Students' Motivation toward English Language Learning at Undergraduate Level

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Mumtaz; Aftab, Maria; Yaqoob, Humaira

2015-01-01

The main purpose of this descriptive research is to explore the fact that why students are less motivated towards English language learning at undergraduate level. It also throws light upon the very facts of motivation with regard to the factors like student-teacher relationship, class room environment, self esteem or self respect, and willingness…

The Role of Humor in Learning Physics: A Study of Undergraduate Students

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Berge, Maria

2017-01-01

We all know that they do it, but what do students laugh "about" when learning science together? Although research has shown that students do use humor when they learn science, the role of humor in science education has received little attention. In this study, undergraduate students' laughter during collaborative work in physics has been…

Exploring Students' Perceptions of Service-Learning Experiences in an Undergraduate Web Design Course

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Lee, Sang Joon; Wilder, Charlie; Yu, Chien

2018-01-01

Service-learning is an experiential learning experience where students learn and develop through active participation in community service to meet the needs of a community. This study explored student learning experiences in a service-learning group project and their perceptions of service-learning in an undergraduate web design course. The data…

Will Undergraduate Students Play Games to Learn How to Conduct Library Research?

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Markey, Karen; Swanson, Fritz; Jenkins, Andrea; Jennings, Brian; St. Jean, Beth; Rosenberg, Victor; Yao, Xingxing; Frost, Robert

2009-01-01

This exploratory study examines whether undergraduate students will play games to learn how to conduct library research. Results indicate that students will play games that are an integral component of the course curriculum and enable them to accomplish overall course goals at the same time they learn about library research. (Contains 1 table.)

The attitudes of undergraduate students and staff to the use of electronic learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, B; White, D A; Walmsley, A D

2004-04-24

Computer-aided learning (CAL) offers advantages over traditional methods of learning as it allows students to work in their own time and pace. The School of Dentistry at the University of Birmingham has created an electronic learning website, named the Ecourse. This is designed to be a web-based supplement to the dental undergraduate curriculum. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of third year dental students and members of staff about the Ecourse website. A questionnaire was produced and piloted before being distributed to all 65 third year dental students to obtain their opinions about the Ecourse website. The views of Ecourse were sought from four members of staff by performing qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Lecture handouts and textbooks were reported as the sources used most often, by 96% of students. Eighty-six per cent of students are accessing the Ecourse mainly at the School of Dentistry, but 53% are also accessing it at home. Students liked the multiple-choice questions, downloading extra notes and looking at pictures and animation to explain clinical procedures. The majority of the students (79%) want the Ecourse to be used as a supplement to the undergraduate programme and 7% wanted it to replace formal lectures. Staff recognised the benefits of the Ecourse but were concerned about plagiarism, the effect on lecture attendance and the lack of feedback from students on existing CAL material. Students consider the Ecourse as a positive method of supplementing traditional methods of learning in the dental undergraduate programme. However in contrast teaching staff expressed negative views on the use of e-learning.

Change over a service learning experience in science undergraduates' beliefs expressed about elementary school students' ability to learn science

Science.gov (United States)

Goebel, Camille A.

This longitudinal investigation explores the change in four (3 female, 1 male) science undergraduates' beliefs expressed about low-income elementary school students' ability to learn science. The study sought to identify how the undergraduates in year-long public school science-teaching partnerships perceived the social, cultural, and economic factors affecting student learning. Previous service-learning research infrequently focused on science undergraduates relative to science and society or detailed expressions of their beliefs and field practices over the experience. Qualitative methodology was used to guide the implementation and analysis of this study. A sample of an additional 20 science undergraduates likewise involved in intensive reflection in the service learning in science teaching (SLST) course called Elementary Science Education Partners (ESEP) was used to examine the typicality of the case participants. The findings show two major changes in science undergraduates' belief expressions: (1) a reduction in statements of beliefs from a deficit thinking perspective about the elementary school students' ability to learn science, and (2) a shift in the attribution of students, underlying problems in science learning from individual-oriented to systemic-oriented influences. Additional findings reveal that the science undergraduates perceived they had personally and profoundly changed as a result of the SLST experience. Changes include: (1) the gain of a new understanding of others' situations different from their own; (2) the realization of and appreciation for their relative positions of privilege due to their educational background and family support; (3) the gain in ability to communicate, teach, and work with others; (4) the idea that they were more socially and culturally connected to their community outside the university and their college classrooms; and (5) a broadening of the way they understood or thought about science. Women participants stated

Involving postgraduate's students in undergraduate small group teaching promotes active learning in both

Science.gov (United States)

Kalra, Ruchi; Modi, Jyoti Nath; Vyas, Rashmi

2015-01-01

Background: Lecture is a common traditional method for teaching, but it may not stimulate higher order thinking and students may also be hesitant to express and interact. The postgraduate (PG) students are less involved with undergraduate (UG) teaching. Team based small group active learning method can contribute to better learning experience. Aim: To-promote active learning skills among the UG students using small group teaching methods involving PG students as facilitators to impart hands-on supervised training in teaching and managerial skills. Methodology: After Institutional approval under faculty supervision 92 UGs and 8 PGs participated in 6 small group sessions utilizing the jigsaw technique. Feedback was collected from both. Observations: Undergraduate Feedback (Percentage of Students Agreed): Learning in small groups was a good experience as it helped in better understanding of the subject (72%), students explored multiple reading resources (79%), they were actively involved in self-learning (88%), students reported initial apprehension of performance (71%), identified their learning gaps (86%), team enhanced their learning process (71%), informal learning in place of lecture was a welcome change (86%), it improved their communication skills (82%), small group learning can be useful for future self-learning (75%). Postgraduate Feedback: Majority performed facilitation for first time, perceived their performance as good (75%), it was helpful in self-learning (100%), felt confident of managing students in small groups (100%), as facilitator they improved their teaching skills, found it more useful and better identified own learning gaps (87.5%). Conclusions: Learning in small groups adopting team based approach involving both UGs and PGs promoted active learning in both and enhanced the teaching skills of the PGs. PMID:26380201

Use of Learning Media by Undergraduate Medical Students in Pharmacology: A Prospective Cohort Study

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Gutmann, Joanna; Kühbeck, Felizian; Berberat, Pascal O.; Fischer, Martin R.; Engelhardt, Stefan; Sarikas, Antonio

2015-01-01

The ubiquity of the internet and computer-based technologies has an increasing impact on higher education and the way students access information for learning. Moreover, there is a paucity of information about the quantitative and qualitative use of learning media by the current student generation. In this study we systematically analyzed the use of digital and non-digital learning resources by undergraduate medical students. Daily online surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cohort of 338 third year medical students enrolled in a general pharmacology course. Our data demonstrate a predominant use of digital over non-digital learning resources (69 ± 7% vs. 31 ± 7%; p students. Most used media for learning were lecture slides (26.8 ± 3.0%), apps (22.0 ± 3.7%) and personal notes (15.5 ± 2.7%), followed by textbooks (> 300 pages) (10.6 ± 3.3%), internet search (7.9 ± 1.6%) and e-learning cases (7.6 ± 3.0%). When comparing learning media use of teaching vs. pre-exam self-study periods, textbooks were used significantly less during self-study (-55%; p learning cases (+176%; p learning resources by undergraduate medical students, in particular mobile applications. PMID:25849565

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...

Learning styles and academic achievement among undergraduate medical students in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri; Chockjamsai, Manoch; Deesomchok, Athavudh; Euathrongchit, Juntima

2015-01-01

This study aimed to explore the associations between learning styles and high academic achievement and to ascertain whether the factors associated with high academic achievement differed between preclinical and clinical students. A survey was conducted among undergraduate medical students in Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The Index of Learning Styles questionnaire was used to assess each student's learning style across four domains. High academic achievement was defined as a grade point average of at least 3.0. Of the 1,248 eligible medical students, 1,014 (81.3%) participated. Learning styles differed between the preclinical and clinical students in the active/reflective domain. A sequential learning style was associated with high academic achievement in both preclinical and clinical students. A reflective learning style was only associated with high academic achievement among preclinical students. The association between learning styles and academic achievement may have differed between preclinical and clinical students due to different learning content and teaching methods. Students should be encouraged to be flexible in their own learning styles in order to engage successfully with various and changing teaching methods across the curriculum. Instructors should be also encouraged to provide a variety of teaching materials and resources to suit different learning styles.

Self-directed learning readiness and nursing competency among undergraduate nursing students in Fujian province of China

OpenAIRE

Gui-Fang Yang; Xiao-Ying Jiang

2014-01-01

Aims: We examined the relationship between self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) and nursing competency among undergraduate nursing students. Background: There is little evidence-based data related to the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) and nursing competency. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used. We conducted convenience sampling of 519 undergraduate nursing students from three universities during their final period of clinical practice. We investiga...

An instructional intervention to encourage effective deep collaborative learning in undergraduate veterinary students.

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Khosa, Deep K; Volet, Simone E; Bolton, John R

2010-01-01

In recent years, veterinary education has received an increased amount of attention directed at the value and application of collaborative case-based learning. The benefit of instilling deep learning practices in undergraduate veterinary students has also emerged as a powerful tool in encouraging continued professional education. However, research into the design and application of instructional strategies to encourage deep, collaborative case-based learning in veterinary undergraduates has been limited. This study focused on delivering an instructional intervention (via a 20-minute presentation and student handout) to foster productive, collaborative case-based learning in veterinary education. The aim was to instigate and encourage deep learning practices in a collaborative case-based assignment and to assess the impact of the intervention on students' group learning. Two cohorts of veterinary students were involved in the study. One cohort was exposed to an instructional intervention, and the other provided the control for the study. The instructional strategy was grounded in the collaborative learning literature and prior empirical studies with veterinary students. Results showed that the intervention cohort spent proportionally more time on understanding case content material than did the control cohort and rated their face-to-face discussions as more useful in achieving their learning outcomes than did their control counterparts. In addition, the perceived difficulty of the assignment evolved differently for the control and intervention students from start to end of the assignment. This study provides encouraging evidence that veterinary students can change and enhance the way they interact in a group setting to effectively engage in collaborative learning practices.

Learning styles and academic achievement among undergraduate medical students in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wichuda Jiraporncharoen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study aimed to explore the associations between learning styles and high academic achievement and to ascertain whether the factors associated with high academic achievement differed between preclinical and clinical students. Methods: A survey was conducted among undergraduate medical students in Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The Index of Learning Styles questionnaire was used to assess each student’s learning style across four domains. High academic achievement was defined as a grade point average of at least 3.0. Results: Of the 1,248 eligible medical students, 1,014 (81.3% participated. Learning styles differed between the preclinical and clinical students in the active/reflective domain. A sequential learning style was associated with high academic achievement in both preclinical and clinical students. A reflective learning style was only associated with high academic achievement among preclinical students. Conclusion: The association between learning styles and academic achievement may have differed between preclinical and clinical students due to different learning content and teaching methods. Students should be encouraged to be flexible in their own learning styles in order to engage successfully with various and changing teaching methods across the curriculum. Instructors should be also encouraged to provide a variety of teaching materials and resources to suit different learning styles.

Using Paper Presentation Breaks during Didactic Lectures Improves Learning of Physiology in Undergraduate Students

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Ghorbani, Ahmad; Ghazvini, Kiarash

2016-01-01

Many studies have emphasized the incorporation of active learning into classrooms to reinforce didactic lectures for physiology courses. This work aimed to determine if presenting classic papers during didactic lectures improves the learning of physiology among undergraduate students. Twenty-two students of health information technology were…

Undergraduate physics course innovations and their impact on student learning

Science.gov (United States)

Iverson, Heidi Louise

Over the last several decades, the efficacy of the traditional lecture-based instructional model for undergraduate physics courses has been challenged. As a result, a large number of reform-oriented instructional innovations have been developed, enacted, and studied in undergraduate physics courses around the globe---all with the intended purpose of improving student learning. This thesis satisfies the need for a comprehensive synthesis of the effectiveness of these course innovations by analyzing: (1) the types of innovations that have been enacted, (2) the impact of these innovations on student learning, and (3) the common features of effective innovations. An exhaustive literature search for studies published after 1990 on undergraduate physics course innovations yielded 432 articles which were then coded with respect to the characteristics of the innovations used as well as the methodological characteristics of the studies. These codes facilitated a descriptive analysis which characterized the features of the pool of studies. These studies were then meta-analyzed in order to evaluate the effect of innovations on student learning. Finally, a case-study analysis was conducted in order to identify the critical characteristics of effective innovations. Results indicate that most innovations focus on introductory mechanics and use some combination of conceptually oriented tasks, collaborative learning, and technology. The overall effect of course innovations has been positive, but with the caveat that a large number of studies suffer from poor methodological designs and potential threats to validity. In addition, over half of the studies had to be eliminated from the meta-analysis because they did not report the data necessary for an effect size to be calculated. Despite these limitations the results of the meta-analysis indicated that there was one innovation which had particularly high effect sizes---Workshop/Studio Physics---an innovation which involves an

Information literacy skills of undergraduate medical radiation students

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shanahan, Madeleine C. [Medical Radiations, School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria (Australia)]. E-mail: mshanahan@rmit.edu.au

2007-08-15

Undergraduate education is undergoing a shift away from the traditional transmission of a fixed body of knowledge to a learning approach where the emphasis is on supporting learners to learn. Central to this change is recognition that undergraduate education programmes should aim to develop independent learners who become effective lifelong learning practitioners. Successful independent learning as an undergraduate student or as a lifelong learner requires the learner to have well developed information literacy skills. An Online Electronic Information Skills (OEIS) intervention was designed to develop the information literacy skills in a cohort of second year undergraduate radiography students. An evaluation focused on learning outcomes was used to provide evidence of development of information literacy within the undergraduate course. The evaluation clearly demonstrated substantial skill development in students' ability to access scholarly information in their discipline area. The reported continued use of database searching by this cohort of students seven months after the OEIS intervention provides evidence that they are continuing to access and use scholarly information, information literacy skills necessary for their future work context.

Information literacy skills of undergraduate medical radiation students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shanahan, Madeleine C.

2007-01-01

Undergraduate education is undergoing a shift away from the traditional transmission of a fixed body of knowledge to a learning approach where the emphasis is on supporting learners to learn. Central to this change is recognition that undergraduate education programmes should aim to develop independent learners who become effective lifelong learning practitioners. Successful independent learning as an undergraduate student or as a lifelong learner requires the learner to have well developed information literacy skills. An Online Electronic Information Skills (OEIS) intervention was designed to develop the information literacy skills in a cohort of second year undergraduate radiography students. An evaluation focused on learning outcomes was used to provide evidence of development of information literacy within the undergraduate course. The evaluation clearly demonstrated substantial skill development in students' ability to access scholarly information in their discipline area. The reported continued use of database searching by this cohort of students seven months after the OEIS intervention provides evidence that they are continuing to access and use scholarly information, information literacy skills necessary for their future work context

Exploring undergraduate students' attitudes towards interprofessional learning, motivation-to-learn, and perceived impact of learning conflict resolution skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandergoot, Sonya; Sarris, Aspa; Kirby, Neil; Ward, Helena

2018-03-01

Conflict resolution skills are important for all healthcare professionals as conflict and mis-communication can have detrimental effects on decision-making, potentially impacting significantly on patient care, morbidity, and mortality. Interprofessional learning (IPL) has been found to increase collaboration and improve collegial relationships and hence may be an appropriate way to increase conflict resolution skills among healthcare graduates. This study examined transference of conflict resolution skills, motivation-to-learn, and attitudes to IPL of medical (n = 52) and nursing (n = 74) undergraduate students who undertook an IPL conflict resolution program. Results indicated that motivation-to-learn, attitudes to IPL, and transfer of conflict resolution skills were significantly related to each other, even when controlling for other variables, such as age and gender. When comparing the two groups, undergraduate nursing students were found to have statistically higher motivation-to-learn and transference of conflict resolution skills, and reported a more positive attitude to IPL than medical students. Some of these differences may be attributed to lack of clinical placements for medical students in the first half of their degree at their university, giving them less opportunity to apply the conflict resolution skills taught, as well as less contextual relevance. This may potentially affect their motivation-to-learn and attitude to IPL thus impacting on how they perceive the relevance of learning conflict resolution skills. Without the contextual relevancy of placements at the time of learning for medical students, the newly acquired conflict resolution skills are less likely to transfer to practice in an optimal fashion.

Attitudes of Jordanian Undergraduate Students towards Using Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

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Saeed, Farah Jamal Abed Alrazeq; Al-Zayed, Norma Nawaf

2018-01-01

The study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Jordanian undergraduate students towards using computer assisted-language learning (CALL) and its effectiveness in the process of learning the English language. In order to fulfill the study's objective, the researchers used a questionnaire to collect data, followed-up with semi-structured…

Evaluating the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Process in Undergraduate Parks and Recreation Academic Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Craig M.; Young, Sarah J.; Sturts, Jill R.

2012-01-01

Institutions of higher education are increasingly being held more accountable for assessing student learning both in and out of their classrooms along with reporting results to their stakeholders. The purpose of this study, which examined assessment of student learning outcomes in undergraduate park and recreation academic programs, was two-fold:…

Learning strategies, study habits and social networking activity of undergraduate medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Bickerdike, Andrea; O'Deasmhunaigh, Conall; O'Flynn, Siun; O'Tuathaigh, Colm

2016-07-17

To determine learning strategies, study habits, and online social networking use of undergraduates at an Irish medical school, and their relationship with academic performance. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Year 2 and final year undergraduate-entry and graduate-entry students at an Irish medical school. Data about participants' demographics and educational background, study habits (including time management), and use of online media was collected using a self-report questionnaire. Participants' learning strategies were measured using the 18-item Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory (ALSI). Year score percentage was the measure of academic achievement. The association between demographic/educational factors, learning strategies, study habits, and academic achievement was statistically analysed using regression analysis. Forty-two percent of students were included in this analysis (n=376). A last-minute "cramming" time management study strategy was associated with increased use of online social networks. Learning strategies differed between undergraduate- and graduate-entrants, with the latter less likely to adopt a 'surface approach' and more likely adopt a 'study monitoring' approach. Year score percentage was positively correlated with the 'effort management/organised studying' learning style. Poorer academic performance was associated with a poor time management approach to studying ("cramming") and increased use of the 'surface learning' strategy. Our study demonstrates that effort management and organised studying should be promoted, and surface learning discouraged, as part of any effort to optimise academic performance in medical school. Excessive use of social networking contributes to poor study habits, which are associated with reduced academic achievement.

Blended learning pedagogy designed for communication module among undergraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Shorey, Shefaly; Kowitlawakul, Yanika; Devi, M Kamala; Chen, Hui-Chen; Soong, Swee Kit Alan; Ang, Emily

2018-02-01

Effective communication is important for nurse and patient outcomes. Nursing students often feel unprepared to communicate effectively with patients and other healthcare workers within the clinical environment. Blended learning pedagogy-based communication skills training can provide an alternative to traditional methods of teaching to enhance students' satisfaction and self-efficacy levels in communicating with others. To examine the effectiveness of blended learning pedagogy in a redesigned communication module among nursing undergraduates in enhancing their satisfaction levels and attitudes towards learning communication module as well as self-efficacy in communication. A single group pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was adopted. Data were collected from August 2016 to November 2016 from 124 nursing undergraduates from a leading nursing school. Blended learning pedagogy was adopted to redesign a communication module that offered a wide array of learning opportunities via face-to-face classroom and online sessions. Validated and reliable instruments were used to measure satisfaction levels with blended learning pedagogy, attitudes towards learning communication, and communication self-efficacy. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Participants had enhanced satisfaction levels with blended learning pedagogy, better attitudes in learning communication skills, and improved communication self-efficacies at posttest (week 13 of the semester) when compared with their pre-test scores (week one of the semester). Participants scored higher in the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, the Communication Skills Attitude Scale, and the communication skills subscale of the Nursing Students Self-Efficacy Scale. Blended learning pedagogy can be effectively used in facilitating communication modules and enhancing student outcomes among nursing undergraduates. The long-term effectiveness of using blended learning pedagogy in

Investigation on the learning interest of senior undergraduate students in optoelectronics specialty

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shenjiang; Wang, Na; Li, Dangjuan; Liu, Chanlao

2017-08-01

With the increasing number of the graduate students, many of them have some troubles in job finding. This situation make a huge pressure on the senior students and loss them the interesting in study. This work investigate the reasons by questionnaire survey, panel discussion, interview, etc. to achieve the factors influence their learning interesting. The main reason of students do not have the motivation on study is that they do not understand the development and competition of photoelectric specialty, lack of innovation and entrepreneurship training, hysteresis of the learning knowledge and practical application. Finally, the paper gives some suggestions through teaching reform on how to improve students' learning enthusiasm. This work will contribute to the teaching and training of senior undergraduate students of optoelectronics specialty.

Use of concept maps to promote electrocardiogram diagnosis learning in undergraduate medical students

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Ruimin; Yang, Xiaoyan; Xing, Bangrong; Zou, Zihao; Zheng, Zhenda; Xie, Xujing; Zhu, Jieming; Chen, Lin; Zhou, Hanjian

2015-01-01

Concept mapping is an effective method in teaching and learning, however this strategy has not been evaluated among electrocardiogram (ECG) diagnosis learning. This study explored the use of concept maps to assist ECG study, and sought to analyze whether this method could improve undergraduate students’ ECG interpretation skills. There were 126 undergraduate medical students who were randomly selected and assigned to two groups, group A (n = 63) and group B (n = 63). Group A was taught to use concept maps to learn ECG diagnosis, while group B was taught by traditional methods. After the course, all of the students were assessed by having an ECG diagnostic test. Quantitative data which comprised test score and ECG features completion index was compared by using the unpaired Student’s t-test between the two groups. Further, a feedback questionnaire on concept maps used was also completed by group A, comments were evaluated by a five-point Likert scale. The test scores of ECGs interpretation was 7.36 ± 1.23 in Group A and 6.12 ± 1.39 in Group B. A significant advantage (P = 0.018) of concept maps was observed in ECG interpretation accuracy. No difference in the average ECG features completion index was observed between Group A (66.75 ± 15.35%) and Group B (62.93 ± 13.17%). According qualitative analysis, majority of students accepted concept maps as a helpful tool. Difficult to learn at the beginning and time consuming are the two problems in using this method, nevertheless most of the students indicated to continue using it. Concept maps could be a useful pedagogical tool in enhancing undergraduate medical students’ ECG interpretation skills. Furthermore, students indicated a positive attitude to it, and perceived it as a resource for learning. PMID:26221331

Learning Clinical Procedures Through Internet Digital Objects: Experience of Undergraduate Students Across Clinical Faculties.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tse Yan; Gao, Xiaoli; Wong, Kin; Tse, Christine Shuk Kwan; Chan, Ying Yee

2015-04-14

Various digital learning objects (DLOs) are available via the World Wide Web, showing the flow of clinical procedures. It is unclear to what extent these freely accessible Internet DLOs facilitate or hamper students' acquisition of clinical competence. This study aimed to understand the experience of undergraduate students across clinical disciplines-medicine, dentistry, and nursing-in using openly accessible Internet DLOs, and to investigate the role of Internet DLOs in facilitating their clinical learning. Mid-year and final-year groups were selected from each undergraduate clinical degree program of the University of Hong Kong-Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), and Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs). All students were invited to complete a questionnaire on their personal and educational backgrounds, and their experiences and views on using Internet DLOs in learning clinical procedures. The questionnaire design was informed by the findings of six focus groups. Among 439 respondents, 97.5% (428/439) learned a variety of clinical procedures through Internet DLOs. Most nursing students (107/122, 87.7%) learned preventive measures through Internet DLOs, with a lower percentage of medical students (99/215, 46.0%) and dental students (43/96, 45%) having learned them this way (both Plearning in the planned curriculum. This trend calls for a transformation of the educator's role from dispensing knowledge to guidance and support.

Practice education learning environments: the mismatch between perceived and preferred expectations of undergraduate health science students.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Ted; Williams, Brett; McKenna, Lisa; Palermo, Claire; McCall, Louise; Roller, Louis; Hewitt, Lesley; Molloy, Liz; Baird, Marilyn; Aldabah, Ligal

2011-11-01

Practical hands-on learning opportunities are viewed as a vital component of the education of health science students, but there is a critical shortage of fieldwork placement experiences. It is therefore important that these clinical learning environments are well suited to students' perceptions and expectations. To investigate how undergraduate students enrolled in health-related education programs view their clinical learning environments and specifically to compare students' perception of their 'actual' clinical learning environment to that of their 'preferred/ideal' clinical learning environment. The Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI) was used to collect data from 548 undergraduate students (55% response rate) enrolled in all year levels of paramedics, midwifery, radiography and medical imaging, occupational therapy, pharmacy, nutrition and dietetics, physiotherapy and social work at Monash University via convenience sampling. Students were asked to rate their perception of the clinical learning environment at the completion of their placements using the CLEI. Satisfaction of the students enrolled in the health-related disciplines was closely linked with the five constructs measured by the CLEI: Personalization, Student Involvement, Task Orientation, Innovation, and Individualization. Significant differences were found between the student's perception of their 'actual' clinical learning environment and their 'ideal' clinical learning environment. The study highlights the importance of a supportive clinical learning environment that places emphasis on effective two-way communication. A thorough understanding of students' perceptions of their clinical learning environments is essential. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Imitation in Undergraduate Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jiangyuan; Guo, Wei

2016-01-01

Research in developmental psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated the critical role of imitation in human learning. Self-report questionnaires collected from 456 undergraduate students in two U.S. institutions and one Chinese institution demonstrated that undergraduate students from both U.S. and Chinese cultures used various imitations in…

Development of an Assessment Tool to Measure Students' Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Galloway, Kelli R.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2015-01-01

Research on learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory necessitates an understanding of students' perspectives of learning. Novak's Theory of Meaningful Learning states that the cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling), and psychomotor (doing) domains must be integrated for meaningful learning to occur. The psychomotor domain is the…

Students' perspectives of undergraduate research methods ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: in this study we used a model of adult learning to explore undergraduate students' views on how to improve the teaching of research methods and biostatistics. Methods: this was a secondary analysis of survey data of 600 undergraduate students from three medical schools in Uganda. The analysis looked at ...

Learning styles and approaches to learning among medical undergraduates and postgraduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Samarakoon, Lasitha; Fernando, Tharanga; Rodrigo, Chaturaka

2013-03-25

The challenge of imparting a large amount of knowledge within a limited time period in a way it is retained, remembered and effectively interpreted by a student is considerable. This has resulted in crucial changes in the field of medical education, with a shift from didactic teacher centered and subject based teaching to the use of interactive, problem based, student centered learning. This study tested the hypothesis that learning styles (visual, auditory, read/write and kinesthetic) and approaches to learning (deep, strategic and superficial) differ among first and final year undergraduate medical students, and postgraduates medical trainees. We used self administered VARK and ASSIST questionnaires to assess the differences in learning styles and approaches to learning among medical undergraduates of the University of Colombo and postgraduate trainees of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, Colombo. A total of 147 participated: 73 (49.7%) first year students, 40 (27.2%) final year students and 34(23.1%) postgraduate students. The majority (69.9%) of first year students had multimodal learning styles. Among final year students, the majority (67.5%) had multimodal learning styles, and among postgraduates, the majority were unimodal (52.9%) learners.Among all three groups, the predominant approach to learning was strategic. Postgraduates had significant higher mean scores for deep and strategic approaches than first years or final years (p learning approaches suggest a positive shift towards deep and strategic learning in postgraduate students. However a similar difference was not observed in undergraduate students from first year to final year, suggesting that their curriculum may not have influenced learning methodology over a five year period.

Learning environment and emotional well-being: A qualitative study of undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Tharani, Ambreen; Husain, Yusra; Warwick, Ian

2017-12-01

Students can experience multiple stressors during their academic life which have an impact on their emotional health and academic progress. This study sought to explore students' understanding of and factors affecting their emotional well-being in an undergraduate nursing programme at a private nursing institution in Karachi, Pakistan. In this qualitative study, data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews using a self-designed guide from 16 participants in total, drawn from various years of the selected undergraduate programme. Participants noted that the quality of the 'learning environment' was a key influence on their emotional well-being. They highlighted faculty role and teaching approaches, academic expectations and availability of learning resources as important factors that affected their emotional well-being as well as their academic performance. Institutional support was also deemed important. Factors associated with a 'hidden curriculum' were found to be a threat to students' emerging sense of professionalism. Suggestions are given as to how the learning environment in the nursing programme under study can be improved to take into account students' emotional well-being. Emphasis needs to be laid on developing supportive faculty role to provide conducive learning environment and professional development of students. Efforts to develop stress-free academic environment with supportive institutional policies need to be considered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online Dissection Audio-Visual Resources for Human Anatomy: Undergraduate Medical Students' Usage and Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Choi-Lundberg, Derek L.; Cuellar, William A.; Williams, Anne-Marie M.

2016-01-01

In an attempt to improve undergraduate medical student preparation for and learning from dissection sessions, dissection audio-visual resources (DAVR) were developed. Data from e-learning management systems indicated DAVR were accessed by 28% ± 10 (mean ± SD for nine DAVR across three years) of students prior to the corresponding dissection…

Approaches to learning among occupational therapy undergraduate students: A cross-cultural study.

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Brown, Ted; Fong, Kenneth N K; Bonsaksen, Tore; Lan, Tan Hwei; Murdolo, Yuki; Gonzalez, Pablo Cruz; Beng, Lim Hua

2017-07-01

Students may adopt various approaches to academic learning. Occupational therapy students' approaches to study and the impact of cultural context have not been formally investigated to date. To examine the approaches to study adopted by undergraduate occupational therapy students from four different cultural settings. 712 undergraduate occupational therapy students (n = 376 from Australia, n = 109 from Hong Kong, n = 160 from Norway and n = 67 from Singapore) completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to compare the ASSIST subscales for the students from the four countries. Post-hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test indicated that the mean scores for the strategic approach were significantly different between Australia and the other three countries. The mean scores for the surface approach were significantly different between Australia and Hong Kong, and Hong Kong and Norway. There were no significant differences between the deep approach to studying between Australia, Norway, Singapore and Hong Kong. Culture and educational context do appear to impact the approaches to study adopted by undergraduate occupational therapy students. Academic and practice educators need to be cognizant of what approaches to studying the students they work with adopt.

Action Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

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Stappenbelt, Brad

2017-01-01

In the present action learning implementation, twelve action learning sets were conducted over eight years. The action learning sets consisted of students involved in undergraduate engineering research thesis work. The concurrent study accompanying this initiative investigated the influence of the action learning environment on student approaches…

Datasets linking ethnic perceptions to undergraduate students learning outcomes in a Nigerian Tertiary Institution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joke A. Badejo

2018-06-01

Full Text Available This data article represents academic performances of undergraduate students in a select Nigerian Private Tertiary institution from 2008 to 2013. The 2413 dataset categorizes students with respect to their origins (ethnicity, pre-university admission scores and Cumulative Grade Point Averages earned at the end of their study at the university. We present a descriptive statistics showing mean, median, mode, maximum, minimum, range, standard deviation and variance in the performances of these students and a boxplot representation of the performances of these students with respect to their origins. Keywords: Learning analytics, Cultural impact, Ethnicity, Undergraduates, Education data mining, Smart campus, Nigerian university

The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project

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Beichner, Robert J.

2011-04-01

How do you keep a classroom of 100 undergraduates actively learning? Can students practice communication and teamwork skills in a large class? How do you boost the performance of underrepresented groups? The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project has addressed these concerns. Because of their inclusion in a leading introductory physics textbook, project materials are used by more than 1/3 of all science, math, and engineering majors nationwide. The room design and pedagogy have been adopted at more than 100 leading institutions across the country. Physics, chemistry, math, astronomy, biology, engineering, earth sciences, and even literature classes are currently being taught this way. Educational research indicates that students should collaborate on interesting tasks and be deeply involved with the material they are studying. We promote active learning in a redesigned classroom for 100 students or more. (Of course, smaller classes can also benefit.) Class time is spent primarily on "tangibles" and "ponderables"--hands-on activities, simulations, and interesting questions. Nine students sit in three teams at round tables. Instructors circulate and engage in Socratic dialogues. The setting looks like a banquet hall, with lively interactions nearly all the time. Hundreds of hours of classroom video and audio recordings, transcripts of numerous interviews and focus groups, data from conceptual learning assessments (using widely-recognized instruments in a pretest/posttest protocol), and collected portfolios of student work are part of our rigorous assessment effort. Our findings (based on data from over 16,000 students collected over five years as well as replications at adopting sites) can be summarized as the following: 1) Female failure rate is 1/5 of previous levels, even though more is demanded of students. 2) Minority failure rate is 1/4 that seen in traditionally taught courses. 3) At-risk students are more

Investigating the Relationship Between Self-Directed Learning Readiness and Time Management Skills in Turkish Undergraduate Nursing Students.

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Ertuğ, Nurcan; Faydali, Saide

The aims of this study were to determine self-directed learning and time management skills of undergraduate nursing students and to investigate the relationship between the concepts. The use of self-directed learning has increased as an educational strategy in recent years. This descriptive and correlational study was conducted with 383 undergraduate nursing students in Turkey. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, and Time Management Questionnaire. Mean scores were as follows: self-directed learning readiness, 159.12 (SD = 20.8); time management, 87.75 (SD = 12.1). A moderate positive correlation was found between self-directed learning readiness and time management values. Time management scores were 78.42 when self-directed learning readiness was ≤149 and 90.82 when self-directed learning readiness was ≥ 150, with a statistically significant difference (p = .000). Level of self-directed learning and academic achievement were higher in students who managed their time well.

Evaluating the use of augmented reality to support undergraduate student learning in geomorphology

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Ockelford, A.; Bullard, J. E.; Burton, E.; Hackney, C. R.

