scholarly journals Attitudes on Skillful 2 and teacher created ancillary material

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-51
Author(s):  
Kelsey Peterson ◽  
Vladimir Pereira

Selecting course materials is a crucial decision for many language departments, as the textbook is often the guide for any course. However, course material selection rarely takes into account students’ wants and needs (Wright, 1990). This study examines both student and teacher attitudes toward a textbook and online platform used for the first time in a first-year English course at a public university in Costa Rica. This study also addresses whether students and teachers consider a supplemental grammar booklet necessary for the course. A questionnaire and interviews were the sources of data collection that assessed specific impressions of the course materials. The results of the research show that perspectives regarding the books, from both students and teachers, are not as positive as one might expect. Preference for a supplemental grammar booklet was shown, but questions remain as to whether this material is truly necessary for the course. Positive attitudes toward some aspects of the new books were present, yet various issues with the material were voiced throughout the entire study. Following a thorough analysis and discussion of results, we provide recommendations that the English department and its professors can consider in response to the main findings of this study.

Author(s):  
Dulce Amor L. Dorado ◽  
Barry Fass-Holmes

Are international undergraduates whose native language is not English less prepared to succeed academically at an American four-year institution after transferring from an American community college than ones who are first-time freshmen (NFRS) or exchange visitors (EAPR)? This question's answer was no at an American West Coast public university where five cohorts of international transfer undergraduates (TRAN) earned mean first-year grade point averages (GPA) between B- and B. Less than 12% of these students earned GPAs below C, and less than 15% were in bad academic standing (probation, subject to disqualification, or dismissed). In comparison, five parallel cohorts of NFRS and EAPR earned mean first-year GPAs averaging between B and B+ to A-. Less than 10% earned GPAs below C or were in bad academic standing. Thus, a minority of this university's international undergraduates struggled academically regardless of whether they were TRAN, NFRS, or EAPR.


2020 ◽  
pp. 716-727

BACKGROUND. Health promoting behaviours have a decisive effect on the development and cours of caries at any age. OBJECTIVES. The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between health promoting behaviours and the state of dentition in children aged 1-3 years by determining the child’s age, the cause of the first visit at the dental office and evaluating the relationship between the intensity of dental caries and the frequency of oral hygiene practices as well as the consumption of sweet foods. MATERIAL AND METHODS. The study was conducted among 204 children aged 1-3 years from the town of Skierniewice and its vicinity, who visited the Dental Clinic at the Ogrodowa Medical Centre in Skierniewice in the years 2019 and 2020. The study consisted of two parts: a questionnaire and clinical examination. RESULTS. In the entire study group, active caries was found in 65.2% of children. Most of the children came for the first time to the dentist at the age of 3 years (37.5%), and the least number of them in the first year of age (22.6%). There was no significant correlation observed between the purpose of the visit (adaptation, check-up and treatment, pain) and the child’s age (p> 0.05). The majority of children (67.6%) cleaned their teeth twice a day; and the value of their dmf index (2.00 ± 0.88) was significantly lower compared to those brushing teeth once a day: in the morning (2.82 ± 1.01) or in the evening (2.89 ± 0.93) (p <0.001). Only 8.8% of children did not eat sweets at all, while more than half (58.8%) consumed them more than once a day. The dmf index value significantly (p<0.001) increased with the frequency of sweets consumption from 0.37 ± 0.08 - never, through 1.73 ± 0.86 - once a day, to 2.99 ± 1.03 - often. CONCLUSIONS. The results of our study showed that health-promoting measures have a significant impact on the dental state of children aged 1-3 years.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 4593-4602
Author(s):  
Ali AlSoufi

We live in visually oriented society, in which the computer is becoming as commonplace and integral part of every student’s educational experience. It plays essential role in transforming the way in which postsecondary programs educate and communicate with their students. Faculty is encouraged, often strongly, to incorporate more computer technology and web-enhanced components in their courses as well as to develop distance education courses and programs. Recently many textbooks include CDs that contain additional course material, course assignments, animated visual aids and tests to support both faculty and the students. Students usually use their computers to write papers, register a course and communicate with faculty and other students. These actions constitute challenges for students that are visually impaired or blind. People with disabilities are often misunderstood and discriminated against when it comes to education and especially when they pursue their higher education. The purpose of study is to explore challenges with respect to the course materials used in the first degree in IT at Arab Open University. To achieve this a blind student, who is the first experience at the university, is used as a case through studying his background and monitoring his progress in the first year of study, while a comprehensive analysis on the course material, that he will be covering in the 4 years of the program, was conducted to predict whether he will able to complete his studies successfully in the IT program. Furthermore the challenges explored would be used to enhance the program delivery for visually impaired students.


Author(s):  
Umar Iqbal ◽  
Deena Salem ◽  
David Strong

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.


GYNECOLOGY ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-108
Author(s):  
Yu E Dobrokhotova ◽  
S E Arakelov ◽  
S Zh Danelyan ◽  
E I Borovkova ◽  
A E Zykov ◽  
...  

