficult, one strategy to increase the number of graduates is to minimise the number of students who fail to complete their university courses. This study sought to determine factors which distinguish withdrawers from persisters in the first semester of a B.Ed course. Discriminant analysis was employed; a discriminant function employing seven factors resulted in correct classification in 81% of cases. Further analysis distinguishing between dropouts and transferees resulted in two discriminant functions with some common variables.

Engaging Business Students in Quantitative Skills Development

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Cronin, Anthony; Carroll, Paula

2015-01-01

In this paper the complex problems of developing quantitative and analytical skills in undergraduate first year, first semester business students are addressed. An action research project, detailing how first year business students perceive the relevance of data analysis and inferential statistics in light of the economic downturn and the…

Flow experiences in everyday classes of Spanish college students: the fit between challenge and skill

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Jordi Escartin

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This study is concerned with the flow state as a high intrinsic motivation experience. Following Csikszenmihalyi´s theoretical model (1990, we analyze in which contents within the social psychology subject, students experience more flow. Participants were Spanish college students from a general course on Social Psychology. They completed a diary study during 12 master classes through the academic semester. The results showed that students experienced different states of consciousness in different sessions: relaxation, apathy, flow and anxiety, respectively. These findings provide new insight into the relationship between an academic subject and students, facilitating the creation of new and innovative strategies for learning. The ultimate goal is to modify and improve the dynamics and learning activities for the teaching course, increasing the experience of flow in class (and reducing the levels of anxiety, apathy or relaxation.

An assessment of psychological stress and symptomatology for didactic phase physician assistant students.

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Childers, William A; May, Ryan K; Ball, Natalie

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of psychological stress experienced by didactic phase, physician assistant (PA) students. The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) survey was administered to 81 students in 2011 during the first two didactic phase semesters at two PA programs. Using ANOVA and t-tests, several variables were analyzed for significance. The SCL-90-R results portray that a significant proportion of the students from both programs reported elevated levels of stress during the first and second semester of the didactic year. Although several significant levels were noted throughout this study, it is not known how these scores from PA students would compare to other medical and/or nonmedical graduate students. Additional studies of stress from both medical and nonmedical graduate students would be beneficial for comparison to PA students.

Peer Assessment of Student-Produced Mechanics Lab Report Videos

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, Scott S.; Aiken, John M.; Lin, Shih-Yin; Greco, Edwin F.; Alicea-Muñoz, Emily; Schatz, Michael F.

2017-01-01

We examine changes in students' rating behavior during a semester-long sequence of peer evaluation laboratory exercises in an introductory mechanics course. We perform a quantitative analysis of the ratings given by students to peers' physics lab reports, and conduct interviews with students. We find that peers persistently assign higher ratings…

Impact of online lecture-capture on student outcomes in a therapeutics course.

Science.gov (United States)

Bollmeier, Suzanne G; Wenger, Philip J; Forinash, Alicia B

2010-09-10

To examine the correlation between students accessing recorded lecture files (audio and slides) online and course grades and class attendance. Second professional year (of 6-year program) students in a therapeutics course had access to recorded online lectures for 72 hours following live lectures. The number and duration of lecture accessions were compared to final course grades and class attendance. Course grades were compared to those of a historical control group. At the end of the semester, students completed a brief survey instrument regarding their use and perceptions of online lectures. No correlation was found between final course grades and the number of lecture accessions (r = 0.0014) or total number of minutes lectures were viewed (r = 0.033), nor between class attendance and minutes viewed (r = 0.2158). Students with access to recorded lectures outperformed the historical control group on the final examination (p students reported no influence of online files on class attendance. Posting lectures online did not affect student outcomes, but students did score higher on the final examination.

Expectancy violation in physics and mathematics classes in a student-centered classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarado, Carolina; Dominguez, Angeles; Rodriguez, Ruth; Zavala, Genaro

2012-02-01

This report analyzes the results of the implementation at a large private Mexican university of the Pedagogical Expectancy Violation Assessment (PEVA), developed by Gaffney, Gaffney and Beichner [1]. The PEVA was designed to evaluate shifts of the first student's expectations due to the initial orientation and experiences in the classroom. The data was collected at the Student-Centered Learning (ACE) classroom, based on the Student Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) classroom. Three professors participated with their groups during the first semester they implemented their courses in this environment. Participants were enrolled either in a Pre-Calculus, Differential Equations, or Electricity and Magnetism course. The results indicate shifts in students' expectations during the semester and reveals differences in shifts among the different courses.

Developing students' qualitative muscles in an introductory methods course.

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SmithBattle, Lee

2014-08-30

The exponential growth of qualitative research (QR) has coincided with methodological innovations, the proliferation of qualitative textbooks and journals, and the greater availability of qualitative methods courses. In spite of these advances, the pedagogy for teaching qualitative methods has received little attention. This paper provides a philosophical foundation for teaching QR with active learning strategies and shows how active learning is fully integrated into a one-semester course. The course initiates students into qualitative dispositions and skills as students develop study aims and procedures; enter the field to gather data; analyze the full set of student-generated data; and write results in a final report. Conducting a study in one semester is challenging but has proven feasible and disabuses students of the view that QR is simple, unscientific, or non-rigorous. Student reflections on course assignments are integrated into the paper. The strengths and limitations of this pedagogical approach are also described.

Student nurses' unethical behavior, social media, and year of birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Gloria Copeland; Knudson, Troy Keith

2016-12-01

This study is the result of findings from a previous dissertation conducted by this author on Student Nurses' Unethical Behavior, Boundaries, and Social Media. The use of social media can be detrimental to the nurse-patient relationship if used in an unethical manner. A mixed method, using a quantitative approach based on research questions that explored differences in student nurses' unethical behavior by age (millennial vs nonmillennial) and clinical cohort, the relationship of unethical behavior to the utilization of social media, and analysis on year of birth and unethical behavior. A qualitative approach was used based on a guided faculty interview and common themes of student nurses' unethical behavior. Participants and Research Context: In total, 55 Associate Degree nursing students participated in the study; the research was conducted at Central Texas College. There were eight faculty-guided interviews. Ethical considerations: The main research instrument was an anonymous survey. All participants were assured of their right to an informed consent. All participants were informed of the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Findings indicate a significant correlation between student nurses' unethical behavior and use of social media (p = 0.036) and a significant difference between student unethical conduct by generation (millennials vs nonmillennials (p = 0.033)) and by clinical cohort (p = 0.045). Further findings from the follow-up study on year of birth and student unethical behavior reveal a correlation coefficient of 0.384 with a significance level of 0.003. Surprisingly, the study found that second-semester students had less unethical behavior than first-, third-, and fourth-semester students. The follow-up study found that this is because second-semester students were the oldest cohort. Implications for positive social change for nursing students include improved ethics education that may motivate ethical conduct throughout students' careers

Undergraduate engineering students' attitudes and perceptions towards `professional ethics' course: a case study of India

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Sethy, Satya Sundar

2017-11-01

'Professional Ethics' has been offered as a compulsory course to undergraduate engineering students in a premier engineering institution of India. It was noticed that students' perceptions and attitudes were frivolous and ornamental towards this course. Course instructors and institution authorities were motivated to find out the factors contributing to this awkwardness. For this purpose, a questionnaire was prepared and administrated to 336 students registered for the July-November 2014 semester. The study found two factors contributing to students' indifference towards the Professional Ethics course. First, most of the students did not have self-interest to join the engineering programme, and while pursuing their study, they decided to switch to a different field upon completion of their engineering study. Second, students who desired to be engineers in their future believed that engineering code of ethics is not really referred to in most of the engineering jobs, and therefore Professional Ethics course is only meant for classroom discussions.

Students' Opinions on Facebook Supported Blended Learning Environment

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Erdem, Mukaddes; Kibar, Pinar Nuhoglu

2014-01-01

The first purpose of this study was to determine students' opinions on blended learning and its implementation. The other purpose was to explore the students' opinions on Facebook integration into blended learning environment. The participants of this study were 40 undergraduate students in their fourth semester of the program.…

Biometric and Intelligent Self-Assessment of Student Progress System

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Kaklauskas, A.; Zavadskas, E. K.; Pruskus, V.; Vlasenko, A.; Seniut, M.; Kaklauskas, G.; Matuliauskaite, A.; Gribniak, V.