2016-12-01

Augmented Reality (AR) supports the understanding of complex phenomena by providing unique visual and interactive experiences that combine real and virtual information and help communicate abstract problems to learners. With AR, designers can superimpose virtual graphics over real objects, allowing users to interact with digital content through physical manipulation. One of the most significant pedagogic features of AR is that it provides an essentially student-centred and flexible space in which students can learn. By actively engaging participants using a design-thinking approach, this technology has the potential to provide a more productive and engaging learning environment than real or virtual learning environments alone. AR is increasingly being used in support of undergraduate learning and public engagement activities across engineering, medical and humanities disciplines but it is not widely used across the geosciences disciplines despite the obvious applicability. This paper presents preliminary results from a multi-institutional project which seeks to evaluate the benefits and challenges of using an augmented reality sand box to support undergraduate learning in geomorphology. The sandbox enables users to create and visualise topography. As the sand is sculpted, contours are projected onto the miniature landscape. By hovering a hand over the box, users can make it `rain' over the landscape and the water `flows' down in to rivers and valleys. At undergraduate level, the sand-box is an ideal focus for problem-solving exercises, for example exploring how geomorphology controls hydrological processes, how such processes can be altered and the subsequent impacts of the changes for environmental risk. It is particularly valuable for students who favour a visual or kinesthetic learning style. Results presented in this paper discuss how the sandbox provides a complex interactive environment that encourages communication, collaboration and co-design.

Engineering Computer Games: A Parallel Learning Opportunity for Undergraduate Engineering and Primary (K-5 Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Michael Budnik

2011-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present how our College of Engineering is developing a growing portfolio of engineering computer games as a parallel learning opportunity for undergraduate engineering and primary (grade K-5 students. Around the world, many schools provide secondary students (grade 6-12 with opportunities to pursue pre-engineering classes. However, by the time students reach this age, many of them have already determined their educational goals and preferred careers. Our College of Engineering is developing resources to provide primary students, still in their educational formative years, with opportunities to learn more about engineering. One of these resources is a library of engineering games targeted to the primary student population. The games are designed by sophomore students in our College of Engineering. During their Introduction to Computational Techniques course, the students use the LabVIEW environment to develop the games. This software provides a wealth of design resources for the novice programmer; using it to develop the games strengthens the undergraduates

Selected engagement factors and academic learning outcomes of undergraduate engineering students

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Justice, Patricia J.

The concept of student engagement and its relationship to successful student performance and learning outcomes has a long history in higher education (Kuh, 2007). Attention to faculty and student engagement has only recently become of interest to the engineering education community. This interest can be attributed to long-standing research by George Kuh's, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. In addition, research projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Academic Pathway Study (APS) at the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) and the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE), Measuring Student and Faculty Engagement in Engineering Education, at the National Academy of Engineering. These research studies utilized the framework and data from the Engineering Change study by the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Pennsylvania State, that evaluated the impact of the new Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) EC2000 "3a through k" criteria identify 11 learning outcomes expected of engineering graduates. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent selected engagement factors of 1. institution, 2. social, 3. cognitive, 4. finance, and 5. technology influence undergraduate engineering students and quality student learning outcomes. Through the descriptive statistical analysis indicates that there maybe problems in the engineering program. This researcher would have expected at least 50% of the students to fall in the Strongly Agree and Agree categories. The data indicated that the there maybe problems in the engineering program problems in the data. The problems found ranked in this order: 1). Dissatisfaction with faculty instruction methods and quality of instruction and not a clear understanding of engineering majors , 2). inadequate Engineering faculty and advisors availability especially applicable

Self-Directed Learning Readiness among Undergraduate Students at Saudi Electronic University in Saudi Arabia

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Alfaifi, Mousa S.

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine the level of self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) among undergraduate students at Saudi Electronic University in Saudi Arabia. Also, investigated were potential relationships between the level of self-directed learning readiness and selected demographic variables such as gender and specific college within the…

Measuring meaningful learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory

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Galloway, Kelli R.

The undergraduate chemistry laboratory has been an essential component in chemistry education for over a century. The literature includes reports on investigations of singular aspects laboratory learning and attempts to measure the efficacy of reformed laboratory curriculum as well as faculty goals for laboratory learning which found common goals among instructors for students to learn laboratory skills, techniques, experimental design, and to develop critical thinking skills. These findings are important for improving teaching and learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory, but research is needed to connect the faculty goals to student perceptions. This study was designed to explore students' ideas about learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. Novak's Theory of Meaningful Learning was used as a guide for the data collection and analysis choices for this research. Novak's theory states that in order for meaningful learning to occur the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains must be integrated. The psychomotor domain is inherent in the chemistry laboratory, but the extent to which the cognitive and affective domains are integrated is unknown. For meaningful learning to occur in the laboratory, students must actively integrate both the cognitive domain and the affective domains into the "doing" of their laboratory work. The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was designed to measure students' cognitive and affective expectations and experiences within the context of conducting experiments in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. Evidence for the validity and reliability of the data generated by the MLLI were collected from multiple quantitative studies: a one semester study at one university, a one semester study at 15 colleges and universities across the United States, and a longitudinal study where the MLLI was administered 6 times during two years of general and organic chemistry laboratory courses. Results from

Exploring problem-based cooperative learning in undergraduate physics labs: student perspectives

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Bergin, S. D.; Murphy, C.; Shuilleabhain, A. Ni

2018-03-01

This study examines the potential of problem-based cooperative learning (PBCL) in expanding undergraduate physics students’ understanding of, and engagement with, the scientific process. Two groups of first-year physics students (n = 180) completed a questionnaire which compared their perceptions of learning science with their engagement in physics labs. One cohort completed a lab based on a PBCL approach, whilst the other completed the same experiment, using a more traditional, manual-based lab. Utilising a participant research approach, the questionnaire was co-constructed by researchers and student advisers from each cohort in order to improve shared meaning between researchers and participants. Analysis of students’ responses suggests that students in the PBCL cohort engaged more in higher-order problem-solving skills and evidenced a deeper understanding of the scientific process than students in the more traditional, manual-based cohort. However, the latter cohort responses placed more emphasis on accuracy and measurement in lab science than the PBCL cohort. The students in the PBCL cohort were also more positively engaged with their learning than their counterparts in the manual led group.

Undergraduate Physics Course Innovations and Their Impact on Student Learning

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Iverson, Heidi L.; Briggs, Derek C.; Ruiz-Primo, Maria A.; Talbot, Robert M.; Shepard, Lorrie A.

2009-11-01

This paper presents results of an NSF project in which the goal is to provide a synthesis of research on instructional innovations that have been implemented in undergraduate courses in physics. The research questions guiding the project are: What constitutes the range of principal course innovations that are being implemented in undergraduate physics courses? What are the effects of these course innovations on student learning? The paper describes: (1) the literature search procedures used to gather over 400 innovation-related journal articles, (2) the procedures followed to analyze the studies within these articles, (3) the characteristics of the studies reported, and (4) the results from synthesizing the quantitative results of those studies that met our criteria for inclusion.

Student-Designed Service-Learning Projects in an Undergraduate Neurobiology Course

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Katharine V. Northcutt

2015-12-01

Full Text Available One of the challenges in teaching a service-learning course is obtaining student buy-in from all students in the course. To circumvent this problem, I have let students in my undergraduate Neurobiology course design their own service-learning projects at the beginning of the semester. Although this can be chaotic because it requires last-minute planning, I have made it successful through facilitating student communication in the classroom, requiring thorough project proposals, meeting with students regularly, and monitoring group progress through written reflection papers. Most of my students have strong opinions about the types of projects that they want to carry out, and many students have used connections that they have already made with local organizations. Almost all projects that students have designed to this point involve teaching basic concepts of neurobiology to children of various ages while simultaneously sparking their interest in science. Through taking ownership of the project and designing it such that it works well with their strengths, interests, and weekly schedule, students have become more engaged in service learning and view it as a valuable experience. Despite some class time being shifted away from more traditional assignments, students have performed equally well in the course, and they are more eager to talk with others about course concepts. Furthermore, the feedback that I have received from community partners has been excellent, and some students have maintained their work with the organizations.

Undergraduate student nurses' perspectives of an integrated clinical learning model in the mental health environment.

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Boardman, Gayelene; Lawrence, Karen; Polacsek, Meg

2018-06-13

Providing nursing students with appropriate clinical practice during their undergraduate programme is critical to ensuring that graduates meet the competency requirements to gain registration as a nurse. In response to the predicted nursing workforce shortage, universities have been significantly increasing the enrolment of undergraduate nurses into Bachelor of Nursing courses. This has placed a demand on the availability of clinical placements and often universities struggle to find appropriate places. In this study, a Bachelor of Nursing course incorporated an Integrated Clinical Learning Model (ICLM) for the first time during a mental health placement. The model offered students the flexibility of attending their clinical placement over a 16-week period instead of a traditional block of 4 weeks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the student perspective of this model and whether it prepared them for the nursing workforce. Focus groups were conducted with undergraduate nursing students following their mental health clinical placement at an acute and extended care inpatient unit. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Main themes included preparedness for practice, maintaining a work-life balance, and perceiving they were part of a team. The ICLM deepened students' knowledge and had a positive impact on their overall clinical learning. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Understanding the learning styles of undergraduate physiotherapy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Undergraduate students at universities have different learning styles. To perform optimally, both they and their educators should be made aware of their preferred learning styles and problem-solving abilities. Students have different backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses, interests, ambitions, levels of motivation ...

Action learning in undergraduate engineering thesis supervision

OpenAIRE

Stappenbelt, Brad

2017-01-01

In the present action learning implementation, twelve action learning sets were conducted over eight years. The action learning sets consisted of students involved in undergraduate engineering research thesis work. The concurrent study accompanying this initiative investigated the influence of the action learning environment on student approaches to learning and any accompanying academic, learning and personal benefits realised. The influence of preferred learning styles on set function and s...

Service Learning to Promote Brain-Based Learning in Undergraduate Teaching

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Nwokah, Eva E.; Leafblad, Stefanie

2013-01-01

In this study 44 undergraduate students in a language development course participated in service learning with preschool homeless and low-income children as a course requirement. Students completed a survey, questionnaires, reflective journaling, and small-group debriefing sessions. Based on current views on brain-based learning from cortical…

Undergraduate teaching in geriatric medicine using computer-aided learning improves student performance in examinations.

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Daunt, Laura A; Umeonusulu, Patience I; Gladman, John R F; Blundell, Adrian G; Conroy, Simon P; Gordon, Adam L

2013-07-01

computer-aided learning (CAL) is increasingly used to deliver teaching, but few studies have evaluated its impact on learning within geriatric medicine. We developed and implemented CAL packages on falls and continence, and evaluated their effect on student performance in two medical schools. traditional ward based and didactic teaching was replaced by blended learning (CAL package combined with traditional teaching methods). Examination scores were compared for cohorts of medical students receiving traditional learning and those receiving blended learning. Control questions were included to provide data on cohort differences. in both medical schools, there was a trend towards improved scores following blended learning, with a smaller number of students achieving low scores (P learning was associated with improvement in student examination performance, regardless of the setting or the methods adopted, and without increasing teaching time. Our findings support the use of CAL in teaching geriatric medicine, and this method has been adopted for teaching other topics in the undergraduate curriculum.

Learning outcomes and tutoring in problem based-learning: how do undergraduate medical students perceive them?

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AlHaqwi, Ali I

2014-04-01

To explore opinions of undergraduate medical students regarding learning outcomes of the instructional strategy of Problem Based Learning (PBL). In addition their views were sought about the role of tutors and qualities of effective tutors. This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire based study which was conducted in two colleges of Medicine, Central region, Saudi Arabia during the period of 1st of April to 30(th) June 2012. One hundred seventy four undergraduate medical students participated in this study. Seventy percent of participants have indicated that PBL strategy contributed to the development of their knowledge, presentation skills, team work abilities, and accepting criticism from other colleagues. Regarding the tutors' role in PBL tutorials, majority of the participants (75%) indicated that this role is essential, nevertheless, only 58% of students indicated that this role is clear and well identified. Sixty three percent of participants preferred a member role in the PBL tutorials and 80 percent of participants preferred both content and process expert tutors in the PBL tutorials. Significant statistical difference was noted between the views of students and their schools, gender, and study phase. Majority of the participants believed that PBL had a positive impact on the development of their cognitive, personal and teamwork skills. The view of the students in this study and the available evidence suggest that tutor should have both qualities; content and process expertise, in order to have the best outcomes from the PBL tutorials.

"iM Ready to Learn": Undergraduate Nursing Students Knowledge, Preferences, and Practice of Mobile Technology and Social Media.

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Hay, Benjamin; Carr, Peter J; Dawe, Lydia; Clark-Burg, Karen

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify in what way social media and mobile technology assist with learning and education of the undergraduate nurse. The study involved undergraduate nursing students across three campuses from the University of Notre Dame Australia. Participants were invited to complete an online questionnaire that related to their current knowledge, preferences, and practice with mobile technology and social media within their undergraduate nursing degree. A quantitative descriptive survey design was adapted from an initial pilot survey by the authors. A total of 386 nursing students (23.47% of the total enrolment) completed the online survey. Overall, results suggested that students are more supportive of social media and mobile technology in principle than in practice. Students who frequently use mobile technologies prefer to print out, highlight, and annotate the lecture material. Findings suggest that nursing students currently use mobile technology and social media and are keen to engage in ongoing learning and collaboration using these resources. Therefore, nursing academia should encourage the appropriate use of mobile technology and social media within the undergraduate curriculum so that responsible use of such technologies positively affects the future nursing workforce.

Introducing Problem-Based Learning to Undergraduate IT Service Management Course: Student Satisfaction and Work Performance

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Anicic, Katarina Pažur; Mekovec, Renata

2016-01-01

This paper describes the implementation of problem-based learning (PBL) principles in an undergraduate IT service management course, followed by the results about student satisfaction and work performance. The results indicate the students' general satisfaction with the course implementation, as well as some challenges regarding the…

Service-learning: an integral part of undergraduate public health.

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Cashman, Suzanne B; Seifer, Sarena D

2008-09-01

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) described public health as "an essential part of the training of citizens," a body of knowledge needed to achieve a public health literate citizenry. To achieve that end, the IOM recommended that "all undergraduates should have access to education in public health." Service-learning, a type of experiential learning, is an effective and appropriate vehicle for teaching public health and developing public health literacy. While relatively new to public health, service-learning has its historical roots in undergraduate education and has been shown to enhance students' understanding of course relevance, change student and faculty attitudes, encourage support for community initiatives, and increase student and faculty volunteerism. Grounded in collaborative relationships, service-learning grows from authentic partnerships between communities and educational institutions. Through emphasizing reciprocal learning and reflective practice, service-learning helps students develop skills needed to be effective in working with communities and ultimately achieve social change. With public health's enduring focus on social justice, introducing undergraduate students to public health through the vehicle of service-learning as part of introductory public health core courses or public health electives will help ensure that our young people are able to contribute to developing healthy communities, thus achieving the IOM's vision.

Peer-assisted learning--beyond teaching: How can medical students contribute to the undergraduate curriculum?

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Furmedge, Daniel S; Iwata, Kazuya; Gill, Deborah

2014-09-01

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has become increasingly popular over recent years with many medical schools now formally incorporating peer-teaching programs into the curriculum. PAL has a sound evidence base with benefit to both peer-teacher and peer-learner. Aside from in teaching delivery, empowering students to develop education in its broadest sense has been much less extensively documented. Five case studies with supportive evaluation evidence illustrate the success of a broad range of peer-led projects in the undergraduate medical curriculum, particularly where these have been embedded into formal teaching practices. These case studies identify five domains of teaching and support of learning where PAL works well: teaching and learning, resource development, peer-assessment, education research and evaluation and mentoring and support. Each case offers ways of engaging students in each domain. Medical students can contribute significantly to the design and delivery of the undergraduate medical program above and beyond the simple delivery of peer-assisted "teaching". In particular, they are in a prime position to develop resources and conduct research and evaluation within the program. Their participation in all stages enables them to feel involved in course development and education of their peers and ultimately leads to an increase in student satisfaction.

Facilitating problem-based learning among undergraduate nursing students: A qualitative systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wosinski, Jacqueline; Belcher, Anne E; Dürrenberger, Yvan; Allin, Anne-Claude; Stormacq, Coraline; Gerson, Linda

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on the perspective of undergraduate nursing students on facilitating elements that contribute to their success with PBL. a qualitative systematic review of the literature according to meta-aggregative methodology using the JBI SUMARI system was conducted. Data was collected across CINAHL, Medline, Embase, Eric, Teacher Reference Center and reference lists. Out of 378 articles, 101 were retrieved for examination and eight were retained after methodological analysis. 51 findings, matched with a verbatim, were extracted and aggregated in five categories: 1) in PBL, the nursing tutor models clinical reasoning and leadership skills; 2) the quality of group interactions is critical to the success of nursing students with PBL; 3) nursing students go through the process of learning with PBL; 4) through PBL, nursing students acquire skills that foster clinical reasoning; and 5) when the PBL method is used as intended, nursing students understand its purpose and process. These categories were aggregated in two syntheses worded as recommendation for practice. The synthesized recommendations are: 1) tutors should be trained to effectively guide the team work of undergraduate nursing students along the PBL process in order for them to achieve its goal; and 2) nursing students should be securely introduced to PBL and experience the development of their clinical reasoning through PBL. Future research should focus on the strategies undergraduate nursing students use to succeed with PBL and the effectiveness of PBL in enhancing critical thinking and collaboration skills. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting metacognition of undergraduate nursing students in a blended learning environment.

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Hsu, Li-Ling; Hsieh, Suh-Ing

2014-06-01

This paper is a report of a study to examine the influence of demographic, learning involvement and learning performance variables on metacognition of undergraduate nursing students in a blended learning environment. A cross-sectional, correlational survey design was adopted. Ninety-nine students invited to participate in the study were enrolled in a professional nursing ethics course at a public nursing college. The blended learning intervention is basically an assimilation of classroom learning and online learning. Simple linear regression showed significant associations between frequency of online dialogues, the Case Analysis Attitude Scale scores, the Case Analysis Self Evaluation Scale scores, the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale scores, and Metacognition Scale scores. Multiple linear regression indicated that frequency of online dialogues, the Case Analysis Self Evaluation Scale and the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale were significant independent predictors of metacognition. Overall, the model accounted for almost half of the variance in metacognition. The blended learning module developed in this study proved successful in the end as a catalyst for the exercising of metacognitive abilities by the sample of nursing students. Learners are able to develop metacognitive ability in comprehension, argumentation, reasoning and various forms of higher order thinking through the blended learning process. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Learning Clinical Procedures Through Internet Digital Objects: Experience of Undergraduate Students Across Clinical Faculties

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Li, Tse Yan; Wong, Kin; Tse, Christine Shuk Kwan; Chan, Ying Yee

2015-01-01

Background Various digital learning objects (DLOs) are available via the World Wide Web, showing the flow of clinical procedures. It is unclear to what extent these freely accessible Internet DLOs facilitate or hamper students’ acquisition of clinical competence. Objective This study aimed to understand the experience of undergraduate students across clinical disciplines—medicine, dentistry, and nursing—in using openly accessible Internet DLOs, and to investigate the role of Internet DLOs in facilitating their clinical learning. Methods Mid-year and final-year groups were selected from each undergraduate clinical degree program of the University of Hong Kong—Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), and Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs). All students were invited to complete a questionnaire on their personal and educational backgrounds, and their experiences and views on using Internet DLOs in learning clinical procedures. The questionnaire design was informed by the findings of six focus groups. Results Among 439 respondents, 97.5% (428/439) learned a variety of clinical procedures through Internet DLOs. Most nursing students (107/122, 87.7%) learned preventive measures through Internet DLOs, with a lower percentage of medical students (99/215, 46.0%) and dental students (43/96, 45%) having learned them this way (both Pstudents accessed DLOs through public search engines, whereas 93.2% (409/439) accessed them by watching YouTube videos. Students often shared DLOs with classmates (277/435, 63.7%), but rarely discussed them with teachers (54/436, 12.4%). The accuracy, usefulness, and importance of Internet DLOs were rated as 6.85 (SD 1.48), 7.27 (SD 1.53), and 7.13 (SD 1.72), respectively, out of a high score of 10. Conclusions Self-exploration of DLOs in the unrestricted Internet environment is extremely common among current e-generation learners and was regarded by students across clinical faculties as an important

Self-Regulated Learning Strategies Applied to Undergraduate, Graduate and Specialization Students from Civil Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Carlos Redaelli

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The current demand for civil engineering work requires new skills and knowledge and calls for new and effective learning methods. This paper shows self-regulated learning strategies applied to undergraduate, graduate and specialization students from Civil Engineering in a Brazilian University. A Scale of Evaluation of Learning Strategies was administered with a view to identifying students´ cognitive, metacognitive and dysfunctional learning strategies.

Emergence, Learning Difficulties, and Misconceptions in Chemistry Undergraduate Students' Conceptualizations of Acid Strength

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Tümay, Halil

2016-03-01

Philosophical debates about chemistry have clarified that the issue of emergence plays a critical role in the epistemology and ontology of chemistry. In this article, it is argued that the issue of emergence has also significant implications for understanding learning difficulties and finding ways of addressing them in chemistry. Particularly, it is argued that many misconceptions in chemistry may derive from students' failure to consider emergence in a systemic manner by taking into account all relevant factors in conjunction. Based on this argument, undergraduate students' conceptions of acids, and acid strength (an emergent chemical property) were investigated and it was examined whether or not they conceptualized acid strength as an emergent chemical property. The participants were 41 third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. A concept test and semi-structured interviews were used to probe students' conceptualizations and reasoning about acid strength. Findings of the study revealed that the majority of the undergraduate students did not conceptualize acid strength as an emergent property that arises from interactions among multiple factors. They generally focused on a single factor to predict and explain acid strength, and their faulty responses stemmed from their failure to recognize and consider all factors that affect acid strength. Based on these findings and insights from philosophy of chemistry, promoting system thinking and epistemologically sound argumentative discourses among students is suggested for meaningful chemical education.

Can undergraduate students learn effectuation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Robinson, Sarah; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska

effectuation it must be considered as a critical element from the initial meeting with the students. Teaching undergraduate students presents a range of challenges and teachers of entrepreneurship need to carefully consider how they approach teaching of effectuation in the classroom. Value....../Originality: This paper makes a two important contributions: First, we add to the literature on entrepreneurship education by informing the gap in our understanding of the mis-match between what we want to achieve and what we actually achieve in our classrooms when teaching effectuation. Second, we contribute...

The Effect of Problem-Based Learning on Undergraduate Students' Learning about Solutions and Their Physical Properties and Scientific Processing Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Tosun, Cemal; Taskesenligil, Yavuz

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on undergraduate students' learning about solutions and their physical properties, and on their scientific processing skills. The quasi experimental study was carried out through non-equivalent control and comparison groups pre-post test design. The data were…

Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

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Bassi, Sherry

2011-01-01

Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

Creating a Student-centered Learning Environment: Implementation of Problem-based Learning to Teach Microbiology to Undergraduate Medical Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandi, Venkataramana; Basireddy, Parimala Reddy

2018-01-05

Introduction Medical education involves training necessary to become a physician or a surgeon. This includes various levels of training like undergraduate, internship, and postgraduate training. Medical education can be quite complex, since it involves training in pre-clinical subjects (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry), the para-clinical subjects (microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, and forensic medicine), and a discrete group of clinical subjects that include general medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, ear, nose and throat specialization, paediatrics, cardiology, pulmonology, dermatology, ophthalmology, and orthopaedics, and many other clinical specializations and super specialities (cardio-thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, etc.). Training medical students involves both classroom teaching and practical applications. Classroom teaching is usually confined to didactic lectures, where the teacher unilaterally disseminates the information. This kind of teaching was recently noted to be not very effective in producing better quality medical graduates. The present study aims to introduce problem-based learning (PBL) to teach microbiology to undergraduate medical students and evaluate their perception towards such type of learning. Methods A total of 159 students were included in the study. An informed and oral consent was obtained from each participant, and the study was approved by the institutional ethical committee. All the students included in the study were grouped into 14 groups of 11-13 students. Students were carefully grouped ensuring that each group had a good mix that included different levels of achievers. Students were given a detailed introduction to the exercise before they started it. A questionnaire that consisted of 11 points was given to the students and they were asked to give feedback (strongly disagree, disagree, agree to some extent, agree, strongly agree) both on the functioning of PBL and the tutor performance during PBL

When practice precedes theory - A mixed methods evaluation of students' learning experiences in an undergraduate study program in nursing.

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Falk, Kristin; Falk, Hanna; Jakobsson Ung, Eva

2016-01-01

A key area for consideration is determining how optimal conditions for learning can be created. Higher education in nursing aims to prepare students to develop their capabilities to become independent professionals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of sequencing clinical practice prior to theoretical studies on student's experiences of self-directed learning readiness and students' approach to learning in the second year of a three-year undergraduate study program in nursing. 123 nursing students was included in the study and divided in two groups. In group A (n = 60) clinical practice preceded theoretical studies. In group (n = 63) theoretical studies preceded clinical practice. Learning readiness was measured using the Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education (SDLRSNE), and learning process was measured using the revised two-factor version of the Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). Students were also asked to write down their personal reflections throughout the course. By using a mixed method design, the qualitative component focused on the students' personal experiences in relation to the sequencing of theoretical studies and clinical practice. The quantitative component provided information about learning readiness before and after the intervention. Our findings confirm that students are sensitive and adaptable to their learning contexts, and that the sequencing of courses is subordinate to a pedagogical style enhancing students' deep learning approaches, which needs to be incorporated in the development of undergraduate nursing programs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Students Engaged in Learning

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Ismail, Emad A.; Groccia, James E.

2018-01-01

Engaging students in learning is a basic principle of effective undergraduate education. Outcomes of engaging students include meaningful learning experiences and enhanced skills in all learning domains. This chapter reviews the influence of engaging students in different forms of active learning on cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skill…

Undergraduate students' goals for chemistry laboratory coursework

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DeKorver, Brittland K.

Chemistry laboratory coursework has the potential to offer many benefits to students, yet few of these learning goals are realized in practice. Therefore, this study seeks to characterize undergraduate students' learning goals for their chemistry laboratory coursework. Data were collected by recording video of students completing laboratory experiments and conducting interviews with the students about their experiences that were analyzed utilizing the frameworks of Human Constructivism and Self-Regulated Learning. A cross-sectional sampling of students allowed comparisons to be made among students with varying levels of chemistry experience and interest in chemistry. The student goals identified by this study were compared to previously described laboratory learning goals of the faculty who instruct these courses in an effort to identify potential avenues to improve laboratory learning.

Psychosocial impact, perceived stress and learning effect in undergraduate dental students during transition from pre-clinical to clinical education.

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Frese, C; Wolff, D; Saure, D; Staehle, H J; Schulte, A

2018-04-10

This study aimed to develop a suitable instrument for a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of perceived psychosocial impact, levels of stress and learning effect in undergraduate dental students during the transition from pre-clinical to clinical education. These findings might improve curricular structures and didactic organisation during this period. At the beginning of their first clinical year, undergraduate dental students were asked to complete an anonymous forty-item questionnaire. Two hundred and seventy-six undergraduate dental students were willing to participate and completed the questionnaire and participated during the years 2011-2016. The response rate was between 45% and 96%. Correlational analysis (Spearman-Rho) in the field of psychosocial impact showed the dental teacher to be the most important multiplier of students' feelings. If the students feel that their teacher acts cooperatively, positive items increase and negative items decrease significantly (P < .0001). Also, students who report high levels of stress are affected significantly in their psychosocial interaction (P < .0001). Wilcoxon test yielded highest levels of stress in endodontology during the first weeks (P < .0001). During the same period, the greatest learning increment was seen for diagnostics and caries excavation. In conclusion, teaching of undergraduate dental students during the transition period from pre-clinical to clinical education can be positively influenced by a supportive learning environment and by specific chronological modifications in the curriculum. Students should start their clinical training with diagnostics, preventive dentistry and initial periodontal treatment. Due to high levels of perceived stress, endodontology should be introduced later in the clinical curriculum. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Attitudes of Jordanian Undergraduate Students towards Using Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL

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Farah Jamal Abed Alrazeq Saeed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Jordanian undergraduate students towards using computer assisted -language learning (CALL and its effectiveness in the process of learning the English language.  In order to fulfill the study’s objective, the researchers used a questionnaire to collect data, followed-up with semi-structured interviews to investigate the students’ beliefs towards CALL. Twenty- one of Jordanian BA students majoring in English language and literature were selected according to simple random sampling. The results revealed positive attitudes towards CALL in facilitating the process of writing assignments, gaining information; making learning enjoyable; improving their creativity, productivity, academic achievement, critical thinking skills, and enhancing their knowledge about vocabulary grammar, and culture. Furthermore, they believed that computers can motivate them to learn English language and help them to communicate and interact with their teachers and colleagues. The researchers recommended conducting a research on the same topic, taking into consideration the variables of age, gender, experience in using computers, and computer skills.

Preparation and participation of undergraduate students to inform culturally sensitive research.

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Wells, Jo Nell; Cagle, Carolyn Spence

2009-07-01

Most student work as research assistants occurs at the graduate level of nursing education, and little is known about the role of undergraduate students as research assistants (RAs) in major research projects. Based on our desire to study Mexican American (MA) cancer caregivers, we needed bilingual and bicultural RAs to serve as data collectors with women who spoke Spanish and possessed cultural beliefs that influenced their caregiving. Following successful recruitment, orientation, and mentoring based on Bandura's social learning theory [Bandura, A., 2001. Social learning theory: an agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology 52, 1-26] and accepted teaching-learning principles, RAs engaged in various behaviors that facilitated study outcomes. Faculty researchers, RAs, and study participants benefitted greatly from the undergraduate student involvement in this project. This article describes successful student inclusion approaches, ongoing faculty-RA interactions, and lessons learned from the research team experience. Guidelines discussed support the potential for making the undergraduate RA role a useful and unique learning experience.

Developing, implementing and evaluating a simulation learning package on post-partum haemorrhage for undergraduate midwifery students in KwaZulu-Natal*

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Hafaza B. Amod

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The training of undergraduate midwifery students to identify and manage post-partum haemorrhage, is an essential skill in midwifery. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a simulation learning package (SLP on post-partum haemorrhage for undergraduate midwifery students using high fidelity simulation without risks to real-life patients. Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed methodology was used in this study. The study was made up of three phases namely; the development, implementation and evaluation of the learning package. The research participants were fourth year baccalaureate of nursing midwifery students and midwifery experts involved in teaching midwifery. Data was collected using an evaluation checklist for experts, a student satisfaction survey and focus group sessions. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS Version 23.0 and the qualitative data was analysed using content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman(2004. Results: The evaluation checklist for experts revealed that the developed SLP was considered suitable for undergraduate students. It encouraged active learning, teamwork and accommodated diverse learning styles. The package was easy to use and offered opportunities for student feedback. The student satisfaction survey revealed that the pre-simulation support received was adequate and helpful, and the post simulation outcomes showed that using high fidelity simulation improved clinical skills, knowledge, critical thinking, self-confidence and satisfaction. The focus group sessions revealed that the SLP was an innovative and interactive method of learning; it improved the student's perception of their clinical competence, stimulated critical thinking and increased self-confidence. Conclusion: A simulation learning package, that uses high fidelity simulation, can be an innovative and interactive method to teach midwifery emergencies.

Student perceptions of a virtual learning environment for a problem-based learning undergraduate medical curriculum.

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de Leng, Bas A; Dolmans, Diana H J M; Muijtjens, Arno M M; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

2006-06-01

To investigate the effects of a virtual learning environment (VLE) on group interaction and consultation of information resources during the preliminary phase, self-study phase and reporting phase of the problem-based learning process in an undergraduate medical curriculum. A questionnaire was administered to 355 medical students in Years 1 and 2 to ask them about the perceived usefulness of a virtual learning environment that was created with Blackboard for group interaction and the use of learning resources. The students indicated that the VLE supported face-to-face interaction in the preliminary discussion and in the reporting phase but did not stimulate computer-mediated distance interaction during the self-study phase. They perceived that the use of multimedia in case presentations led to a better quality of group discussion than if case presentations were exclusively text-based. They also indicated that the information resources that were hyperlinked in the VLE stimulated the consultation of these resources during self-study, but not during the reporting phase. Students indicated that the use of a VLE in the tutorial room and the inclusion of multimedia in case presentations supported processes of active learning in the tutorial groups. However, if we want to exploit the full potential of asynchronous computer-mediated communication to initiate in-depth discussion during the self-study phase, its application will have to be selective and deliberate. Students indicated that the links in the VLE to selected information in library repositories supported their learning.

Active Learning by Design: An Undergraduate Introductory Public Health Course

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Karin eYeatts

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Principles of active learning were used to design and implement an introductory public health course. Students were introduced to the breadth and practice of public health through team and individual-based activities. Team assignments covered topics in epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior, nutrition, maternal and child health, environment, and health policy. Students developed an appreciation of the population perspective through an experience trip and related intervention project in a public health area of their choice. Students experienced several key critical component elements of a public health undergraduate major; they cover key public health domains, experience public health practice, and integrated concepts with their assignments. In this paper, course assignments, lessons learned, and student successes are described. Given the increased growth in the undergraduate public health major, these active learning assignments may be of interest to undergraduate public health programs at both liberal arts colleges and research universities.

The effect of technology-enabled active learning on undergraduate students understanding of electromagnetism

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Dori, Y.J.

2005-01-01

Full Text:The Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) involves media-rich software for simulation and visualization in freshman physics carried out in a specially redesigned classroom to facilitate group interaction. These technology-based learning materials are especially useful in electromagnetism to help students conceptualize phenomena and processes. This study analyzes the effects of the unique learning environment of the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project project on students cognitive and affective outcomes. The assessment of the project included examining students conceptual understanding before and after studying electromagnetism in a media-rich environment. We also investigated the effect of this environment on students preferences regarding the various teaching methods. As part of the project, we developed pre- and post-tests consisting of conceptual questions from standardized tests, as well as questions designed to assess the effect of visualizations and experiments. The research population consisted of 811 undergraduate students. It consisted of a small- and a large-scale experimental groups and a control group. Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project students improved their conceptual understanding concepts of the subject matter to a significantly higher extent than their control group peers. A majority of the students in the small-scale experiment noted that they would recommend the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project course to fellow students, indicating the benefits of inter activity, visualization, and hands-on experiments, which the technology helped enable. In the large-scale implementation students expressed both positive and negative attitudes in the course survey

Undergraduate paramedic students' attitudes to e-learning: findings from five university programs

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Graham Munro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Computers and computer-assisted instruction are being used with increasing frequency in the area of undergraduate paramedic education. Paramedic students' attitudes towards the use of e-learning technology and computer-assisted instruction have received limited attention in the empirical literature to date. The objective of this study was to determine paramedic students' attitudes towards e-learning. A cross-sectional methodology was used in the form of a paperbased survey to elicit students' attitudes to e-learning using three standardised scales. Convenience sampling was used to sample a cross-section of paramedic students at five universities during semester 1 of 2009. The scales used were: the Computer Attitude Survey (CAS, the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES, and the Attitude Toward CAI Semantic Differential Scale (ATCAISDS. There were 339 students who participated. Approximately onehalf (57.7% were female and most (76.0% were under 24 years of age. Moderate results were noted for the CAS general and education subscales. The CAS results were broadly corroborated by the OLES, although a statistically significant difference between participants preferred and actual results on the OLES Computer Usage subscale identified that participants would prefer to use computers less than they actually do. Similarly, the ATCAISDS found participants were largely ambivalent towards computers. As paramedic degree programs continue to emerge and develop, careful consideration should be given to the usability and utility of various e-learning approaches.