Associated with pregnancy is breast cancer, which was first detected during pregnancy, during the first year after childbirth or at any time against lactation. Diagnosis of the disease in the first trimester is an indication for abortion. The detection of the disease after 20 weeks and the desire of the woman to maintain pregnancy is the basis for conducting a total mastectomy followed by polychemotherapy with doxorubicin with cyclophosphamide or with fluorouracil. Radiation therapy during pregnancy is not applied. The timing and method of delivery are determined individually and depend on the stage of the process and the period of pregnancy, when it was identified. A clinical case of a patient with edematous-infiltrative form of breast cancer of the IV stage, diagnosed for the first time in 22 weeks of pregnancy, is presented.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 3582-3586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigurdur Y. Kristinsson ◽  
Thomas R. Fears ◽  
Gloria Gridley ◽  
Ingemar Turesson ◽  
Ulf-Henrik Mellqvist ◽  
...  

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have an increased risk of deep venous thrombosis (DVT), particularly when treated with immunomodulatory drugs. Recently, 2 small hospital-based studies observed persons with the MM precursor condition, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), to be at increased risk of developing DVT. Among 4 196 197 veterans hospitalized at least once at US Veterans Affairs hospitals, we identified a total of 2374 cases of MGUS, and 39 272 persons were diagnosed with DVT (crude incidence 0.9 per 1000 person-years). A total of 31 and 151 DVTs occurred among MGUS and MM patients, respectively (crude incidence 3.1 and 8.7 per 1000 person-years, respectively; P < .01). Compared with the entire study population, the relative risk (RR) of DVT after a diagnosis of MGUS and MM was 3.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-4.7) and 9.2 (95% CI, 7.9-10.8), respectively. The most prominent excess risk of DVT was found during the first year after diagnosis of MGUS (RR = 8.4; 95% CI, 5.7-12.2) and MM (RR = 11.6; 95% CI, 9.2-14.5). Among 229 MGUS cases (9.5%) that progressed to MM, only one person had a DVT diagnosis before transformation. Our findings suggest the operation of shared underlying mechanisms causing coagulation abnormalities among patients with MGUS and MM.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104973232110321
Author(s):  
Mackenzie D. M. Whipps ◽  
Hirokazu Yoshikawa ◽  
Jill R. Demirci ◽  
Jennifer Hill

What is breastfeeding “success”? In this article, we challenge the traditional biomedical definition, instead centering visions of success described by breastfeeding mothers themselves. Using semi-structured interviews, quantitative surveys, and written narratives of 38 first-time mothers in the United States, we describe five common pathways through the first-year postpartum, a taxonomic distinction far more complex than a success–failure dichotomy: sustained breastfeeding, exclusive pumping, combination feeding, rapid weaning, and grinding back to exclusivity. We also explore the myriad ways in which mothers define and experience breastfeeding success, and in the process uncover the ways that cultural narratives—especially intensive mothering—color those experiences. Finally, we discuss how these experiences are shaped by infant feeding pathway. In doing so, we discover nuance that has gone unexplored in the breastfeeding literature. These findings have implications for supporting, promoting, and protecting breastfeeding in the United States and other high-income countries.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Chao

The objective of this article is to facilitate mobile teaching and learning by providing an alternative course material deployment method. This article suggests a course material deployment platform for small universities or individual instructors. Different from traditional course material deployment methods, the method discussed deploys course materials by using services provided by Android Market. After comparing the traditional course material deployment and the alternative deployment, the author presents strategies to take advantage of Android Market in delivering course materials to mobile devices. Through a case study, this article illustrates the application of these strategies in deploying a class menu for an object-oriented programming course in the computer science curriculum.


Author(s):  
Aisyah Aisyah

Reading is one of the important subjects in learning foreign language. Based on the curriculum 2014 in English Department, reading has some series. In order to get satisfying result of students in reading comprehension, the lecturer should know about the students’ achievement in comprehending the text. By knowing students’ achievement in reading for interpretation, the lecturer will know what they will do for the next and what should the lecturer give more attention to. This research is aimed to know the students’ achievement in comprehending the text. The subject of this research is the first year students of English department.This research is expected to give contribution for some aspects. For the students, it is expected to give information and feedback to the students about their competence in reading. For the teacher, this research is expected to give information for the lecturer about the students’ error in comprehending the text.


Author(s):  
Prabha Parthasarathy ◽  
Bugewa Apampa ◽  
Andrea Manfrin

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate students’ perception of team-based learning (TBL) amongst a cohort exposed to this methodology for the first time at a university in the United Kingdom.Methods: Between November and December 2018, 26 first-year Master of Pharmacy and 90 second-year Biomedical Science students of the School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, United Kingdom were invited to participate and requested to complete a questionnaire that contained quantitative and qualitative questions. The quantitative component was based on the Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument (TBL-SAI). It additionally contained questions about key student characteristics.Results: The response rate was 60% (70 of 116); of the participants, 74% (n=52) were females and 26% (n=18) males. The percentage of agreement in the TBL-SAI suggested a favourable response to TBL. The overall mean score for the TBL-SAI was 115.6 (standard deviation, 5.6; maximum score, 140), which was above the threshold of 102, thus suggesting a preference for TBL. Statistically significant differences were not found according to demographic characteristics. Students who predicted a final grade of ≥70% strongly agreed that TBL helped improve their grades. Some students highlighted issues with working in teams, and only 56% of students agreed that they could learn better in a team setting.Conclusion: This study shows that students exposed to TBL for the first time favoured several aspects of TBL. However, more focused strategies including team-building activities and expert facilitation skills could potentially tackle resistance to working in teams.


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