2010-01-01

All distance learning participants (students, professors, instructors, mentors, tutors and the rest) would like to know how well the students have assimilated the study materials being taught. The analysis and assessment of the knowledge students have acquired over a semester are an integral part of the independent studies process at the most…

Effect of Assessment on Co-Operation among Vietnamese College Students

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Thanh, Pham Thi Hong

2011-01-01

This research study investigated the behaviour and interactions of university students as they engaged with ill-structured and well-structured assessment tasks. Twenty students participated in a one-semester intensive design study in a course on "Vietnamese traditional culture". The students worked in five-person groups that were…

Astr 101 Students' Attitudes Towards Essays On Transits, Eclipses And Occultations

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D'Cruz, Noella L.

2012-05-01

Joliet Junior College, Joliet, IL offers a one semester introductory astronomy course each semester. We teach over 110 primarily non-science major students each semester. We use proven active learning strategies such lecture tutorials, think-pair-share questions and small group discussions to help these students develop and retain a good understanding of astrophysical concepts. Occasionally, we offer projects that allow students to explore course topics beyond the classroom. We hope that such projects will increase students' interest in astronomy. We also hope that these assignments will help students to improve their critical thinking and writing skills. In Spring 12, we are offering three short individual essay assignments in our face-to-face sections. The essays focus on transits, eclipses and occultations to highlight the 2012 transit of Venus. For the first essay, students will find images of transit and occultation events using the Astronomy Picture of the Day website and describe their chosen events. In addition, students will predict how variations in certain physical and orbital parameters would alter their particular events. The second essay involves transits, eclipses and occultations observed by spacecraft. Students will describe their transit event, their spacecraft's mission, orbital path, how the orbital path was achieved, etc. The third essay deals with transiting exoplanets. Students will choose at least two exoplanets from an exoplanet database, one of which has been discovered through the transit method. This essay will enable students to learn about detecting exoplanets and how they compare with our solar system. Details of the essay assignments and students' reactions to them will be presented at the meeting.

First-Generation Female College Students' Financial Literacy: Real and Perceived Barriers to Degree Completion

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Eitel, Susan J.; Martin, Jennifer

2009-01-01

First-generation female college students (FGFCS) make up a large portion of the diversity in higher education. Unfortunately "access" to education does not translate to success. Persistence and degree completion for these students is often undermined by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The purposes of this study were to identify the financial…

Development of an Artificial Intelligence Programming Course and Unity3d Based Framework to Motivate Learning in Artistic Minded Students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reng, Lars

2012-01-01

between technical and artistic minded students is, however, increased once the students reach the sixth semester. The complex algorithms of the artificial intelligence course seemed to demotivate the artistic minded students even before the course began. This paper will present the extensive changes made...... to the sixth semester artificial intelligence programming course, in order to provide a highly motivating direct visual feedback, and thereby remove the steep initial learning curve for artistic minded students. The framework was developed with close dialog to both the game industry and experienced master...

Completion of an Online Library Module Improves Engineering Student Performance on Information Literacy Skills Tests

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Rachel E. Scott

2016-12-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Zhang, Q., Goodman, M., & Xie, S. (2015. Integrating library instruction into the Course Management System for a first-year engineering class: An evidence-based study measuring the effectiveness of blended learning on students’ information literacy levels. College & Research Libraries, 76(7, 934-958. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.76.7.934 Objective – To assess the efficacy of an online library module and of blended learning methods on students’ information literacy skills. Design – Multi-modal, pre- and posttests, survey questionnaire, and focus groups. Setting – Public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. Subjects – First-year engineering students. Methods – Of 413 students enrolled in Engineering Science (ES 1050, 252 volunteered to participate in the study. Participants were asked to complete the online module, a pretest, a posttest, an online follow-up survey, and to take part in a focus group. Researchers generated a pretest and a posttest, each comprised of 15 questions:; multiple choice, true or false, and matching questions which tested students’ general and engineering-specific information literacy skills. The pretest and posttest had different, but similarly challenging, questions to ensure that students involved in the study would not have an advantage over those who had opted out. While all components of the study were voluntary, the posttest was a graded course assignment. In-person tutorials were offered on 4 occasions, with only 15 students participating. Both tutorial and module content were designed to cover all questions and competencies tested in the pretest and the posttest, including Boolean operators, peer review, identifying plagiarism, engineering standards, engineering handbooks, search strategies, patents, article citations, identifying reliable sources, and how to read journal articles. The posttest survey was delivered in the CMS immediately after the posttest was completed. It

Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication during the First Semester of College

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Small, Meg L.; Morgan, Nicole; Abar, Caitlin; Maggs, Jennifer L.

2011-01-01

Objective: Recent studies suggest that parents maintain influence as their adolescents transition into college. Advances in communication technology make frequent communication between parents and college students easy and affordable. This study examines the protective effect of parent-college student communication on student drinking behaviors,…

An Investigation of the Impact of Instructional Fading Using Completion Problems on Student Performance in Principles of Accounting Instruction

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Kingry, Mary Ann

2012-01-01

The effects of instructional fading using completion problems on student performance were investigated in this study. Instructional fading is the gradual withdrawal of the amount of assistance provided to the student and was accomplished in this study using completion problems. They were used to gradually transition the student from completely…

Differences in Student Outcomes between Block, Semester, and Trimester Schedules.

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McCreary, Jason; Hausman, Charles

Despite the popularity of schedule modifications as a cost-effective reform to improve student outcomes, little empirical research on the consequences of alternative schedules has been conducted. The literature has been dominated by anecdotal reports. Even when empirical evidence is examined, causal comparisons of school outcomes between schedules…

Students of Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences

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Ghezelbash Sima

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Social anxiety is an important factor in peoples’ mental health. Good mental health while studying in university makes students able to deal effectively with numerous stressors that they experience. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the social anxiety of nursing students in grades one to four of medical universities in Tehran. Methods: In this analytic cross-sectional study, 400 students from universities of medical sciences in Tehran were recruited by stratified sampling with proportional allocation. Data were collected during the first semester in 2010. Students completed a two-part questionnaire including the Liebowitz social anxiety questionnaire and a demographic information form. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics methods and an analytical test by SPSS statistical software. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the total scores of social anxiety of first- to fourth-year students. The mean score of the avoidance of social interaction dimension in fourth-year students was significantly lower than in first year students (p<0.05. Conclusion: In regard to the relationship between social anxiety and interpersonal communication as an associated part of nursing care, decrease of social anxiety of students could play an important role in their mental health. According to the results of this study, it seems that the placement of students in the nursing education system does not produce any changes in their social anxiety.

Inverted Classroom by Topic - A Study in Mathematics for Electrical Engineering Students

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Isabel Braun

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The inverted classroom is a teaching model, where the students prepare for classroom by watching video lectures. The classroom time is then dedicated to individual practice. We evaluated a mathematics course for electrical engineering students throughout three semesters, where 20% of the topics were taught using the inverted classroom model. The aim was to find out whether the model can help to better address groups with large differences in prior knowledge in mathematics. We report mainly positive feedback from the students, although the opinions vary greatly between the groups. The students appreciate the increased amount of practice in the classroom as well as the possibility to learn at their own pace. Exam performance remained constant in the topics taught using the inverted classroom compared to previous semesters. The exam performance of weaker students also remained constant.

Investigating Awareness Amount of Nursing Students of Medical Sciences University of Bushehr about Ethic in Nursing Profession -2013

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F Jahanpour

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background & aim: Nurses' ethical responsibility in practice and care is required to be aware of the principles of professional ethics. The aim of this study was to determine nursing students' knowledge of ethics in nursing of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In the present analytical-descriptive sectional study, in which the participants are 4-8 semester nursing students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences. The research tools for collecting information were tow-section questionnaires consisting of demographic data and specialized questions about ethic and rules in the nursing profession. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS software by using independent t-tests and chi-square. Results: Total awareness of 4-8 semester nursing students about ethic and rules in nursing profession was intermediate (53.78 percent. There was a considerable relation between sexuality and satisfaction (p.436. A considerable relation between students' educational semester and satisfaction amount was not also not observed (p>.927. Conclusions: Students' awareness about professional ethic wasn't very desirable so it is suggested that by holding moral workshops in nursing or settling moral courses in nursing students curriculum will increase the amount of nursing students' awareness about nursing ethics.

