From Enabling People to Enabling Institutions. A National Policy Suggestion for Inner Areas Coming from an Action-Research Experience

Abstract Background Brazil reports public healthcare gaps concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) people. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online-based teaching interventions, however their use is still scarce in Brazil. We aim to describe the development and to analyze preliminary impacts of the first online-based intervention through MOOCs for LGBTI+ health promotion in Brazil. Methods We adopted mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches, based on participatory-action research: 1) to design the content and format of the MOOC, we conducted 10 focus groups during 2018 and 2019 with key stakeholders in three different Brazilian State capitals, identifying needs and challenges and linking it with guidelines of the National Policy for Comprehensive Health of LGBTI+ people; 2) based on step 1, we developed the MOOC, producing reading content, video-classes and multimedia; 3) we quantitatively analyzed, through a survey, its impact and reach after six months. Results The results showed that: a) focus groups were essentials to inform the priorities to design a tailored MOOC; b) the MOOC had 30 hours of autonomous learning activities divided into two modules, with problem-based evaluation; c) the first ten-month of the course had a total of 5,000 people enrolled with a completion rate of approximately 30%; d) 1,700 successfully completed the course; e) 582 participants joined the survey post-course evaluation and for 370 (63.6%) of them, this was the first training activity on LGBTI+ health. Conclusions Results point to a high interest in LGBTI+ health and high demand for training on this topic among health professionals. The MOOC format was successful and reliable in enabling the teaching-learning process. Key messages Participatory action research was able to inform the content of the first MOOC for LGBTI+ health in Brazil. The MOCC had high interest, and for the majority of concluding participants it was the first activity and formal education about LGBTI+ health.

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Research Training Program in a Turkish Medical School: Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities from the Perspectives of the Students and Faculty Members

10.21203/rs.3.rs-29072/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zeliha Asli Öcek ◽

Hilal Bati ◽

Ebru Demirel Sezer ◽

Ozge Altun Koroglu ◽

Özlem Yilmaz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Training Program ◽

Core Curriculum ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Research Training ◽

National Policy ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Faculty Members ◽

Research Experience ◽

Research Programs ◽

Research Training Program

Abstract Background: Providing medical students with opportunities for research experience is challenging for medical schools in developing countries. The Research Training Program (RTP), which is carried out in Ege University Faculty of Medicine (EUFM) parallel to the core curriculum, aims to improve the scientific competencies of the highly motivated students and to provide them with the opportunity to conduct a research. The purpose of this project is to evaluate RTP through the perspectives of students and faculty members.Methods: This phenomenological study included two groups; students of RTP and faculty members who contributed to the program. Interviews were conducted with the research group whose selection was determined by maximum variation technique. Interviews with new individuals continued until data saturation was reached. Interpretative data analysis started with close reading of the transcripts and generating a list of codes. Coding by two independently, developing categories and themes were the following steps.Results: Twenty-one RTP students and 14 faculty members were interviewed. The main motivation for students to participate was the desire to learn how to do research. The introduction course providing the students with the basic competencies needs to be improved in terms of practical activities. It was reported that during the project process students needed intensive guidance especially in finding a research topic and a mentor. The students' lack of time, deficit of enough mentoring and the fact that conducting a research does not provide a competitive advantage for residency are important obstacles to the completion of the program. The most frequently mentioned achievement of the students is to learn all the stages of the research as well as getting acquainted with critical thinking.Conclusions: This research showed that it was realistic to implement research programs for highly motivated students in medical schools with conditions like those in EUFM. The solution of mentor shortage emerged in this study is dependent on the adoption of student research as a national policy. Getting acquainted with the interrogative thinking style, conducting research, and making lifelong learning a core value are more important outcomes of research programs than the number of completed projects.

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Development and Assessment of Key Skills in Undergraduate Students: An action-research experience

Higher Learning Research Communications ◽

10.18870/hlrc.v2i1.37 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 32 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ana Fernández-Santander ◽

María José García-García ◽

Beatriz Sáez-Pizarro ◽

María José Terrón-López

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Employability Skills ◽

Research Experience ◽

Font Size ◽

Education Students ◽

University Teachers ◽

Key Skills ◽

Different Types ◽

Development Assessment

<p><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Employers look for professionals able to work in a team, able to approach the problems, with the capacity to analyze and resolve problems, under the constant renewal of knowledge and competencies. In this paper, a group of University teachers from different areas of knowledge presents an experience to introduce key employability skills in the higher education students’ curricula. This work has been developed under the action research scope. The first goal was to make an analysis of terms referred to key skills, generating an integrated denomination for each competency. The elaboration of general templates for key skills is proposed here as a useful tool that provides information about development, assessment and marking of each skill. Different types of rubrics and assessment templates, used during this experience, are presented.</span></p>

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