Undergraduate Certificate in Leadership Studies: An Opportunity for Seamless Learning

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Guthrie, Kathy L.; Bovio, Becka

2014-01-01

In working to develop undergraduate student leadership capacity, Florida State University created the Undergraduate Certificate in Leadership Studies. This program, grounded in leadership theory and framed by a seamless learning model, has been influential in development of student leadership perceptions and capacity. This article addresses the…

Learning by Helping? Undergraduate Communication Outcomes Associated with Training or Service-Learning Experiences

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Katz, Jennifer; DuBois, Melinda; Wigderson, Sara

2014-01-01

This study investigated communication outcomes after training or applied service-learning experiences. Pre-practicum trainees learned active listening skills over 10 weeks. Practicum students were successful trainees who staffed a helpline. Community interns were trained and supervised at community agencies. Undergraduate students in psychology…

Undergraduate Students' Pro-Environmental Behavior in Daily Practice

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Dewi, Widiaswati; Sawitri, Dian R.

2018-02-01

Pro-environmental behavior is an individual action as a manifestation of one's responsibility to create a sustainable environment. University students as one of the agent of change can adopt pro-environmental behaviors concept, even through simple things to do on daily activities such as ride a bicycle or walk for short distance, reuse the shopping bags, separate waste, learn about environmental issues etc. Many studies have examined pro-environmental behavior from various approaches. However, the study about university students' pro-environmental behavior is lacking. The aim of this paper is to examine the undergraduate students' pro-environmental behaviors level. We surveyed 364 first year undergraduate students from a state university in Semarang. The survey included six aspects of pro-environmental behavior in daily practice which include energy conservation, mobility and transportation, waste avoidance, recycling, consumerism, and vicarious behaviors toward conservation. Findings of this study showed the level of pro-environmental behavior of first year undergraduate students is medium. Recommendations for undergraduate students and future researchers are discussed.

Clinical skills training in undergraduate medical education using a student-centered approach

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Tolsgaard, Martin Grønnebæk

2013-01-01

This thesis focuses on how to engage students in self-directed learning and in peer-learning activities to improve clinical skills training in undergraduate medical education. The first study examined the clinical skills teaching provided by student teachers compared to that provided by associate...... demonstrated remarkable advantages to peer-learning in skills-lab. Thus, peer-learning activities could be essential to providing high-quality medical training in the face of limited clinical teacher resources in future undergraduate medical education.......This thesis focuses on how to engage students in self-directed learning and in peer-learning activities to improve clinical skills training in undergraduate medical education. The first study examined the clinical skills teaching provided by student teachers compared to that provided by associate....... The Reporter-Interpreter-Manager-Educator framework was used to reflect this change and construct validity was explored for RIME-based evaluations of single-patient encounters. In the third study the effects of training in pairs--also known as dyad practice--examined. This study showed that the students...

Using Student Learning and Development Outcomes to Evaluate a First-Year Undergraduate Group Video Project

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Jensen, Murray; Mattheis, Allison; Johnson, Brady

2012-01-01

Students in an interdisciplinary undergraduate introductory course were required to complete a group video project focused on nutrition and healthy eating. A mixed-methods approach to data collection involved observing and rating video footage of group work sessions and individual and focus group interviews. These data were analyzed and used to evaluate the effectiveness of the assignment in light of two student learning outcomes and two student development outcomes at the University of Minnesota. Positive results support the continued inclusion of the project within the course, and recommend the assignment to other programs as a viable means of promoting both content learning and affective behavioral objectives. PMID:22383619

Teaching evidence based practice and research through blended learning to undergraduate midwifery students from a practice based perspective.

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Mary, Sidebotham; Julie, Jomeen; Jennifer, Gamble

2014-03-01

The international world of higher education is changing with universities now offering students flexible delivery options that allow them to study away from campus and at a time convenient to them. Some students prefer on line learning while others prefer face to face contact offered through a traditional lecture and tutorial delivery modes. The response by many universities is to offer a blend of both. While online and blended mode of delivery may be suitable for some subjects there is little knowledge of the efficacy of blended learning models to teach evidence based practice and research (EBPR) to undergraduate midwifery students. EBPR is a challenging, threshold level subject upon which deeper knowledge and skills are built. This paper describes the design, delivery, and evaluation of an undergraduate EBPR course delivered in blended mode to first year midwifery students. Components of the blended learning innovation included: novel teaching strategies, engaging practical activities, role play, and e-learning strategies to maintain engagement. University-based course evaluation outcomes revealed very positive scores and the course was rated within the top ten percent of all courses offered within the Health Group at the host University. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of an e-learning module in delivering a curriculum in radiation protection to undergraduate medical students.

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Leong, Sum; Mc Laughlin, Patrick; O'Connor, Owen J; O'Flynn, Siun; Maher, Michael M

2012-03-01

Integrating radiation protection (RP) education in the undergraduate medical curriculum is gaining importance and is mandatory in certain jurisdictions. An e-learning module for RP was developed at the authors' medical school and was integrated into year 4 of the 5-year undergraduate medical program. The aim of this study was to investigate its impact on RP knowledge, student preferences for various teaching methods, self-assessment of RP knowledge, and perceptions of career prospects in radiology. Likert-type 5-point scale evaluations and general comments about the RP module and various methods of teaching were also obtained. An e-learning module in RP was designed and presented to year 4 medical undergraduates. All students were required to complete premodule and postmodule questionnaires. Eighty-nine percent (n = 113) and 99% (n = 126) of the 127 medical students successfully completed and returned the premodule and postmodule questionnaires, respectively. After the e-learning module, students' postmodule RP knowledge had improved significantly. Analysis of postmodule RP knowledge suggested that a favorable self-assessment of knowledge of RP, perception of career prospects in radiology, and completion of the e-learning module with an increased number of sessions were factors predictive of improved RP knowledge. Students expressed a preference for didactic lectures and clinical attachment for instruction in RP over e-learning. The development of an e-learning module in RP is feasible and results in improved knowledge of RP among medical undergraduates. Combining e-learning and more traditional educational programs such as a clinical radiology rotation is likely to improve student experience. Copyright © 2012 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Action learning in undergraduate engineering thesis supervision

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Brad Stappenbelt

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In the present action learning implementation, twelve action learning sets were conducted over eight years. The action learning sets consisted of students involved in undergraduate engineering research thesis work. The concurrent study accompanying this initiative, investigated the influence of the action learning environment on student approaches to learning and any accompanying academic, learning and personal benefits realised. The influence of preferred learning styles on set function and student adoption of the action learning process were also examined. The action learning environment implemented had a measurable significant positive effect on student academic performance, their ability to cope with the stresses associated with conducting a research thesis, the depth of learning, the development of autonomous learners and student perception of the research thesis experience. The present study acts as an addendum to a smaller scale implementation of this action learning approach, applied to supervision of third and fourth year research projects and theses, published in 2010.

Electronic learning can facilitate student performance in undergraduate surgical education: a prospective observational study

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Gorey Thomas

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Our institution recently introduced a novel internet accessible computer aided learning (iCAL programme to complement existing surgical undergraduate teaching methods. On graduation of the first full cycle of undergraduate students to whom this resource was available we assessed the utility of this new teaching facility. Method The computer programme prospectively records usage of the system on an individual user basis. We evaluated the utilisation of the web-based programme and its impact on class ranking changes from an entry-test evaluation to an exit examination in surgery. Results 74.4% of students were able to access iCAL from off-campus internet access. The majority of iCAL usage (64.6% took place during working hours (08:00–18:00 with little usage on the weekend (21.1%. Working hours usage was positively associated with improvement in class rank (P = 0.025, n = 148 but out-of hours usage was not (P = 0.306. Usage during weekdays was associated with improved rank (P = 0.04, whereas weekend usage was not (P = 0.504. There were no significant differences in usage between genders (P = 0.3. Usage of the iCAL system was positively correlated with improvement in class rank from the entry to the exit examination (P = 0.046. Students with lower ranks on entry examination, were found to use the computer system more frequently (P = 0.01. Conclusion Electronic learning complements traditional teaching methods in undergraduate surgical teaching. Its is more frequently used by students achieving lower class ranking with traditional teaching methods, and this usage is associated with improvements in class ranking.

Learning-by-Concordance (LbC): introducing undergraduate students to the complexity and uncertainty of clinical practice.

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Fernandez, Nicolas; Foucault, Amélie; Dubé, Serge; Robert, Diane; Lafond, Chantal; Vincent, Anne-Marie; Kassis, Jeannine; Kazitani, Driss; Charlin, Bernard

2016-10-01

A current challenge in medical education is the steep exposure to the complexity and uncertainty of clinical practice in early clerkship. The gap between pre-clinical courses and the reality of clinical decision-making can be overwhelming for undergraduate students. The Learning-by-Concordance (LbC) approach aims to bridge this gap by embedding complexity and uncertainty by relying on real-life situations and exposure to expert reasoning processes to support learning. LbC provides three forms of support: 1) expert responses that students compare with their own, 2) expert explanations and 3) recognized scholars' key-messages. Three different LbC inspired learning tools were used by 900 undergraduate medical students in three courses: Concordance-of-Reasoning in a 1 st -year hematology course; Concordance-of-Perception in a 2nd-year pulmonary physio-pathology course, and; Concordance-of-Professional-Judgment with 3rd-year clerkship students. Thematic analysis was conducted on freely volunteered qualitative comments provided by 404 students. Absence of a right answer was challenging for 1 st year concordance-of-reasoning group; the 2 nd year visual concordance group found radiology images initially difficult and unnerving and the 3 rd year concordance-of-judgment group recognized the importance of divergent expert opinion. Expert panel answers and explanations constitute an example of "cognitive apprenticeship" that could contribute to the development of appropriate professional reasoning processes.

Case-based learning facilitates critical thinking in undergraduate nutrition education: students describe the big picture.

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Harman, Tara; Bertrand, Brenda; Greer, Annette; Pettus, Arianna; Jennings, Jill; Wall-Bassett, Elizabeth; Babatunde, Oyinlola Toyin

2015-03-01

The vision of dietetics professions is based on interdependent education, credentialing, and practice. Case-based learning is a method of problem-based learning that is designed to heighten higher-order thinking. Case-based learning can assist students to connect education and specialized practice while developing professional skills for entry-level practice in nutrition and dietetics. This study examined student perspectives of their learning after immersion into case-based learning in nutrition courses. The theoretical frameworks of phenomenology and Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives triangulated the design of this qualitative study. Data were drawn from 426 written responses and three focus group discussions among 85 students from three upper-level undergraduate nutrition courses. Coding served to deconstruct the essence of respondent meaning given to case-based learning as a learning method. The analysis of the coding was the constructive stage that led to configuration of themes and theoretical practice pathways about student learning. Four leading themes emerged. Story or Scenario represents the ways that students described case-based learning, changes in student thought processes to accommodate case-based learning are illustrated in Method of Learning, higher cognitive learning that was achieved from case-based learning is represented in Problem Solving, and Future Practice details how students explained perceived professional competency gains from case-based learning. The skills that students acquired are consistent with those identified as essential to professional practice. In addition, the common concept of Big Picture was iterated throughout the themes and demonstrated that case-based learning prepares students for multifaceted problems that they are likely to encounter in professional practice. Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Confidence as a barrier to the use of problem-based learning in veterinary undergraduate students.

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Tarlinton, Rachael E; Yon, Lisa; Klisch, Karl; Tötemeyer, Sabine; Gough, Kevin C

2011-01-01

Problem-based or case-based learning is a popular method of instruction in clinical degrees such as veterinary science, nursing, and medicine. It is difficult, however, for students to adapt to this learning method, and this difficulty has been well described. The present study surveyed first-year undergraduate veterinary students at the University of Nottingham about the challenges they faced upon beginning problem-based learning sessions. A surprisingly large percentage of students (36% of females and 38% of males) reported a lack of confidence in speaking in front of the other students as a concern they experienced during their first term. Conversely, only 10% of the female students (and none of the male students) reported overconfidence as a problem. This is in contrast to the perceptions of the staff members who facilitated the sessions who reported that 14% of the students exhibited underconfidence and 14% exhibited overconfidence. The difference between the female and male students' responses as well as the difference between the perceptions of students and those of facilitators is statistically significant (G-test p<.05).

Prior experience of interprofessional learning enhances undergraduate nursing and healthcare students' professional identity and attitudes to teamwork.

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Hood, Kerry; Cant, Robyn; Baulch, Julie; Gilbee, Alana; Leech, Michelle; Anderson, Amanda; Davies, Kate

2014-03-01

How willing are today's medical, nursing and other healthcare students to undertake some of their studies as shared learning? There is a lack of evidence of students' views by discipline despite this being a priority task for higher education sectors. This study explored the views of nursing, midwifery, nursing-emergency health (paramedic), medical, physiotherapy and nutrition-dietetics students. Senior undergraduate students from six disciplines at one university completed the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale prior to participating in interprofessional clinical learning modules. For 741 students, the highest ranked response was agreement about a need for teamwork (mean 4.42 of 5 points). Nursing students held significantly more positive attitudes towards Teamwork/Collaboration, and were more positive about Professional Identity than medical students (p students rejected uncertainty about Roles/Responsibilities compared with medical students (p students who had prior experience of interprofessional learning held more positive attitudes in each of four attitude domains (p students' attitudes towards interprofessional learning were positive and all student groups were willing to engage in learning interprofessionally. Early introduction of IPL is recommended. Further studies should explore the trajectory of students' attitudes throughout the university degree. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Students' Perceptions of Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics

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Iannone, Paola; Simpson, Adrian

2013-01-01

A consistent message emerges from research on undergraduate students' perceptions of assessment which describes traditional assessment as detrimental to learning. However this literature has not included students in the pure sciences. Mathematics education literature advocates the introduction of innovative assessment at university. In this…

Sustainability Matters for Undergraduate Teaching and Learning

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Fry, Catherine L.; Wei, Cynthia A.

2015-01-01

A growing body of evidence shows that infusing sustainability into undergraduate courses and programs can simultaneously benefit institutional goals, student learning outcomes, and society at large. In addition to being a globally relevant and urgent topic, sustainability can enhance learning of disciplinary concepts and development of broad…

Library Learning: Undergraduate Students’ Informal, Self-directed, and Information Sharing Strategies

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Jo Ann Murphy

2014-04-01

Full Text Available A focus group study of fourteen University of Saskatchewan second to fourth year humanities and social science undergraduate students was conducted in the fall of 2011. The purpose of the research was to determine how students learn about library resources and services. Findings indicate that the participants often use a variety of informal, self-directed and information sharing strategies. Seeking help from professors, peers, friends, and family members is a common practice. Convenience, familiarity, and perceived knowledge are key factors that determine who and how these students learn about the library. Formal instruction and seeking assistance from librarians did not resonate for participants as a typical approach for learning about the library. The author suggests that undergraduate students engage in informal learning and information sharing as many ‘adult learners’ do, similar to an employment setting. The library, within the formal educational structure, lends itself to a more informal learning context. The study concludes that libraries must continue to develop resources, services, and innovative programs that support students’ informal learning styles, while also providing formal instruction as part of the undergraduate curriculum ensuring students are exposed early on to core foundational skills that contribute to their success as informal and self-directed learners.

Instructional design in mathematics for undergraduate students based on learning by mistakes approach utilizing scilab assistance

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Kartika, H.

2018-03-01

The issue related to making mistake while learning such as negative emotion is found while students learn mathematics with the aid of a computer. When the computer output showed a mistake message, the students considered it as a computer software malfunction. Based on this issue, the writer designs an instructional model based on learning by mistake approach and which is Scilab assisted. The method used in this research is research design involving undergraduate students in matrix algebra courses. The data collected throught survey with questionnaire to gain feedback about the approach implemented. The data analyzed using quantitative descriptive. The instructional design proposed is the student act as a mistake corrector while the teacher acts as a mistake maker. Teacher deliberately makes mistakes with the help of Scilab software. On the other hand, students correct, analyze and explain errors resulting from Scilab software. The result of this research is an ICT based instructional design which is expected to be applicable as an alternative learning in directing students to think positively about mistakes in learning. Furthermore, students are also expected to improve their ability in understanding and thinking critically while solving problems and improving themselves in learning mathematics.

A new model in teaching undergraduate research: A collaborative approach and learning cooperatives.

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O'Neal, Pamela V; McClellan, Lynx Carlton; Jarosinski, Judith M

2016-05-01

Forming new, innovative collaborative approaches and cooperative learning methods between universities and hospitals maximize learning for undergraduate nursing students in a research course and provide professional development for nurses on the unit. The purpose of this Collaborative Approach and Learning Cooperatives (CALC) Model is to foster working relations between faculty and hospital administrators, maximize small group learning of undergraduate nursing students, and promote onsite knowledge of evidence based care for unit nurses. A quality improvement study using the CALC Model was implemented in an undergraduate nursing research course at a southern university. Hospital administrators provided a list of clinical concerns based on national performance outcome measures. Undergraduate junior nursing student teams chose a clinical question, gathered evidence from the literature, synthesized results, demonstrated practice application, and developed practice recommendations. The student teams developed posters, which were evaluated by hospital administrators. The administrators selected several posters to display on hospital units for continuing education opportunity. This CALC Model is a systematic, calculated approach and an economically feasible plan to maximize personnel and financial resources to optimize collaboration and cooperative learning. Universities and hospital administrators, nurses, and students benefit from working together and learning from each other. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online dissection audio-visual resources for human anatomy: Undergraduate medical students' usage and learning outcomes.

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Choi-Lundberg, Derek L; Cuellar, William A; Williams, Anne-Marie M

2016-11-01

In an attempt to improve undergraduate medical student preparation for and learning from dissection sessions, dissection audio-visual resources (DAVR) were developed. Data from e-learning management systems indicated DAVR were accessed by 28% ± 10 (mean ± SD for nine DAVR across three years) of students prior to the corresponding dissection sessions, representing at most 58% ± 20 of assigned dissectors. Approximately 50% of students accessed all available DAVR by the end of semester, while 10% accessed none. Ninety percent of survey respondents (response rate 58%) generally agreed that DAVR improved their preparation for and learning from dissection when used. Of several learning resources, only DAVR usage had a significant positive correlation (P = 0.002) with feeling prepared for dissection. Results on cadaveric anatomy practical examination questions in year 2 (Y2) and year 3 (Y3) cohorts were 3.9% (P learning outcomes of more students. Anat Sci Educ 9: 545-554. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Assessment of two e-learning methods teaching undergraduate students cephalometry in orthodontics.

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Ludwig, B; Bister, D; Schott, T C; Lisson, J A; Hourfar, J

2016-02-01

Cephalometry is important for orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning and is part of the core curriculum for training dentists. Training involves identifying anatomical landmarks. The aim of this investigation was to assess whether e-learning improves learning efficiency; a programme specifically designed for this purpose was compared to commercially available software. Thirty undergraduate students underwent traditional training of cephalometry consisting of lectures and tutorials. Tracing skills were tested immediately afterwards (T0). The students were then randomly allocated to three groups: 10 students served as control (CF); they were asked to improve their skills using the material provided so far. Ten students were given a program specifically designed for this study that was based on a power point presentation (PPT). The last group was given a commercially available program that included teaching elements (SW). The groups were tested at the end the six week training (T1). The test consisted of tracing 30 points on two radiographs and a point score improvement was calculated. The students were interviewed after the second test. Both e-learning groups improved more than the traditional group. Improvement scores were four for CF; 8.6 for PPT and 2.8 for SW. For PPT all participants improved and the student feedback was the best compared to the other groups. For the other groups some candidates worsened. Blended learning produced better learning outcomes compared to using a traditional teaching method alone. The easy to use Power Point based custom software produced better results than the commercially available software. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of concept-based physiology lessons for biomedical engineering undergraduate students.

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Nelson, Regina K; Chesler, Naomi C; Strang, Kevin T

2013-06-01

Physiology is a core requirement in the undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum. In one or two introductory physiology courses, engineering students must learn physiology sufficiently to support learning in their subsequent engineering courses and careers. As preparation for future learning, physiology instruction centered on concepts may help engineering students to further develop their physiology and biomedical engineering knowledge. Following the Backward Design instructional model, a series of seven concept-based lessons was developed for undergraduate engineering students. These online lessons were created as prerequisite physiology training to prepare students to engage in a collaborative engineering challenge activity. This work is presented as an example of how to convert standard, organ system-based physiology content into concept-based content lessons.

The Effects of Project Based Learning on Undergraduate Students' Achievement and Self-Efficacy Beliefs towards Science Teaching

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Bilgin, Ibrahim; Karakuyu, Yunus; Ay, Yusuf

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the Project-Based Learning (PBL) method on undergraduate students' achievement and its association with these students' self-efficacy beliefs about science teaching and pinions about PBL. The sample of the study consisted of two randomly chosen classes from a set of seven classes enrolled…

Quiz gaming competitions for undergraduate medical students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Quiz gaming competitions for undergraduate medical students: Questioning the MediQuiz. ... an audience Studies have shown that such quiz games promote active learning, and provide motivational impetus. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates.

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McCabe, Jennifer

2011-04-01

Two studies examined undergraduates' metacognitive awareness of six empirically-supported learning strategies. Study 1 results overall suggested an inability to predict the learning outcomes of educational scenarios describing the strategies of dual-coding, static-media presentations, low-interest extraneous details, testing, and spacing; there was, however, weak endorsement of the strategy of generating one's own study materials. In addition, an independent measure of metacognitive self-regulation was correlated with scenario performance. Study 2 demonstrated higher prediction accuracy for students who had received targeted instruction on applied memory topics in their psychology courses, and the best performance for those students directly exposed to the original empirical studies from which the scenarios were derived. In sum, this research suggests that undergraduates are largely unaware of several specific strategies that could benefit memory for course information; further, training in applied learning and memory topics has the potential to improve metacognitive judgments in these domains.

Experiences of undergraduate nursing students in peer assisted learning in clinical practice: a qualitative systematic review.

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Carey, Matthew C; Kent, Bridie; Latour, Jos M

2018-05-01

The objective of this qualitative systematic review was to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on experiences of peer assisted learning (PAL) among student nurses in clinical practice so as to understand the value of PAL for this population. Peer-assisted learning considers the benefits of peers working in collaboration and supporting each other in professional roles. This approach to facilitate learning is effective within universities, but there is limited exploration within the clinical practice environment. Within the UK, 50% of student nurses' learning is undertaken within clinical practice, providing a large portion of student allocation within these areas, but is unexplored in relation to PAL. Therefore, existing evidence examining PAL in clinical practice needs further exploration for a better understanding of its value to student nurses' learning. The systematic review considered studies that included male and female nursing students aged 18-50 years that explored undergraduate nursing students' experiences of PAL within the clinical practice environment. Studies that utilized designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research and feminist research were considered. Other text such as opinion papers and reports were to be considered if no qualitative studies could be located. The review excluded quantitative studies, as well as those addressing PAL outside the nursing profession and students within the nursing profession but not including undergraduate student nurses. This review considered studies that included aspects related to experiences of PAL in the clinical practice setting, as seen by undergraduate nursing students and the researcher. A three-step search strategy was undertaken to find both published and unpublished studies in English from 2003 to 2017 in various databases, and included searching of reference lists within articles selected for appraisal. Each of the included studies were assessed for

Educational environment and approaches to learning of undergraduate nursing students in an Indonesian school of nursing.

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Rochmawati, Erna; Rahayu, Gandes Retno; Kumara, Amitya

2014-11-01

The aims of this study were to assess students' perceptions of their educational environment and approaches to learning, and determine if perceptions of learning environment associates with approaches to learning. A survey was conducted to collect data from a regional private university in Indonesia. A total of 232 nursing students completed two questionnaires that measured their perceptions of educational environment and approaches to learning. The measurement was based on Dundee Ready Education Environment Measurement (DREEM) and Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST). Five learning environments dimensions and three learning approaches dimensions from two measures were measured. The overall score of DREEM was 131.03/200 (SD 17.04), it was in the range considered to be favourable. The overall score is different significantly between years of study (p value = 0.01). This study indicated that the majority of undergraduate nursing students' adopt strategic approach (n = 139. 59.9%). The finding showed that perceived educational environment significantly associated with approaches to learning. This study implicated the need to maintain conducive learning environment. There is also a need to improve the management of learning activities that reflect the use of student-centered learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impacts and "best practices" of undergraduate - graduate student mentoring relationships in undergraduate research experiences

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Campanile, Megan Faurot

With the growth of undergraduate research in the U.S., over the past two decades, faculty are more often assigning graduate students to mentor undergraduate students than providing the one-on-one mentoring themselves. A critical gap that exists in the literature is how undergraduate -- graduate student mentoring relationships in undergraduate research influences both students' academic and career paths. The research questions that framed this study were: (1) What, if any, changes occur in the academic and career paths of undergraduate and graduate students who participate in undergraduate research experiences? and (2) Are there variables that constitute "best practices" in the mentoring relationships in undergraduate research experiences and, if so, what are they? The study context was the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Illinois Institute of Technology and the 113 undergraduate researchers and 31 graduate student mentors who participated from 2006 -- 2014. Surveys and interviews were administered to collect pre- and post-program data and follow-up data during the 2014 -- 2015 academic year. Descriptive statistics, content analysis method, and constant comparative method were used to analyze the data. Key findings on the undergraduate researchers were their actual earned graduate degree types (Ph.D. 20%, M.D. 20%, M.S. 48%, other 12%) and fields (STEM 57%, medical 35%, other 8%) and the careers they were pursuing or working in. All the graduate student mentors were pursuing or working in the STEM fields (academia 50%, industry 40%, government 10%). More than 75% of both the undergraduate and graduate students reported that their mentoring relationships had a somewhat to extremely influential impact on their academic and career paths. A set of "best practices" of mentoring were developed for both the undergraduate and graduate students and focused on the mentoring experiences related to learning and teaching about

Understanding Learning Style Variations among Undergraduate Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Jayakumar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available A study was conducted in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu state to understand the learning styles of students. The term learning style refers to the way or method or approach by which a student learns. The study explored the possible learning style variations among agricultural, horticultural, engineering and arts & science students and their association with academic achievement. One hundred and twelve students were randomly selected from the four streams and their learning styles were analyzed. In the agricultural and horticultural streams, a majority of the students were auditory learners. They were also found to be predominantly unimodal learners. Overall, it was found that majority of the students were visual learners followed by auditory and kinesthetic style. The highest percentage of kinesthetic learners was found among engineering students. Trimodal learners scored the highest mean percentage of marks. The influence of learning styles on the academic achievements of the students did not show a significant relationship.

Perceived Benefits of Pre-Clinical Simulation-based Training on Clinical Learning Outcomes among Omani Undergraduate Nursing Students

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Girija Madhavanprabhakaran

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to explore the benefits perceived by Omani undergraduate maternity nursing students regarding the effect of pre-clinical simulation-based training (PSBT on clinical learning outcomes. Methods: This non-experimental quantitative survey was conducted between August and December 2012 among third-year baccalaureate nursing students at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman. Voluntary participants were exposed to faculty-guided PSBT sessions using low- and medium-fidelity manikins, standardised scenarios and skill checklists on antenatal, intranatal, postnatal and newborn care and assessment. Participants answered a purposely designed self-administered questionnaire on the benefits of PSBT in enhancing learning outcomes. Items were categorised into six subscales: knowledge, skills, patient safety, academic safety, confidence and satisfaction. Scores were rated on a four-point Likert scale. Results: Of the 57 participants, the majority (95.2% agreed that PSBT enhanced their knowledge. Most students (94.3% felt that their patient safety practices improved and 86.5% rated PSBT as beneficial for enhancing skill competencies. All male students and 97% of the female students agreed that PSBT enhanced their confidence in the safe holding of newborns. Moreover, 93% of participants were satisfied with PSBT. Conclusion: Omani undergraduate nursing students perceived that PSBT enhanced their knowledge, skills, patient safety practices and confidence levels in providing maternity care. These findings support the use of simulation training as a strategy to facilitate clinical learning outcomes in future nursing courses in Oman, although further research is needed to explore the objective impact of PSBT on learning outcomes.

Export Odyssey: An Exposition and Analytical Review of Literature Concerning an Undergraduate Student Project in International Marketing on Key Teaching-Learning Dimensions.

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Williamson, Nicholas C.

2001-01-01

Describes Export Odyssey (EO), a structured, Internet-intensive, team-based undergraduate student project in international marketing. Presents an analytical review of articles in the literature that relate to three key teaching-learning dimensions of student projects (experiential versus non-experiential active learning, team-based versus…

Cooperative learning in the first year of undergraduate medical education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanthan Rani

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite extensive research data indicating that cooperative learning promotes higher achievement, the creation of positive relationships, and greater psychological health for students at all levels in their education, cooperative learning as a teaching strategy is still underutilized in undergraduate medical education. Methods A cooperative learning task was introduced as part of the mandatory first Year undergraduate Pathology course. The task was to create an 8.5" × 11" poster summary of pre-assigned content in self-chosen groups of four or five students. On the designated "Poster Day," the posters were displayed and evaluated by the students using a group product evaluation. Students also completed an individual group process reflection survey. An objective evaluation of their understanding was gauged at the midterm examination by specific content-related questions. Results Majority (91–96% of students judged the group products to be relevant, effective, easy-to-understand, and clearly communicated. The majority of the students (90–100% agreed that their group process skills of time management, task collaboration, decision-making and task execution were effective in completing this exercise. This activity created a dynamic learning environment as was reflected in the students' positive, professional discussion, and evaluation of their posters. The content-related questions on the midterm examination were answered correctly by 70–92% of the students. This was a mutually enriching experience for the instructor and students. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that cooperative learning as a teaching strategy can be effectively incorporated to address both content and interpersonal skill development in the early years of undergraduate medical education.

Can a tablet device alter undergraduate science students' study behavior and use of technology?

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Morris, Neil P; Ramsay, Luke; Chauhan, Vikesh

2012-06-01

This article reports findings from a study investigating undergraduate biological sciences students' use of technology and computer devices for learning and the effect of providing students with a tablet device. A controlled study was conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of a tablet device on students' use of devices and technology for learning. Overall, we found that students made extensive use of the tablet device for learning, using it in preference to laptop computers to retrieve information, record lectures, and access learning resources. In line with other studies, we found that undergraduate students only use familiar Web 2.0 technologies and that the tablet device did not alter this behavior for the majority of tools. We conclude that undergraduate science students can make extensive use of a tablet device to enhance their learning opportunities without institutions changing their teaching methods or computer systems, but that institutional intervention may be needed to drive changes in student behavior toward the use of novel Web 2.0 technologies.

Research-Based Learning for Undergraduate Students in Soil and Water Sciences: A Case Study of Hydropedology in an Arid-Zone Environment

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Al-Maktoumi, Ali; Al-Ismaily, Said; Kacimov, Anvar

2016-01-01

This article reports the efficacy of a research-based learning (RBL) exercise on hydropedology of arid zones, with guided and open research projects (OPR) carried out by teams of undergraduate students in Oman. A range of activities and assessments was used to support student learning during the three-month course. Assessment included monitoring…

Reinforcing Comprehensive Business Learning through an Undergraduate Retailing Course: A Prospectus

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Ahmed, Irfan

2009-01-01

Undergraduate programs in business are expected to provide a comprehensive learning for their students in order to prepare them to be able to deal with complex business problems in their jobs. Business schools attempt to provide this learning through various curricular design strategies. This paper proposes the use of an undergraduate course in…

Teaching Sport Management Through Service-Learning: An Undergraduate Case Study.

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Jackowski, Mick; Gullion, Laurie

1998-01-01

Students in an undergraduate sport management writing course experienced a service learning component via outreach with local sport organizations. Class instructors supported students and evaluated student logs, class presentations, student memorandums, product review, and interviews with agency personnel and students. Results indicated that…

Using historical perspective in designing discovery learning on Integral for undergraduate students

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Abadi; Fiangga, S.

2018-01-01

In the course of Integral Calculus, to be able to calculate an integral of a given function is becoming the main idea in the teaching beside the ability in implementing the application of integral. The students tend to be unable to understand the conceptual idea of what is integration actually. One of the promising perspectives that can be used to invite students to discover the idea of integral is the History and Pedagogy Mathematics (HPM). The method of exhaustion and indivisible appear in the discussion on the early history of area measurement. This paper study will discuss the designed learning activities based on the method of exhaustion and indivisible in providing the undergraduate student’s discovery materials for integral using design research. The designed learning activities were conducted into design experiment that consists of three phases, i.e., preliminary, design experimental, and teaching experiment. The teaching experiment phase was conducted in two cycles for refinement purpose. The finding suggests that the implementation of the method of exhaustion and indivisible enable students to reinvent the idea of integral by using the concept of derivative.

Impact of audio-visual storytelling in simulation learning experiences of undergraduate nursing students.

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Johnston, Sandra; Parker, Christina N; Fox, Amanda

2017-09-01

Use of high fidelity simulation has become increasingly popular in nursing education to the extent that it is now an integral component of most nursing programs. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students have difficulty engaging with simulation manikins due to their unrealistic appearance. Introduction of the manikin as a 'real patient' with the use of an audio-visual narrative may engage students in the simulated learning experience and impact on their learning. A paucity of literature currently exists on the use of audio-visual narratives to enhance simulated learning experiences. This study aimed to determine if viewing an audio-visual narrative during a simulation pre-brief altered undergraduate nursing student perceptions of the learning experience. A quasi-experimental post-test design was utilised. A convenience sample of final year baccalaureate nursing students at a large metropolitan university. Participants completed a modified version of the Student Satisfaction with Simulation Experiences survey. This 12-item questionnaire contained questions relating to the ability to transfer skills learned in simulation to the real clinical world, the realism of the simulation and the overall value of the learning experience. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise demographic information. Two tailed, independent group t-tests were used to determine statistical differences within the categories. Findings indicated that students reported high levels of value, realism and transferability in relation to the viewing of an audio-visual narrative. Statistically significant results (t=2.38, psimulation to clinical practice. The subgroups of age and gender although not significant indicated some interesting results. High satisfaction with simulation was indicated by all students in relation to value and realism. There was a significant finding in relation to transferability on knowledge and this is vital to quality educational outcomes. Copyright © 2017. Published by

Undergraduate Student Teachers' Views and Experiences of a Compulsory Course in Research Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Lombard, B. J. J.