Capturing Students' Abstraction While Solving Organic Reaction Mechanism Problems across a Semester

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Weinrich, M. L.; Sevian, H.

2017-01-01

Students often struggle with solving mechanism problems in organic chemistry courses. They frequently focus on surface features, have difficulty attributing meaning to symbols, and do not recognize tasks that are different from the exact tasks practiced. To be more successful, students need to be able to extract salient features, map similarities…

Reform in a General Chemistry Laboratory: How Do Students Experience Change in the Instructional Approach?

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Chopra, I.; O'Connor, J.; Pancho, R.; Chrzanowski, M.; Sandi-Urena, S.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study investigated the experience of a cohort of students exposed consecutively to two substantially different environments in their General Chemistry Laboratory programme. To this end, the first semester in a traditional expository programme was followed by a semester in a cooperative, problem-based, multi-week format. The focus…

Case-Based Web Learning Versus Face-to-Face Learning: A Mixed-Method Study on University Nursing Students.

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Chan, Aileen Wai-Kiu; Chair, Sek-Ying; Sit, Janet Wing-Hung; Wong, Eliza Mi-Ling; Lee, Diana Tze-Fun; Fung, Olivia Wai-Man

2016-03-01

Case-based learning (CBL) is an effective educational method for improving the learning and clinical reasoning skills of students. Advances in e-learning technology have supported the development of the Web-based CBL approach to teaching as an alternative or supplement to the traditional classroom approach. This study aims to examine the CBL experience of Hong Kong students using both traditional classroom and Web-based approaches in undergraduate nursing education. This experience is examined in terms of the perceived self-learning ability, clinical reasoning ability, and satisfaction in learning of these students. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted. All Year-3 undergraduate nursing students were recruited. CBL was conducted using the traditional classroom approach in Semester 1, and the Web-based approach was conducted in Semester 2. Student evaluations were collected at the end of each semester using a self-report questionnaire. In-depth, focus-group interviews were conducted at the end of Semester 2. One hundred twenty-two students returned their questionnaires. No difference between the face-to-face and Web-based approaches was found in terms of self-learning ability (p = .947), clinical reasoning ability (p = .721), and satisfaction (p = .083). Focus group interview findings complemented survey findings and revealed five themes that reflected the CBL learning experience of Hong Kong students. These themes were (a) the structure of CBL, (b) the learning environment of Web-based CBL, (c) critical thinking and problem solving, (d) cultural influence on CBL learning experience, and (e) student-centered and teacher-centered learning. The Web-based CBL approach was comparable but not superior to the traditional classroom CBL approach. The Web-based CBL experience of these students sheds light on the impact of Chinese culture on student learning behavior and preferences.

Longitudinal influence of alcohol and marijuana use on academic performance in college students.

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Shashwath A Meda

Full Text Available Alcohol and marijuana are the two most abused substances in US colleges. However, research on the combined influence (cross sectional or longitudinal of these substances on academic performance is currently scant.Data were derived from the longitudinal 2-year Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS study including 1142 freshman students who completed monthly marijuana use and alcohol consumption surveys. Subjects were classified into data-driven groups based on their alcohol and marijuana consumption. A linear mixed-model (LMM was employed using this grouping factor to predict grade point average (GPA, adjusted for a variety of socio-demographic and clinical factors.Three data-driven clusters emerged: 1 No/low users of both, 2 medium-high alcohol/no-low marijuana, and 3 medium-high users of both substances. Individual cluster derivations between consecutive semesters remained stable. No significant interaction between clusters and semester (time was noted. Post-hoc analysis suggest that at the outset, compared to sober peers, students using moderate to high levels of alcohol and low marijuana demonstrate lower GPAs, but this difference becomes non-significant over time. In contrast, students consuming both substances at moderate-to-high levels score significantly lower at both the outset and across the 2-year investigation period. Our follow-up analysis also indicate that when students curtailed their substance use over time they had significantly higher academic GPA compared to those who remained stable in their substance use patterns over the two year period.Overall, our study validates and extends the current literature by providing important implications of concurrent alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement in college.

Longitudinal influence of alcohol and marijuana use on academic performance in college students.

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Meda, Shashwath A; Gueorguieva, Ralitza V; Pittman, Brian; Rosen, Rivkah R; Aslanzadeh, Farah; Tennen, Howard; Leen, Samantha; Hawkins, Keith; Raskin, Sarah; Wood, Rebecca M; Austad, Carol S; Dager, Alecia; Fallahi, Carolyn; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2017-01-01

Alcohol and marijuana are the two most abused substances in US colleges. However, research on the combined influence (cross sectional or longitudinal) of these substances on academic performance is currently scant. Data were derived from the longitudinal 2-year Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS) study including 1142 freshman students who completed monthly marijuana use and alcohol consumption surveys. Subjects were classified into data-driven groups based on their alcohol and marijuana consumption. A linear mixed-model (LMM) was employed using this grouping factor to predict grade point average (GPA), adjusted for a variety of socio-demographic and clinical factors. Three data-driven clusters emerged: 1) No/low users of both, 2) medium-high alcohol/no-low marijuana, and 3) medium-high users of both substances. Individual cluster derivations between consecutive semesters remained stable. No significant interaction between clusters and semester (time) was noted. Post-hoc analysis suggest that at the outset, compared to sober peers, students using moderate to high levels of alcohol and low marijuana demonstrate lower GPAs, but this difference becomes non-significant over time. In contrast, students consuming both substances at moderate-to-high levels score significantly lower at both the outset and across the 2-year investigation period. Our follow-up analysis also indicate that when students curtailed their substance use over time they had significantly higher academic GPA compared to those who remained stable in their substance use patterns over the two year period. Overall, our study validates and extends the current literature by providing important implications of concurrent alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement in college.

Differences and Similarities between Female Students and Male Students That Succeed within Higher Technical Education: Profiles Emerge through the Use of Cluster Analysis

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Engström, Susanne

2018-01-01

This study focuses on female and male students who succeed in engineering programmes in Sweden, and why they have success. Data were collected through a questionnaire sent to all engineering students in Sweden registered for their seventh semester during year 2012 and about 30% of the students in the cohort responded on several questions. The…

Strategic Planning Process Exercise: A Semester-Long Experiential Approach to Engage Students

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Singh, Jitendra

2018-01-01

Strategic planning provides a sense of direction and can have a significant impact on the future of an organization. Students wanting to serve in leadership positions need to demonstrate a firm understanding of the concepts necessary to work on this complex process. Careful planning also ensures students' survival in a competitive business…

Factors associated with depression in students at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

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Lowe, G A; Lipps, G E; Young, R

2009-01-01

This project examines the factors associated with depression in students attending the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Students enrolled in the Foundation courses during the first and second semesters of the 2005/2006 academic year were administered the Brief Screen for Depression as well as a demographic questionnaire as part of a larger study. A wide cross-section of the university population was sampled (n = 690; 252 from semester one, 438 from semester two; 77% females, 23% males; age 16-62 years, median = 20 years, mean = 23.4 years +/- 7.4). Nearly 40% of students scored in the clinically depressed range. Students in the December wave of data collection had higher depression scores than those in the January wave. Consistent with international research, females reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. Married students reported significantly lower depression scores than students in visiting relationships. Students who were combining employment and school reported lower depression scores than those who were not employed. Maternal education significantly influenced students' levels of depression such that students whose mothers had university or other tertiary education had lower depression scores while those whose mothers had primary or lower education had the highest depression scores. Students with a chronic condition or a disability scored higher than those without such problems on all three measures of depression. Depression may be a significant problem in students at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

An investigative, cooperative learning approach to the general microbiology laboratory.

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Seifert, Kyle; Fenster, Amy; Dilts, Judith A; Temple, Louise

2009-01-01

Investigative- and cooperative-based learning strategies have been used effectively in a variety of classrooms to enhance student learning and engagement. In the General Microbiology laboratory for juniors and seniors at James Madison University, these strategies were combined to make a semester-long, investigative, cooperative learning experience involving culture and identification of microbial isolates that the students obtained from various environments. To assess whether this strategy was successful, students were asked to complete a survey at the beginning and at the end of the semester regarding their comfort level with a variety of topics. For most of the topics queried, the students reported that their comfort had increased significantly during the semester. Furthermore, this group of students thought that the quality of this investigative lab experience was much better than that of any of their previous lab experiences.

