scholarly journals A problem-based learning curriculum and undergraduate performance in the final psychiatry examination at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Shamima Saloojee ◽  
Jacqueline Van Wyk

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Medical education reformers must consider disease patterns, health system expectations and clearly specified outcomes to ensure that revised curricula are relevant. South Africa needs clinically competent doctors in adequate numbers to address the burden of psychiatric illnesses.</p><p><strong>Objective.</strong> To evaluate the impact of a curricular reform, this study compared undergraduate students’ clinical competence in psychiatry following a change from a six-year traditional lecture-based (LB) curriculum to a five-year problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. </p><p><span><strong>Method.</strong> The psychiatry examination records of 936 students enrolled in a PBL curriculum were compared with those of 771 students enrolled in a LB curriculum, covering a nine-year period from 2001 to 2009. Records covered the long case, case vignette and oral examinations. </span></p><p><strong>Results.</strong> Students in the PBL group performed significantly better in the problem-solving case vignette examination (<em>p</em>&lt;0.02). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean marks for the long case and the oral examination. Because the revised curriculum is shorter, one additional class of 200 students graduated during the duration of the study than would have been possible under the previous curriculum. </p><p><strong>Conclusion. </strong>The new PBL curriculum produced more doctors, but there was no change in their psychiatric knowledge and skills compared with graduates from the old LB curriculum. Clinical teachers need to define outcomes prior to curriculum revision, because these are essential for evaluating the curriculum’s success.</p>

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alias Masek ◽  
Sulaiman Yamin

Recent research reveals a gap in determining the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on students’ critical thinking ability. Existing evidences from previous research have been equivocal to be deemed conclusive, especially in across multiple educational disciplines. This paper investigates the effect of PBL on students’ critical thinking ability, as compared to conventional approach. The study employed an experimental pretest and posttest with control group design. The participants were 53 undergraduate students in electrical engineering course, who attended Electrical Technology Module (ET101) in their first semester. Participants completed the pretest and posttests of the translated version of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Specimen set. The results suggested that students’ critical thinking ability in the PBL group had not been significantly different from their counterparts in the conventional approach group. This paper further discusses the implication of problem-based learning in engineering education.


Author(s):  
Sabine Heuer

Purpose Future speech-language pathologists are often unprepared in their academic training to serve the communicative and cognitive needs of older adults with dementia. While negative attitudes toward older adults are prevalent among undergraduate students, service learning has been shown to positively affect students' attitudes toward older adults. TimeSlips is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve health care students' attitudes toward older adults. The purpose of this study is to explore the change in attitudes in speech-language pathology students toward older adults using TimeSlips in service learning. Method Fifty-one students participated in TimeSlips service learning with older adults and completed the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) before and after service learning. In addition, students completed a reflection journal. The DAS data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics, and journal entries were analyzed using a qualitative analysis approach. Results The service learners exhibited a significant increase in positive attitude as indexed on the DAS. The reflective journal entries supported the positive change in attitudes. Conclusions A noticeable attitude shift was indexed in reflective journals and on the DAS. TimeSlips is an evidence-based, patient-centered approach well suited to address challenges in the preparation of Communication Sciences and Disorders students to work with the growing population of older adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Ayça Aktaç Gürbüz ◽  
Orçun YORULMAZ ◽  
Gülşah DURNA

Scientific research into the reduction of stigmatization, particularly related to specific problems such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), is scarce. In the present study, we examine the impact of a video-based antistigma intervention program for OCD in a pretest-posttest control group research. After being randomly assigned to either an intervention (n= 101) or control group (n= 96), the participants reported their attitudes on a hypothetical case vignette before and after OCD vs. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) videos, and again six months later as a follow up assessment. The mixed design analyses for the group comparisons indicated that although there was no significant difference in the measures of the control group, the participants watching the anti-stigma OCD video, in which the focus was psychoeducation and interaction strategies, reported significantly lower scores on social distances and negative beliefs for the case vignettes they read, and this difference was maintained six months later. Then, the present results indicate the effectiveness of our anti-stigma intervention program for OCD. Interventions to reduce stigmatization can also be viewed as effective tools for changing the attitudes of people toward OCD, although further research and applications are needed related to specific disorders if a longlasting impact is to be achieved.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selahattin Kanten ◽  
Pelin Kanten ◽  
Murat Yeşiltaş

This study aims to investigate the impact of parental career behaviors on undergraduate student’s career exploration and the mediating role of career self-efficacy. In the literature it is suggested that some social and individual factors facilitate students’ career exploration. Therefore, parental career behaviors and career self-efficacy is considered as predictors of student’s career exploration attitudes within the scope of the study. In this respect, data which are collected from 405 undergraduate students having an education on tourism and hotel management field by the survey method are analyzed by using the structural equation modeling. The results of the study indicate that parental career behaviors which are addressed support; interference and lack of engagement have a significant effect on student’s career exploration behaviors such as intended-systematic exploration, environment exploration and self-exploration. In addition, it has been found that one of the dimensions of parental career behaviors addressed as a lack of engagement has a significant effect on career self-efficacy levels of students. However, research results indicate that student’s career self-efficacy has a significant effect on only the self-exploration dimension. On the other hand, career self-efficacy has a partial mediating role between lack of engagement attitudes of parents and career exploration behaviors of students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1026-1033
Author(s):  
Nivedha Valliammai Mahalingam ◽  
Abilasha R ◽  
Kavitha S

Enormous successes have been obtained against the control of major epidemic diseases, such as SARS, MERS, Ebola, Swine Flu in the past. Dynamic interplay of biological, socio-cultural and ecological factors, together with novel aspects of human-animal interphase, pose additional challenges with respect to the emergence of infectious diseases. The important challenges faced in the control and prevention of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases range from understanding the impact of factors that are necessary for the emergence, to development of strengthened surveillance systems that can mitigate human suffering and death. The aim of the current study is to assess the awareness of symptomatic differences between viral diseases like COVID-19, SARS, Swine flu and common cold among dental students that support the prevention of emergence or re-emergence. Cross-sectional type of study conducted among the undergraduate students comprising 100 Subjects. A questionnaire comprising 15 questions in total were framed, and responses were collected in Google forms in SPSS Software statistical analysis. The study has concluded that dental students have an awareness of the symptomatic differences between infectious viral disease. The study concluded that the awareness of symptomatic differences between viral diseases like COVID-19, SARS, Swine flu, Common cold is good among the dental students who would pave the way for early diagnosis and avoid spreading of such diseases. A further awareness can be created by regular webinars, seminars and brainstorming sessions among these healthcare professionals.


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