2015-01-01

In comparison to attention given to research methods for education students at postgraduate level, the offering of research methods for education students at undergraduate level is less often considered. Yet, it is agreed that research methods for undergraduate level students is important for shaping student attitudes, learning and achievement in…

Assessment of Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Health Information Administration Programs

OpenAIRE

Smith, Jody

2006-01-01

The purpose of this research was to a) determine what assessment methods are being used in undergraduate health information administration programs to assess student learning and the usefulness of those methods, b) determine to what extent programs have incorporated good student learning assessment practices. Programs use a variety of assessment tools to measure student learning; the most useful include assessments by the professional practice supervisor, course tests, assignments, presentati...

Anticipation of Personal Genomics Data Enhances Interest and Learning Environment in Genomics and Molecular Biology Undergraduate Courses.

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Weber, K Scott; Jensen, Jamie L; Johnson, Steven M

2015-01-01

An important discussion at colleges is centered on determining more effective models for teaching undergraduates. As personalized genomics has become more common, we hypothesized it could be a valuable tool to make science education more hands on, personal, and engaging for college undergraduates. We hypothesized that providing students with personal genome testing kits would enhance the learning experience of students in two undergraduate courses at Brigham Young University: Advanced Molecular Biology and Genomics. These courses have an emphasis on personal genomics the last two weeks of the semester. Students taking these courses were given the option to receive personal genomics kits in 2014, whereas in 2015 they were not. Students sent their personal genomics samples in on their own and received the data after the course ended. We surveyed students in these courses before and after the two-week emphasis on personal genomics to collect data on whether anticipation of obtaining their own personal genomic data impacted undergraduate student learning. We also tested to see if specific personal genomic assignments improved the learning experience by analyzing the data from the undergraduate students who completed both the pre- and post-course surveys. Anticipation of personal genomic data significantly enhanced student interest and the learning environment based on the time students spent researching personal genomic material and their self-reported attitudes compared to those who did not anticipate getting their own data. Personal genomics homework assignments significantly enhanced the undergraduate student interest and learning based on the same criteria and a personal genomics quiz. We found that for the undergraduate students in both molecular biology and genomics courses, incorporation of personal genomic testing can be an effective educational tool in undergraduate science education.

Development of Web-Based Learning Environment Model to Enhance Cognitive Skills for Undergraduate Students in the Field of Electrical Engineering

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Lakonpol, Thongmee; Ruangsuwan, Chaiyot; Terdtoon, Pradit

2015-01-01

This research aimed to develop a web-based learning environment model for enhancing cognitive skills of undergraduate students in the field of electrical engineering. The research is divided into 4 phases: 1) investigating the current status and requirements of web-based learning environment models. 2) developing a web-based learning environment…

Approaches to Learning and Kolb's Learning Styles of Undergraduates with Better Grades

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Patrícia; Teixeira-Dias, José Joaquim; Martinho, Mariana; Balasooriya, Chinthaka

The purpose of this study is to investigate if the teaching, learning and assessment strategies conceived and implemented in a higher education chemistry course promote the development of conceptual understanding, as intended. Thus, our aim is to analyse the learning styles and the approaches to learning of chemistry undergraduates with better grades. The overall results show that the students with better grades possess the assimilator learning style, that is usually associated to the archetypal chemist. Moreover, the students with the highest grades revealed a conception of learning emphasising understanding. However, these students diverged both in their learning approaches and in their preferences for teaching strategies. The majority of students adopted a deep approach or a combination of a deep and a strategic approach, but half of them revealed their preference for teaching-centred strategies.

Evaluating learning among undergraduate medical students in schools with traditional and problem-based curricula.

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Meo, Sultan Ayoub

2013-09-01

This study aimed to assess knowledge and skills in a respiratory physiology course in traditional versus problem-based learning (PBL) groups in two different medical schools. Two different undergraduate medical schools were selected for this study. The first medical school followed the traditional [lecture-based learning (LBL)] curriculum, and the second medical school followed the PBL curriculum. Sixty first-year male medical students (30 students from each medical school) volunteered; they were apparently healthy and of the same age, sex, nationality, and regional and cultural background. Students were taught respiratory physiology according to their curriculum for a period of 2 wk. At the completion of the study period, knowledge was measured based on a single best multiple-choice question examination, and skill was measured based on the objective structured practical examination in the lung function laboratory (respiratory physiology). A Student's t-test was applied for the analysis of the data, and the level of significance was set at P schools.

The Effect of Online Dictionaries Usage on EFL Undergraduate Students' Autonomy

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Tananuraksakul, Noparat

2015-01-01

Due to EFL undergraduate students' ineffective learning strategies, which mirror lack of autonomy, this paper is a pilot study into how use of Cambridge Dictionaries Online can affect undergraduate students' autonomy or self-reliance in a Thai EFL context. The link was selectively integrated in a writing classroom as a tool to improve their…

Merging Problem-Based Learning with Simulation-Based Learning in the Medical Undergraduate Curriculum: The PAIRED Framework for Enhancing Lifelong Learning

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Koh, Jansen

2016-01-01

Lifelong learning is an essential trait that is expected of every physician. The CanMeds 2005 Physician Competency Framework emphasizes lifelong learning as a key competency that physicians must achieve in becoming better physicians. However, many physicians are not competent at engaging in lifelong learning. The current medical education system is deficient in preparing medical students to develop and carry out their own lifelong learning curriculum upon graduation. Despite understanding how physicians learn at work, medical students are not trained to learn while working. Similarly, although barriers to lifelong learning are known, medical students are not adequately skilled in overcoming these barriers. Learning to learn is just as important, if not more, as acquiring the skills and knowledge required of a physician. The medical undergraduate curriculum lacks a specific learning strategy to prepare medical students in becoming an adept lifelong learner. In this article, we propose a learning strategy for lifelong learning at the undergraduate level. In developing this novel strategy, we paid particular attention to two parameters. First, this strategy should be grounded on literature describing a physician’s lifelong learning process. Second, the framework for implementing this strategy must be based on existing undergraduate learning strategies to obviate the need for additional resources, learner burden, and faculty time. In this paper, we propose a Problem, Analysis, Independent Research Reporting, Experimentation Debriefing (PAIRED) framework that follows the learning process of a physician and serves to synergize the components of problem-based learning and simulation-based learning in specifically targeting the barriers to lifelong learning. PMID:27446767

Oncology E-Learning for Undergraduate. A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

da Costa Vieira, René Aloisio; Lopes, Ana Helena; Sarri, Almir José; Benedetti, Zuleica Caulada; de Oliveira, Cleyton Zanardo

2017-06-01

The e-learning education is a promising method, but there are few prospective randomized publications in oncology. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of retention of information in oncology from undergraduate students of physiotherapy. A prospective, controlled, randomized, crossover study, 72 undergraduate students of physiotherapy, from the second to fourth years, were randomized to perform a course of physiotherapy in oncology (PHO) using traditional classroom or e-learning. Students were offered the same content of the subject. The teacher in the traditional classroom model and the e-learning students used the Articulate® software. The course tackled the main issues related to PHO, and it was divided into six modules, 18 lessons, evaluated by 126 questions. A diagnosis evaluation was performed previous to the course and after every module. The sample consisted of 67 students, allocated in groups A (n = 35) and B (n = 32), and the distribution was homogeneous between the groups. Evaluating the correct answers, we observed a limited score in the pre-test (average grade 44.6 %), which has significant (p e-learning, a fact that encourages the use of e-learning in oncology. REBECU1111-1142-1963.

Concept Maps for Assessing Change in Learning: A Study of Undergraduate Business Students in First-Year Marketing in China

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von der Heidt, Tania

2015-01-01

This paper explains the application of concept mapping to help foster a learning-centred approach. It investigates how concept maps are used to measure the change in learning following a two-week intensive undergraduate Marketing Principles course delivered to 162 Chinese students undertaking a Bachelor of Business Administration programme in…

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Learning: Using Decision Analysts to Enhance Undergraduate International Management Education

Science.gov (United States)

Palocsay, Susan W.; White, Marion M.; Zimmerman, D. Kent

2004-01-01

This article describes an experiential learning activity designed to promote the development of decision-making skills in international management students at the undergraduate level. Students from an undergraduate management science course in decision analysis served as consultants on a case assigned to teams in an international management class.…

Mobile Learning in Nursing Undergraduates in China: Current Status, Attitudes and Barriers.

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Xiao, Qian; Zhang, Qiannan; Wang, Lanlan; Wang, Yanling; Sun, Liu; Wu, Ying

2017-01-01

To explore the current status, attitudes and barriers of nursing undergraduates toward mobile learning, 157 nursing students were investigated. more than half of them used mobile learning frequently in past half year. The mean score of students' intention towards mobile learning was 10.5 (ranged from 6 to 15), and it related to students' gender, expected effect, ease of operation, influence of other students, self-learning management and perceived interest. Some barriers affected students' mobile learning. Therefore, students had positive attitude and perception toward mobile learning, then we should create enough conditions to promote students' mobile learning.

Electronic learning readiness assessment of Nigerian Undergraduates

African Journals Online (AJOL)

learning. Two hypotheses were evolved to give direction to this study. The study was a pilot study and the University of Lagos was purposively selected. It was targeted at undergraduate students of the University of Lagos. A simple random ...

Development of the ultrasonography learning model for undergraduate medical students: A case study of the Faculty of Medicine, Burapha University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sornsupha Limchareon

2016-08-01

Conclusion: By adding hands-on ultrasound experience using live patients proctored by radiologists for final year medical students, in the space of 2 weeks, an effective ultrasound learning model for undergraduate medical students can be provided. This model should be considered in the curricular design.

Cognitive Style and Mobile E-Learning in Emergent Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Disorders for Millennial Undergraduate Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Li-Ang; Chao, Yi-Ping; Huang, Chung-Guei; Fang, Ji-Tseng; Wang, Shu-Ling; Chuang, Cheng-Keng; Kang, Chung-Jan; Hsin, Li-Jen; Lin, Wan-Ni; Fang, Tuan-Jen; Li, Hsueh-Yu

2018-02-13

Electronic learning (e-learning) through mobile technology represents a novel way to teach emergent otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (ORL-HNS) disorders to undergraduate medical students. Whether a cognitive style of education combined with learning modules can impact learning outcomes and satisfaction in millennial medical students is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cognitive styles and learning modules using mobile e-learning on knowledge gain, competence gain, and satisfaction for emergent ORL-HNS disorders. This randomized controlled trial included 60 undergraduate medical students who were novices in ORL-HNS at an academic teaching hospital. The cognitive style of the participants was assessed using the group embedded figures test. The students were randomly assigned (1:1) to a novel interactive multimedia (IM) group and conventional Microsoft PowerPoint show (PPS) group matched by age, sex, and cognitive style. The content for the gamified IM module was derived from and corresponded to the textbook-based learning material of the PPS module (video lectures). The participants were unblinded and used fully automated courseware containing the IM or PPS module on a 7-inch tablet for 100 min. Knowledge and competence were assessed using multiple-choice questions and multimedia situation tests, respectively. Each participant also rated their global satisfaction. All of the participants (median age 23 years, range 22-26 years; 36 males and 24 females) received the intended intervention after randomization. Overall, the participants had significant gains in knowledge (median 50%, interquartile range [IQR]=17%-80%, Plearning modules (IM or PPS) had significant effects on both knowledge gain (both adjusted Plearning is an effective modality to improve knowledge of emergent ORL-HNS in millennial undergraduate medical students. Our findings suggest the necessity of developing various modules for undergraduate medical students with

Using paper presentation breaks during didactic lectures improves learning of physiology in undergraduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Ahmad; Ghazvini, Kiarash

2016-03-01

Many studies have emphasized the incorporation of active learning into classrooms to reinforce didactic lectures for physiology courses. This work aimed to determine if presenting classic papers during didactic lectures improves the learning of physiology among undergraduate students. Twenty-two students of health information technology were randomly divided into the following two groups: 1) didactic lecture only (control group) and 2) didactic lecture plus paper presentation breaks (DLPP group). In the control group, main topics of gastrointestinal and endocrine physiology were taught using only the didactic lecture technique. In the DLPP group, some topics were presented by the didactic lecture method (similar to the control group) and some topics were taught by the DLPP technique (first, concepts were covered briefly in a didactic format and then reinforced with presentation of a related classic paper). The combination of didactic lecture and paper breaks significantly improved learning so that students in the DLPP group showed higher scores on related topics compared with those in the control group (P physiology. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

What Students Really Learn: Contrasting Medical and Nursing Students' Experiences of the Clinical Learning Environment

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Liljedahl, Matilda; Boman, Lena Engqvist; Fält, Charlotte Porthén; Bolander Laksov, Klara

2015-01-01

This paper explores and contrasts undergraduate medical and nursing students' experiences of the clinical learning environment. Using a sociocultural perspective of learning and an interpretative approach, 15 in-depth interviews with medical and nursing students were analysed with content analysis. Students' experiences are described using a…

Students Learn How Nonprofits Utilize Volunteers through Inquiry-Based Learning

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Bolton, Elizabeth B.; Brennan, M. A.; Terry, Bryan D.

2009-01-01

This article highlights how undergraduate students implemented inquiry-based learning strategies to learn how nonprofit organizations utilize volunteers. In inquiry-based learning, students begin with a problem or question with some degree of focus or structure provided by the professor. The student inquiry showcased in this article was based on a…

Students take the lead for learning in practice: A process for building self-efficacy into undergraduate nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Amanda; Harrison, Penny; Rowe, Jennifer; Edwards, Sam; Barnes, Margaret; Henderson, Simon; Henderson, Amanda

2018-04-10

To prepare graduate nurses for practice, the curriculum and pedagogy need to facilitate student engagement, active learning and the development of self-efficacy. This pilot project describes and explores an initiative, the Check-in and Check-out process, that aims to engage students as active partners in their learning and teaching in their clinical preparation for practice. Three interdependent elements make up the process: a check-in (briefing) part; a clinical practice part, which supports students as they engage in their learning and practise clinical skills; and a check-out (debriefing) part. A student evaluation of this initiative confirmed the value of the process, which has subsequently been embedded in the preparation for practice and work-integrated learning courses in the undergraduate nursing programs at the participating university. The introduction of a singular learning process provides consistency in the learning approach used across clinical learning spaces, irrespective of their location or focus. A consistent learning process-including a common language that easily transfers across all clinical courses and clinical settings-arguably enhances the students' learning experience, helps them to actively manage their preparation for clinical practice and to develop self-efficacy. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Student personality and learning styles: A comparison between radiation therapy and medical imaging undergraduate students in New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Dungey, G; Yielder, J

2017-05-01

This study investigated the learning styles and personality type of undergraduate radiation therapy students at the University of Otago, Wellington (UOW) in New Zealand (NZ) to ascertain whether there is a pattern evidenced for this group and how that might compare with NZ medical imaging students. All students enrolled in the first year of the Bachelor of Radiation Therapy degree from 2014 to 2016 at the UOW were invited to participate in this research. The test tool was the Paragon Learning Style Inventory (PLSI), which is a standardised questionnaire adapted from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). All students who participated in the workshops consented for their data to be used for this project. The current study is longitudinal, and will continue for five years in total. The initial findings indicate that the cohorts of RT students exhibit personality and learning style preferences similar in Introversion/Extraversion and Thinking/Feeling to the proportion expected in the normal population. However, the Sensing/Intuition and Judging/Perceiving dichotomies show some similarities to the medical imaging students studied, who fell considerably outside that expected in the normal population. Overall, the dominant preference combinations identified, although different in degree, were similar to those of medical imaging students. The continuation of the radiation therapy study is important to ascertain more fully whether the results are particular to these cohorts of students or are trending towards showing a pattern of personality and learning style within the profession. Copyright © 2016 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of an online basic life support course on undergraduate nursing students' learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Tobase, Lucia; Peres, Heloisa H C; Gianotto-Oliveira, Renan; Smith, Nicole; Polastri, Thatiane F; Timerman, Sergio

2017-08-25

To describe learning outcomes of undergraduate nursing students following an online basic life support course (BLS). An online BLS course was developed and administered to 94 nursing students. Pre- and post-tests were used to assess theoretical learning. Checklist simulations and feedback devices were used to assess the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills of the 62 students who completed the course. A paired t-test revealed a significant increase in learning [pre-test (6.4 ± 1.61), post-test (9.3 ± 0.82), p online course was significant (plearning differences (p=0.475) had been observed between 1st and 2nd year (9.20 ± 1.60), and between 3rd and 4th year (9.67 ± 0.61) students. A CPR simulation was performed after completing the course: students checked for a response (90%), exposed the chest (98%), checked for breathing (97%), called emergency services (76%), requested for a defibrillator (92%), checked for a pulse (77%), positioned their hands properly (87%), performed 30 compressions/cycle (95%), performed compressions of at least 5 cm depth (89%), released the chest (90%), applied two breaths (97%), used the automated external defibrillator (97%), and positioned the pads (100%). The online course was an effective method for teaching and learning key BLS skills wherein students were able to accurately apply BLS procedures during the CPR simulation. This short-term online training, which likely improves learning and self-efficacy in BLS providers, can be used for the continuing education of health professionals.

Astrobiology undergraduate education: students' knowledge and perceptions of the field.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Jamie S; Drew, Jennifer C

2009-04-01

With the field of astrobiology continually evolving, it has become increasingly important to develop and maintain an educational infrastructure for the next generation of astrobiologists. In addition to developing more courses and programs for students, it is essential to monitor the learning experiences and progress of students taking these astrobiology courses. At the University of Florida, a new pilot course in astrobiology was developed that targeted undergraduate students with a wide range of scientific backgrounds. Pre- and post-course surveys along with knowledge assessments were used to evaluate the students' perceived and actual learning experiences. The class incorporated a hybrid teaching platform that included traditional in-person and distance learning technologies. Results indicate that undergraduate students have little prior knowledge of key astrobiology concepts; however, post-course testing demonstrated significant improvements in the students' comprehension of astrobiology. Improvements were not limited to astrobiology knowledge. Assessments revealed that students developed confidence in science writing as well as reading and understanding astrobiology primary literature. Overall, student knowledge of and attitudes toward astrobiological research dramatically increased during this course, which demonstrates the ongoing need for additional astrobiology education programs as well as periodic evaluations of those programs currently underway. Together, these approaches serve to improve the overall learning experiences and perceptions of future astrobiology researchers.

Students' Attitudes, Self-Efficacy and Experiences in a Modified Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning Undergraduate Chemistry Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Vishnumolakala, Venkat Rao; Southam, Daniel C.; Treagust, David F.; Mocerino, Mauro; Qureshi, Sheila

2017-01-01

This one-semester, mixed methods study underpinning social cognition and theory of planned behaviour investigated the attitudes, self-efficacy, and experiences of 559 first year undergraduate chemistry students from two cohorts in modified process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) classes. Versions of attitude toward the study of chemistry…

How clerkship students learn from real patients in practice settings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steven, Kathryn; Wenger, Etienne; Boshuizen, Els; Scherpbier, Albert; Dornan, Tim

2018-01-01

Purpose To explore how undergraduate medical students learn from real patients in practice settings, the factors that affect their learning, and how clerkship learning might be enhanced. Method In 2009, 22 medical students in the three clerkship years of an undergraduate medical program in the

Incorporating an Authentic Learning Strategy into Undergraduate Apparel and Merchandising Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yoon Jin; Lee, Hyun-Hwa

2012-01-01

An authentic learning strategy fostering students' active learning was studied using the scenario of a real-world project. Students from two different classes at two different universities worked as clients or consultants to develop an apparel sourcing strategy. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from 44 undergraduates enrolled in…

Lessons Learned from Introducing Social Media Use in Undergraduate Economics Research

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Martin; Freund, Katarina

2018-01-01

The research process and associated literacy requirements are often unfamiliar and daunting obstacles for undergraduate students. The use of social media has the potential to assist research training and encourage active learning, social inclusion and student engagement. This paper documents the lessons learned from developing a blended learning…

Exploring the Learning Problems and Resource Usage of Undergraduate Industrial Design Students in Design Studio Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wenzhi

2016-01-01

Design is a powerful weapon for modern companies so it is important to have excellent designers in the industry. The purpose of this study is to explore the learning problems and the resources that students use to overcome problems in undergraduate industrial design studio courses. A survey with open-type questions was conducted to collect data.…

Students' perspectives of undergraduate research methods education at three public medical schools in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Munabi, Ian Guyton; Buwembo, William; Joseph, Ruberwa; Peter, Kawungezi; Bajunirwe, Francis; Mwaka, Erisa Sabakaki

2016-01-01

In this study we used a model of adult learning to explore undergraduate students' views on how to improve the teaching of research methods and biostatistics. This was a secondary analysis of survey data of 600 undergraduate students from three medical schools in Uganda. The analysis looked at student's responses to an open ended section of a questionnaire on their views on undergraduate teaching of research methods and biostatistics. Qualitative phenomenological data analysis was done with a bias towards principles of adult learning. Students appreciated the importance of learning research methods and biostatistics as a way of understanding research problems; appropriately interpreting statistical concepts during their training and post-qualification practice; and translating the knowledge acquired. Stressful teaching environment and inadequate educational resource materials were identified as impediments to effective learning. Suggestions for improved learning included: early and continuous exposure to the course; more active and practical approach to teaching; and a need for mentorship. The current methods of teaching research methods and biostatistics leave most of the students in the dissonance phase of learning resulting in none or poor student engagement that results in a failure to comprehend and/or appreciate the principles governing the use of different research methods.

Enhancing Teaching and Learning Wi-Fi Networking Using Limited Resources to Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Nurul I.

2013-01-01

Motivating students to learn Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) wireless networking to undergraduate students is often difficult because many students find the subject rather technical and abstract when presented in traditional lecture format. This paper focuses on the teaching and learning aspects of Wi-Fi networking using limited hardware resources. It…

The Ability of the Coping Competence Questionnaire to Predict Resilience against Learned Helplessness among Undergraduate College Students: An Experimental Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ollis, Cindy L.

2010-01-01

The Coping Competence Questionnaire (CCQ), based on the reformulated learned helplessness theory, was designed to assess a general stress resistance versus a propensity towards learned helplessness with a brief, 12-item self-report questionnaire. In this study the CCQ was administered to 247 undergraduate students, who were then paired, in groups…

Developing Research Skills for Undergraduate Business Students: Experiential Learning on Introduction to Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations Course

Science.gov (United States)

Figueroa, Carmen I.; González, Cándida

2014-01-01

This paper reports on research into developing research skills in human resources management of apprentices through experiential learning. The target groups were undergraduate business students registered in the Introduction to Personnel and Industrial Relations course. The research identified the appreciation level of importance and satisfaction…

The Use of Limericks to Engage Student Interest and Promote Active Learning in an Undergraduate Course in Functional Anatomy

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Carnegie, Jacqueline A.

2012-01-01

The study of anatomy is a content-dense discipline with a challenging vocabulary. A mnemonic is a series of letters, a word, a phrase, or a rhyme that students can use when studying to facilitate recall. This project was designed to promote active learning in undergraduate students studying anatomy and physiology by asking them to create limericks…

Comparative Analysis of Rote Learning on High and Low Achievers in Graduate and Undergraduate Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ambreen Ahmed

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A survey was conducted to study the preferred learning strategies; that is, surface learning or deep learning of undergraduate and graduate male and female students and the impact of the preferred strategy on their academic performance. Both learning strategies help university students to get good scores in their examinations to meet the demands of industry in workforce. Quantitative research method was used to determine the impact of learning strategy on academic achievements. The R-SPQ2F questionnaire was sent to 103 students through Google forms and hard copies through snowball sampling technique. The results show that rote learning and academic performance are inversely related to each other. In high achievers, deep learning is significant as compared to low achievers. Furthermore, comparative analysis of learning styles on males and females showed that both preferred deep learning strategy equally. Learning strategy is not related to education level of students because there is no difference among preferred learning strategies of graduate and undergraduate students.

Evaluation of students' perception of their learning environment and approaches to learning

Science.gov (United States)

Valyrakis, Manousos; Cheng, Ming

2015-04-01

This work presents the results of two case studies designed to assess the various approaches undergraduate and postgraduate students undertake for their education. The first study describes the results and evaluation of an undergraduate course in Water Engineering which aims to develop the fundamental background knowledge of students on introductory practical applications relevant to the practice of water and hydraulic engineering. The study assesses the effectiveness of the course design and learning environment from the perception of students using a questionnaire addressing several aspects that may affect student learning, performance and satisfaction, such as students' motivation, factors to effective learning, and methods of communication and assessment. The second study investigates the effectiveness of supervisory arrangements based on the perceptions of engineering undergraduate and postgraduate students. Effective supervision requires leadership skills that are not taught in the University, yet there is rarely a chance to get feedback, evaluate this process and reflect. Even though the results are very encouraging there are significant lessons to learn in improving ones practice and develop an effective learning environment to student support and guidance. The findings from these studies suggest that students with high level of intrinsic motivation are deep learners and are also top performers in a student-centered learning environment. A supportive teaching environment with a plethora of resources and feedback made available over different platforms that address students need for direct communication and feedback has the potential to improve student satisfaction and their learning experience. Finally, incorporating a multitude of assessment methods is also important in promoting deep learning. These results have deep implications about student learning and can be used to further improve course design and delivery in the future.

'Pricing Nature at What Price?' A study of undergraduate students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper focuses on undergraduate students' conceptions of, and learning in, ... by environmental education researchers to engage with learning theory. Furthermore, it has been concluded that little research conducted within the realm of social ... learning in general when topics and content are found to be in conflict with ...

Simulation-Based Learning Strategies to Teach Undergraduate Students Basic Surgical Skills: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Theodoulou, Iakovos; Nicolaides, Marios; Athanasiou, Thanos; Papalois, Apostolos; Sideris, Michail

2018-02-16

We aimed to identify and critically appraise all literature surrounding simulation-based learning (SBL) courses, to assess their relevance as tools for undergraduate surgical education, and create a design framework targeted at standardizing future SBL. We performed a systematic review of the literature using a specific keyword strategy to search at MEDLINE database. Of the 2371 potentially eligible titles, 472 were shortlisted and only 40 explored active interventions in undergraduate medical education. Of those, 20 were conducted in the United States, 9 in Europe and 11 in the rest of the world. Nineteen studies assessed the effectiveness of SBL by comparing students' attributes before and after interventions, 1 study assessed a new tool of surgical assessment and 16 studies evaluated SBL courses from the students' perspectives. Of those 40 studies, 12 used dry laboratory, 7 wet laboratory, 12 mixed, and 9 cadaveric SBL interventions. The extent to which positive results were obtained from dry, wet, mixed, and cadaveric laboratories were 75%, 57%, 92%, and 100%, respectively. Consequently, the SBL design framework was devised, providing a foundation upon which future SBL interventions can be designed such that learning outcomes are optimized. SBL is an important step in surgical education, investing in a safer and more efficient generation of surgeons. Standardization of these efforts can be accelerated with SBL design framework, a comprehensive guide to designing future interventions for basic surgical training at the undergraduate level. Copyright © 2018 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acceptance and use of e-learning systems by undergraduate students of Ecuador: The case of a state university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Ramirez-Anormaliza

2017-07-01

Originality/value: This paper presents empirical data on the use and acceptance of e-learning systems for undergraduate students of a particular university in Ecuador. No similar studies are evident in the country and the model can be considered for future studies of national scope.

‘Employers’ perspectives on maximising undergraduate student learning from the outdoor education centre work placement

OpenAIRE

Lawton, Mark

2017-01-01

Recognising the growth in provision of vocational undergraduate programmes and the requirement for high quality work placement opportunities, managers from four residential outdoor education centres were interviewed to determine their perceptions on the components necessary to maximise student learning. The findings showed that the managers greatly valued the potential of a work placement; a need for clarity over the expectations for all stakeholders and that the placement remained authentic ...

Association between learning style preferences and anatomy assessment outcomes in graduate-entry and undergraduate medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mahony, Siobhain M; Sbayeh, Amgad; Horgan, Mary; O'Flynn, Siun; O'Tuathaigh, Colm M P

2016-07-08

An improved understanding of the relationship between anatomy learning performance and approaches to learning can lead to the development of a more tailored approach to delivering anatomy teaching to medical students. This study investigated the relationship between learning style preferences, as measured by Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinesthetic (VARK) inventory style questionnaire and Honey and Mumford's learning style questionnaire (LSQ), and anatomy and clinical skills assessment performance at an Irish medical school. Additionally, mode of entry to medical school [undergraduate/direct-entry (DEM) vs. graduate-entry (GEM)], was examined in relation to individual learning style, and assessment results. The VARK and LSQ were distributed to first and second year DEM, and first year GEM students. DEM students achieved higher clinical skills marks than GEM students, but anatomy marks did not differ between each group. Several LSQ style preferences were shown to be weakly correlated with anatomy assessment performance in a program- and year-specific manner. Specifically, the "Activist" style was negatively correlated with anatomy scores in DEM Year 2 students (rs = -0.45, P = 0.002). The "Theorist" style demonstrated a weak correlation with anatomy performance in DEM Year 2 (rs = 0.18, P = 0.003). Regression analysis revealed that, among the LSQ styles, the "Activist" was associated with poorer anatomy assessment performance (P learning styles contribute little to variation in academic performance in medical students. Anat Sci Educ 9: 391-399. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

What's Happening in "Their Space"? Exploring the Borders of Formal and Informal Learning with Undergraduate Students of Education in the Age of Mobile Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, Jane; Jones, Mark

2015-01-01

The changing nature of teaching and learning in an age of accessible technologies provides challenges and opportunities for the design of learning events. Working with a sample of undergraduate students of education in one UK higher education institution we use an exploratory, qualitative approach to investigate students' spontaneous uses of their…

University Students' Attitudes towards Cell Phone Learning Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wafa' N. Muhanna

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims at investigating Jordanian university undergraduate and graduate students' attitudes towards the learning environment where cell phones are used as learning tools in classroom. To achieve this goal, the researchers distributed two questionnaires among two groups of two different levels of randomly chosen university students at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Al-al-Bayt University. The first one addresses 30 undergraduate students, 12 male and 18 female. The other addresses 20 graduates, 7 male and 13 female. The study comprised two independent variables, level and gender, as covariates. The findings indicate that undergraduates are more favorable to cell phone environment than graduate students. The study also reveals that cell phone has more influence on male students than on female students.

The Role of Student-Advisor Interactions in Apprenticing Undergraduate Researchers into a Scientific Community of Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Thiry, Heather; Laursen, Sandra L.

2011-12-01

Among science educators, current interest in undergraduate research (UR) is influenced both by the traditional role of the research apprenticeship in scientists' preparation and by concerns about replacing the current scientific workforce. Recent research has begun to demonstrate the range of personal, professional, and intellectual benefits for STEM students from participating in UR, yet the processes by which student-advisor interactions contribute to these benefits are little understood. We employ situated learning theory (Lave and Wenger, Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge in 1991) to examine the role of student-advisor interactions in apprenticing undergraduate researchers, particularly in terms of acculturating students to the norms, values, and professional practice of science. This qualitative study examines interviews with a diverse sample of 73 undergraduate research students from two research-extensive institutions. From these interviews, we articulate a continuum of practices that research mentors employed in three domains to support undergraduate scientists-in-training: professional socialization, intellectual support, and personal/emotional support. The needs of novice students differed from those of experienced students in each of these areas. Novice students needed clear expectations, guidelines, and orientation to their specific research project, while experienced students needed broader socialization in adopting the traits, habits, and temperament of scientific researchers. Underrepresented minority students, and to a lesser extent, women, gained confidence from their interactions with their research mentors and broadened their future career and educational possibilities. Undergraduate research at research-extensive universities exemplifies a cycle of scientific learning and practice where undergraduate researchers are mentored by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who are

Cognitive Style and Mobile E-Learning in Emergent Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Disorders for Millennial Undergraduate Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Yi-Ping; Huang, Chung-Guei; Fang, Ji-Tseng; Wang, Shu-Ling; Chuang, Cheng-Keng; Kang, Chung-Jan; Hsin, Li-Jen; Lin, Wan-Ni; Fang, Tuan-Jen; Li, Hsueh-Yu

2018-01-01

Background Electronic learning (e-learning) through mobile technology represents a novel way to teach emergent otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (ORL-HNS) disorders to undergraduate medical students. Whether a cognitive style of education combined with learning modules can impact learning outcomes and satisfaction in millennial medical students is unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cognitive styles and learning modules using mobile e-learning on knowledge gain, competence gain, and satisfaction for emergent ORL-HNS disorders. Methods This randomized controlled trial included 60 undergraduate medical students who were novices in ORL-HNS at an academic teaching hospital. The cognitive style of the participants was assessed using the group embedded figures test. The students were randomly assigned (1:1) to a novel interactive multimedia (IM) group and conventional Microsoft PowerPoint show (PPS) group matched by age, sex, and cognitive style. The content for the gamified IM module was derived from and corresponded to the textbook-based learning material of the PPS module (video lectures). The participants were unblinded and used fully automated courseware containing the IM or PPS module on a 7-inch tablet for 100 min. Knowledge and competence were assessed using multiple-choice questions and multimedia situation tests, respectively. Each participant also rated their global satisfaction. Results All of the participants (median age 23 years, range 22-26 years; 36 males and 24 females) received the intended intervention after randomization. Overall, the participants had significant gains in knowledge (median 50%, interquartile range [IQR]=17%-80%, P<.001) and competence (median 13%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.006). There were no significant differences in knowledge gain (40%, IQR=13%-76% vs 60%, IQR=20%-100%, P=.42) and competence gain (0%, IQR= −21% to 38% vs 25%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.16) between the IM and PPS groups. However, the IM group had

Assessing a Broad Teaching Approach: The Impact of Combining Active Learning Methods on Student Performance in Undergraduate Peace and Conflict Studies

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Sjöstedt, Roxanna

2015-01-01

Teaching introductory International Relations (IR) and peace and conflict studies can be challenging, as undergraduate teaching frequently involves large student groups that limit student activity to listening and taking notes. According to pedagogic research, this is not the optimal structure for learning. Rather, although a teacher can pass on…

How much is too much assessment? Insight into assessment-driven student learning gains in large-scale undergraduate microbiology courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jack T H; Schembri, Mark A; Hall, Roy A

2013-01-01

Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergraduate microbiology, but has yet to define best-practice assessment guidelines. This study assessed the applicability of Biggs' theory of constructive alignment in designing consistent learning objectives, activities, and assessment items that aligned with the American Society for Microbiology's concept-based microbiology curriculum in MICR2000, an introductory microbiology course offered at the University of Queensland, Australia. By improving the internal consistency in assessment criteria and increasing the number of assessment items explicitly aligned to the course learning objectives, the teaching team was able to efficiently provide adequate feedback on numerous assessment tasks throughout the semester, which contributed to improved student performance and learning gains. When comparing the constructively aligned 2011 offering of MICR2000 with its 2010 counterpart, students obtained higher marks in both coursework assignments and examinations as the semester progressed. Students also valued the additional feedback provided, as student rankings for course feedback provision increased in 2011 and assessment and feedback was identified as a key strength of MICR2000. By designing MICR2000 using constructive alignment and iterative assessment tasks that followed a common set of learning outcomes, the teaching team was able to effectively deliver detailed and timely feedback in a large introductory microbiology course. This study serves as a case study for how constructive alignment can be integrated into modern teaching practices for large-scale courses.