Creating Communication Training Programs for Graduate Students in Science and Engineering

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Rice, M.; Lewenstein, B.; Weiss, M.

2012-12-01

Scientists and engineers in all disciplines are required to communicate with colleagues, the media, policy-makers, and/or the general public. However, most STEM graduate programs do not equip students with the skills needed to communicate effectively to these diverse audiences. In this presentation, we describe a science communication course developed by and for graduate students at Cornell University. This training, which has been implemented as a semester-long seminar and a weekend-long workshop, covers popular science writing, science policy, print and web media, radio and television. Here we present a comparison of learning outcomes for the semester and weekend formats, a summary of lessons learned, and tools for developing similar science communication programs for graduate students at other institutions.

Failure of college students to complete an online alcohol education course as a predictor of high-risk drinking that requires medical attention.

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Abrams, Gina Baral; Kolligian, John; Mills, Douglas Lane; DeJong, William

2011-11-01

AlcoholEdu® for College and other computer-based education programs have been developed to reduce alcohol use and related problems among students. This study investigated whether the failure of incoming first-year students to complete AlcoholEdu predicts future high-risk drinking that requires medical attention. A review of clinical records kept by a single university's health service identified 684 undergraduates (classes of 2007-2011) who had presented for an alcohol event (September 2003 through June 2008). We used survival analysis to determine whether students who partially completed the course or failed to take it were disproportionately represented among student patients who presented with elevated blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Students who failed to take the online course were 4.64 times more likely than those who completed it to experience an alcohol event (p students who had partially completed the course were 1.52 times more likely (p alcohol education and gender were not significantly related to students' measured BAC level. Students who had completed AlcoholEdu were less likely to present for an alcohol event than were students who partially completed or failed to take the course. Campus administrators should consider whether students who fail to complete an online alcohol course should be flagged for more focused interventions (e.g., brief motivational interview, mandatory education classes). This is the first study to show a relationship between first-year college students' non-completion of an online alcohol course and subsequent high-risk drinking that requires medical attention.

Perception of illegal practice of medicine by Brazilian medical students.

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Lins, Liliane; Herbas, Suzana; Lisboa, Larissa; Damasceno, Hannah; Menezes, Marta

2014-06-01

Illegal practice of medicine by medical students is a worldwide problem. In Brazil, information about this issue is scarce. To describe the perception of illegal practice of medicine by medical students. A cross-sectional study in a stratified random sample of 130 medical students in the 6th to 12th semesters from a private faculty of medicine in Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil, from September to October 2011. Students responded to a standardised questionnaire about the illegal practice of medicine by medical students. Knowing medical students who practised medical activities without supervision was reported by 86% of the respondents, and 93.8% had heard about someone who performed such practices. Medical specialties most often associated with illegal practice were general medicine (78.8%) and occupational health (55.9%). Illegal practice of medicine was more common in peripheral cities/towns (83.9%) than in the State capital, Salvador City (52.4%). Only 10.5% of illegal activities were reported to the authorities. Unsupervised medical practice was more often reported in the 8th-9th semester (56.8%) and 10th-11th semester (54.4%) of medical school. Illegal practice of medicine was commonly reported by the medical students questioned. The high frequency of reported illegal practice for financial reasons highlights the need for greater availability of paid internships for medical students. Educational institutions represent the social control responsible for supervising the activities of academics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Using Self-Regulated Learning Strategies to Develop Students' Multicultural Counseling Competency

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Zeleke, Waganesh A.; Karayigit, Cebrail; Myers-Brooks, Kaitlyn

2018-01-01

This study examines the effect of self-regulated learning strategies on students' multicultural competency development. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 26 students who took a semester-long multicultural counseling course. Results show statistically significant improvement in students' multicultural awareness and knowledge and…

Preparing Student Teachers to Address Complex Learning and Controversy with Middle Grades Students

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Smith, Ann Marie; Lennon, Sean

2011-01-01

This qualitative study explores pre-service teachers' perceptions of teaching critical literacy through discussions of controversial issues. Personality questionnaires were given to six classes of pre-student teachers over three semesters in order to gauge interest in teaching methods that incorporate inquiry learning and critical literacy. The…

Improving Students' Vocabulary Mastery by Using Total Physical Response

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Fahrurrozi

2017-01-01

This study aims to describe how Total Physical Response improves students' vocabulary learning outcomes at the third-grade elementary school Guntur 03 South Jakarta, Indonesia. This research was conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2015-2016 with the number of students as many as 40 students. The method used in this research is a…

Evaluation of Student Reflection as a Route to Improve Oral Communication

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Mineart, Kenneth P.; Cooper, Matthew E.

2016-01-01

This study describes the use of guided self-reflection and peer feedback activities to improve student oral communication in a large ChE class (n ~ 100) setting. Student performance tracked throughout an experimental semester indicated both reflection activities accelerated improvement in oral communication over control; student perception of the…

Using Webquest in Learning Grammar: Students' Perceptions in Higher Education

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Irzawati, Ira

2013-01-01

Webquest is an internet based learning tool that can be used by students in learning English. This study investigates students' perceptions about the use of Webquest to support learning grammar in Higher Education. Seventy-two of second semester students were involved as participants in this study. Questionnaire and interview were used to collect…

Norming of Student Evaluations of Instruction: Impact of Noninstructional Factors

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Nargundkar, Satish; Shrikhande, Milind

2014-01-01

Student Evaluations of Instruction (SEIs) from about 6,000 sections over 4 years representing over 100,000 students at the college of business at a large public university are analyzed, to study the impact of noninstructional factors on student ratings. Administrative factors like semester, time of day, location, and instructor attributes like…

A comparative analysis of multiple-choice and student performance-task assessment in the high school biology classroom

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Cushing, Patrick Ryan

This study compared the performance of high school students on laboratory assessments. Thirty-four high school students who were enrolled in the second semester of a regular biology class or had completed the biology course the previous semester participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to examinations of two formats, performance-task and traditional multiple-choice, from two content areas, using a compound light microscope and diffusion. Students were directed to think-aloud as they performed the assessments. Additional verbal data were obtained during interviews following the assessment. The tape-recorded narrative data were analyzed for type and diversity of knowledge and skill categories, and percentage of in-depth processing demonstrated. While overall mean scores on the assessments were low, elicited statements provided additional insight into student cognition. Results indicated that a greater diversity of knowledge and skill categories was elicited by the two microscope assessments and by the two performance-task assessments. In addition, statements demonstrating in-depth processing were coded most frequently in narratives elicited during clinical interviews following the diffusion performance-task assessment. This study calls for individual teachers to design authentic assessment practices and apply them to daily classroom routines. Authentic assessment should be an integral part of the learning process and not merely an end result. In addition, teachers are encouraged to explicitly identify and model, through think-aloud methods, desired cognitive behaviors in the classroom.

Students enabling students in a Student Partnership Project: A case study emerging from the OLT Transforming Practice Project on Student Partnerships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan Kek

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This emerging initiative stemmed from an Office for Learning and Teaching Project (OLT project, Transforming Practice Programme 2016: Student Engagement: Students as Partners in Teaching and Learning. The initiative, trialed in semester two, 2016, involved the selection and training of two experienced students to be leaders of a Closed Facebook ‘students-only’ community which provided advice and triaged queries to appropriate channels. The evaluative processes comprised a participatory action research methodology. Two student leaders who facilitated the Closed Facebook and four academic staff of the project were the participants. The findings demonstrate that the Closed Facebook students-only site provided a safe space, outside the formal learning/classroom environment, where student participants were able to ask and share knowledge. The informal student-for-student learning community complemented the formal structure by facilitating the opportunity for students to become ‘experts’ as university students as they move-through their learning journey.

Dental students' motivation and the context of learning.

