Development of Critical Thinking Transfer Practice Construct and Sub-Constructs: A 9-steps Approach

The study aimed to develop critical thinking transfer practice (CTTP) construct and sub-constructs relevant to medical undergraduates. The study used a 9-step qualitative case study approach. The prior relationship of construct and sub-constructs were conceptualised to produce the initial thematic framework (Step 1 to 3). Then, a qualitative study confirmed the sub-constructs that were relevant for the undergraduates, as the new data were fitted into the initial framework to become an evolving framework (Step 4 to 5). Next, the construct and sub-constructs were defined operationally (Step 6) and evaluated (Step 7). After that, the evolving framework was revised (Step 8) and developed to become the final construct and sub-constructs (Step 9). Based on the literature, the study conceptualised an initial framework that described the theoretical relationship of the prior construct and six sub-constructs. From the qualitative findings, 37 codes were fitted into the initial framework. The fitting resulted in an evolving framework that contained a theme (the medical undergraduates’ CTTP), 6 categories and 26 sub-categories. A 100% of participants agreed that the data were generated from them. Then, the team members and the expert panels accepted the theme (Cohen Kappa value > 0.80). The maintained and revised theme, categories and sub-categories were used to develop the CTTP construct and 6 sub-constructs. The study discussed in detail the included subconstructs for CTTP. The study also addressed the similarities and differences of the construct and sub-constructs for medical education and general studies. The study concluded that the construct and sub-constructs were theoretically proven to represent the medical undergraduates’ CTTP.

Private liability without wrongdoing

Rights-based theories of private law tend to be wrongs based and defendant focused. But many private law wrongs do not seem like genuine wrongs, at least when the background distribution of resources is unjust. A very poor person, for example, may be held legally liable for breaching a one-sided contract with a very rich person. When such a contract reflects and reproduces existing injustice, it is hard to view the poor person’s breach of such a contract as a genuine wrong against the rich person. Conversely, some obvious moral wrongs do not generate legal liability. There is, for example, no private law duty of rescue in the absence of a prior relationship in many situations in which most would agree that there is a moral duty of rescue. Thus, private legal liability seems not to track moral wrongdoing in significant respects, raising the question what instead justifies such liability. Instead of justifying private liability in terms of the defendant’s wrongdoing, as corrective justice and civil recourse theorists do, we should seek a justification in terms of the plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her apparent rights. Switching our gaze from the defendant’s wrongdoing to the plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her rights will not be normatively consequential if the plaintiff’s moral permission arises when and only when the defendant has wronged her. But, I argue, background injustice can drive a wedge between genuine wrongdoing and the plaintiff’s moral permission. Thus, by reconceptualizing private liability in terms of a plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her apparent rights, private law may be justified by the essential role it plays in constituting non-ideal political morality.

Weak and strong ties and its connection to experts' problem-solving styles in scaffolding students' PBL activities on social media

Background: Studies have acknowledged that social media enables students to connect with and learn from experts from different ties available in the students’ personal learning environment (PLE). Incorporating experts into formal learning activities such as scaffolding problem-solving tasks through social media, allows students to understand how experts solve real-world problems. However, studies that evaluate experts’ problem-solving styles on social media in relation to the tie strength of the experts with the students are scarce in the extant literature. This study aimed to explore the problem-solving styles that the experts portrayed based on their ties with the students in problem-based learning (PBL) on Facebook. Methods: This study employed a simultaneous within-subject experimental design which was conducted in three closed Facebook groups with 12 final year management students, six business experts, and one instructor as the participants. The experts were invited by the students from the weak and strong ties in their PLE. Hinging on the Strength of Weak Ties Theory (Granovetter, 1973) and problem-solving styles (Selby et al., 2004), this study employed thematic analysis using the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software to map the experts’ comments on Facebook. Results: The experts from strong and weak ties who had a prior relationship with the students showed people preference style by being more sensitive to the students' learning needs and demonstrating firmer scaffolding compared to the weak ties' experts who had no prior relationship with the students. Regardless of the types of ties, all experts applied all manner of processing information and orientation to change but the degree of its applications are correlated with the working experience of the experts. Conclusion: The use of weak or strong ties benefited the students as it expedited their problem-solving tasks since the experts have unique expertise to offer depending on the problem-solving styles that they exhibited.

Perceptions of Stalking: Examining Perceivers’ Country of Origin, Perpetrator-Target Prior Relationship, and the Mediating Effect of Victim Responsibility

Research in stalking perceptions has shown certain relational biases, in which people tend to view ex-partner stalkers to be less dangerous than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. These findings are in direct contrast to those of real-life cases whereby ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat. In addition, although stalking is recognized as a global social problem, most studies have been based on samples drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. The current study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and target influences people’s perceptions of stalking and whether cross-national differences exist between participants based in Malaysia (where there is currently no law that criminalizes stalking) and England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects design, 294 Malaysian participants and 170 English participants were presented with a vignette describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants judged the extent to which the perpetrator’s behavior constitutes stalking; necessitates police intervention; would cause the victim alarm or personal distress; would cause the victim to fear the use of violence; and can be attributed to encouragement on the part of the victim. Results showed that typical relational biases existed in both samples, but Malaysian participants were less likely than their English counterparts to label any harassing scenario as serious. Perceptions of victim responsibility were found to mediate the effect of prior relationship and nationality on participants’ perceptions. The findings point to the urgency of better cross-cultural understanding of harassment behavior as well as legislations against stalking.