Measuring Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory: A National, Cross-Sectional Study

Science.gov (United States)

Galloway, Kelli R.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2015-01-01

Research on laboratory learning points to the need to better understand what and how students learn in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was administered to general and organic chemistry students from 15 colleges and universities across the United States in order to measure the…

Influence of undergraduate nursing student teaching methods on learning standard precautions and transmission-based precautions: Experimental research.

Science.gov (United States)

Kappes Ramirez, Maria Soledad

2018-02-01

An experimental study was performed with undergraduate nursing students in order to determine, between two methodologies, which is the best for learning standard precautions and precautions based on disease transmission mechanisms. Students in the sample are stratified by performance, with the experimental group (49 students) being exposed to self-instruction and clinical simulation on the topic of standard precautions and special precautions according to disease transmission mechanisms. Conventional classes on the same topics were provided to the control group (49 students). The experimental group showed the best performance in the multiple-choice post-test of knowledge (p=0.002) and in the assessment of essay questions (p=0.043), as well as in the evaluation of a simulated scenario, in relation to the control group. This study demonstrates that it is possible to transfer some teaching subjects on the prevention of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) to self-learning by means of virtual teaching strategies with good results. This allows greater efficiency in the allocation of teachers to clinical simulation or learning situations in the laboratory, where students can apply what they have learned in the self-instruction module. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Views of Undergraduates about Problem-Based Learning Applications in a Biochemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Tarhan, Leman; Ayyildiz, Yildizay

2015-01-01

The effect of problem-based learning (PBL) applications in an undergraduate biochemistry course on students' interest in this course was investigated through four modules during one semester. Students' views about active learning and improvement in social skills were also collected and evaluated. We conducted the study with 36 senior students from…

E-learning in an undergraduate radiography programme: Example of an interactive website

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Peter; Cheung, Alice K.Y.

2006-01-01

Purpose: To demonstrate how e-learning can be integrated into an undergraduate radiography programme, using an academic subject dealing with ethico-legal issues as an example. Information provided could be applied to any form of online learning. Methods: One academic subject from an undergraduate radiography programme, Case-Based Learning for Professional Studies, which had previously been taught using traditional face-to-face methods, was transformed into an e-learning format. Students who experienced the new e-learning format were evaluated by means of an online evaluation questionnaire. Results: Eighty-three percentage of respondents felt confident/semi-confident about participating in online Chat sessions. Around 34% of respondents thought that the Discussion Board was useful for communicating with fellow students. Nearly 70% of respondents believed that access to online materials enabled them to prepare for lectures and tutorials. However, 34% of students preferred more face-to-face lectures/tutorials. Overall, feedback was positive. Conclusion: Course providers and other relevant stakeholders need to be proactive in determining ways to facilitate undergraduate and post-registration development and learning. E-learning can be utilized to benefit learners who wish to work at their own pace and who cannot attend courses at remote sites. Individuals can reap the benefits of an online learning format and affording learners more flexibility and providing guidance for them, by means of a website, may help to promote a positive attitude to lifelong learning

E-learning in an undergraduate radiography programme: Example of an interactive website

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Peter [Department of Optometry and Radiography, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China)]. E-mail: orpwhite@polyu.edu.hk; Cheung, Alice K.Y. [Department of Optometry and Radiography, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China)]. E-mail: alice.cheung@iee.org

2006-08-15

Purpose: To demonstrate how e-learning can be integrated into an undergraduate radiography programme, using an academic subject dealing with ethico-legal issues as an example. Information provided could be applied to any form of online learning. Methods: One academic subject from an undergraduate radiography programme, Case-Based Learning for Professional Studies, which had previously been taught using traditional face-to-face methods, was transformed into an e-learning format. Students who experienced the new e-learning format were evaluated by means of an online evaluation questionnaire. Results: Eighty-three percentage of respondents felt confident/semi-confident about participating in online Chat sessions. Around 34% of respondents thought that the Discussion Board was useful for communicating with fellow students. Nearly 70% of respondents believed that access to online materials enabled them to prepare for lectures and tutorials. However, 34% of students preferred more face-to-face lectures/tutorials. Overall, feedback was positive. Conclusion: Course providers and other relevant stakeholders need to be proactive in determining ways to facilitate undergraduate and post-registration development and learning. E-learning can be utilized to benefit learners who wish to work at their own pace and who cannot attend courses at remote sites. Individuals can reap the benefits of an online learning format and affording learners more flexibility and providing guidance for them, by means of a website, may help to promote a positive attitude to lifelong learning.

Medical Student Perceptions of the Learning Environment in Medical School Change as Students Transition to Clinical Training in Undergraduate Medical School.

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Dunham, Lisette; Dekhtyar, Michael; Gruener, Gregory; CichoskiKelly, Eileen; Deitz, Jennifer; Elliott, Donna; Stuber, Margaret L; Skochelak, Susan E

2017-01-01

Phenomenon: The learning environment is the physical, social, and psychological context in which a student learns. A supportive learning environment contributes to student well-being and enhances student empathy, professionalism, and academic success, whereas an unsupportive learning environment may lead to burnout, exhaustion, and cynicism. Student perceptions of the medical school learning environment may change over time and be associated with students' year of training and may differ significantly depending on the student's gender or race/ethnicity. Understanding the changes in perceptions of the learning environment related to student characteristics and year of training could inform interventions that facilitate positive experiences in undergraduate medical education. The Medical School Learning Environment Survey (MSLES) was administered to 4,262 students who matriculated at one of 23 U.S. and Canadian medical schools in 2010 and 2011. Students completed the survey at the end of each year of medical school as part of a battery of surveys in the Learning Environment Study. A mixed-effects longitudinal model, t tests, Cohen's d effect size, and analysis of variance assessed the relationship between MSLES score, year of training, and demographic variables. After controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and school, students reported worsening perceptions toward the medical school learning environment, with the worst perceptions in the 3rd year of medical school as students begin their clinical experiences, and some recovery in the 4th year after Match Day. The drop in MSLES scores associated with the transition to the clinical learning environment (-0.26 point drop in addition to yearly change, effect size = 0.52, p effect size = 0.14, p work-life balance and informal student relationships. There was some, but not complete, recovery in perceptions of the medical school learning environment in the 4th year. Insights: Perceptions of the medical school learning

Assessing Student Outcomes of Undergraduate Research with URSSA, the Undergraduate Student Self-Assessment Instrument

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Laursen, S. L.; Weston, T. J.; Thiry, H.

2012-12-01

URSSA is the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment, an online survey instrument for programs and departments to use in assessing the student outcomes of undergraduate research (UR). URSSA focuses on what students learn from their UR experience, rather than whether they liked it. The online questionnaire includes both multiple-choice and open-ended items that focus on students' gains from undergraduate research. These gains include skills, knowledge, deeper understanding of the intellectual and practical work of science, growth in confidence, changes in identity, and career preparation. Other items probe students' participation in important research-related activities that lead to these gains (e.g. giving presentations, having responsibility for a project). These activities, and the gains themselves, are based in research and thus constitute a core set of items. Using these items as a group helps to align a particular program assessment with research-demonstrated outcomes. Optional items may be used to probe particular features that are augment the research experience (e.g. field trips, career seminars, housing arrangements). The URSSA items are based on extensive, interview-based research and evaluation work on undergraduate research by our group and others. This grounding in research means that URSSA measures what we know to be important about the UR experience The items were tested with students, revised and re-tested. Data from a large pilot sample of over 500 students enabled statistical testing of the items' validity and reliability. Optional items about UR program elements were developed in consultation with UR program developers and leaders. The resulting instrument is flexible. Users begin with a set of core items, then customize their survey with optional items to probe students' experiences of specific program elements. The online instrument is free and easy to use, with numeric results available as raw data, summary statistics, cross-tabs, and

Development, Evaluation and Use of a Student Experience Survey in Undergraduate Science Laboratories: The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory Student Laboratory Learning Experience Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Barrie, Simon C.; Bucat, Robert B.; Buntine, Mark A.; Burke da Silva, Karen; Crisp, Geoffrey T.; George, Adrian V.; Jamie, Ian M.; Kable, Scott H.; Lim, Kieran F.; Pyke, Simon M.; Read, Justin R.; Sharma, Manjula D.; Yeung, Alexandra

2015-07-01

Student experience surveys have become increasingly popular to probe various aspects of processes and outcomes in higher education, such as measuring student perceptions of the learning environment and identifying aspects that could be improved. This paper reports on a particular survey for evaluating individual experiments that has been developed over some 15 years as part of a large national Australian study pertaining to the area of undergraduate laboratories-Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory. This paper reports on the development of the survey instrument and the evaluation of the survey using student responses to experiments from different institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. A total of 3153 student responses have been analysed using factor analysis. Three factors, motivation, assessment and resources, have been identified as contributing to improved student attitudes to laboratory activities. A central focus of the survey is to provide feedback to practitioners to iteratively improve experiments. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.

Perceptions of leadership among final-year undergraduate nursing students.

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Francis-Shama, Jayne

2016-11-01

Aim The promotion of a distributed leadership model in health care means there is an expectation that undergraduate training should contribute to the development of nursing students' leadership capabilities. However, there is concern that the nursing degree programme is not sufficiently preparing students. This study explored nursing students' perceptions of leadership before qualifying, and how prepared they felt to take on leadership roles. Method Data were collected from 20 undergraduate nursing students, using a Straussian grounded theory approach, through three focus groups and six semi-structured interviews. Findings These suggest students are disengaged from the learning of leadership, and preparation for leadership in clinical areas is problematic, as students are exposed to flawed role modelling. Conclusion Discrepancies between nurse education and the realities of clinical practice mean that successfully preparing nursing students for leadership roles will be challenging within current provision.

Self Reflections of Undergraduate Students on Using Web-Supported Counterintuitive Science Demonstrations

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Kumar, David Devraj; Dunn, Jessica

2018-03-01

Analysis of self-reflections of undergraduate education students in a project involving web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations is reported in this paper. Participating students (N = 19) taught science with counterintuitive demonstrations in local elementary school classrooms and used web-based resources accessed via wireless USB adapters. Student reflections to seven questions were analyzed qualitatively using four components of reflection (meeting objectives/perception of learning, dynamics of pedagogy, special needs accommodations, improving teaching) deriving 27 initial data categories and 12 emergent themes. Overall the undergraduates reported meeting objectives, engaging students in pedagogically relevant learning tasks including, providing accommodations to students with special needs, and gaining practice and insight to improve their own teaching. Additional research is needed to arrive at generalizable findings concerning teaching with web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations in elementary classrooms.

Stereotyping at the undergraduate level revealed during interprofessional learning between future doctors and biomedical scientists.

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Lewitt, Moira S; Ehrenborg, Ewa; Scheja, Max; Brauner, Annelie

2010-01-01

Interprofessional education (IPE) involving undergraduate health professionals is expected to promote collaboration in their later careers. The role of IPE between doctors and biomedical scientists has not been explored at the undergraduate level. Our aim was to introduce IPE sessions for medical and biomedical students in order to identify the benefits and barriers to these groups learning together. Medical and biomedical students together discussed laboratory results, relevant literature, and ideas for developing new diagnostic tools. The programme was evaluated with questionnaires and interviews. While there was general support for the idea of IPE, medical and biomedical students responded differently. Biomedical students were more critical, wanted more explicit learning objectives and felt that their professional role was often misunderstood. The medical students were more enthusiastic but regarded the way the biomedical students communicated concerns about their perceived role as a barrier to effective interprofessional learning. We conclude that stereotyping, which can impede effective collaborations between doctors and biomedical scientists, is already present at the undergraduate level and may be a barrier to IPE. Effective learning opportunities should be supported at the curriculum level and be designed to specifically enable a broad appreciation of each other's future professional roles.

Visitor or Inhabitant? Addressing the Needs of Undergraduate Transnational Medical Students

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Lindley, Jennifer; McCall, Louise; Abu-Arab, Adela

2013-01-01

This study was conducted to identify key issues for students in an undergraduate medical course with cross border delivery and the impact of these issues on the students' ability to learn. Data relating to the student experience and perceived student needs were collected from transnational students and teaching staff from Australia and Malaysia.…

The Influence of Learning Style on English Learning Achievement Among Undergraduates in Mainland China.

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Huang, Fang; Hoi, Cathy Ka Weng; Teo, Timothy

2018-03-26

Learning style is one of the main factors that determines how students learn English and has a significant influence on students' learning strategy selection, which further affects their learning outcomes (Ehrman and Oxford in Mod Lang J 74(3):311-327, 1990; Oxford in Language learning styles and strategies: an overview, 2003. http://web.ntpu.edu.tw/~language/workshop/read2.pdf ). This study examines the learning style preferences of Chinese university students and whether those preferences influence their English achievements. Four hundred undergraduates from one university in eastern mainland China participated in this study. Data from 329 valid questionnaires were analysed. The results revealed that the Chinese university students preferred the visual learning style the most, followed by the auditory and kinaesthetic styles. However, no learning style preference was found to influence the students' English proficiency. Cultural reasons are discussed to explain the findings, which contradict those of previous studies of learning style theories and practices. This study recommends that Chinese scholars consider issues of English teaching and learning in China and to adopt appropriate teaching methods to effectively improve English teaching.

Student personality and learning styles: A comparison between radiation therapy and medical imaging undergraduate students in New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dungey, G.; Yielder, J.

2017-01-01

This study investigated the learning styles and personality type of undergraduate radiation therapy students at the University of Otago, Wellington (UOW) in New Zealand (NZ) to ascertain whether there is a pattern evidenced for this group and how that might compare with NZ medical imaging students. All students enrolled in the first year of the Bachelor of Radiation Therapy degree from 2014 to 2016 at the UOW were invited to participate in this research. The test tool was the Paragon Learning Style Inventory (PLSI), which is a standardised questionnaire adapted from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). All students who participated in the workshops consented for their data to be used for this project. The current study is longitudinal, and will continue for five years in total. The initial findings indicate that the cohorts of RT students exhibit personality and learning style preferences similar in Introversion/Extraversion and Thinking/Feeling to the proportion expected in the normal population. However, the Sensing/Intuition and Judging/Perceiving dichotomies show some similarities to the medical imaging students studied, who fell considerably outside that expected in the normal population. Overall, the dominant preference combinations identified, although different in degree, were similar to those of medical imaging students. The continuation of the radiation therapy study is important to ascertain more fully whether the results are particular to these cohorts of students or are trending towards showing a pattern of personality and learning style within the profession. - Highlights: • RT students are likely to have personality types that enable them to be caring, dependable, and good team-players. • When under stress, RT students may catastrophise, blame others, and exhibit a decrease in efficiency. • Low job satisfaction and burnout is possible without a balanced team that includes the vision from intuitive leaders. • Educators need to encourage

Development of a nursing education program for improving Chinese undergraduates' self-directed learning: A mixed-method study.

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Tao, Ying; Li, Liping; Xu, Qunyan; Jiang, Anli

2015-11-01

This paper demonstrates the establishment of an extra-curricular education program in Chinese context and evaluates its effectiveness on undergraduate nursing students' self-directed learning. Zimmerman's self-directed learning model was used as the theoretical framework for the development of an education program. Mixed-method was applied in this research study. 165 undergraduate students from a nursing college were divided into experimental group (n=32) and control group (n=133). Pre- and post-tests were implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of this education program using the self-directed learning scale of nursing undergraduates. Qualitative interview was undertaken within participants from the experimental group to obtain their insights into the influence of this program. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that the program contributed to nursing students' self-directed learning ability. In the experimental group, the post-test score showed an increase compared with pretest score (plearning activities and influence on learning environment. It can be found in the qualitative analysis that learners benefited from this program. The education program contributes to the improvement of nursing undergraduates' self-directed learning. Various pedagogic methods could be applied for self-directed learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Commognitive Analysis of Undergraduate Mathematics Students' First Encounter with the Subgroup Test

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Ioannou, Marios

2018-01-01

This study analyses learning aspects of undergraduate mathematics students' first encounter with the subgroup test, using the commognitive theoretical framework. It focuses on students' difficulties as these are related to the object-level and metalevel mathematical learning in group theory, and, when possible, highlights any commognitive…

Strategies to improve learning of all students in a class

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Suraishkumar, G. K.

2018-05-01

The statistical distribution of the student learning abilities in a typical undergraduate engineering class poses a significant challenge to simultaneously improve the learning of all the students in the class. With traditional instruction styles, the students with significantly high learning abilities are not satisfied due to a feeling of unfulfilled potential, and the students with significantly low learning abilities feel lost. To address the challenge in an undergraduate core/required course on 'transport phenomena in biological systems', a combination of learning strategies such as active learning including co-operative group learning, challenge exercises, and others were employed in a pro-advising context. The short-term and long-term impacts were evaluated through student course performances and input, respectively. The results show that it is possible to effectively address the challenge posed by the distribution of student learning abilities in a class.

Measuring Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratories: A Longitudinal Study

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Galloway, Kelli R.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2015-01-01

Understanding how students learn in the undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratory is an essential component to developing evidence-based laboratory curricula. The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was developed to measure students' cognitive and affective expectations and experiences for learning in the chemistry…

Cultivating the scientific research ability of undergraduate students in teaching of genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Wan-jin; Morigen, Morigen

2016-11-20

The classroom is the main venue for undergraduate teaching. It is worth pondering how to cultivate undergraduate's research ability in classroom teaching. Here we introduce the practices and experiences in teaching reform in genetics for training the research quality of undergraduate students from six aspects: (1) constructing the framework for curriculum framework systematicaly, (2) using the teaching content to reflect research progress, (3) explaining knowledge points with research activities, (4) explaining the scientific principles and experiments with PPT animation, (5) improving English reading ability through bilingual teaching, and (6) testing students' analysing ability through examination. These reforms stimulate undergraduate students' enthusiasm for learning, cultivate their ability to find, analyze and solve scientific problems, and improve their English reading and literature reviewing capacity, which lay a foundation for them to enter the field of scientific research.

Nepalese undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the clinical learning environment, supervision and nurse teachers: A questionnaire survey.

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Nepal, Bijeta; Taketomi, Kikuko; Ito, Yoichi M; Kohanawa, Masashi; Kawabata, Hidenobu; Tanaka, Michiko; Otaki, Junji

2016-04-01

Clinical practice enables nursing students to acquire essential professional skills, but little is known about nursing students' perceptions of the clinical learning environment (CLE) in Nepal. To examine Nepalese nursing students' perceptions regarding the CLE and supervision. A cross-sectional questionnaire design was used. Government and private hospitals in Nepal where the undergraduate nursing college students undertook their clinical practice. Students with clinical practice experience were recruited from years 2-4 of the B.Sc. nursing program in Nepal (n=350). The final sample comprised 263 students. A self-administered questionnaire including demographic characteristics, latest clinical practice site, and general satisfaction was administered February-March 2014. The previously validated Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher evaluation scale was used in the questionnaire. The analytical approach used exploratory factor analysis, assessments of the scale and sub-dimension reliability, correlations of factors between scale sub-dimensions, and multiple regression analysis. Students' practicum satisfaction level at government hospitals was significantly higher than those at private hospitals (prelationship between satisfaction and pedagogical atmosphere (ppedagogical atmosphere. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementing Collaborative Learning in Prelicensure Nursing Curricula: Student Perceptions and Learning Outcomes.

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Schoening, Anne M; Selde, M Susan; Goodman, Joely T; Tow, Joyce C; Selig, Cindy L; Wichman, Chris; Cosimano, Amy; Galt, Kimberly A

2015-01-01

This study evaluated learning outcomes and student perceptions of collaborative learning in an undergraduate nursing program. Participants in this 3-phase action research study included students enrolled in a traditional and an accelerated nursing program. The number of students who passed the unit examination was not significantly different between the 3 phases. Students had positive and negative perceptions about the use of collaborative learning.

Another nail in the coffin for learning styles? Disparities among undergraduate anatomy students' study strategies, class performance, and reported VARK learning styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Husmann, Polly R; O'Loughlin, Valerie Dean

2018-03-13

The concept and existence of learning styles has been fraught with controversy, and recent studies have thrown their existence into doubt. Yet, many students still hold to the conventional wisdom that learning styles are legitimate, and may adapt their outside of class study strategies to match these learning styles. Thus, this study aims to assess if undergraduate anatomy students are more likely to utilize study strategies that align with their hypothetical learning styles (using the VARK analysis from Fleming and Mills, , Improve Acad. 11:137-155) and, if so, does this alignment correlate with their outcome in an anatomy course. Relatedly, this study examines whether students' VARK learning styles are correlated with course outcomes regardless of the students' study strategies, and whether any study strategies are correlated with course outcomes, regardless of student-specific VARK results. A total of 426 anatomy students from the 2015 and 2016 Fall semesters completed a study strategies survey and an online VARK questionnaire. Results demonstrated that most students did not report study strategies that correlated with their VARK assessment, and that student performance in anatomy was not correlated with their score in any VARK categories. Rather, some specific study strategies (irrespective of VARK results), such as use of the virtual microscope, were found to be positively correlated with final class grade. However, the alignment of these study strategies with VARK results had no correlation with anatomy course outcomes. Thus, this research provides further evidence that the conventional wisdom about learning styles should be rejected by educators and students alike. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.

Interactive mobile learning: a pilot study of a new approach for sport science and medical undergraduate students.

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Bruce-Low, S S; Burnet, S; Arber, K; Price, D; Webster, L; Stopforth, M

2013-12-01

Mobile learning has increasingly become interwoven into the fabric of learning and teaching in the United Kingdom higher education sector, and as technological issues become addressed, this phenomena has accelerated. The aim of the study was to examine whether learning using a mobile learning device (Samsung NC10 Netbook) loaded with interactive exercises promoted learning compared with a traditional library exercise. Using a randomized trial, 55 students from an undergraduate sports science course (n = 28) and medical course (n = 27) volunteered to participate in this study. A mixed-model design ANOVA was used to examine the percent change in test score after a 3-wk intervention. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the two courses (P science and medical students. The sports science group demonstrated proportionally greater increases in test performance when exposed to the mobile interactive intervention compared with the traditional library approach. Qualitative data suggest an increased level of engagement with the Netbooks due to the stimulating interactive content. In conclusion, the Netbooks were an effective additional learning tool, significantly enhancing knowledge and understanding in students. Further research should ensure that participants are assessed for preferred learning styles, the subjective task value of expectancy value, and readiness for mobile learning to ascertain if this has an effect on the potential for using mobile learning and interactivity.

Vocational Teaching-Learning through the Eyes of Undergraduate Vocational Students in Malta: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison Said

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the teaching qualities of effective lecturers that vocational students desire, students assessment preferences and preferred learning environments. This study gives a voice to higher vocational students as it is important for vocational educators to learn what attracts students to effective learning. Due to the inquiry’s exploratory nature, an interpretivist approach was used, and a constructivist grounded approach using qualitative data was adopted. A purposive approach to multiple case study selection was used where the unit of analysis was a higher vocational student. The perceptions and expectations of vocational undergraduate (EQF level 6 students in two disciplines (applied science and engineering were explored, to identify what may constitute good practice. A total of ten participants from two different institutes within the vocational university college agreed to be interviewed. Semi-structured and photo-elicitation interviews were applied. In addition, the Powerful Learning Environments (PLEs Framework was used as a preliminary tool to aid in the decision-making process for data collection. Iterative analysis was used for the semi- structured interviews, whilst a constant-comparative method was used for the photo- elicitation image analysis. Overall, the expectations and preferences between both groups were very similar. Results show that students expect to be taught by interactive lectures that relate theory to practice that will prepare them for the job. Formal lectures including presentations were the least favoured. Regarding teaching qualities, students expect approachable and understanding lecturers who provide concrete industrial examples. Assessment preferences included home based assignments and research projects. The preferred learning environment is in line with most characteristics of the Powerful Learning Environment. Evidence shows that there is no

"SURGENT" -- student e-learning for reality: the application of interactive visual images to problem-based learning in undergraduate surgery.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Corrigan, Mark

2012-02-03

Information technology has the potential to transform surgical education. Combining symbolic, iconic, and enactive teaching modalities to construct an authentic conceptual model potentially can transform a primarily didactic learning experience into an interactive Web-enhanced one. This study sought to assess the introduction of a Web-based module to complement traditional surgical undergraduate curricula. Adopting the clinical case as its fundamental educational approach, an online resource simulating surgical clinical decision making ("SURGENT," http:\\/\\/www.surgent.ie) was developed, which consists of the interpretation of clinical photographs, laboratory data, and X-rays as well as the formulation of a management plan. Evaluation was in both a qualitative and a quantitative fashion. An anonymous postcourse survey (73% response) of 117 final medical students was used to by researchers to evaluate access, process, and outcome criteria. SURGENT was used by 98% of students, with 69% spending more than 30 minutes per session on the program. First-class honors in the final surgical clinical examination improved from 11% to 20% (p = 0.01) as compared with the previous control year. A Web-enhanced interactive surgical module in an undergraduate course can convey successfully information and understanding beyond the textbook. It is intended that SURGENT will supplement textbooks and ward experience, allowing students to develop their clinical decision-making skills.

[Application of PBL combined with SP method in during-course practice of endodontics for undergraduate dental students].

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Li-Na; Qiu, Li-Hong; Zhan, Fu-Liang; Xue, Ming

2016-10-01

To apply problem-based learning (PBL) combined with standardized patients(SP) in during-course practice of endodontics for undergraduate dental students, in order to improve the teaching quality. One hundred and four undergraduate dental students of China Medical University School of Stomatology were randomly divided into 2 groups, 52 students in each group. One group were taught with PBL combined with SP while the other group with lecture-based learning (LBL) alone. The teaching effect was measured with examination and questionnaire survey. The data were analyzed by Student's t test using SPSS 11.5 software package. Students in PBL combined with SP group was better than LBL group in case analysis, didactic tests, practical tests and total scores, and there was significant difference between the two groups (Pendodontics to undergraduate dental students.

Teaching Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Undergraduate Psychology Students

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Ryan, Tracey Ellen; Blau, Shawn; Grozeva, Dima

2011-01-01

This article describes an experimental undergraduate psychology course that ran for two semesters during the 2009 academic year at a private, urban university in the United States. Students learned the techniques and strategies of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) with a focus on the practical elements…

Learning Partnerships Between Undergraduate Biology Students and Younger Learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Abrahamsen

2009-12-01

Full Text Available In two upper-level elective biology courses and one beginning-level general biology course, college students participated in Learning Partnerships with middle or high school classes to study some aspect of biology. The goals were to enhance learning by providing resources to middle and high school students and teachers and by encouraging college students to consider teaching as a learning tool and a possible career goal. The college students designed lessons, activities, and laboratories that were done at the schools and at Bates College. Feedback and data suggest that the partnerships have helped teachers enrich their curricula, enhanced student learning, encouraged additional high school students to consider applying to college, and encouraged college students to consider teaching science.

Feasibility and outcomes of paid undergraduate student nurse positions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gamroth, Lucia; Budgen, Claire; Lougheed, Mary

2006-09-01

An Undergraduate Nurse Employment Demonstration Project (UNDP) was implemented in four Health Service Areas in British Columbia with a concurrent evaluation study. This demonstration project comprised the development and implementation of a new position in the BC healthcare system. The position enabled third- and fourth-year nursing students to be employed at their level of education. The purposes of the evaluation were to explore the feasibility and outcomes of this type of paid undergraduate student nurse employment. The three-year project and evaluation included both implementation and outcome analysis. The implementation evaluation design was descriptive and prospective, involving multiple data sources. The outcome evaluation design was quasi-experimental, with intervention and comparison groups. Learning outcomes for undergraduate nurses were increased confidence, organizational ability, competency and ability to work with a team. Workplace outcomes were increased unit morale, help with workload and improved patient care. New graduates with undergraduate nurse experience reported less time required for orientation and transition than other graduates who did not have this experience, and workplace nurses viewed these new graduates as more job-ready than other new graduates. After 21 months, new graduates with undergraduate nurse experience were less likely to move to other employment than other new graduates. Results from the four Health Service Areas indicated that the paid undergraduate nurse position was feasible and that outcomes benefited students, new graduates and workplaces. The undergraduate nurse position is now being implemented throughout all Health Service Areas in British Columbia.By 2000, concerns in British Columbia about the nursing workforce, workplace and patient safety had escalated to the point where diverse stakeholder groups were prepared to work together in new ways to prepare nursing graduates to be more job-ready, to recruit and retain

Interventional strategies to decrease nursing student anxiety in the clinical learning environment.

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Moscaritolo, Linda M

2009-01-01

The clinical setting is a significant learning environment for undergraduate nursing students. However, the learning that occurs in this environment presents challenges that may cause students to experience stress and anxiety. High levels of anxiety can affect students' clinical performance, presenting a clear threat to success in a clinical rotation. It is crucial for clinical nursing faculty to foster a supportive learning environment conducive to undergraduate nursing student learning. The purpose of this article is to provide clinical nursing faculty with the current literature related to humor, peer instructors and mentors, and mindfulness training as strategies to decrease undergraduate student nurse anxiety in the clinical setting. The Neuman Systems Model is used as a theoretical framework, and the application of this model to humor, peer instructors and mentors, and mindfulness training is examined.

Qualitative assessment of a blended learning intervention in an undergraduate nursing course.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Li-Ling

2012-12-01

Nurses are experiencing new ethical issues because of global developments and changes in the healthcare environment. Blended learning is one of the various methods used to deliver meaningful learning experiences. Well-designed, properly administered nursing ethics education is essential for nursing students to visualize the role of professional nurses. However, a literature review shows that only a few existing studies have touched on the subject of nursing student experiences with blended learning in a nursing ethics course. This study examines how undergraduate nursing students respond to a blended learning approach in a nursing ethics course and how blended learning affects the learning process. We used a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews. Participants included 28 female undergraduate nursing students who had completed the nursing ethics course. Each interview lasted 50-100 minutes. The researcher conducted all interviews in 2009. The researcher identified six major themes and 13 subthemes from the data. The six themes included (a) enhancing thinking ability, (b) improving problem-solving skills, (c) reflecting in and on practice, (d) perceiving added workload, (e) encouraging active learning, and (f) identifying the value of nursing. Participants felt that the blended learning experience was a generally positive experience. Most participants appreciated the opportunity to take a more active role in the learning process, think about issues profoundly and critically, and exercise metacognitive powers in the thinking and decision-making process. Study findings may suggest productive ideas for fine-tuning blended learning models.

The Efficacy of Three Learning Methods Collaborative, Context-Based Learning and Traditional, on Learning, Attitude and Behaviour of Undergraduate Nursing Students: Integrating Theory and Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasanpour-Dehkordi, Ali; Solati, Kamal

2016-04-01

Communication skills training, responsibility, respect, and self-awareness are important indexes of changing learning behaviours in modern approaches. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of three learning approaches, collaborative, context-based learning (CBL), and traditional, on learning, attitude, and behaviour of undergraduate nursing students. This study was a clinical trial with pretest and post-test of control group. The participants were senior nursing students. The samples were randomly assigned to three groups; CBL, collaborative, and traditional. To gather data a standard questionnaire of students' behaviour and attitude was administered prior to and after the intervention. Also, the rate of learning was investigated by a researcher-developed questionnaire prior to and after the intervention in the three groups. In CBL and collaborative training groups, the mean score of behaviour and attitude increased after the intervention. But no significant association was obtained between the mean scores of behaviour and attitude prior to and after the intervention in the traditional group. However, the mean learning score increased significantly in the CBL, collaborative, and traditional groups after the study in comparison to before the study. Both CBL and collaborative approaches were useful in terms of increased respect, self-awareness, self-evaluation, communication skills and responsibility as well as increased motivation and learning score in comparison to traditional method.

Contributions of Early Work-Based Learning: A Case Study of First Year Pharmacy Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Kang Nee; Wong, Kok Thong; Thang, Siew Ming

2009-01-01

Generally work-based learning opportunities are only offered to students in their penultimate year of undergraduate study. Little is known about the benefits and shortcomings of such experiential learning for students in the early stages of their undergraduate education. This is a mixed method study investigating first year undergraduate pharmacy…

Undergraduate Nursing Students' Understandings of Mental Health: A Review of the Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Sinead; Ward, Louise

2017-02-01

The purpose of this literature review was to identify research and current literature surrounding nursing students' understandings of mental health. The aim is to share findings from an extensive international and national literature review exploring undergraduate nurse education specific to mental health content. Data were collected utilising a comprehensive search of electronic databases including CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE, and PsycINFO 1987-(Ovid) from 2008 to 2016. The initial search terms were altered to include undergraduate, mental health, nursing, education, experience, and knowledge. Three content themes emerged which included: 1. Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge has been considered compromised due to concerns relating to the variation and inconsistencies within the comprehensive nursing curriculums representation of mental health, 2. Undergraduate nursing students knowledge of mental health is thought to be compromised due to the quality of mental health theoretical and experiential learning opportunities, and 3. Research indicates that nursing students' knowledge of mental health was influenced by their experience of undertaking mental health content. Based on these findings greater consideration of students' understandings of mental health is required.