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Kristensen, Bettina Tjagvad; Netterstrom, Ingeborg; Kayser, Lars

2009-02-01

This qualitative study shows dental students' motives for choosing the dental education and how the motives influence their motivation at the first semester of study. Further the study demonstrates the relevance of the context of learning. This issue is of importance when planning a curriculum for the dental education. The material consists of interviews with eight dental students. The results show that dental students were focused on their future professional role, its practical dimensions and their future working conditions. Their motivation for choosing the dental education was found to influence their motivation for studying and their experience of the relevance of the first semester. The dental students who had co-education with the medical students at the first year of study missed a dental context and courses with clinically relevant contents. In conclusion, our data signify the importance of the context of learning. It is recommended that a future curriculum for the dental school should be designed in a way where basic science subjects are taught with both theoretically as well as practically oriented subjects and in a context which is meaningful for the students.

Physics of Health Sciences

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Baublitz, Millard; Goldberg, Bennett

A one-semester algebra-based physics course is being offered to Boston University students whose major fields of study are in allied health sciences: physical therapy, athletic training, and speech, language, and hearing sciences. The classroom instruction incorporates high-engagement learning techniques including worksheets, student response devices, small group discussions, and physics demonstrations instead of traditional lectures. The use of pre-session exercises and quizzes has been implemented. The course also requires weekly laboratory experiments in mechanics or electricity. We are using standard pre- and post-course concept inventories to compare this one-semester introductory physics course to ten years of pre- and post-course data collected on students in the same majors but who completed a two-semester course.

34 CFR 668.48 - Report on completion or graduation rates for student-athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Institutional and Financial Assistance Information for Students § 668.48 Report on completion or graduation... Management and Budget under control number 1845-0004) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1092) [60 FR 61788, Dec. 1, 1995...

Students' anxiety in a senior thesis course.

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Wood, M R; Palm, L J

2000-06-01

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered on Weeks 8, 12, and 15 of a semester to 16 students enrolled in a senior thesis course. State anxiety scores were elevated when oral presentations began and declined following the presentations. Trait anxiety scores remained constant across test administrations. The influence of situational variables on students' anxiety was discussed.

Marginal Pricing and Student Investment in Higher Education

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Hemelt, Steven W.; Stange, Kevin M.

2016-01-01

This paper examines the effect of marginal price on students' educational investments using rich administrative data on students at Michigan public universities. Marginal price refers to the amount colleges charge for each additional credit taken in a semester. Institutions differ in how they price credits above the full-time minimum (of 12…

Emotional Intelligence in Intensive Clinical Experiences for Nursing Students

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Zoromski, Lorraine M.

2017-01-01

This study looked for associations between measures of emotional intelligence in an intensive clinical experience for nursing students in their final semester of an associate's degree program. The theory of emotional labor was used to make connections between nursing clinical experience and emotional intelligence. Twenty nursing students from a…

Non-U.S. Citizen, Community College Students: Their Federal Student Aid Status, Gender, Achievement, and Persistence at an Emerging HSI

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Sanchez, Jafeth E.; Smith, Jeannette

2017-01-01

This study presents a quantitative, exploratory analysis of 535 students attending Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada who were eligible or ineligible for federal student aid and were non-U.S. citizens. Within a snapshot of the Fall 2015 through Fall 2016 semesters, we examined the variables of gender, grade point average (GPA),…

Assessing Student Behaviors and Motivation for Actively Learning Biology

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Moore, Michael Edward

Vision and Change states that one of the major changes in the way we design biology courses should be a switch in approach from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning and identifies active learning as a recommended methods. Studies show performance benefits for students taking courses that use active learning. What is unknown is why active learning is such an effective instructional tool and the limits of this instructional method’s ability to influence performance. This dissertation builds a case in three steps for why active learning is an effective instructional tool. In step one, I assessed the influence of different types of active learning (clickers, group activities, and whole class discussions) on student engagement behavior in one semester of two different introductory biology courses and found that active learning positively influenced student engagement behavior significantly more than lecture. For step two, I examined over four semesters whether student engagement behavior was a predictor of performance and found participation (engagement behavior) in the online (video watching) and in-class course activities (clicker participation) that I measure were significant predictors of performance. In the third, I assessed whether certain active learning satisfied the psychological needs that lead to students’ intrinsic motivation to participate in those activities when compared over two semesters and across two different institutions of higher learning. Findings from this last step show us that student’s perceptions of autonomy, competency, and relatedness in doing various types of active learning are significantly higher than lecture and consistent across two institutions of higher learning. Lastly, I tie everything together, discuss implications of the research, and address future directions for research on biology student motivation and behavior.

Nursing students at a university - a study about learning style preferences.

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Hallin, Karin

2014-12-01

In most adult education, teachers use methods that assume all students learn in the same way. But knowledge of students' learning style preferences highlights the importance of adequate teaching and learning adaptation. The aim of the study was to describe and compare final year nursing students' learning style preferences in two campuses during three semesters. A further aim was to identify differences between learning style preferences and personal characteristics. A descriptive cross-sectional study using the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) questionnaire was conducted at a Swedish rural university. Three semester groups with 263 nursing students participated in 2012-2013. The majority of the students were 'flexible' in their learning style preferences and had none or few strong preferences. Students with strong preferences preferred high structure (75%) and an authority figure present (40%). About a third were highly auditory, tactile and/or kinesthetic while 8% were highly visual. Few significant differences were revealed between the groups of campuses and the groups of semesters or between learning style preferences and upper secondary school and care experience. There were no significant differences between learning style preferences and age and assistant nurse graduation. More women than men were highly motivated, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic and preferred structure and mobility. The PEPS questionnaire provides nursing students with self-awareness regarding their strengths and shortcomings in learning and teachers with a valuable and practical basis for their selection of adapted individual and group teaching methods. The findings suggest the need for wide variation and interactive teaching approaches, conscious didactic actions between cooperating teachers and conscious learning strategies for nursing students. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visualizing Changes in Pretest and Post-Test Student Responses with Consistency Plots

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Wittmann, Michael C.; Black, Katrina E.

2014-01-01

Tabular presentations of student data often hide information about the switches in responses by individual students over the course of a semester. We extend unpublished work by Kanim on "escalator diagrams," which show changes in student responses from correct to incorrect (and vice versa) while representing pre- and postinstruction…

Initiating Self-Assessment Strategies in Novice Physiotherapy Students: A Method Case Study

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Young, Catherine

2013-01-01

Student self- and peer-assessment strategies ideally are instigated early in programmes for health professionals. This study presents an innovative method of stimulating critical evaluation of clinical skills learned in the practical class setting for first year physiotherapy students. Twice in the semester (beginning and end) students assessed…

Student Satisfaction on Getting Feedback in Clinical Teaching

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S Ahmady

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Among the factors that are involved in medical education, undoubtedly feedback is a special place. Feedback is a link between assessment and learning. Student satisfaction has an important indicator in the quality of learning and teaching. Learning is also associated with the satisfaction of students from the courses. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback in clinical education. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on all of the seventh term nursing students in the faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in Arak and shazand cities. In the first semester in 93-94, they were trained post-CCU ward. The participants were selected through the census procedure. The students in both groups (intervention and control were selected randomly in subgroups of 7 and 8 participants. In each group, the students were trained for 4 weeks in the morning shift. To determine the effects of these two methods, after completion of each of the training courses, all of the students completed the questionnaires and the results were compared. Results: The results showed that the intervention and the control groups were similar in terms of demographic characteristics (gender, indigenous and student work experience and there was no statistically significant difference. Therefore, the mean of overall student satisfaction scores in the intervention group was higher than the control group. In all of the levels, the intervention group had more satisfaction compared to the control one. Statistical test showed a significant difference between the two groups (P <0/003. Conclusion: Generally, it can be said that the immediate and planned feedbacks during the training were offered to students and it could lead the way clinical training in the correct direction. So, the student satisfaction was increased with this process.

Teaching Animal Physiology: a 12-year experience transitioning from a classical to interactive approach with continual assessment and computer alternatives.