Policy-based Implied Bare Licences

This chapter addresses policy-based implied bare licences. Unlike in the previous chapter, there is no contract in existence and no voluntariness on the part of the copyright owner, and indeed in some cases, no prior relationship between the parties. Historically, English common law has recognised an open-ended power of the courts to restrict or prevent copyright enforcement in the public interest, which has been acknowledged under section 171(3) of the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. The chapter considers how a successful invocation of this provision implies a bare licence to achieve policy goals. Although there is no statutory equivalent of this provision in other common law jurisdictions considered here, the chapter explores if the power has nevertheless been exercised by the courts based on their inherent powers. Since policy-based implied bare licences produce the same effect on copyright owners as the statutory limitations or exceptions, the framework for implying this type of licence draws inspiration from the three-step test and the fundamental rights regime.

Reducing burdens of site feasibility assessments for conducting clinical trials.

300 Background: Current methods to assess site feasibility for industry-funded clinical trials are onerous and delay patient access to novel treatment options and high-quality clinical trials. Industry sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) often probe for unnecessary and/or duplicative information. These burdens prolong trial start-up times and are a barrier to site participation in oncology trials. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Research Community Forum convened a task force to identify ways to improve the site feasibility assessment process. Methods: Data were collected in 3 steps: 1) survey to assess site burdens, 2) collation of sample feasibility questionnaires (FQs), and 3) stakeholder meeting to discuss potential solutions. The task force then developed recommendations for process improvements and obtained stakeholder feedback through a survey. Results: 113 oncology practices (66 community, 47 academic) reported completing a median 5 FQs and 2 pre-study site visits (PSSVs) per month. FQs took a median 2 hours to complete whereas PSSVs took a median 4 hours to complete. Most considered FQ (81%) and PSSV (91%) content redundant to information previously provided, and FQs similar between different sponsors (86%). The median time from first contact to first patient enrolled was 6 months. The 40 respondents to the stakeholder survey represented 19 academic- and 9 community-based sites, 8 industry sponsors, and 4 CROs. Most preferred a model with a short FQ plus a PSSV when there was not a prior relationship. If there was a prior relationship, either a PSSV or teleconference was preferred. All stakeholders identified time savings, expedited start-up, fewer staff resources, and cost savings as the greatest benefits. The greatest barriers to adoption were buy-in from sponsors and CROs, and insufficient information about site capabilities. Conclusions: Site feasibility assessments for industry-sponsored trials are important to ensure patient safety and access to high quality clinical trials. However, current methods are inefficient and time and resource intensive. This initiative provided insights about challenges for sites and the viability of a fundamental change to site feasibility assessments. ASCO recommendations are forthcoming on improving processes, standardizing and minimizing questions, and using portals that are effective across all trials and clinical research scenarios.

Hagiography as Source: Gender and Conversion Narratives in The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church

Drawing on the work of Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent, this essay proposes utilizing hagiographies from the The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church, a fifteenth-century Ethiopian collection of saints’ lives, to explore various aspects of conversion. Other scholars employ a similar approach when analyzing hagiographical literature found in medieval Europe. While acknowledging that these texts do not provide details about the historical experience of conversion, they can assist scholars in understanding the conception of conversion in the imagination of the culture that created them. This essay specifically focuses on the role of women in conversion throughout the text and argues that, although men and women were almost equally represented as agents of conversion, a closer examination reveals that their participation remained gendered. Women more frequently converted someone with whom they had a prior relationship, especially a member of their familial network. Significantly, these observations mirror the patterns uncovered by contemporary scholars such as Dana Robert, who notes how women contributed to the spread of Christianity primarily through human relationships. By integrating these representations of conversion from late medieval Ethiopia, scholarship will gain a more robust picture of conversion in Africa more broadly and widen its understanding of world Christianity.

Effect of Relationship Closeness on Group-Induced Choice Shifts Among Chinese Students

Using hypothetical choice-dilemma scenarios, we examined the effect of relationship closeness on group-induced choice shifts in a sample of Chinese college students. Previous studies, which have shown an aversion to risk among Chinese students, have overlooked prior relationship closeness. This study attempts to fill the gap in the research by taking this factor into account. The study found that students shifted their choice toward greater risks when placed in groups composed entirely of individuals with high levels of closeness in their relationships than when they were alone. The implications of the findings are discussed from a Chinese Guanxi cultural perspective.