The Effect of Problem Based Learning on Undergraduate Oral Communication Competency

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Mandeville, David S.; Ho, Tiffanie K.; Valdez, Lindy A.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to ascertain the effect of Problem Based Learning (PBL) on student oral communication competency gains. Methods: Eighty students from two consecutive undergraduate Kinesiology courses (Spring semesters, 2014-15) formed into 29 small groups and were studied. Oral communication competency was assessed using a…

The Experience of Deep Learning by Accounting Students

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Turner, Martin; Baskerville, Rachel

2013-01-01

This study examines how to support accounting students to experience deep learning. A sample of 81 students in a third-year undergraduate accounting course was studied employing a phenomenographic research approach, using ten assessed learning tasks for each student (as well as a focus group and student surveys) to measure their experience of how…

Student Learning Outcomes and Attitudes When Biotechnology Lab Partners Are of Different Academic Levels

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Miller, Heather B.; Witherow, D. Scott; Carson, Susan

2012-01-01

The North Carolina State University Biotechnology Program offers laboratory-intensive courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. In “Manipulation and Expression of Recombinant DNA,” students are separated into undergraduate and graduate sections for the laboratory, but not the lecture, component. Evidence has shown that students prefer pairing with someone of the same academic level. However, retention of main ideas in peer learning environments has been shown to be greater when partners have dissimilar abilities. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that there will be enhanced student learning when lab partners are of different academic levels. We found that learning outcomes were met by both levels of student, regardless of pairing. Average undergraduate grades on every assessment method increased when undergraduates were paired with graduate students. Many of the average graduate student grades also increased modestly when graduate students were paired with undergraduates. Attitudes toward working with partners dramatically shifted toward favoring working with students of different academic levels. This work suggests that offering dual-level courses in which different-level partnerships are created does not inhibit learning by students of different academic levels. This format is useful for institutions that wish to offer “boutique” courses in which student enrollment may be low, but specialized equipment and faculty expertise are needed. PMID:22949428

Game On! Students' Perceptions of Gamified Learning

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Buckley, Patrick; Doyle, Elaine; Doyle, Shane

2017-01-01

Gamification is presented in the literature as a pedagogical innovation that may increase student engagement and enhance learning. This study explores students' perceptions of a gamified learning intervention deployed in a large undergraduate module and a small postgraduate module. Given the dearth of previous empirical work, an exploratory…

The Use of PDB database as a Tool for Biochemistry Active Learning of Undergraduate Students

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T.M.F. Günther et al.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Traditional Biochemistry teaching-learning is still an ongoing practice at UFSC. There are few published reports about innovative pedagogical practices of this discipline at this University. To ensure motivation through active learning of Basic Biochemistry we started to apply new methodologies back to 2005. This approach intended to stimulate undergraduate students in learning Biochemistry proactively. Objectives: Use PDB as a tool to improve skills related to Biochemistry education, while using specific information available; provide virtual data in order to stimulate student autonomy in active teaching-learning processes through methodologies based on the use of safe and suitable scientific information. Material and Methods: At the beginning, students were exposed to Biochemistry of Proteins content through traditional lectures. On the following stage, an introduction to PDB was made at the digital environment (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/home/home.do depicting scientific information. Students received a model-instruction describing myoglobin characteristics at PDB (https://pdb101.rcsb.org/motm/1. This Powerpoint™ presentation gave clues on how the work was to be done. A lottery was made and each pair of students was allowed to select a protein and then developed Powerpoint™ presentations. Proteins were chosen from the PDB categories and obtained from the academic educational plan for Basic Biochemistry related to the Nutrition-Course. The Moodle plataform provided virtual materials, allowing full interactivity to all student presentations. Results and Discussion: There was total adherence to the pedagogical proposal. The student presentations in Powerpoint™ were adequate and made available to the attendees in the Moodle platform. Items surveyed in the presented script with the highest hit rates (grade ten were: biological importance (100%, amino acid composition (92.30%, structural information (89.75%, occurrence (89.74%, URL cited (79

Responsible use of social media by undergraduate student nurses / Ingrid van der Walt

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Van der Walt, Ingrid

2014-01-01

The background and problem statement centre on the evolution of technology within teaching and learning, which involves undergraduate student nurses, as well as the use of social media as interactive teaching and communication tool. While examining the background to this topic, the researcher recognised a need to gain a deeper understanding of responsible social media use by undergraduate student nurses to the benefit of all the stakeholders, namely the Nursing Education Institution (NEI), ap...

An Evaluation of a Course That Introduces Undergraduate Students to Authentic Aerospace Engineering Research

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Mena, Irene B.; Schmitz, Sven; McLaughlin, Dennis

2015-01-01

This paper describes the implementation and assessment of an aerospace engineering course in which undergraduate students worked on research projects with graduate research mentors. The course was created using the principles from cooperative learning and project-based learning, and consisted of students working in small groups on a complex,…

Building an Undergraduate STEM Team Using Team-Based Learning Leading to the Production of a Storyboard Appropriate for Elementary Students

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Cutright, Teresa J.; Evans, Edward; Brantner, Justin S.

2014-01-01

A unique undergraduate team that spans five different engineering disciplines, chemistry, biology, and mathematics was formed. The team was formed to promote cross-disciplinary learning, to improve retention, and to prepare the students for the kind of problems they will face in their careers. This paper describes the variety of activities used…

Factors affecting the number and type of student research products for chemistry and physics students at primarily undergraduate institutions: A case study.

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Mellis, Birgit; Soto, Patricia; Bruce, Chrystal D; Lacueva, Graciela; Wilson, Anne M; Jayasekare, Rasitha

2018-01-01

For undergraduate students, involvement in authentic research represents scholarship that is consistent with disciplinary quality standards and provides an integrative learning experience. In conjunction with performing research, the communication of the results via presentations or publications is a measure of the level of scientific engagement. The empirical study presented here uses generalized linear mixed models with hierarchical bootstrapping to examine the factors that impact the means of dissemination of undergraduate research results. Focusing on the research experiences in physics and chemistry of undergraduates at four Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) from 2004-2013, statistical analysis indicates that the gender of the student does not impact the number and type of research products. However, in chemistry, the rank of the faculty advisor and the venue of the presentation do impact the number of research products by undergraduate student, whereas in physics, gender match between student and advisor has an effect on the number of undergraduate research products. This study provides a baseline for future studies of discipline-based bibliometrics and factors that affect the number of research products of undergraduate students.

Factors affecting the number and type of student research products for chemistry and physics students at primarily undergraduate institutions: A case study

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Soto, Patricia; Bruce, Chrystal D.; Lacueva, Graciela; Wilson, Anne M.; Jayasekare, Rasitha

2018-01-01

For undergraduate students, involvement in authentic research represents scholarship that is consistent with disciplinary quality standards and provides an integrative learning experience. In conjunction with performing research, the communication of the results via presentations or publications is a measure of the level of scientific engagement. The empirical study presented here uses generalized linear mixed models with hierarchical bootstrapping to examine the factors that impact the means of dissemination of undergraduate research results. Focusing on the research experiences in physics and chemistry of undergraduates at four Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) from 2004–2013, statistical analysis indicates that the gender of the student does not impact the number and type of research products. However, in chemistry, the rank of the faculty advisor and the venue of the presentation do impact the number of research products by undergraduate student, whereas in physics, gender match between student and advisor has an effect on the number of undergraduate research products. This study provides a baseline for future studies of discipline-based bibliometrics and factors that affect the number of research products of undergraduate students. PMID:29698502

Diagnosing alternative conceptions of Fermi energy among undergraduate students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Sapna; Ahluwalia, Pardeep Kumar

2012-01-01

Physics education researchers have scientifically established the fact that the understanding of new concepts and interpretation of incoming information are strongly influenced by the preexisting knowledge and beliefs of students, called epistemological beliefs. This can lead to a gap between what students actually learn and what the teacher expects them to learn. In a classroom, as a teacher, it is desirable that one tries to bridge this gap at least on the key concepts of a particular field which is being taught. One such key concept which crops up in statistical physics/solid-state physics courses, and around which the behaviour of materials is described, is Fermi energy (ε F ). In this paper, we present the results which emerged about misconceptions on Fermi energy in the process of administering a diagnostic tool called the Statistical Physics Concept Survey developed by the authors. It deals with eight themes of basic importance in learning undergraduate solid-state physics and statistical physics. The question items of the tool were put through well-established sequential processes: definition of themes, Delphi study, interview with students, drafting questions, administration, validity and reliability of the tool. The tool was administered to a group of undergraduate students and postgraduate students, in a pre-test and post-test design. In this paper, we have taken one of the themes i.e. Fermi energy of the diagnostic tool for our analysis and discussion. Students’ responses and reasoning comments given during interview were analysed. This analysis helped us to identify prevailing misconceptions/learning gaps among students on this topic. How spreadsheets can be effectively used to remove the identified misconceptions and help appreciate the finer nuances while visualizing the behaviour of the system around Fermi energy, normally sidestepped both by the teachers and learners, is also presented in this paper. (paper)

The Use of a Serious Game and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Accounting Students: An Empirical Analysis

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Malaquias, Rodrigo Fernandes; Malaquias, Fernanda Francielle de Oliveira; Borges, Dermeval M., Jr.; Zambra, Pablo

2018-01-01

The literature on serious games (SGs) indicates that they are very useful tools to improve the teaching/learning process. In this paper, we analyze some potential benefits of a SG on academic performance of undergraduate accounting students. The database is comprised of scores obtained by students during an undergraduate discipline related with…

Undergraduates' Perceived Gains and Ideas about Teaching and Learning Science from Participating in Science Education Outreach Programs

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Carpenter, Stacey L.

2015-01-01

This study examined what undergraduate students gain and the ideas about science teaching and learning they develop from participating in K-12 science education outreach programs. Eleven undergraduates from seven outreach programs were interviewed individually about their experiences with outreach and what they learned about science teaching and…

Issues in the Learning Context of Undergraduate Physiotherapy Programme at a Premier Medical School in Zambia

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Christian C Ezeala

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Students’ perceptions of their learning environments influence their approaches to learning and the learning outcomes, and reflect a programme’s effectiveness. In Africa, literature on the learning environments of medical and health sciences education is scanty, and the issues impinging on effective education are not well documented. The objective of this study was to determine learners’ perceptions of the issues in the learning environment of undergraduate physiotherapy education at the University of Zambia.Methods: Undergraduate physiotherapy students in years 2 to 5 were stratified according to level of study and randomly sampled. They were provided written information about the study, and consenting students were allowed to complete the DREEM questionnaire unassisted. Completed questionnaires were rated using a recommended guideline and their responses analysed quantitatively. Global, subscale, and item mean scores were calculated, and Cronbach’s alpha was determined as a measure of data reliability and internal consistency. The study was approved by ethics committees of two universities.Results: Ninety-three students participated in the study. The response rate was 88.4 %. All classes rated the learning environment as ‘more positive than negative,’ with a mean global score of 123.2/200 (61.6 %. Scores within subscales (55.7–70.4 % were comparable across the classes. Nine items scored below 2.0/4.0 indicating dissatisfaction. These included inadequate social support, teacher authoritarianism, and factual overload. Cronbach’s alpha for global scores was 0.896, and between 0.616 and 0.820 for subscale scores.Conclusion: Though total DREEM scores showed overall positive perception of the learning environment by the students, item analysis showed students’ dissatisfaction with several aspects. This analysis of undergraduate students’ perceptions of the Physiotherapy learning environment provided insight into the

Integrating student-focused career planning into undergraduate gerontology programs.

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Manoogian, Margaret M; Cannon, Melissa L

2018-04-02

As our global older adult populations are increasing, university programs are well-positioned to produce an effective, gerontology-trained workforce (Morgan, 2012; Silverstein & Fitzgerald, 2017). A gerontology curriculum comprehensively can offer students an aligned career development track that encourages them to: (a) learn more about themselves as a foundation for negotiating career paths; (b) develop and refine career skills; (c) participate in experiential learning experiences; and (d) complete competency-focused opportunities. In this article, we discuss a programmatic effort to help undergraduate gerontology students integrate development-based career planning and decision-making into their academic programs and achieve postgraduation goals.

What students really learn: contrasting medical and nursing students' experiences of the clinical learning environment.

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Liljedahl, Matilda; Boman, Lena Engqvist; Fält, Charlotte Porthén; Bolander Laksov, Klara

2015-08-01

This paper explores and contrasts undergraduate medical and nursing students' experiences of the clinical learning environment. Using a sociocultural perspective of learning and an interpretative approach, 15 in-depth interviews with medical and nursing students were analysed with content analysis. Students' experiences are described using a framework of 'before', 'during' and 'after' clinical placements. Three major themes emerged from the analysis, contrasting the medical and nursing students' experiences of the clinical learning environment: (1) expectations of the placement; (2) relationship with the supervisor; and (3) focus of learning. The findings offer an increased understanding of how medical and nursing students learn in the clinical setting; they also show that the clinical learning environment contributes to the socialisation process of students not only into their future profession, but also into their role as learners. Differences between the two professions should be taken into consideration when designing interprofessional learning activities. Also, the findings can be used as a tool for clinical supervisors in the reflection on how student learning in the clinical learning environment can be improved.

Differences in Procrastination and Motivation between Undergraduate and Graduate Students

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Cao, Li

2012-01-01

Procrastination became increasingly prevalent among students in recent years. However, little research was found that directly compares academic procrastination across different academic grade levels. The present study used a self-regulated learning perspective to compare procrastination types and associated motivation between undergraduate and…

Introduction of a Journal Excerpt Activity Improves Undergraduate Students' Performance in Statistics

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Rabin, Laura A.; Nutter-Upham, Katherine E.

2010-01-01

We describe an active learning exercise intended to improve undergraduate students' understanding of statistics by grounding complex concepts within a meaningful, applied context. Students in a journal excerpt activity class read brief excerpts of statistical reporting from published research articles, answered factual and interpretive questions,…

Strategies to Improve Learning of All Students in a Class

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Suraishkumar, G. K.

2018-01-01

The statistical distribution of the student learning abilities in a typical undergraduate engineering class poses a significant challenge to simultaneously improve the learning of all the students in the class. With traditional instruction styles, the students with significantly high learning abilities are not satisfied due to a feeling of…

Investigating Affective Experiences in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory: Students' Perceptions of Control and Responsibility

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Galloway, Kelli R.; Malakpa, Zoebedeh; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2016-01-01

Meaningful learning requires the integration of cognitive and affective learning with the psychomotor, i.e., hands-on learning. The undergraduate chemistry laboratory is an ideal place for meaningful learning to occur. However, accurately characterizing students' affective experiences in the chemistry laboratory can be a very difficult task. While…

A Comparison Study of the Use of Paper versus Digital Textbooks by Undergraduate Students

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Johnson, James W.

2013-01-01

Today's undergraduate student faces many challenges. The challenges include paying for tuition and textbooks and finding a job upon graduation. These students are tech-savvy and seeking better ways to learn and retain material they learn in their classes. In addition, the textbook market is trying to evolve by serving this tech-generation through…

Promoting Learning by Inquiry Among Undergraduates in Soil Sciences: Scaffolding From Project-based Courses to Student-Staff Research Grants by the National Research Agency in Oman

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Al-Ismaily, Said; Kacimov, Anvar; Al-Maktoumi, Ali

2016-04-01

Three strategies in a soil science undergraduate programme with inquiry-based learning (IBL) principles at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, are presented. The first strategy scaffolds courses into three phases: with direct instructional guidance, structured IBL, and finally, guided to open IBL. The second strategy involves extra-curricular activities of undergraduates, viz. conducting workshops on soils for pupils in grades 7-9 with their teachers. The third strategy promotes the teaching-research nexus through collaboration between the undergraduates and faculty within a student-supporting, government-funded programme through 1-year long research grants of up to 5,500 US/project. The efficiency of the strategies was evaluated by students' evaluations of courses and instructors and questionnaire-based surveys. Statistics of students' responses in teaching evaluations of IBL courses showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction compared with regular courses taught in the department and college. In surveys of other constituencies of the program, viz. the secondary schools, more than 90% of respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they had learned new information/secrets about soils. The indicators of success in the third strategy are: winning a highly competitive grant and, moreover, earning an even more competitive annual national award for the best executed research project. The two top graduates of the IBL soil programme progressed into the MSc programme with the university and national scholarships. Key words: inquiry based learning, soil science undergraduate program, scaffold of courses, outreach activities, teaching-research nexus, evaluation of program's efficiency

Evaluation of a filmed clinical scenario as a teaching resource for an introductory pharmacology unit for undergraduate health students: A pilot study.

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East, Leah; Hutchinson, Marie

2015-12-01

Simulation is frequently being used as a learning and teaching resource for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, however reporting of the effectiveness of simulation particularly within the pharmacology context is scant. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate a filmed simulated pharmacological clinical scenario as a teaching resource in an undergraduate pharmacological unit. Pilot cross-sectional quantitative survey. An Australian university. 32 undergraduate students completing a healthcare degree including nursing, midwifery, clinical science, health science, naturopathy, and osteopathy. As a part of an undergraduate online pharmacology unit, students were required to watch a filmed simulated pharmacological clinical scenario. To evaluate student learning, a measurement instrument developed from Bloom's cognitive domains (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation) was employed to assess pharmacological knowledge conceptualisation and knowledge application within the following fields: medication errors; medication adverse effects; medication interactions; and, general pharmacology. The majority of participants were enrolled in an undergraduate nursing or midwifery programme (72%). Results demonstrated that the majority of nursing and midwifery students (56.52%) found the teaching resource complementary or more useful compared to a lecture although less so compared to a tutorial. Students' self-assessment of learning according to Bloom's cognitive domains indicated that the filmed scenario was a valuable learning tool. Analysis of variance indicated that health science students reported higher levels of learning compared to midwifery and nursing. Students' self-report of the learning benefits of a filmed simulated clinical scenario as a teaching resource suggest enhanced critical thinking skills and knowledge conceptualisation regarding pharmacology, in addition to being useful and complementary to other teaching and

Awareness and Awakening: A Narrative-Oriented Inquiry of Undergraduate Students' Development of Mindful Agency in China.

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Wang, Qing; Law, Ho Chung; Li, Yan; Xu, Zhanfei; Pang, Weiguo

2017-01-01

The article explores undergraduate students' experiences of developing mindful agency as a positive learning disposition, their perceived change as a learner, and the possible impact of mindful agency coaching on students' learning and personal growth, using a narrative research method. Seventy Chinese undergraduate students generated personal reflective journals and eight participants' journals were selected to enter into the narrative-oriented inquiry. Our analysis revealed a number of primary themes based on which we produced a meta-story. The supplements of the story were exacted for further critical cross-case discussion. The finding indicated that the multifaceted development of mindful agency involved learning methods, emotional regulation, strategic thinking, and awareness of planning, openness to experience, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and learning engagement, with enhanced sense of personal awareness and awakening. The coaching was supportive for students to foster positive self-identities and become more reflective, mindful, and self-determined.

Undergraduate Students' Information Search Practices

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Nikolopoulou, Kleopatra; Gialamas, Vasilis

2011-01-01

This paper investigates undergraduate students' information search practices. The subjects were 250 undergraduate students from two university departments in Greece, and a questionnaire was used to document their search practices. The results showed that the Web was the primary information system searched in order to find information for…

Development of a problem - based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning (CL) transportation engineering course For undergraduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-08-01

This study reports the findings of a project that was done during the implementation of a : problem-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning (CL) elements into an : undergraduate transportation engineering course. The study procedure used the st...

Exploring perceptions of the educational environment among undergraduate physiotherapy students.

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Palmgren, Per J; Lindquist, Ingrid; Sundberg, Tobias; Nilsson, Gunnar H; Laksov, Klara B

2014-07-19

The aim of this study was to explore areas of strength and weakness in the educational environment as perceived by undergraduate physiotherapy students and to investigate these areas in relation to the respondents' demographic characteristics. This study utilized a cross-sectional study design and employed the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure, a 50-item, self-administered inventory relating to a variety of topics directly pertinent to educational environments. Convenience sampling was used, and the scores were compared across demographic variables. All undergraduate physiotherapy students in their first five terms of the programme in a major Swedish university were invited to participate in the study. A total of 222 students (80%) completed the inventory. With an overall score of 150/200 (75%), the students rated the educational environment in this institution as "more positive than negative". Two items consistently received deprived scores - authoritarian teachers and teaching with an overemphasis on factual learning. Students in term 4 differed significantly from others, and students with earlier university education experience perceived the atmosphere more negatively than their counterparts. There were no significant differences with regards to other demographic variables. This study provides valuable insight into how undergraduate physiotherapy students perceive their educational environment. In general, students perceived that their educational programme fostered a sound educational environment. However, some areas require remedial measures in order to enhance the educational experience.

Social Support for Online Learning: Perspectives of Nursing Students

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Munich, Kim

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify supports beyond the educator that contributed to undergraduate and graduate nursing students' ability and motivation to learn online. Case study methodology similar to Stake (2000) was bounded or contained by undergraduate and graduate online courses. Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate nursing…

Can Creative Podcasting Promote Deep Learning? The Use of Podcasting for Learning Content in an Undergraduate Science Unit

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Pegrum, Mark; Bartle, Emma; Longnecker, Nancy

2015-01-01

This paper examines the effect of a podcasting task on the examination performance of several hundred first-year chemistry undergraduate students. Educational researchers have established that a deep approach to learning that promotes active understanding of meaning can lead to better student outcomes, higher grades and superior retention of…

Awareness and Awakening: A Narrative-Oriented Inquiry of Undergraduate Students' Development of Mindful Agency in China

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Qing Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article explores undergraduate students' experiences of developing mindful agency as a positive learning disposition, their perceived change as a learner, and the possible impact of mindful agency coaching on students' learning and personal growth, using a narrative research method. Seventy Chinese undergraduate students generated personal reflective journals and eight participants' journals were selected to enter into the narrative-oriented inquiry. Our analysis revealed a number of primary themes based on which we produced a meta-story. The supplements of the story were exacted for further critical cross-case discussion. The finding indicated that the multifaceted development of mindful agency involved learning methods, emotional regulation, strategic thinking, and awareness of planning, openness to experience, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and learning engagement, with enhanced sense of personal awareness and awakening. The coaching was supportive for students to foster positive self-identities and become more reflective, mindful, and self-determined.

Improving Undergraduates' Critical Thinking Skills through Peer-learning Workshops

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Cole, S. B.

2013-12-01

Critical thinking skills are among the primary learning outcomes of undergraduate education, but they are rarely explicitly taught. Here I present a two-fold study aimed at analyzing undergraduate students' critical thinking and information literacy skills, and explicitly teaching these skills, in an introductory Planetary Science course. The purpose of the research was to examine the students' information-filtering skills and to develop a short series of peer-learning workshops that would enhance these skills in both the students' coursework and their everyday lives. The 4 workshops are designed to be easily adaptable to any college course, with little impact on the instructor's workload. They make use of material related to the course's content, enabling the instructor to complement a pre-existing syllabus while explicitly teaching students skills essential to their academic and non-academic lives. In order to gain an understanding of undergraduates' existing information-filtering skills, I examined the material that they consider to be appropriate sources for a college paper. I analyzed the Essay 1 bibliographies of a writing-based introductory Planetary Science course for non-majors. The 22 essays cited 135 (non-unique) references, only half of which were deemed suitable by their instructors. I divided the sources into several categories and classified them as recommended, recommended with caution, and unsuitable for this course. The unsuitable sources ranged from peer-reviewed journal articles, which these novice students were not equipped to properly interpret, to websites that cannot be relied upon for scientific information (e.g., factoidz.com, answersingenesis.org). The workshops aim to improve the students' information-filtering skills by sequentially teaching them to evaluate search engine results, identify claims made on websites and in news articles, evaluate the evidence presented, and identify specific correlation/causation fallacies in news articles

Dataset on the learning performance of ECDL digital skills of undergraduate students for comparing educational gaming, gamification and social networking

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Luis de-Marcos

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports data about the learning performance of students using four different motivational tools: an educational game, a gamified plugin, a social networking website and a gamified social networking website. It also reports a control group. The data pertain to 379 students of an undergraduate course that covers basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT skills in Spain. Data corresponds to different learning modules of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL initiative. The data include variables of four pre-test scores, four post-test scores and a final examination. It was gathered using a quasi-experimental research design during 2014. Data reported here refers to the research paper in (de-Marcos et al., 2016 [1].

Dataset on the learning performance of ECDL digital skills of undergraduate students for comparing educational gaming, gamification and social networking.

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de-Marcos, Luis; García-López, Eva; García-Cabot, Antonio

2017-04-01

This paper reports data about the learning performance of students using four different motivational tools: an educational game, a gamified plugin, a social networking website and a gamified social networking website. It also reports a control group. The data pertain to 379 students of an undergraduate course that covers basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills in Spain. Data corresponds to different learning modules of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) initiative. The data include variables of four pre-test scores, four post-test scores and a final examination. It was gathered using a quasi-experimental research design during 2014. Data reported here refers to the research paper in (de-Marcos et al., 2016) [1].

The Attitudes of Freshman Undergraduates in Learning English as a Second Language

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Yvonne Jain

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of tertiary students towards the learning of English language with regard to their gender, discipline and language proficiency. This descriptive study involved a total of 200 undergraduates from the Faculty of Education in Shah Alam, Selangor. The study employed two methods of data collection: questionnaire and semi- structured interviews. The findings revealed that there was a moderately positive attitude towards the learning of English language. However, the findings showed that the female respondents were more positive towards the learning of English language compared to their male counterparts while the Non Science major students had positive attitude towards learning English language compared to the Science major students. The study also showed that low proficiency students had better attitude towards English language compared to high proficiency students.

Perceptions of Undergraduate Students and Faculty Regarding the Impact of Electronic Communication on the Written-Communication Skills of Undergraduate Students

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Houser, Laura Ann Camlet

2012-01-01

This narrative-qualitative study investigated the perceived impact that electronic communication has on the written-communication skills of undergraduate students. Open-ended survey questions queried the experiences of undergraduate students who use electronic communication, as well as the perceptions of faculty who teach undergraduate students.…

Undergraduate students' development of social, cultural, and human capital in a networked research experience

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Thompson, Jennifer Jo; Conaway, Evan; Dolan, Erin L.

2016-12-01

Recent calls for reform in undergraduate biology education have emphasized integrating research experiences into the learning experiences of all undergraduates. Contemporary science research increasingly demands collaboration across disciplines and institutions to investigate complex research questions, providing new contexts and models for involving undergraduates in research. In this study, we examined the experiences of undergraduates participating in a multi-institution and interdisciplinary biology research network. Unlike the traditional apprenticeship model of research, in which a student participates in research under the guidance of a single faculty member, students participating in networked research have the opportunity to develop relationships with additional faculty and students working in other areas of the project, at their own and at other institutions. We examined how students in this network develop social ties and to what extent a networked research experience affords opportunities for students to develop social, cultural, and human capital. Most studies of undergraduate involvement in science research have focused on documenting student outcomes rather than elucidating how students gain access to research experiences or how elements of research participation lead to desired student outcomes. By taking a qualitative approach framed by capital theories, we have identified ways that undergraduates utilize and further develop various forms of capital important for success in science research. In our study of the first 16 months of a biology research network, we found that undergraduates drew upon a combination of human, cultural, and social capital to gain access to the network. Within their immediate research groups, students built multidimensional social ties with faculty, peers, and others, yielding social capital that can be drawn upon for information, resources, and support. They reported developing cultural capital in the form of learning to

Physiology Learning for Veterinary Students: Impact of Guided Practices on Students' Opinion and Physiological Parameters

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García-Vázquez, Francisco A.; Romar, Raquel; Gadea, Joaquín; Matás, Carmen; Coy, Pilar; Ruiz, Salvador

2018-01-01

Over recent decades, education has increasingly focused on student-centered learning. Guided practices represent a new way of learning for undergraduate students of physiology, whereby the students turn into teacher-students and become more deeply involved in the subject by preparing and teaching a practical (laboratory) class to their peers. The…

Implementing and Evaluating a Peer-Led Team Learning Approach in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology

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Finn, Kevin; Campisi, Jay

2015-01-01

This article describes how a Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) program was implemented in a first-year, undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology course sequence to examine the student perceptions of the program and determine the effects of PLTL on student performance.

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.…

The Effects of Case-Based Instruction on Undergraduate Biology Students' Understanding of the Nature of Science

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Burniston, Amy Lucinda

Undergraduate science education is currently seeing a dramatic pedagogical push towards teaching the philosophies underpinning science as well as an increase in strategies that employ active learning. Many active learning strategies stem from constructivist ideals and have been shown to affect a student's understanding of how science operates and its impact on society- commonly referred to as the nature of science (NOS). One particular constructivist teaching strategy, case-based instruction (CBI), has been recommended by researchers and science education reformists as an effective instructional strategy for teaching NOS. Furthermore, when coupled with explicit-reflective instruction, CBI has been found to significantly increasing understanding of NOS in elementary and secondary students. However, few studies aimed their research on CBI and NOS towards higher education. Thus, this study uses a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group design to study the effects of CBI on undergraduate science students understandings of NOS. Undergraduate biology student's understanding of NOS were assessed using the Views of Science Education (VOSE) instrument pre and post CBI intervention in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Human Anatomy and Physiology II. Data analysis indicated statistically significant differences between students NOS scores in experimental versus control sections for both courses, with experimental groups obtaining higher posttest scores. The results of this study indicate that undergraduate male and female students have similarly poor understandings of NOS and the use of historical case based instruction can be used as a means to increase undergraduate understanding of NOS.

An Anatomy of Feedback: A Phenomenographic Investigation of Undergraduate Students' Conceptions of Feedback

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McLean, Angela J.; Bond, Carol H.; Nicholson, Helen D.

2015-01-01

The aim of this research was to investigate how undergraduate students conceptualise feedback, and compare this with research into conceptions of teaching and learning related phenomena in higher education. Using a phenomenographic approach, 28 physiotherapy students in New Zealand were interviewed about their experiences. Data analysis resulted…

Physiology and the Biomedical Engineering Curriculum: Utilizing Emerging Instructional Technologies to Promote Development of Adaptive Expertise in Undergraduate Students

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Nelson, Regina K.

2013-01-01

A mixed-methods research study was designed to test whether undergraduate engineering students were better prepared to learn advanced topics in biomedical engineering if they learned physiology via a quantitative, concept-based approach rather than a qualitative, system-based approach. Experiments were conducted with undergraduate engineering…

Rutgers Young Horse Teaching and Research Program: undergraduate student outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ralston, Sarah L

2012-12-01

Equine teaching and research programs are popular but expensive components of most land grant universities. External funding for equine research, however, is limited and restricts undergraduate research opportunities that enhance student learning. In 1999, a novel undergraduate teaching and research program was initiated at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. A unique aspect of this program was the use of young horses generally considered "at risk" and in need of rescue but of relatively low value. The media interest in such horses was utilized to advantage to obtain funding for the program. The use of horses from pregnant mare urine (PMU) ranches and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mustangs held the risks of attracting negative publicity, potential of injury while training previously unhandled young horses, and uncertainty regarding re-sale value; however, none of these concerns were realized. For 12 years the Young Horse Teaching and Research Program received extensive positive press and provided invaluable learning opportunities for students. Over 500 students, at least 80 of which were minorities, participated in not only horse management and training but also research, event planning, public outreach, fund-raising, and website development. Public and industry support provided program sustainability with only basic University infrastructural support despite severe economic downturns. Student research projects generated 25 research abstracts presented at national and international meetings and 14 honors theses. Over 100 students went on to veterinary school or other higher education programs, and more than 100 others pursued equine- or science-related careers. Laudatory popular press articles were published in a wide variety of breed/discipline journals and in local and regional newspapers each year. Taking the risk of using "at risk" horses yielded positive outcomes for all, especially the undergraduate students.

Undergraduate nursing students' perspectives on clinical assessment at transition to practice.

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Wu, Xi Vivien; Wang, Wenru; Pua, Lay Hoon; Heng, Doreen Gek Noi; Enskär, Karin

2015-01-01

Assessment of clinical competence requires explicitly defined standards meeting the national standards of the nursing profession. This is a complex process because of the diverse nature of nursing practice. To explore the perceptions of final-year undergraduate nursing students regarding clinical assessment at transition to practice. An exploratory qualitative approach was adopted. Twenty-four students participated in three focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was conducted. Five themes emerged: the need for a valid and reliable clinical assessment tool, the need for a flexible style of reflection and specific feedback, the dynamic clinical learning environment, students' efforts in learning and assessment, and the unclear support system for preceptors. Workload, time, resource availability, adequate preparation of preceptors, and the provision of valid and reliable clinical assessment tools were deemed to influence the quality of students' clinical learning and assessment. Nursing leadership in hospitals and educational institutions has a joint responsibility in shaping the clinical learning environment and providing clinical assessments for the students.

Factors Influencing the Learning Management System (LMS Success Among Undergraduate Students in Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia

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Suha Fouad Salem

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of e-learning systems being added into the educational processes. One of them is the Learning management system (LMS, an educational program that is based on web technology. The programs in this system provide support to instructors to achieve their pedagogical goals, organize course contents that in turn support students’ learning process. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that have brought success to the learning management system. The study examines the relationship between students’ outcomes (Perceived Usefulness and information quality, for online learning through system use and user satisfaction. The respondents chosen for this study are undergraduate students from Limkokwing University in Malaysia. The number of respondents selected as sample of this study is based on the number of students in each faculty. The quantitative data are obtained from a survey using questionnaires. The analysis of the available data indicated that all relationships from independent variables to mediating variables and from mediating variables to dependent variable are significant, the most influential path was information quality user satisfaction perceived usefulness.

Professional Student Organizations and Experiential Learning Activities: What Drives Student Intentions to Participate?