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Kaisarevic, Sonja N; Andric, Silvana A; Kostic, Tatjana S

2017-09-01

In response to the Bologna Declaration and contemporary trends in Animal Physiology education, the Animal Physiology course at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, has evolved over a 12-yr period (2001-2012): from a classical two-semester course toward a one-semester course utilizing computer simulations of animal experiments, continual assessment, lectures, and an optional oral exam. This paper presents an overview of student achievement, the impact of reforms on learning outcomes, and lessons that we as educators learned during this process. The reforms had a positive impact on the percentage of students who completed the course within the same academic year. In addition, the percentage of students who completed the practical exam increased from 54% to >95% following the transition to a Bologna-based approach. However, average final grades declined from 8.0 to 6.8 over the same period. Students also appear reluctant to take the optional oral exam, and 82-91% of students were satisfied with the lower final grade obtained from only assessments and tests administered during the semester. In our endeavor to achieve learning outcomes set during the pre-Bologna period, while adopting contemporary teaching approaches, we sought to increase students' motivation to strive toward better performance, while ensuring that the increased quantity of students who complete the course is coupled with increased quality of education and a more in-depth understanding of animal physiology. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Developing Responsibility for Completing and Handing in Daily Homework Assignments for Students in Grades Three, Four, and Five.

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Shepard, Joan M.

This practicum was designed to increase responsibility for completing and handing in homework among students in grades three, four, and five in a mid-Atlantic school district. Of a total of 128 students in these grades, 28 were identified to learn strategies to aid in completing homework. Nine solution strategies were employed: (1) provide…

Use of a supplementary internet based education program improves sleep literacy in college psychology students.

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Quan, Stuart F; Anderson, Janis L; Hodge, Gordon K

2013-02-01

Knowledge regarding the importance of sleep in health and performance and good sleep hygiene practices is low, especially among adolescents and young adults. It is important to improve sleep literacy. Introductory psychology is one of the most highly enrolled courses at colleges and universities. This study tested the impact of an Internet-based learning module on improving sleep literacy in this venue. An Internet-based supplementary learning module containing sleep physiology and hygiene information was developed using content from the Harvard Medical School sleep educational website http://www.understandingsleep.org. Access to the module was provided as an extra credit activity for 2 of 4 sections (Supplemental Sleep, SS, N = 889) of an introductory college psychology course during their standard instruction on sleep and dreaming. The remaining 2 sections (Standard Instruction, SI, N = 878) only were encouraged to visit the website without further direction. Level of knowledge was assessed before and after availability to the module/website and at the end of the semester. Students were asked to complete a survey at the end of the semester inquiring whether they made any changes in their sleep behaviors. Two hundred fifty students participated in the extra credit activity and had data available at all testing points. Students in the SS Group had a significant improvement in sleep knowledge test scores after interacting with the website in comparison to the SI group (19.41 ± 3.15 vs. 17.94 ± 3.08, p students enrolled in an introductory college psychology course.

Academic Advising at UNO. Report of the 1991 Student Survey.

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Crawford, A. E.

1991-01-01

A study was done of student perception of academic advising at the University of Nebraska, Omaha (UNO). The study surveyed 638 students who participated in the early registration process for the Fall 1991 semester. Of those students, 269 were men and 369 were women and 8.3 percent were members of a minority group. The study instrument was the…

Students' integration of multiple representations in a titration experiment

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Kunze, Nicole M.

A complete understanding of a chemical concept is dependent upon a student's ability to understand the microscopic or particulate nature of the phenomenon and integrate the microscopic, symbolic, and macroscopic representations of the phenomenon. Acid-base chemistry is a general chemistry topic requiring students to understand the topics of chemical reactions, solutions, and equilibrium presented earlier in the course. In this study, twenty-five student volunteers from a second semester general chemistry course completed two interviews. The first interview was completed prior to any classroom instruction on acids and bases. The second interview took place after classroom instruction, a prelab activity consisting of a titration calculation worksheet, a titration computer simulation, or a microscopic level animation of a titration, and two microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) titration experiments. During the interviews, participants were asked to define and describe acid-base concepts and in the second interview they also drew the microscopic representations of four stages in an acid-base titration. An analysis of the data showed that participants had integrated the three representations of an acid-base titration to varying degrees. While some participants showed complete understanding of acids, bases, titrations, and solution chemistry, other participants showed several alternative conceptions concerning strong acid and base dissociation, the formation of titration products, and the dissociation of soluble salts. Before instruction, participants' definitions of acid, base, and pH were brief and consisted of descriptive terms. After instruction, the definitions were more scientific and reflected the definitions presented during classroom instruction.

What We Know about Guided Pathways: Helping Students to Complete Programs Faster. Research Overview

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Bailey, Thomas; Jaggars, Shanna Smith; Jenkins, Davis

2015-01-01

The idea behind guided pathways is straightforward. College students are more likely to complete a degree in a timely fashion if they choose a program and develop an academic plan early on, have a clear road map of the courses they need to take to complete a credential, and receive guidance and support to help them stay on plan. However, most…

Third Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2017

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The following pages contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. The project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short master projects as well as regular 3rd semester...... as supervisors. Questions regarding details about each proposed project should be directed at the contact persons. The contact details can be found via a person search on the university home page. Furthermore, other ideas for projects may be discussed with a potential supervisor. In this aspect the proposals...

AUTOESTIMA EN ESTUDIANTES DE PRIMER SEMESTRE DEL PROGRAMA DE PSICOLOGÍA DE UNA UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA DE LA COSTA CARIBE COLOMBIANA -- SELF-ESTEEM OF FIRST-SEMESTER STUDENT FROM THE PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN COAST

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LILIA ANGéLICA CAMPO TERNERA

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Studied the level of self-esteem of students entering first semester psychology program, to then determine the effect of an intervention plan, and that self-esteem directly influences then behavior of individuals, will put the question: Which is the level of self-esteem in young people who enter the program in psychology?; for this descriptive study was organized with 128 university students of differents sexes. They were selected intencionally and were applied Coopersmith self esteem inventory (1959 in an adaptation approved J.Prewitt-Diaz (1984. The main results show that men have a better acceptance and valuation of himself that the group of women, while self-esteem in relation to family, social and educational best performance was observed in the group of women, equally although differences are not significant, the group of children has a tendency towards better performance in the areas evaluated.

Undergraduate Students' Mental Operations in Systems of Differential Equations

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Whitehead, Karen; Rasmussen, Chris

2003-01-01

This paper reports on research conducted to understand undergraduate students' ways of reasoning about systems of differential equations (SDEs). As part of a semester long classroom teaching experiment in a first course in differential equations, we conducted task-based interviews with six students after their study of first order differential…

THE ACQUISITION OF PREPOSITION STRANDING AND PIED-PIPING BY INDONESIAN STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH

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Drs. Suprapto, M.Hum. Drs. Suprapto, M.Hum.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article mainly deals with the acquisition of preposition stranding (PS and preposition pied-piping (PPP of English by the students of the English Department of Semarang State University. The main purpose of the study is to reveal their way of mastering this language area which is notably absent in their L1 system (PS. Based on the experience of the writer as a teacher, the different systems of preposition usage between L1 (Indonesian and L2(English constitutes a lot of learning problems. The PS and PPP learning problems encountered by the students are pedagogically appealing in that even the students of higher semester can often plunge into this particular problem (Mi Di 2006. English, and also other Germanic languages, permits both PS and PPP in their sentence constructions while in Indonesian and many other languages in the world the PS constructions do not appear to have a strong grammatical basis (Cable and Harris 2011; Sugisaki 2011. Researchers tried to understand the problem by viewing it through the notion of markedness theory in which language areas which are unmarked are relatively easier to learn than the ones marked. In the issue raised in this paper, the PPP is considered to be unmarked and the PS is more marked (van Buren and Smith 1985; Klein 1993. This study involves 62 students divided into two groups: 30 students of second semester and 32 students of fourth semester. They were given a task to construct sentences with wh-relative clauses using either PPP or PS forms employing different relative pronouns. The result shows that the second semester group tended to use more PPP than PS forms. They also used less PS than the intermediate group did. On the other hand, the fourth semester group tended to use more PS than the elementary did. These findings suggest a significant support towards the effectiveness of markedness theory. The results may also indicate that the theory works most effectively on lower level of learning and

Distance Education in Dental Hygiene Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Programs: As Perceived by Students and Faculty

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Tsokris, Maureen

2010-01-01

This study investigated student and faculty perceptions of their experiences with online learning in dental hygiene Bachelor of Science degree completion programs on the dimensions of: quality of learning, connectedness to the learning environment, technology factors and student satisfaction. The experiences of dental hygiene students who took…

The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ates, S; Cataloglu, E

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationships among freshmen/first year students' reasoning abilities, conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics. The sample consisted of 165 freshmen science education prospective teachers (female = 86, male = 79; age range 17-21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in two successive years. At the beginning of each semester, the force concept inventory (FCI) and the classroom test of scientific reasoning (CTSR) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and reasoning levels. After completing the course, the FCI and the mechanics baseline test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in problem-solving skill test mean scores, as measured by the MBT, among concrete, formal and postformal reasoners. There were no significant differences in conceptual understanding levels of pre- and post-test mean scores, as measured by FCI, among the groups. The Benferroni post hoc comparison test revealed which set of reasoning levels showed significant difference for the MBT scores. No statistical difference between formal and postformal reasoners' mean scores was observed, while the mean scores between concrete and formal reasoners and concrete and postformal reasoners were statistically significantly different

Predictors of performance of students in biochemistry in a doctor of chiropractic curriculum.