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Munoz, Laura; Miller, Richard; Poole, Sonja Martin

2016-01-01

Experiential learning theory has been referenced as a possible method for attracting and retaining members in student organizations. In a survey, undergraduate students evaluated a variety of organizational features pertaining to their intention to participate in professional student organizations. The study found that students value activities…

Building an undergraduate physics program with Learning Assistants

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Price, Edward

2013-04-01

In 2007, the CSUSM Physics Department began offering a B.S. in Applied Physics, its first physics bachelors degree program. The program has grown from 11 majors in 2008 to over 80 in 2012, due in part to recruiting students from local high schools and community colleges. More broadly, because most CSUSM students come from the local region, the longer-term health of the Department is coupled with the vitality and strength of local high school physics education. In addition, establishing a new physics degree required curriculum development and offered the opportunity to incorporate recent innovations in physics education when developing courses. A Learning Assistants (LA) Program, established by the Department in 2008, has been a critical component in these efforts to recruit students, build local educational networks, and implement innovative curricula. In an LA Program, undergraduate Learning Assistants assist faculty in class, meet regularly with the course instructor, and participate in a weekly seminar on teaching and learning, which provides guidance on effective instruction and an opportunity to reflect on their experiences in the classroom. The LA program promotes course transformation, improved student learning, and teacher recruitment. This talk will describe the CSUSM LA Program and its role in support of our growing applied physics degree program.

Utilisation of a peer assisted learning scheme in an undergraduate diagnostic radiography module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meertens, R.

2016-01-01

Background: Peer to peer support programmes involve students supporting each other in either an educational, social and/or pastoral way. This is now common place in higher education institutes and has been proven to decrease student attrition and improve grades. Aim: To evaluate a peer assisted learning scheme (PALS) within the University of Exeter undergraduate programme, where final year (stage 3) students held extra-curricular teaching sessions in an on-campus X-ray room throughout the academic term to support a first year (stage 1) module introducing basic projectional radiographic examinations, radiation safety, patient care and radiographic equipment. PALS sessions were unstructured and as such could involve roleplaying radiographic examinations, revisiting lecture material and/or discussing hospital placement or pastoral issues. Methods: Brookfield's four lenses of critical reflection were used. 16 of 63 stage 1 students and 9 of 29 stage 3 students were electronically surveyed upon completion of the PALS sessions. Relevant colleagues and educational specialists were also informally interviewed. These were put in context with autobiographical reflections and the existing literature base on PALS. Results: All agreed that the sessions provided a good environment for stage 1 students to improve their practical skills, revise lecture content, and gain confidence for upcoming clinical placements. Stage 3 students gained experience teaching students, an essential role of a graduate radiographer's job. Improvements around recruiting stage 3 peer leaders, sustainability, timetabling and session structure were explored. Conclusion: The PALS proved to be a successful initiative within the undergraduate programme and will be continued into the future. - Highlights: • Peer Assisted Learning Schemes are an established part of higher education. • Peer Assisted Learning Schemes can reduce student attrition and improve grades. • Peer Assisted Learning

Analysis of the Experience of a Virtual Learning Environment Integration Into a Biochemistry Course Offered to Undergraduate Students

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M.B. Espíndola

2009-05-01

Full Text Available As Information and Communication Technology (ICT becomes available in educational contexts, it is important that educators experiment different ways to deal with ICT tools in the teaching -learning process at the University basic sciences level. The challenge is to integrate ICT throughout the learning subjects in order to improve the quality of the learning process to students. This paper presents the results of an experience using a Virtual Learning Management System (VLMS, named Constructore, applied in the Biochemistry discipline at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ for undergraduate medical students. Using Constructore, we developed a learning environment intended for integrating online activities and traditional course content. The course was focused on the integration of energy-yielding metabolism, exploring  metabolic adaptations in different physiological or pathological states such as starvation, diabetes and exercise. The course environment was structured with three modules, each of them presenting problem-based exercises to be answered after retrieving rele vant information in original scientific articles. Based on the analysis of  a semi-open questionnaire, the results provided evidence that the virtual environment stimulated students to critically read relevant scientific articles and to acquire skills to build and to integrate their knowledge through content association.

“The Rules of Engagement”: Student Engagement and Motivation to Improve the Quality of Undergraduate Learning

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Rowena M. Senior

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Studying at university continues to grow in popularity and the modern-day university has expanded considerably to meet this need. Invariably as such expansion occurs pressures arise on a range of quality enhancement processes. This may have serious implications for the continued delivery of high quality learning experiences that both meet the expectations of incoming students and are appropriate to their postgraduation aspirations. Ensuring students become active partners in their learning will encourage them to engage with a range of quality enhancement processes. The aim of the current work is to examine the various factors that motivate students to engage in such a fashion. Three focus groups were carried out in a stratified manner to ascertain student motivations and to triangulate an effective set of recommendations for subsequent practice. The participants consisted of engaged and non-engaged first year undergraduate students as well as student-facing staff who were asked to comment on their experiences as to why students would want to engage as a course representative. Nominal group technique was applied to the emerging thematic data in each group. Three key motivational themes emerged that overlapped across all focus groups i.e., a need for individual representation that makes a change, a desire to develop a professional skillset as well as a desire to gain a better understanding of their course of study. A university that aligns its student experience along these themes is likely to facilitate student representation. As is standard practice recommendations for future work are described alongside a discussion of the limitations.

Framing the Undergraduate Research Experience: Discovery Involvement in Retailing Undergraduate Education

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Sternquist, Brenda; Huddleston, Patricia; Fairhurst, Ann

2018-01-01

We provide an overview of ways to involve undergraduate business and retailing students in faculty research projects and discuss advantages of these student-faculty collaborations. We use Kolb's experiential learning cycle to provide a framework for creating an effective and engaging undergraduate research experience and use it to classify types…

Head and Neck Anatomy: Effect of Focussed Near-Peer Teaching on Anatomical Confidence in Undergraduate Medical Students.

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Morris, Simon; Osborne, Max Sallis; Bowyer, Duncan

2018-05-11

To assess the effect of near-peer head and neck anatomy teaching on undergraduates and to quantify the benefit from a focussed teaching course. Near-peer teaching involves colleagues within close seniority and age proximity teaching one another on a specified topic. Small group teaching sessions were delivered to medical students on 3 key areas of ENT anatomy. Participants were given a precourse and postcourse questionnaire to determine the benefit attained from the course. An undergraduate anatomy course taking place at the University of Birmingham Medical School. A total of 30 medical students: 15 preclinical (years 1-2) and 15 clinical (years 3-5) medical students participated from a single institution. A total of 71% of students expressed inadequate teaching of head and neck anatomy in undergraduate curriculum. All students (n = 30) expressed benefit from the course, however the patterns of learning differed: preclinical students showed a significant improvement in both their ability to name anatomical structures and their application (p peer learning provides benefit to all medical undergraduates in the context of teaching anatomy which may make it a valuable teaching tool for the future of medical education. Copyright © 2018 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Burnout in premedical undergraduate students.

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Fang, Daniel Z; Fang, Daniel; Young, Christina B; Young, Christina; Golshan, Shah; Moutier, Christine; Zisook, Sidney

2012-01-01

There has been growing recognition that medical students, interns, residents and practicing physicians across many specialties are prone to burnout, with recent studies linking high rates of burnout to adverse mental health issues. Little is known about the trajectory and origins of burnout or whether its roots may be traced to earlier in medical training, specifically, during undergraduate studies. Here, the authors surveyed undergraduates at UC San Diego (UCSD) to assess the relationship of burnout to premedical status while controlling for depression severity. Undergraduate students at UCSD were invited to participate in a web-based survey, consisting of demographic questions; the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey (MBI-SS), which gauged the three dimensions of burnout; and the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), to assess depression severity. A total of 618 premedical students and 1,441 non-premedical students completed the questionnaire. Premedical students had greater depression severity and emotional exhaustion than non-premedical students, but they also exhibited a greater sense of personal efficacy. The burnout differences were persistent even after adjusting for depression. Also, premedical women and Hispanic students had especially high levels of burnout, although differences between groups became nonsignificant after accounting for depression. Despite the limitations of using a burnout questionnaire not specifically normed for undergraduates, the unique ethnic characteristics of the sample, and the uncertain response rate, the findings highlight the importance of recognizing the unique strains and mental health disturbances that may be more common among premedical students than non-premedical students. Results also underscore the close relationship between depression and burnout, and point the way for subsequent longitudinal, multi-institutional studies that could help identify opportunities for prevention and intervention.

Can a Tablet Device Alter Undergraduate Science Students' Study Behavior and Use of Technology?

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Morris, Neil P.; Ramsay, Luke; Chauhan, Vikesh

2012-01-01

This article reports findings from a study investigating undergraduate biological sciences students' use of technology and computer devices for learning and the effect of providing students with a tablet device. A controlled study was conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of a tablet device on students' use of…

Assessing the impact of blended learning on student performance

OpenAIRE

Do Won Kwak; Flavio Menezes; Carl Sherwood

2013-01-01

This paper assesses quantitatively the impact on student performance of a blended learning experiment within a large undergraduate first year course in statistics for business and economics students. We employ a differences- in-difference econometric approach, which controls for differences in student characteristics and course delivery method, to evaluate the impact of blended learning on student performance. Although students in the course manifest a preference for live lectures over online...

URSSA, the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment: A Tool for Assessing Student Outcomes of Undergraduate Research

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Laursen, S. L.; Hunter, A.; Weston, T.; Thiry, H.

2009-12-01

Evidence-based thinking is essential both to science and to the development of effective educational programs. Thus assessment of student learning—gathering evidence about the nature and depth of students’ learning gains, and about how they arise—is a centerpiece of any effective undergraduate research (UR) program. Assessment data can be used to monitor progress, to diagnose problems, to strengthen program designs, and to report both good outcomes and strategies to improve them to institutional and financial stakeholders in UR programs. While the positive impact of UR on students’ educational, personal and professional development has long been a matter of faith, only recently have researchers and evaluators developed an empirical basis by which to identify and explain these outcomes. Based on this growing body of evidence, URSSA, the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment, is a survey tool that departments and programs can use to assess student outcomes of UR. URSSA focuses on what students learn from their UR experience, rather than whether they liked it. Both multiple-choice and open-ended items focus on students’ gains from UR, including: (1) skills such as lab work and communication; (2) conceptual knowledge and linkages among ideas in their field and with other fields; (3) deepened understanding of the intellectual and practical work of science; (4) growth in confidence and adoption of the identity of scientist; (5) preparation for a career or graduate school in science; and (6) greater clarity in understanding what career or educational path they might wish to pursue. Other items probe students’ participation in important activities that have been shown to lead to these gains; and a set of optional items can be included to probe specific program features that may supplement UR (e.g. field trips, career seminars, housing arrangements). The poster will describe URSSA's content, development, validation, and use. For more information about

Mixed Method Study Examines Undergraduate Student Researchers’ Knowledge and Perceptions About Scholarly Communication Practices

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Melissa Goertzen

2017-09-01

interviews consisted of four open-ended questions that further examined students’ knowledge of scholarly communication practices. The researchers coded interview transcripts and identified themes. Qualitative software was used to analyze the surveys and assess coder agreement. Finally, connections and anomalies between survey and interview results were explored. Main Results – Quantitative and qualitative data collected during the study indicate that students were most confident in their understanding of the peer-review process and data management but felt less confident in their knowledge of author and publisher rights, publication and access models, and determining the impact of scholarly research publication. In addition, they value instruction related to scholarly communication topics like the peer-review process, publication models, and data management. However, few students feel confident in their current level of knowledge or ability surrounding the previously mentioned topics. Study findings suggest that this knowledge gap is based on a lack of training or discussion of scholarly communication topics in relation to students’ research activities. Results also suggest that undergraduate students have difficulty articulating their rights as authors and their scholarly communication practices. In many cases, skill sets like data management are learned through trial and error while students progress through the research process. In some cases, faculty mentors have misperceptions and assumptions about undergraduate students’ knowledge and abilities regarding scholarly communication practices. This can create challenges for undergraduate students as they attempt to make informed decisions about research activities based on a limited foundation of experience or information. Finally, results indicate that undergraduate student researchers do not currently view the library as a place to learn about scholarly communication practices. The authors suggest that by forming

Active Learning Strategies and Academic Achievement among Some Psychology Undergraduates in Barbados

OpenAIRE

Grace Adebisi Fayombo

2013-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between the active learning strategies (discussion, video clips, game show, role– play, five minute paper, clarification pauses, and small group) and academic achievement among a sample of 158 undergraduate psychology students in The University of the West Indies (UWI), Barbados. Results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between active learning strategies and students’ academic achievement; so also the activ...

Anxiety and Self-Efficacy's Relationship with Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of the Use of Metacognitive Writing Strategies

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Stewart, Graeme; Seifert, Tricia Anne; Rolheiser, Carol

2015-01-01

There is growing interest in promoting metacognition among college and university students, as this has been linked with positive student learning outcomes. This study explores the relationship between student writing anxiety and self-efficacy on undergraduate students' self-reported use of metacognitive writing strategies. Using undergraduate…

Enhancing an Undergraduate Business Statistics Course: Linking Teaching and Learning with Assessment Issues

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Fairfield-Sonn, James W.; Kolluri, Bharat; Rogers, Annette; Singamsetti, Rao

2009-01-01

This paper examines several ways in which teaching effectiveness and student learning in an undergraduate Business Statistics course can be enhanced. First, we review some key concepts in Business Statistics that are often challenging to teach and show how using real data sets assist students in developing deeper understanding of the concepts.…

The use of popular movies during lectures to aid the teaching and learning of undergraduate pharmacology.

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Ventura, Sab; Onsman, Andrys

2009-07-01

The role of the lecturer has changed to one where they must engage and motivate students to learn the subject material. To investigate whether the use of short movie references to pharmacology during lectures could stimulate learning in undergraduate students. One- to two-min film clips from popular movies containing a reference to the subject being covered were incorporated into Powerpoint presentations and shown at different times during pharmacology lectures. At the end of the lecture series, a student survey was conducted to assess the impact of the movies on student motivation, engagement and learning. Three positive effects were noted. First, students related theory to (simulated) practice by recognising that what they had learnt was actually being used. Second, students were motivated to attend lectures to see what clip would be used. Third, the clips provided a sectioning break, which helped to maintain the engagement of students throughout the lecture as well as the organisation of the lecture by the lecturer. The use of short popular movie references was a novel way to motivate and maintain the interest of large classes of undergraduate students throughout lectures.

The Use of A Serious Game and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Accounting Students: An Empirical Analysis

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Rodrigo Fernandes MALAQUIAS

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The literature on serious games (SGs indicates that they are very useful tools to improve the teaching/learning process. In this paper, we analyze some potential benefits of a SG on academic performance of undergraduate accounting students. The database is comprised of scores obtained by students during an undergraduate discipline related with accounting history. The game was presented to the students during the academic semester of the discipline; they also developed an academic activity using the concepts of this game. The main results of the paper indicate that students who used the game and scored the maximum grade in this activity also registered higher indexes of academic performance in such discipline. These results reinforce the benefits of the SG to interact with undergraduate students and teach academic content.

Dental students' perceptions of an online learning.

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Asiry, Moshabab A

2017-10-01

To identify the readiness of students for online learning, to investigate their preference and perception, and to measure the quality of online tutorials. A 14-statement questionnaire was administered to fourth year undergraduate dental students in male campus at King Saud University who completed preclinical orthodontic course. The students responded to each statement by using Likert scale. The results reveal a high agreement of students (27.8-31.5% agree and 38.9-50% strongly agree) on a possession of necessary computer skills and access to internet. 59.2% and 64.8% of the students replied that online flash lectures and procedural videos were helpful to their learning, respectively. With respect to students' learning preferences, few students preferred online flash lectures (31.5%) and procedural videos (17.1%). Most students (38.9% agree and 31.5% strongly agree) preferred a combination of traditional teaching methods and online learning. Overall, student attitudes were positive regarding online learning. The students viewed online learning helpful as a supplement to their learning rather than a replacement for traditional teaching methods.

Teachers and Students' Stereotypes about the Teaching and Learning of English

Science.gov (United States)

Roberto Flórez, Eliana Edith; Arias Rodríguez, Gladis Leonor

2016-01-01

This article is the result of a research study that examined teachers and undergraduate students' stereotypes about English teaching and learning processes at a private university in Tunja, Colombia. The research was carried out with six English teachers and twenty undergraduate students from first and second semesters. The instruments used to…

Instructor-Created Activities to Engage Undergraduate Nursing Research Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, Linda L; Reuille, Kristina M

2018-03-01

In flipped or blended classrooms, instruction intentionally shifts to a student-centered model for a problem-based learning approach, where class time explores topics in greater depth, creating meaningful learning opportunities. This article describes instructor-created activities focused on research processes linked to evidence-based practice that engage undergraduate nursing research students. In the classroom, these activities include individual and team work to foster critical thinking and stimulate student discussion of topic material. Six activities for small and large student groups are related to quantitative, qualitative, and both research processes, as well as applying research evidence to practice. Positive student outcomes included quantitative success on assignments and robust student topic discussions, along with instructor-noted overall group engagement and interest. Using these activities can result in class time for the construction of meaning, rather than primarily information transmission. Instructors may adopt these activities to involve and stimulate students' critical thinking about research and evidence-based practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(3):174-177.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Perceptions of nursing undergraduate students concerning the human dimension in the learning process.

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira Camillo, Simone; Lúcia da Silva, Ana; Jefferson do Nascimento, Alan

2007-01-01

This study aimed to identify and interpret the perceptions presented by undergraduate students of a Nursing course after internship in Mental Health. Twelve nursing undergraduate students at the Nursing School of ABC Foundation - Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil were interviewed. These interviews using a semi-structure script were performed and recorded in August 2004. Through Content Analysis, thematic modality, four categories were identified, 1. mental health: providing understanding of the other; 2. respect for the human being: the importance of listening, 3. mental health: contributing for a contextualized view of the patient and 4. nursing graduation: undesirable "signs and symptoms" of the profession. The analysis and the discussion of these categories suggest the possibility of teaching based on the human condition. Thus, we support the idea of new research been carried out, considering that the Mental Health discipline must be valued in the Political and Pedagogical projects of the Nursing Undergraduate Courses.

Assessment of Problem-Based Learning in the Undergraduate Statistics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Karpiak, Christie P.

2011-01-01

Undergraduate psychology majors (N = 51) at a mid-sized private university took a statistics examination on the first day of the research methods course, a course for which a grade of "C" or higher in statistics is a prerequisite. Students who had taken a problem-based learning (PBL) section of the statistics course (n = 15) were compared to those…

Undergraduate Medical Students Using Facebook as a Peer-Mentoring Platform: A Mixed-Methods Study.

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Pinilla, Severin; Nicolai, Leo; Gradel, Maximilian; Pander, Tanja; Fischer, Martin R; von der Borch, Philip; Dimitriadis, Konstantinos

2015-10-27

Peer mentoring is a powerful pedagogical approach for supporting undergraduate medical students in their learning environment. However, it remains unclear what exactly peer mentoring is and whether and how undergraduate medical students use social media for peer-mentoring activities. We aimed at describing and exploring the Facebook use of undergraduate medical students during their first 2 years at a German medical school. The data should help medical educators to effectively integrate social media in formal mentoring programs for medical students. We developed a coding scheme for peer mentoring and conducted a mixed-methods study in order to explore Facebook groups of undergraduate medical students from a peer-mentoring perspective. All major peer-mentoring categories were identified in Facebook groups of medical students. The relevance of these Facebook groups was confirmed through triangulation with focus groups and descriptive statistics. Medical students made extensive use of Facebook and wrote a total of 11,853 posts and comments in the respective Facebook groups (n=2362 total group members). Posting peaks were identified at the beginning of semesters and before exam periods, reflecting the formal curriculum milestones. Peer mentoring is present in Facebook groups formed by undergraduate medical students who extensively use these groups to seek advice from peers on study-related issues and, in particular, exam preparation. These groups also seem to be effective in supporting responsive and large-scale peer-mentoring structures; formal mentoring programs might benefit from integrating social media into their activity portfolio.

The Effect of a Learning Environment Using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) on Undergraduate Nursing Students' Behaviorial Intention to Use an EHR

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Foley, Shawn

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a learning environment using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) on undergraduate nursing students' behavioral intention (BI) to use an EHR. BI is defined by Davis (1989) in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the degree to which a person has formulated conscious plans to perform or not…

A mixed methods evaluation of team-based learning for applied pathophysiology in undergraduate nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Branney, Jonathan; Priego-Hernández, Jacqueline

2018-02-01

It is important for nurses to have a thorough understanding of the biosciences such as pathophysiology that underpin nursing care. These courses include content that can be difficult to learn. Team-based learning is emerging as a strategy for enhancing learning in nurse education due to the promotion of individual learning as well as learning in teams. In this study we sought to evaluate the use of team-based learning in the teaching of applied pathophysiology to undergraduate student nurses. A mixed methods observational study. In a year two, undergraduate nursing applied pathophysiology module circulatory shock was taught using Team-based Learning while all remaining topics were taught using traditional lectures. After the Team-based Learning intervention the students were invited to complete the Team-based Learning Student Assessment Instrument, which measures accountability, preference and satisfaction with Team-based Learning. Students were also invited to focus group discussions to gain a more thorough understanding of their experience with Team-based Learning. Exam scores for answers to questions based on Team-based Learning-taught material were compared with those from lecture-taught material. Of the 197 students enrolled on the module, 167 (85% response rate) returned the instrument, the results from which indicated a favourable experience with Team-based Learning. Most students reported higher accountability (93%) and satisfaction (92%) with Team-based Learning. Lectures that promoted active learning were viewed as an important feature of the university experience which may explain the 76% exhibiting a preference for Team-based Learning. Most students wanted to make a meaningful contribution so as not to let down their team and they saw a clear relevance between the Team-based Learning activities and their own experiences of teamwork in clinical practice. Exam scores on the question related to Team-based Learning-taught material were comparable to those

Students' perceptions of a community-based service-learning project related to aging in place.

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Oakes, Claudia E; Sheehan, Nancy W

2014-01-01

This article describes a service-learning project that was designed to help undergraduate health professions students understand the complexities related to aging in place. The service-learning project also incorporated a research component to expose the students to the research process. Students' reflections regarding the benefits that they derived from the experience suggest that they value learning about older adults through one-on-one interactions more than they value the opportunity to participate in the research project. Implications for undergraduate health professional education are discussed.

Online Video Tutorials Increase Learning of Difficult Concepts in an Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Course

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He, Yi; Swenson, Sandra; Lents, Nathan

2012-01-01

Educational technology has enhanced, even revolutionized, pedagogy in many areas of higher education. This study examines the incorporation of video tutorials as a supplement to learning in an undergraduate analytical chemistry course. The concepts and problems in which students faced difficulty were first identified by assessing students'…

[The physical therapy undergraduate students' responses to the gross human anatomy subjects].

Science.gov (United States)

Anahara, Reiko; Kawashiro, Yukiko; Matsuno, Yoshiharu; Mori, Chisato; Kohno, Toshihiko

2008-09-01

Instruction in gross human anatomy is one of the important items in the subject for co-medical students of the physical therapist course. The physical therapy undergraduate students are required to have a solid understanding of the structure and formation of the human body. Therefore, their good-understanding of the course on the gross human anatomy and their experience of the gross human anatomy laboratory (observation practice) are acquired to improve their knowledge of the human body. To clarify the student responses to the gross human anatomy course including the gross human anatomy laboratory, several questionnaires were administered to the freshman physical therapy undergraduate student for two years. We found that more than 80% of the students, who felt a negative attitude for gross human anatomy before the course started, had a positive attitude about the gross human anatomy after going through the course. The experience of the gross human anatomy laboratory increased the students' activity of learning and they thought more about the dignity of being human after the course than before viewing. In addition, the results suggested that the multiple experiences of the gross human anatomy course are useful for the physical therapy undergraduate students to improve the quality of their understanding of the human body.

Mobile Medical Education (MoMEd - how mobile information resources contribute to learning for undergraduate clinical students - a mixed methods study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davies Bethany S

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mobile technology is increasingly being used by clinicians to access up-to-date information for patient care. These offer learning opportunities in the clinical setting for medical students but the underlying pedagogic theories are not clear. A conceptual framework is needed to understand these further. Our initial questions were how the medical students used the technology, how it enabled them to learn and what theoretical underpinning supported the learning. Methods 387 medical students were provided with a personal digital assistant (PDA loaded with medical resources for the duration of their clinical studies. Outcomes were assessed by a mixed-methods triangulation approach using qualitative and quantitative analysis of surveys, focus groups and usage tracking data. Results Learning occurred in context with timely access to key facts and through consolidation of knowledge via repetition. The PDA was an important addition to the learning ecology rather than a replacement. Contextual factors impacted on use both positively and negatively. Barriers included concerns of interrupting the clinical interaction and of negative responses from teachers and patients. Students preferred a future involving smartphone platforms. Conclusions This is the first study to describe the learning ecology and pedagogic basis behind the use of mobile learning technologies in a large cohort of undergraduate medical students in the clinical environment. We have developed a model for mobile learning in the clinical setting that shows how different theories contribute to its use taking into account positive and negative contextual factors. The lessons from this study are transferable internationally, to other health care professions and to the development of similar initiatives with newer technology such as smartphones or tablet computers.

Mobile Medical Education (MoMEd) - how mobile information resources contribute to learning for undergraduate clinical students - a mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Bethany S; Rafique, Jethin; Vincent, Tim R; Fairclough, Jil; Packer, Mark H; Vincent, Richard; Haq, Inam

2012-01-12

Mobile technology is increasingly being used by clinicians to access up-to-date information for patient care. These offer learning opportunities in the clinical setting for medical students but the underlying pedagogic theories are not clear. A conceptual framework is needed to understand these further. Our initial questions were how the medical students used the technology, how it enabled them to learn and what theoretical underpinning supported the learning. 387 medical students were provided with a personal digital assistant (PDA) loaded with medical resources for the duration of their clinical studies. Outcomes were assessed by a mixed-methods triangulation approach using qualitative and quantitative analysis of surveys, focus groups and usage tracking data. Learning occurred in context with timely access to key facts and through consolidation of knowledge via repetition. The PDA was an important addition to the learning ecology rather than a replacement. Contextual factors impacted on use both positively and negatively. Barriers included concerns of interrupting the clinical interaction and of negative responses from teachers and patients. Students preferred a future involving smartphone platforms. This is the first study to describe the learning ecology and pedagogic basis behind the use of mobile learning technologies in a large cohort of undergraduate medical students in the clinical environment. We have developed a model for mobile learning in the clinical setting that shows how different theories contribute to its use taking into account positive and negative contextual factors.The lessons from this study are transferable internationally, to other health care professions and to the development of similar initiatives with newer technology such as smartphones or tablet computers.

Introducing Taiwanese Undergraduate Students to the Nature of Science through Nobel Prize Stories

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Eshach, Haim; Hwang, Fu-Kwun; Wu, Hsin-Kai; Hsu, Ying-Shao

2013-01-01

Although there is a broad agreement among scientists and science educators that students should not only learn science, but also acquire some sense of its nature, it has been reported that undergraduate students possess an inadequate grasp of the nature of science (NOS). The study presented here examined the potential and effectiveness of Nobel…

Peer learning and support of technology in an undergraduate biology course to enhance deep learning.

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Tsaushu, Masha; Tal, Tali; Sagy, Ornit; Kali, Yael; Gepstein, Shimon; Zilberstein, Dan

2012-01-01

This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher education: technology and the students themselves. Most of the lectures were replaced with continuous individual learning and 1-mo group learning of one topic, both supported by an interactive online tutorial. Assessment included open-ended complex questions requiring higher-order thinking skills that were added to the traditional multiple-choice (MC) exam. Analysis of students' outcomes indicates no significant difference among the three intervention versions in the MC questions of the exam, while students who took part in active-learning groups at the advanced version of the model had significantly higher scores in the more demanding open-ended questions compared with their counterparts. We believe that social-constructivist learning of one topic during 1 mo has significantly contributed to student deep learning across topics. It developed a biological discourse, which is more typical to advanced stages of learning biology, and changed the image of instructors from "knowledge transmitters" to "role model scientists."

Do International Students Appreciate Active Learning in Lectures?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio Marrone

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Active learning has been linked with increased student motivation, engagement and understanding of course material. It promotes deep learning, helping to develop critical thinking and writing skills in students. Less well understood, however, are the responses of international students to active learning. Using social constructivist theory, the purpose of this study is to examine domestic and international student perceptions of active learning introduced into large undergraduate Accounting Information Systems lectures. Several active learning strategies were implemented over one semester and examined through the use of semi-structured interviews as well as pre- and post- implementation surveys. Our results suggest broad improvements for international students in student engagement and understanding of unit material when implementing active learning strategies. Other key implications include international student preference for active learning compared with passive learning styles, and that international students may receive greater benefits from active learning strategies than domestic students due to social factors. Based on these findings this paper proposes that educators should seek to implement active learning to better assist and integrate students of diverse backgrounds.

Effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Learning in an Undergraduate Exercise Physiology Course

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Nybo, Lars; May, Michael

2015-01-01

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of changing a laboratory physiology course for undergraduate students from a traditional step-by-step guided structure to an inquiry-based approach. With this aim in mind, quantitative and qualitative evaluations of learning outcomes (individual subject-specific tests and group interviews)…

Investigation of Undergraduate Students' Environmental Attitudes

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Köse, Sacit; Savran Gencer, Ayse; Gezer, Kudret; Erol, Gül Hanim; Bilen, Kadir

2011-01-01

Environmental education has been viewed as an important way to educate students about environmental issues beginning from pre-school to higher education. This study is a part of this field- namely, undergraduate environmental education. The purpose of the study is to explore undergraduate students' attitudes towards environment at the end of the…

Impact of Undergraduate Research Mentorship Affects on Student Desire, Confidence and Motivation to Continue Work in Science

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Salm, Ann E.

2015-01-01

The quantitative Undergraduate Research Questionnaire (URQ) is used to assess the impact of undergraduate research mentorship affects, such as informal conversations, supportive faculty and/or peer interactions, on student confidence and motivation to continue working, learning or researching in the sciences (Taraban & Logue, 2012). Research…

Visual-motor association learning in undergraduate students as a function of the autism-spectrum quotient.

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Parkington, Karisa B; Clements, Rebecca J; Landry, Oriane; Chouinard, Philippe A

2015-10-01

We examined how performance on an associative learning task changes in a sample of undergraduate students as a function of their autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) score. The participants, without any prior knowledge of the Japanese language, learned to associate hiragana characters with button responses. In the novel condition, 50 participants learned visual-motor associations without any prior exposure to the stimuli's visual attributes. In the familiar condition, a different set of 50 participants completed a session in which they first became familiar with the stimuli's visual appearance prior to completing the visual-motor association learning task. Participants with higher AQ scores had a clear advantage in the novel condition; the amount of training required reaching learning criterion correlated negatively with AQ. In contrast, participants with lower AQ scores had a clear advantage in the familiar condition; the amount of training required to reach learning criterion correlated positively with AQ. An examination of how each of the AQ subscales correlated with these learning patterns revealed that abilities in visual discrimination-which is known to depend on the visual ventral-stream system-may have afforded an advantage in the novel condition for the participants with the higher AQ scores, whereas abilities in attention switching-which are known to require mechanisms in the prefrontal cortex-may have afforded an advantage in the familiar condition for the participants with the lower AQ scores.

Flipped Learning With Simulation in Undergraduate Nursing Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, HeaRan; Jang, YounKyoung

2017-06-01

Flipped learning has proliferated in various educational environments. This study aimed to verify the effects of flipped learning on the academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels of undergraduate nursing students. For the flipped learning group, simulation-based education via the flipped learning method was provided, whereas traditional, simulation-based education was provided for the control group. After completion of the program, academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels were assessed and analyzed. The flipped learning group received higher scores on academic achievement, teamwork skills, and satisfaction levels than the control group, including the areas of content knowledge and clinical nursing practice competency. In addition, this difference gradually increased between the two groups throughout the trial. The results of this study demonstrated the positive, statistically significant effects of the flipped learning method on simulation-based nursing education. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):329-336.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

A Web-Based Interactive Homework Quiz and Tutorial Package To Motivate Undergraduate Chemistry Students and Improve Learning

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Freasier, Ben; Collins, Grant; Newitt, Paula

2003-11-01

This study presents a Web-based interactive homework quiz and tutorial package that we have devised to improve the learning of first-year undergraduate chemistry students. We developed this automated scheme, based on WWWAssign, to produce randomly generated quizzes from a large database of questions, instantaneously grade that homework, give a fully-worked solution, and provide individually targeted tutorial assistance. Success in these quizzes was a necessary requirement before taking supervised tests. We found a positive correlation at the p= 0.1 level (90%) between voluntary extra use of the quizzes in the interactive package and the final course grade. All students undertook more quizzes than the base course requirement even though the quiz grades did not contribute to the total course grades. We suggest that students were motivated to pursue additional practice with the quizzes and associated tutorial information, as they perceived some benefit in this student-centered study tool and could access it at any time.

Peer-Led Team Learning Helps Minority Students Succeed.

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Snyder, Julia J; Sloane, Jeremy D; Dunk, Ryan D P; Wiles, Jason R

2016-03-01

Active learning methods have been shown to be superior to traditional lecture in terms of student achievement, and our findings on the use of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) concur. Students in our introductory biology course performed significantly better if they engaged in PLTL. There was also a drastic reduction in the failure rate for underrepresented minority (URM) students with PLTL, which further resulted in closing the achievement gap between URM and non-URM students. With such compelling findings, we strongly encourage the adoption of Peer-Led Team Learning in undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses.

Interprofessional education and collaborative practice: Psychometric analysis of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale in undergraduate Serbian healthcare student context.