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Shaw, Kathy; Rabatsky, Ali; Dishman, Veronica; Meseke, Christopher

2014-01-01

Objective : This study investigated the effect of completion of course prerequisites, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), undergraduate degree, and study habits on the performance of students in the biochemistry course at Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida. Methods : Students self-reported information regarding academic preparation at the beginning of the semester using a questionnaire. Final exam grade and final course grade were noted and used as measures of performance. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine if number of prerequisites completed, undergraduate GPA, undergraduate degree, hours spent studying in undergraduate study, and hours spent studying in the first quarter of the chiropractic program were associated significantly with the biochemistry final exam grade or the final grade for the biochemistry course. Results : The number of prerequisites completed, undergraduate degree, hours spent studying in undergraduate study, and hours spent studying in the first quarter of the chiropractic program did not significantly affect the biochemistry final exam grade or the final grade for the biochemistry course, but undergraduate GPA did. Subsequent univariate analysis and Tukey's post hoc comparisons revealed that students with an undergraduate GPA in the 3.5 to 3.99 range earned significantly higher final course grades than students with an undergraduate GPA in the 2.5 to 2.99 range. Conclusion : No single variable was determined to be a factor that determines student success in biochemistry. The interrelationship between the factors examined warrants further investigation to understand fully how to predict the success of a student in the biochemistry course.

Role of Pre-Course Student Characteristics on Student Learning in Interactive Teaching Environments

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Miller, Kelly Anne

The goal of this dissertation is to broaden our understanding of interactive teaching strategies, in the context of the introductory physics classroom at the undergraduate level. The dissertation is divided into four main projects, each of which investigates a specific aspect of teaching physics interactively. All four projects look towards improving the effectiveness of interactive teaching by understanding how pre-course student characteristics affect the way students learn interactively. We first discuss lecture demonstrations in the context of an interactive classroom using Peer Instruction. We study the role of predictions in conceptual learning. We examine how students' predictions affect what they report having seen during a demonstration. We also examine how student predictions affect what they recall as the outcome of the demonstration at the end of the semester. We then analyze student response patterns to conceptual questions posed during Peer Instruction. We look at the relationship between a student's tendency to switch their answer and pre-course student characteristics like science self-efficacy. Next we elucidate response timing to conceptual questions posed over the course of the semester, in two introductory physics classes taught using Peer Instruction. We look at the relationship between student response times and student characteristics like pre-course physics knowledge, science self-efficacy and gender. We study response times as a way of gaining insight into students thinking in Peer Instruction environments as well as to improve the implementation of Peer Instruction. Finally, we present work on the role of NB, an online collaborative textbook annotation tool, in a flipped, project based, physics class. We analyze the relationship between students' level of online engagement and traditional learning metrics to understand the effectiveness of NB in the context of flipped classrooms. We also report the results of experiments conducted to

Self-esteem and self-efficacy as predictors of attrition in associate degree nursing students.

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Peterson-Graziose, Virginia; Bryer, Jennifer; Nikolaidou, Maria

2013-06-01

There is a serious and growing shortage of nurses in the United States, and the high rate of student attrition from nursing programs has further added to this problem. The challenge for schools of nursing is to recruit increased numbers of qualified candidates into their programs and to determine ways to decrease the rate of student attrition. The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-esteem, self-efficacy, and life stressors were significantly related to student attrition in first-semester associate degree nursing students. A descriptive correlational design and nonprobability convenience sample of first-semester associate degree nursing students was used. Data were gathered using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Findings indicated that self-esteem was significantly associated with student attrition. Results from this study provide the basis for targeted interventions designed to decrease student attrition rates in associate degree nursing programs. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

The influence of a patient-counseling course on the communication apprehension, outcome expectations, and self-efficacy of first-year pharmacy students.

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Rogers, Erica R; King, Sean R

2012-10-12

To evaluate first-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students' communication apprehension, outcome expectations, and self-efficacy for communication over the duration of a 15-week patient-counseling course. First-year PharmD students (n=94) were asked to complete a 47-item, self-administered questionnaire on 3 occasions over the duration of the Nonprescription Drugs/Patient-Counseling course during the fall 2009 and 2010 semesters. Eighty-seven of 94 students completed the survey instrument across data collection periods. There were significant reductions in total communication apprehension scores and in the communication apprehension subscores for meetings and public speaking, and significant increases in self-efficacy over time. No differences were found for outcome expectations of communication scores or the subscores for interpersonal conversations and group discussion. Communication apprehension may be decreased and self-efficacy for communication increased in first-year PharmD students through a 15-week Nonprescription Drugs/Patient-Counseling course using small-group practice sessions, case studies, and role-play exercises in conjunction with classroom lectures.

Networks for Success: Preparing Mexican American AVID College Students for Credentials, Completion, and the Workforce

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Kirk, Richard; Watt, Karen M.

2018-01-01

This qualitative study examines how Mexican American students participating in an AVID for Higher Education course perceived their preparation for the workforce and efficacy of completing a college credential. A focus group approach was used to explore how social and cultural networks (networks for success) contribute to college completion. The…

A Mixed Methods Analysis of Students' Understanding of Slope and Derivative Concepts and Students' Mathematical Dispositions

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Patel, Rita Manubhai

2013-01-01

This dissertation examined understanding of slope and derivative concepts and mathematical dispositions of first-semester college calculus students, who are recent high school graduates, transitioning to university mathematics. The present investigation extends existing research in the following ways. First, based on this investigation, the…

Early identification of at-risk nursing students: a student support model.

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Hopkins, T Hampton

2008-06-01

Due to the shortage of nurses in the health care industry, colleges offering associate-degree nursing programs are beginning to pay more attention to attrition and the factors contributing to success. Alogistic regression model was used to explain the cognitive and noncognitive variables that contribute to success in a nursing fundamentals course. Although much work is necessary to fully understand first-semester nursing students' retention and success, an early identification model is explored to better support students as they enter associate-degree nursing programs.

Using Novel Experiences in Introductory Psychology: Insects 101

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Forrest, Krista D.; Hoback, W. Wyatt

2009-01-01

This demonstration provides students with 1 active experience capable of representing cross-cultural psychology, personality and nature-nurture. Early in the semester, students completed Sensation Seeking and television preference questionnaires. We offered students the opportunity to eat insects during a cross-cultural psychology lecture. After…

An Inquiry-Based Quantitative Reasoning Course for Business Students

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Piercey, Victor; Militzer, Erin

2017-01-01

Quantitative Reasoning for Business is a two-semester sequence that serves as an alternative to elementary and intermediate algebra for first-year business students with weak mathematical preparation. Students who take the sequence have been retained at a higher rate and demonstrated a larger reduction in math anxiety than those who take the…

Social Media as a Learning Technology for University Students

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Hussain, Irshad; Cakir, Ozlem; Candeger, Ümmügülsüm

2018-01-01

This paper demonstrates the role of social media as a learning technology for university students and highlights their problems associated with its use. The population of the study consisted of Masters' and Bachelor Studies students studying in their final semesters in the departments of Social Sciences at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,…

Absenteeism among medical and health science undergraduate students at Hawassa University, Ethiopia.

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Desalegn, Anteneh Assefa; Berhan, Asres; Berhan, Yifru

2014-04-14

Student absenteeism is a major concern for university education worldwide. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and causes of absenteeism among undergraduate medical and health sciences students at Hawassa University. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a pretested self-administered structured questionnaire from May-June 2013. The primary outcome indicator was self-reported absenteeism from lectures in the semester preceding the study period. The study included all regular undergraduate students who were enrolled in the University for at least one semester. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. The association between class absenteeism and socio-demographic and behavioral correlates of absenteeism was determined by bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results were reported as crude odds ratios (COR), adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). 1200 students consented and filled the questionnaire. Of these students, 43.7% had missed three or more lectures and 14.1% (95% CI = 12.2-16.2) missed more than 8 lectures in the preceding semester. There was a significant association between missing more than 8 lectures and age of students, chosen discipline (medicine), and social drug use. The main reasons reported for missing lectures were preparing for another examination, lack of interest, lecturer's teaching style, and availability of lecture material. At Hawassa University College of Medicine and Health Science student habits and teacher performance play a role in absenteeism from lectures. A university culture that promotes discipline and integrity especially among medical and older students discourages social drug use will likely improve motivation and attendance. Training in teaching methodologies to improve the quality and delivery of lectures should also help increase attendance.

Short-Term Study Tours as a Driver for Increasing Domestic Student Mobility in Order to Generate Global Work-Ready Students and Cultural Exchange in Asia Pacific

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Scharoun, Lisa

2016-01-01

Recent federal government programmes in Australia have seen a shift in focus from the international student towards increasing the possibilities for domestic mobility through short- and long-term exchange opportunities. The current New Colombo Plan funding scheme encourages Australian students, who have traditionally undertaken semester-long…

Texas Student Success Council: Finding Common Ground to Increase Community College Completion

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Collins, Michael Lawrence

2014-01-01

In 2011, a prominent Texas business group erected provocative billboards condemning low completion rates at the state's community colleges and questioning the value of tax dollars spent there. The Texas Association of Business put up the signs to prod community colleges to do more to increase student success and help create a better educated…

Get Your Students to do the Outreach!

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Hooper, E. J.

2010-08-01

Five radio shows; a full-page color spread in the campus newspaper; YouTube videos; an interactive activity at the local children's museum; a star party for a dorm; children's books; an outing with Boy Scouts. This is just a sampling of group projects planned and executed in a single semester by students in an introductory course for non-science majors. Everyone in the class joins a group self-organized around common interests to produce a product or activity that communicates some aspect of astronomy to a segment of the general population. These projects give the students a creative outlet to merge some of their outside interests with the course material, a practical exposure to scientific communication, an opportunity for peer instruction including peer evaluation, and a chance to hone their skills in managing group dynamics. The semester long effort begins with everyone in the class submitting individual ideas for subjects and presentation methods. After these ideas are categorized, students begin organizing the groups on a web discussion board. They articulate learning goals for the intended audience and describe how they plan to evaluate the success of the project and the attainment of these goals. The group members seek outside advice from people in other groups during one week of the course discussion section. They submit a progress report and then a first draft, the latter also sent to a different group for review. After feedback from the instructor and a week of the teaching assistant's (TA's) office hours devoted to scheduled meetings with each group, the students draft the final versions or make presentations near the end of the semester.

IMPLEMENTASI PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF STUDENT TEAM ACHIEVEMENT DIVISIONS (STAD DALAM UPAYA MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR SISWA PADA MATA DIKLAT PRODUKTIF KOMPETENSI MENGELOLA KARTU PIUTANG

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- Kusmuriyanto

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Beginning observation in vocational school Cut Nya’Dien show that result of study in accounting subject is low. The result of middle semester year 2006/2007 with completed study only 31% of 36 student. STAD Cooperative learning increase the result of study. Proved with the increation number of mean in each cycle are cycle I (59.23, cycle II (69.09, cycle III (81.23. Affective result of study, classical study completing reach 45.7% in cycle I, while in a cycle II reach 62.8%, and in cycle III reach 77.14%. So, in a cycle III the result of study in cognitive and affective of student increase. Cooperative learning model STAD could be as an alternative learning for the teacher in the way to increase the result of study. Be expected teacher facilitating book as a complementary in learning process to increase student knowledge, and motivate student to be active in learning process individually and group Key words : STAD cooperative learning, the result of study, managed account receivable.

Team health, an assessment approach to engage first year students in cross-cultural and cross-discipline teams towards more effective team-working

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathy Egea

Full Text Available Specialists who work in a globalised environment, need to work in teams, if they are to be continuously effective. The challenge for IT educators is to design and implement inter-cultural teamwork practices into their curriculum. Investigating this challenge, this case study describes Team Health, an assessment approach designed to skill students to be more effective in team working in cross-cultural and cross-discipline teams. The educational context is teamwork practice within a first year introductory web design course. Framed by Saunders\\'s virtual team lifecycle model (relationship building and team processes and Hofstede\\'s cultural dimensions (communication and working cross-culturally, the assessment approach utilises reflective and iterative strategies to support team working. At three points in the semester, students complete a survey on these four concepts, identify team strengths and weaknesses from the results of the surveys and work towards addressing one team weakness. The final assessment activity requires students to reflect on team working for the semester. Key attributes for effective team working are identified from the three surveys and the final reflective summaries. This paper compares course outcomes such as team cohesion and student grades to the previous course offering and shows that with the introduction of Team Health, the more complex student cohorts under this study achieve equally well. It is concluded that the guided reflective practices underpinning Team Health can prepare students for first year approaches to teamwork, and thereby provide starting points for working in future global teams where members are both culturally diverse and from different discipline areas.

Restructuring the CS 1 classroom: Examining the effect of open laboratory-based classes vs. closed laboratory-based classes on Computer Science 1 students' achievement and attitudes toward computers and computer courses

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Jean Foster

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of classroom restructuring involving computer laboratories on student achievement and student attitudes toward computers and computer courses. The effects of the targeted student attributes of gender, previous programming experience, math background, and learning style were also examined. The open lab-based class structure consisted of a traditional lecture class with a separate, unscheduled lab component in which lab assignments were completed outside of class; the closed lab-based class structure integrated a lab component within the lecture class so that half the class was reserved for lecture and half the class was reserved for students to complete lab assignments by working cooperatively with each other and under the supervision and guidance of the instructor. The sample consisted of 71 students enrolled in four intact classes of Computer Science I during the fall and spring semesters of the 2006--2007 school year at two southern universities: two classes were held in the fall (one at each university) and two classes were held in the spring (one at each university). A counterbalanced repeated measures design was used in which all students experienced both class structures for half of each semester. The order of control and treatment was rotated among the four classes. All students received the same amount of class and instructor time. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) via a multiple regression strategy was used to test the study's hypotheses. Although the overall MANOVA model was statistically significant, independent follow-up univariate analyses relative to each dependent measure found that the only significant research factor was math background: Students whose mathematics background was at the level of Calculus I or higher had significantly higher student achievement than students whose mathematics background was less than Calculus I. The results suggest that classroom structures that

Introducing a flipped classroom to engineering students: A case study in mechanics of materials course

Science.gov (United States)

Suwapaet, Nuchida

2018-03-01

Flipped classroom is basically a reversed way of learning in classroom. Lecture is brought outside classroom and available online in many forms such as video lecture and e-books. In-class time is focused more on discussions and practices such as exercises and projects. Flipped classroom was introduced to Mechanical Engineering students in Mechanics of Materials course in 2016 academic year at Mahasarakham University, Thailand. The course was still taught in traditional way and series of video lecture were used as additional class materials outside classroom. There were 2 groups of students that enrolled in the course in 2 different semesters. Students in 1st semester were taught in traditional way (control group) and students in 2nd semester were used flipped classroom (experiment group). Students' grades between 2 groups were compared and analyzed. Satisfaction survey of using flipped classroom was carried out and evaluated. There were 3 aspects of evaluation which were content, varieties of activity, and functions. Results showed that the course's GPA of experiment group was 1.92 which was greater than the control group of 1.68. The greatly reduction of failed students in experiment group was noticeable. The percentages of failed students of control and experiment groups were 17% and 6%. Satisfaction survey evaluation results showed that the students satisfied in high level in every aspect. The comments pointed out that flipped classroom were easy to use and promoted self-study outside classroom. Those qualities would help students develop more skills in lifelong learning and learning to learn.