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Milutinović, Dragana; Lovrić, Robert; Simin, Dragana

2018-06-01

There is an implicit expectation for medical sciences students to work together effectively as members of health-care team, and interprofessional education is therefore widely accepted. Students' attitudes, which are affected by various factors, have been recognized as the most important predictors of successful implementation of interprofessional education with the aim of developing collaborative practice. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale has often been used in studies to measure these perspectives. To describe the psychometric properties of the Serbian cross-culturally adapted version of the original Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale, to assess the attitudes of undergraduate health science students towards interprofessional education and to evaluate whether a professional group and student characteristics have influence on attitudes towards collaborative practice and shared learning. A descriptive/analytical and comparative cross-sectional study. Faculty of Medicine in Serbia. Nursing and medical students after completed first clinical rotations (n = 257). The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale for assessing attitudes among students towards interprofessional learning, Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nursing Students for assessing professional identity in nursing students, Professional Nursing Image Survey for assessing attitudes of medical students towards the nursing profession, as well as a socio-demographic questionnaire were the instruments used in this research study. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Exploratory factor analysis on 19 items revealed two-factors accounting for 51.1% of the total variance with the internal reliability α = 0.90. The mean total score of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale was 73.5 (SD = 11.5) indicating that students are ready for interprofessional learning. Nursing students, female students; students in their first

The Effect of Mobile Learning Applications on Students' Academic Achievement and Attitudes toward Mobile Learning

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Demir, Kadir; Akpinar, Ercan

2018-01-01

This study examines the effect of mobile learning applications on undergraduate students' academic achievement, attitudes toward mobile learning and animation development levels. Quasi-experimental design was used in the study. Participants of the study were students of the Buca Faculty of Education at Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. The…

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Student Attitudes to Using Smartphones to Learn English Vocabulary

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Davie, Neil; Hilber, Tobias

2015-01-01

This project examines mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and in particular the attitudes of undergraduate engineering students at the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences towards the use of the smartphone app Quizlet to learn English vocabulary. Initial data on attitudes to learning languages and to the use of mobile devices to do…

Below the Surface: The Relationship among Different Types of Motivation, Engagement, and Performance of Undergraduate Students in Taiwan

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Hsieh, Tzu-Ling

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among learning motivation, engagement behaviors, and performance of undergraduate students. 178 junior students are surveyed from five colleges at a four-year research university in Taiwan. The scales of motivation, engagement, and perceived learning outcomes are adapted from the…

Fear, an unpleasant experience among undergraduate midwifery students: A qualitative study.

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Ahmadi, Golnoosh; Shahriari, Mohsen; Kohan, Shahnaz; Keyvanara, Mahmood

2018-03-01

Fear is a normal emotion that can evoke an appropriate response when facing threat. However, sometimes the consequences of fear can lead to responses that are maladaptive. Fear can have negative effects on learning. Research has focused on the experience of fear and its consequences among midwifery students during their undergraduate program. A qualitative analysis was conducted of interviews with ten midwifery students in different years of an undergraduate program. The data was analyzed through a content analysis approach. Two main categories and five subcategories emerged. The first category, areas of fear in midwifery students, consisted of the following subcategories: fear of doing harm, fear of encountering their first childbirth, and fear of penalties. The second category, consequences of fear, consisted of the following subcategories: general physical and psychological consequences and interference in adopting the professional role. In this study, fear not only raised the students' stress levels thereby, leading to physical and psychological issues but also hindered their adoption of their professional role. These findings will potentially inform support and retention strategies within midwifery undergraduate programs in the future. Maternity care in Iran is provided mainly within a medical model of care. The majority of women give birth in hospital, where care is provided by midwives who work under the direction and supervision of an obstetrician. Midwives within the medically dominated system lack autonomy and have very little opportunity to gain experience in providing continuity of care for women as midwife-led models of care are rare. This practice context means that midwifery students have very little opportunity to gain experience in autonomous midwifery practice. Midwifery undergraduate program in Iran is for four years. Admission to the undergraduate program is implemented via a direct entry route. Nearly all of the midwifery students are school

The Development of Media Activities by Undergraduate Students in Order to Promote Agricultural Tourism Community Enterprise According to the Principles of Social Service Learning and Community-Based Leaning

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Thamwipat, Kuntida; Princhankol, Pornpapatsorn; Yampinij, Sakesun; Meejaleurn, Sopon

2018-01-01

This research was aimed to develop media activities by undergraduate students to promote agricultural tourism community enterprise according to the principles of social service learning and community-based learning, 2) to evaluate the quality of such media activities, 3) to measure the income of the community after the development of media…

Clinical integration and how it affects student retention in undergraduate athletic training programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Allison; Klossner, Joanne; Docherty, Carrie L; Dodge, Thomas M; Mensch, James M

2013-01-01

A better understanding of why students leave an undergraduate athletic training education program (ATEP), as well as why they persist, is critical in determining the future membership of our profession. To better understand how clinical experiences affect student retention in undergraduate ATEPs. Survey-based research using a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods approach. Three-year undergraduate ATEPs across District 4 of the National Athletic Trainers' Association. Seventy-one persistent students and 23 students who left the ATEP prematurely. Data were collected using a modified version of the Athletic Training Education Program Student Retention Questionnaire. Multivariate analysis of variance was performed on the quantitative data, followed by a univariate analysis of variance on any significant findings. The qualitative data were analyzed through inductive content analysis. A difference was identified between the persister and dropout groups (Pillai trace = 0.42, F(1,92) = 12.95, P = .01). The follow-up analysis of variance revealed that the persister and dropout groups differed on the anticipatory factors (F(1,92) = 4.29, P = .04), clinical integration (F(1,92) = 6.99, P = .01), and motivation (F(1,92) = 43.12, P = .01) scales. Several themes emerged in the qualitative data, including networks of support, authentic experiential learning, role identity, time commitment, and major or career change. A perceived difference exists in how athletic training students are integrated into their clinical experiences between those students who leave an ATEP and those who stay. Educators may improve retention by emphasizing authentic experiential learning opportunities rather than hours worked, by allowing students to take on more responsibility, and by facilitating networks of support within clinical education experiences.

Students' Acceptance of Using Smartphone in a Mobile Learning Context

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Moh, Chiou

2015-01-01

Development of mobile phones provides the students a different learning choice compared to studying in a traditional classroom. This study investigated undergraduate students' experiences with using their smartphones to receive learning contents for the improvement of their computer literacy. Through a survey and a pretest and posttest, the…

Service Learning: An Empowerment Agenda for Students and Community Entrepreneurs

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Scholtz, Desiree

2018-01-01

Service learning (SL) presents apposite opportunities for students to share with and learn from businesses for mutually beneficial development and experience. This article focuses on a SL project conducted by undergraduate students in South Africa, to devise advertising and marketing strategies for community businesses. The reciprocity of benefits…

Advancing Space Sciences through Undergraduate Research Experiences at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory - a novel approach to undergraduate internships for first generation community college students

Science.gov (United States)

Raftery, C. L.; Davis, H. B.; Peticolas, L. M.; Paglierani, R.

2015-12-01

The Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley launched an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in the summer of 2015. The "Advancing Space Sciences through Undergraduate Research Experiences" (ASSURE) program recruited heavily from local community colleges and universities, and provided a multi-tiered mentorship program for students in the fields of space science and engineering. The program was focussed on providing a supportive environment for 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates, many of whom were first generation and underrepresented students. This model provides three levels of mentorship support for the participating interns: 1) the primary research advisor provides academic and professional support. 2) The program coordinator, who meets with the interns multiple times per week, provides personal support and helps the interns to assimilate into the highly competitive environment of the research laboratory. 3) Returning undergraduate interns provided peer support and guidance to the new cohort of students. The impacts of this program on the first generation students and the research mentors, as well as the lessons learned will be discussed.

Food Consumption Patterns of Female Undergraduate Students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND: Studies on food intake in the UAE especially in relation to the student life are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To investigate eating habits of undergraduate students. METHODS: A cohort of 146 undergraduate students studying Physiology at Zayed University completed a semi-structured questionnaire. A student ...

Reconciling professional identity: A grounded theory of nurse academics' role modelling for undergraduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, A; Mills, J; Birks, M; Budden, L

2017-12-01

Role modelling by experienced nurses, including nurse academics, is a key factor in the process of preparing undergraduate nursing students for practice, and may contribute to longevity in the workforce. A grounded theory study was undertaken to investigate the phenomenon of nurse academics' role modelling for undergraduate students. The study sought to answer the research question: how do nurse academics role model positive professional behaviours for undergraduate students? The aims of this study were to: theorise a process of nurse academic role modelling for undergraduate students; describe the elements that support positive role modelling by nurse academics; and explain the factors that influence the implementation of academic role modelling. The study sample included five second year nursing students and sixteen nurse academics from Australia and the United Kingdom. Data was collected from observation, focus groups and individual interviews. This study found that in order for nurse academics to role model professional behaviours for nursing students, they must reconcile their own professional identity. This paper introduces the theory of reconciling professional identity and discusses the three categories that comprise the theory, creating a context for learning, creating a context for authentic rehearsal and mirroring identity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Academic ethical awareness among undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Ok-Hee; Hwang, Kyung-Hye

2017-01-01

Academic ethical awareness is an important aspect especially for nursing students who will provide ethical nursing care to patients in future or try to tread the path of learning toward professional acknowledgement in nursing scholarship. The purpose of this study was to explore academic ethical awareness and its related characteristics among undergraduate nursing students. This study commenced the survey with cross-sectional, descriptive questions and enrolled convenient samples of 581 undergraduate nursing students from three universities in South Korea. It was investigated with structured questionnaires including general characteristics and academic ethical awareness related. Ethical considerations: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at National University. Academic ethical awareness was the highest regarding behaviors violating the respect or confidentiality of patients and cheating on exams, while it was the lowest for inappropriate behaviors in class. From the result of general characteristics difference, male students showed higher score than female students in relative; first-year students showed higher score than other year students; the higher score was rated from students who were highly satisfied with their major than the other not satisfied with their major; and students with low academic stress showed higher ethical awareness score than persons with higher stress. Personal behaviors were rated with low ethical awareness in relative, but items related to public rules and actual effects on patients or others were rated with higher score. Nursing satisfaction and academic stress are main factors on ethical awareness. To improve overall ethical awareness level of nursing students, it is required to provide more education about the importance of personal behaviors in class and need to improve the understanding of how it will be connected with future situation and effect.

Predicting Supervisor Capacities to Foster Higher Forms of Learning through Undergraduate Medical Student Research

Science.gov (United States)

MacDougall, Margaret

2014-01-01

The credibility of short-term undergraduate research as a paradigm for effective learning within Medicine has been recognized. With a view to strengthening this paradigm and enhancing research-teaching linkages, this study explores whether particular types of research supervisor are pre-disposed to providing supportive learning environments.…

[Evidence-based practice competence in undergraduate Nursing Degree students].

Science.gov (United States)

Ruzafa-Martínez, María; Molina-Salas, Yolanda; Ramos-Morcillo, Antonio Jesús

2016-01-01

Evidence-based practice (EBP) learning has become a key issue for nurses. An EPB subject was included in the 4(th) year in the new syllabus of the Nursing Degree at University of Murcia (UM). To know the competence level in EBP of undergraduate nursing students at UM and compare the results between all four years. Observational descriptive study with a cross-sectional approach. undergraduate nursing students from all four years at Nursing Degree at the Faculty of Social and Healthcare Science at UM in the year 2013-14. EBP evaluation of competence of the nursing students consisted of attitude, skills and knowledge on EBP. A validated questionnaire, the EBP-COQ, was used. The scale range is 1 point «lowest level» to 5 points «higher level».The SPSS 21.0 program has been used to carry out descriptive and bivariate analyses. 144 students were included, 76.4% was female, and the median age was 23 years, 84.7% attended more than 75% class hours. The mean differences in the questionnaire between first and fourth years were 0.58 points in attitude, 0.60 in skills, 1.6 in knowledge and 0.83 in global competence in EBP. Significant differences in mean scores between the fourth and the remaining years in the global competence in EBP were observed, as well as in the three dimensions (p <0.05). The undergraduate-nursing students studied here have acquired an appropriate competence level in EBP, with a gradual increase by year. The biggest increase was in the fourth year students. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Blending Simulation-Based Learning and Interpretative Pedagogy for Undergraduate Leadership Competency Development.

Science.gov (United States)

McPherson, Charmaine; MacDonald, Cathy

2017-01-01

Effective leadership is an essential component guiding nursing activity and influencing health systems, health workers, and patient outcomes. Despite this evidence, undergraduate nursing programs may not be adequately preparing graduates to effectively engage in leadership practice. This article describes an educational innovation designed to support prelicensure leadership competency development. The authors blended simulation-based learning (SBL) with an interpretative pedagogical frame in a senior nursing leadership course at a primarily undergraduate university. The innovation involves a break from traditional nursing educational pedagogy by bringing SBL into the leadership classroom. Using interpretative pedagogy to purposefully create different relationships in the learning space supported deeper personal and professional transformation for the students. Nurse educators must purposefully design leadership curricula using active educational strategies that adequately prepare nurses for complex health systems. Integrating SBL within an interpretative pedagogy for leadership development moves students from merely knowing theory to informed and effective action. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(1):49-54.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

The effect of using an audience response system on learning, motivation and information retention in the orthodontic teaching of undergraduate dental students: a cross-over trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhaliwal, Harmeet Kaur; Allen, Mark; Kang, Jing; Bates, Claire; Hodge, Trevor

2015-06-01

New methods of teaching and learning are constantly being sought in the adult learning environment. Audience Response Systems (ARS) have been used in many different learning environments, especially in the field of medical education. The objective of this investigation was to ascertain the effect of ARS use in undergraduate teaching in a UK dental school. A cross-over clustered randomized educational trial. Leeds Dental Institute. Year 4 undergraduate dental students in orthodontics. Students at Leeds Dental Institute were taught two different topics within the curriculum to test the use of ARS in a cross-over trial. A questionnaire was delivered to the test (ARS) and control (non-ARS) groups. The response rate to the questionnaires was 89·5% (test group) and 82·9% (control group). The ARS enabled students to perform better as shown by knowledge retention (P = 0·013). Students found the seminar more interesting (P = 0·013), easier to concentrate (P = 0·025) and easier to participate in (P = 0·020) when ARS was used. When ARS was used, students were more able to answer questions (P<0·0001), were more likely to prepare for the seminar (P<0·0001) and significantly preferred using ARS (P<0·0001). ARS was found to significantly improve student concentration and participation in small group seminar teaching and significantly improved knowledge retention. ARS may be useful in facilitating orthodontic teaching in the future.

The Undergraduate Student Instrument Project (USIP) - building the STEM workforce by providing exciting, multi-disciplinary, student-led suborbital flight projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Dingwall, B. J.

2015-12-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) recognizes that suborbital carriers play a vital role in training our country's future science and technology leaders. SMD created the Undergraduate Student Instrument Project (USIP) to offer students the opportunity to design, build, and fly instruments on NASA's unique suborbital research platforms. This paper explores the projects, the impact, and the lessons learned of USIP. USIP required undergraduate teams to design, build, and fly a scientific instrument in 18 months or less. Students were required to form collaborative multidisciplinary teams to design, develop and build their instrument. Teams quickly learned that success required skills often overlooked in an academic environment. Teams quickly learned to share technical information in a clear and concise manner that could be understood by other disciplines. The aggressive schedule required team members to hold each other accountable for progress while maintaining team unity. Unanticipated problems and technical issues led students to a deeper understanding of the need for schedule and cost reserves. Students exited the program with a far deeper understanding of project management and team dynamics. Through the process of designing and building an instrument that will enable new research transforms students from textbook learners to developers of new knowledge. The initial USIP project funded 10 undergraduate teams that flew a broad range of scientific instruments on scientific balloons, sounding rockets, commercial rockets and aircraft. Students were required to prepare for and conduct the major reviews that are an integral part of systems development. Each project conducted a Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review and Mission Readiness review for NASA officials and flight platform providers. By preparing and presenting their designs to technical experts, the students developed a deeper understanding of the technical and programmatic project pieces that

A Model for Collaborative Learning in Undergraduate Climate Change Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Teranes, J. L.

2008-12-01

Like several colleges and universities across the nation, the University of California, San Diego, has introduced climate change topics into many existing and new undergraduate courses. I have administered a program in this area at UCSD and have also developed and taught a new lower-division UCSD course entitled "Climate Change and Society", a general education course for non-majors. This class covers the basics of climate change, such as the science that explains it, the causes of climate change, climate change impacts, and mitigation strategies. The teaching methods for this course stress interdisciplinary approaches. I find that inquiry-based and collaborative modes of learning are particularly effective when applied to science-based climate, environmental and sustainability topics. Undergraduate education is often dominated by a competitive and individualistic approach to learning. In this approach, individual success is frequently perceived as contingent on others being less successful. Such a model is at odds with commonly stated goals of teaching climate change and sustainability, which are to equip students to contribute to the debate on global environmental change and societal adaptation strategies; and to help students become better informed citizens and decision makers. I present classroom-tested strategies for developing collaborative forms of learning in climate change and environmental courses, including team projects, group presentations and group assessment exercises. I show how critical thinking skills and long-term retention of information can benefit in the collaborative mode of learning. I find that a collaborative learning model is especially appropriate to general education courses in which the enrolled student body represents a wide diversity of majors, class level and expertise. I also connect collaborative coursework in interdisciplinary environmental topics directly to applications in the field, where so much "real-world" achievement in

Music during Lectures: Will Students Learn Better?

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Dosseville, Fabrice; Laborde, Sylvain; Scelles, Nicolas

2012-01-01

We investigated the influence of music during learning on the academic performance of undergraduate students, and more particularly the influence of affects induced by music. Altogether 249 students were involved in the study, divided into a control group and an experimental group. Both groups attended the same videotaped lecture, with the…

Introduction of problem-based learning in undergraduate dentistry program in Nepal

OpenAIRE

Rimal, Jyotsna; Paudel, Bishnu Hari; Shrestha, Ashish

2015-01-01

Context: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a methodology widely used in medical education and is growing in dental education. Initiation of new ideas and teaching methods requires a change in perception from faculty and institute management. Student-centered education is a need of the day and PBL provides the best outlet to it. Aim: To introduce PBL, assess feasibility and challenges in undergraduate dentistry program and evaluate the impact on their learning. Settings and Design: PBL was used ...

What Makes a "Good Group"? Exploring the Characteristics and Performance of Undergraduate Student Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Channon, S. B.; Davis, R. C.; Goode, N. T.; May, S. A.

2017-01-01

Group work forms the foundation for much of student learning within higher education, and has many educational, social and professional benefits. This study aimed to explore the determinants of success or failure for undergraduate student teams and to define a "good group" through considering three aspects of group success: the task, the…

Blended learning within an undergraduate exercise physiology laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmer, Steven J; Carter, Kathryn R; Armga, Austin J; Carter, Jason R

2016-03-01

In physiological education, blended course formats (integration of face-to-face and online instruction) can facilitate increased student learning, performance, and satisfaction in classroom settings. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of using blending course formats in laboratory settings. We evaluated the impact of blended learning on student performance and perceptions in an undergraduate exercise physiology laboratory. Using a randomized, crossover design, four laboratory topics were delivered in either a blended or traditional format. For blended laboratories, content was offloaded to self-paced video demonstrations (∼15 min). Laboratory section 1 (n = 16) completed blended laboratories for 1) neuromuscular power and 2) blood lactate, whereas section 2 (n = 17) completed blended laboratories for 1) maximal O2 consumption and 2) muscle electromyography. Both sections completed the same assignments (scored in a blinded manner using a standardized rubric) and practicum exams (evaluated by two independent investigators). Pre- and postcourse surveys were used to assess student perceptions. Most students (∼79%) watched videos for both blended laboratories. Assignment scores did not differ between blended and traditional laboratories (P = 0.62) or between sections (P = 0.91). Practicum scores did not differ between sections (both P > 0.05). At the end of the course, students' perceived value of the blended format increased (P learning key foundational content through video demonstrations before class greatly enhanced their learning of course material compared with a preassigned reading (94% vs. 78%, P Blended exercise physiology laboratories provided an alternative method for delivering content that was favorably perceived by students and did not compromise student performance. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Students' attitude-related responses to inquiry learning in undergraduate kinesiology laboratory instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Henige, Kimberly Ann

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the student attitudes are impacted when teaching methods in an undergraduate Kinesiology lab course shift from a traditional, cookbook-style, low inquiry-level to an investigative, high inquiry-level approach. Students participated in five weeks of Level 0-1 (low) inquiry activities, followed by five weeks of a Level 3 (high) inquiry project. The same Likert-scale survey was administered to students before and after each 5-week period. The attitudes measured by the survey included students' (a) attitude to scientific inquiry, (b) adoption of scientific attitudes, (c) enjoyment of science lessons, and (d) motivation in science. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant change in any of the attitude measures when the survey results from the different time points were compared. An open-ended qualitative survey was given to the students at the end of the semester and provided more insight. When asked to compare the low and high-level inquiry experiences, most students reported enjoying the higher level of inquiry more. On the other hand, most students felt they learned more during the low inquiry-level activities. The reported level of motivation in lab was about the same for both levels. When asked what they liked most about the high-level inquiry project, students favored aspects such as the independence, responsibility, and personal relevance. When asked what they liked the least, most students said there was nothing they disliked. Of the minority of students who did not like the high-level of inquiry, most claimed to be uncomfortable with the lack of structure and guidance. Other findings were that many students expressed a new or increased respect and appreciation for what scientists do. Some students experienced a decrease in their reliance on science to be true and correct. While some students thought the high-level inquiry was harder, others perceived it as being easier. These findings illustrate

Introducing problem-based learning to undergraduate IT service management course: student satisfaction and work performance

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Katarina Pažur Aničić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the implementation of problem-based learning (PBL principles in an undergraduate IT service management course, followed by the results about student satisfaction and work performance. The results indicate the students’ general satisfaction with the course implementation, as well as some challenges regarding the self-assessment and peer assessment of their work. The findings also reveal the students’ better work performance in project results than in traditional knowledge tests, which reinforces the indications about their positive attitudes towards the interactive PBL environment. The cluster analyses identified seven different patterns in student behaviour regarding course performance. The presented results can be considered a new aspect of the development and amendment of the information and communication technology (ICT skills requested by future employers. In this regard, the demand for innovation in the education of future ICT professionals arises from the need for experts equipped with both IT and business skills.

An online clinical governance learning package for student radiographers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Messer, Simon; Griffiths, Marc

2007-01-01

Purpose: Clinical governance is a key element of the Government's plan for reform in the National Health Service. As such, it is an essential element for final year undergraduate radiography studies. With Ciris becoming a standard web-based solution for clinical governance within the NHS, a need has been identified for it to be introduced at university to undergraduate radiographers. Methods: A distance learning package for Ciris has therefore been developed that was trialed by third year radiography students whilst on their final clinical placement. The package includes a specifically designed online virtual hospital which the students engaged with interactively using a workbook. The students undertook detailed individual and group exercises aimed at delivering practical experience of the Ciris program and its role in clinical governance. Results: The package was evaluated by the students in terms of their experiential learning and their perceived learning needs for clinical governance. Technical and support issues associated with the delivery of this package online were identified. Conclusion: The combination of a distance online learning environment, supported by a workbook, is an effective method of engaging students and is beneficial in terms of helping achieve learning outcomes in clinical governance for final year radiography studies

An assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of an e-learning module in delivering a curriculum in radiation protection to undergraduate medical students.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Leong, Sum

2012-03-01

Integrating radiation protection (RP) education in the undergraduate medical curriculum is gaining importance and is mandatory in certain jurisdictions. An e-learning module for RP was developed at the authors\\' medical school and was integrated into year 4 of the 5-year undergraduate medical program. The aim of this study was to investigate its impact on RP knowledge, student preferences for various teaching methods, self-assessment of RP knowledge, and perceptions of career prospects in radiology. Likert-type 5-point scale evaluations and general comments about the RP module and various methods of teaching were also obtained.

Face-to-face or face-to-screen? Undergraduates' opinions and test performance in classroom vs. online learning

OpenAIRE

Kemp, Nenagh; Grieve, Rachel

2014-01-01

As electronic communication becomes increasingly common, and as students juggle study, work, and family life, many universities are offering their students more flexible learning opportunities. Classes once delivered face-to-face are often replaced by online activities and discussions. However, there is little research comparing students' experience and learning in these two modalities. The aim of this study was to compare undergraduates' preference for, and academic performance on, class mat...

Peer-Mentoring Undergraduate Accounting Students: The Influence on Approaches to Learning and Academic Performance

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Fox, Alison; Stevenson, Lorna; Connelly, Patricia; Duff, Angus; Dunlop, Angela

2010-01-01

This article considers the impact of a student peer-mentoring programme (the Mentor Accountant Project, MAP) on first-year undergraduates' academic performance. The development of MAP was informed by reference to extant literature; it relies on the voluntary services of third-year students who then act as mentors to first-year student mentees in…

The Development of Gamified Learning Activities to Increase Student Engagement in Learning

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Poondej, Chanut; Lerdpornkulrat, Thanita

2016-01-01

In the literature, the potential efficacy of the gamification of education has been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of applying gamification techniques to increase student engagement in learning. The quasi-experimental nonequivalent-control group design was used with 577 undergraduate students from six classes. The…

Introducing Science to undergraduate students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Avila Jr

2006-07-01

Full Text Available The knowledge of scientific method provides stimulus and development of critical thinking and logical analysis of information besides the training of continuous formulation of hypothesis to be applied in formal scientific issues as well as in everyday facts. The scientific education, useful for all people, is indispensable for the experimental science students. Aiming at the possibility to offer a systematic learning of the scientific principles, we developed a undergraduate course designed to approximate the students to the procedures of scientific production and publication. The course was developed in a 40 hours, containing two modules: I. Introducing Scientific Articles (papers and II. Writing Research Project. The first module deals with: (1 the difference between scientific knowledge and common sense; (2 scientific methodology; (3 scientific publishing categories; (4 logical principles; (5 deduction and induction approach and (6 paper analysis. The second module includes (1 selection of problem to be solved by experimental procedures; (2 bibliography revision; (3 support agencies; (4 project writing and presentation and (5 critical analysis of experimental results. The course used a Collaborative Learning strategy with each topic being developed through activities performed by the students. Qualitative and quantitative (through Likert questionnaires evaluation were carried out in each step of the course, the results showing great appreciation by the students. This is also the opinion of the staff responsible for the planning and development of the course, which is now in its second and improved version.

STEM-related, Student-led Service Learning / Community Engagement Projects: Examples and Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Swap, R. J.; Wayland, K.

2015-12-01

Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the larger project context, articulation of an informed question/hypothesis, project proposal development, interdisciplinary collaboration, project management (including planning, implementation reconfiguration and synthesis) and lastly the generation and handing off of acquired knowledge. Calls for these types of proficiencies have been expressed by governmental, non-governmental as well as the private sector. Accordingly, institutions of higher learning have viewed such activities as opportunities for enriching the learning experience for undergraduate students and for making such students more marketable, especially those from STEM-related fields. This institutional interest has provided an opportunity to support and expand field-based learning. Here we present examples of student-led/faculty-mentored international service learning and community engagement projects along the arc of preparation, implementation and post-field process. Representative examples that draw upon environmental science and engineering knowledge have been selected from more than 20 international undergraduate student projects over past decade and include: slow-sand water filtration, rainwater harvesting, methane biodigesters, water reticulation schemes and development and implementation of rocket stoves for communal cooking. We discuss these efforts in terms of the development of the aforementioned proficiencies, the utility of such proficiencies to the larger enterprise of STEM and the potential for transformative student learning outcomes. We share these experiences and lessons learned with the hope that others may intelligently borrow from our approach in a manner appropriate for their particular context.

Using a collaborative Mobile Augmented Reality learning application (CoMARLA) to improve Improve Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hanafi, Hafizul Fahri bin; Soh Said, Che; Hanee Ariffin, Asma; Azlan Zainuddin, Nur; Samsuddin, Khairulanuar

2016-11-01

This study was carried out to improve student learning in ICT course using a collaborative mobile augmented reality learning application (CoMARLA). This learning application was developed based on the constructivist framework that would engender collaborative learning environment, in which students could learn collaboratively using their mobile phones. The research design was based on the pretest posttest control group design. The dependent variable was students’ learning performance after learning, and the independent variables were learning method and gender. Students’ learning performance before learning was treated as the covariate. The sample of the study comprised 120 non-IT (non-technical) undergraduates, with the mean age of 19.5. They were randomized into two groups, namely the experimental and control group. The experimental group used CoMARLA to learn one of the topics of the ICT Literacy course, namely Computer System; whereas the control group learned using the conventional approach. The research instrument used was a set of multiple-choice questions pertaining to the above topic. Pretesting was carried out before the learning sessions, and posttesting was performed after 6 hours of learning. Using the SPSS, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was performed on the data. The analysis showed that there were main effects attributed to the learning method and gender. The experimental group outperformed the control group by almost 9%, and male students outstripped their opposite counterparts by as much as 3%. Furthermore, an interaction effect was also observed showing differential performances of male students based on the learning methods, which did not occur among female students. Hence, the tool can be used to help undergraduates learn with greater efficacy when contextualized in an appropriate setting.

Friend or Foe? Flipped Classroom for Undergraduate Electrocardiogram Learning: a Randomized Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rui, Zeng; Lian-Rui, Xiang; Rong-Zheng, Yue; Jing, Zeng; Xue-Hong, Wan; Chuan, Zuo

2017-03-07

Interpreting an electrocardiogram (ECG) is not only one of the most important parts of clinical diagnostics but also one of the most difficult topics to teach and learn. In order to enable medical students to master ECG interpretation skills in a limited teaching period, the flipped teaching method has been recommended by previous research to improve teaching effect on undergraduate ECG learning. A randomized controlled trial for ECG learning was conducted, involving 181 junior-year medical undergraduates using a flipped classroom as an experimental intervention, compared with Lecture-Based Learning (LBL) as a control group. All participants took an examination one week after the intervention by analysing 20 ECGs from actual clinical cases and submitting their ECG reports. A self-administered questionnaire was also used to evaluate the students' attitudes, total learning time, and conditions under each teaching method. The students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group (8.72 ± 1.01 vs 8.03 ± 1.01, t = 4.549, P = 0.000) on ECG interpretation. The vast majority of the students in the flipped classroom group held positive attitudes toward the flipped classroom method and also supported LBL. There was no significant difference (4.07 ± 0.96 vs 4.16 ± 0.89, Z = - 0.948, P = 0.343) between the groups. Prior to class, the students in the flipped class group devoted significantly more time than those in the control group (42.33 ± 22.19 vs 30.55 ± 10.15, t = 4.586, P = 0.000), whereas after class, the time spent by the two groups were not significantly different (56.50 ± 46.80 vs 54.62 ± 31.77, t = 0.317, P = 0.752). Flipped classroom teaching can improve medical students' interest in learning and their self-learning abilities. It is an effective teaching model that needs to be further studied and promoted.

Leveraging Online Learning Resources to Teach Core Research Skills to Undergraduates at a Diverse Research University.

Science.gov (United States)

McFARLIN, Brian K; Breslin, Whitney L; Carpenter, Katie C; Strohacker, Kelley; Weintraub, Randi J

2010-01-01

Today's students have unique learning needs and lack knowledge of core research skills. In this program report, we describe an online approach that we developed to teach core research skills to freshman and sophomore undergraduates. Specifically, we used two undergraduate kinesiology (KIN) courses designed to target students throughout campus (KIN1304: Public Health Issues in Physical Activity and Obesity) and specifically kinesiology majors (KIN1252: Foundations of Kinesiology). Our program was developed and validated at the 2 nd largest ethnically diverse research university in the United States, thus we believe that it would be effective in a variety of student populations.

Investigating Students' Perceptions on Mobile Learning Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Amin Almaiah

2014-10-01

Full Text Available M-learning is a form of learning, which has similarities and differences with the electronic learning (e-learning. It is mainly based on the use of the mobile wireless technologies that allow for learners to easily access learning materials anytime he desires and anywhere, whether on campus or off campus. Therefore, this creates a new flexible learning environment in the context of different learning settings. Students' perception of such technology is one of the most important factors for successful adoption of m-learning in the higher education environment. This study is conducted to investigate the perceptions of students in University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT to move towards applying m-learning in their studies by using their mobile devices and to explore their expectations on mobile learning services. A total number of 91 undergraduate students majoring in computer science participated in the study. The findings show that the students have positive perception towards mobile learning and would like to use their mobile devices for both learning and administrative services.

Academic Progress Depending on the Skills and Qualities of Learning in Students of a Business School

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de Jesús, Araiza Vázquez María; Claudia, Dörfer; Rosalinda, Castillo Corpus

2015-01-01

This research was to establish the relationship between qualities of learning; learning skills and academic performance in undergraduate students. 310 undergraduates participated in this research of which 72% are female and 28% male. All responded Scale Learning Strategies of Roman and Gallego (1994) and Questionnaire Learning Styles of…

Using simulation to improve the capability of undergraduate nursing students in mental health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunst, Elicia L; Mitchell, Marion; Johnston, Amy N B

2017-03-01

Mental health care is an increasing component of acute patient care and yet mental health care education can be limited in undergraduate nursing programs. The aim of this study was to establish if simulation learning can be an effective method of improving undergraduate nurses' capability in mental health care in an acute care environment. Undergraduate nursing students at an Australian university were exposed to several high-fidelity high-technology simulation activities that incorporated elements of acute emergency nursing practice and acute mental health intervention, scaffolded by theories of learning. This approach provided a safe environment for students to experience clinical practice, and develop their skills for dealing with complex clinical challenges. Using a mixed method approach, the primary domains of interest in this study were student confidence, knowledge and ability. These were self-reported and assessed before and after the simulation activities (intervention) using a pre-validated survey, to gauge the self-rated capacity of students to initiate and complete effective care episodes. Focus group interviews were subsequently held with students who attended placement in the emergency department to explore the impact of the intervention on student performance in this clinical setting. Students who participated in the simulation activity identified and reported significantly increased confidence, knowledge and ability in mental health care post-intervention. They identified key features of the intervention included the impact of its realism on the quality of learning. There is some evidence to suggest that the intervention had an impact on the performance and reflection of students in the clinical setting. This study provides evidence to support the use of simulation to enhance student nurses' clinical capabilities in providing mental health care in acute care environments. Nursing curriculum development should be based on best-evidence to ensure that

Gaining Insight into Business Telecommunications Students through the Assessment of Learning Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Sandman, Thomas E.

2009-01-01

The assessment of student learning styles can be of significant value for developing and evaluating an appropriate mix of pedagogical techniques and activities. With this in mind, learning style preferences were collected from over 300 undergraduate business telecommunications students. These set of data show that a breadth of learning style…

Undergraduate Student Nurses' Use of Information and Communication Technology in Their Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Honey, Michelle

2018-01-01

Students expect to use technology in their study just as they use technology in other aspects of their life. Technology is embedded in the day-to-day work of nursing, and therefore needs to be integrated in education to prepare students to assume professional roles and develop skills for lifelong learning. A quantitative descriptive study, using an anonymous survey, explored how undergraduate student nurses from one New Zealand school of nursing, access information and communication technologies for their learning. In total 226 completed questionnaires were returned (75%). Nearly all students (96%) have smart phones, all students have a computer and 99% use the university learning management system daily or several times a week. The search engine most commonly used to find information for assignments was Google Scholar (91%), with only 78% using subject specific academic databases. Implications from this study include the need for charging stations and further education on information searching.

Undergraduate medical students' empathy: current perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quince T