DEUTSCH IN DER WIRTSCHAFT (WIDAF®) – STANDARDIZOVANÁ ZKOUŠKA Z ODBORNÉHO JAZYKA SE ZAMĚŘENÍM NA HOSPODÁŘSKOU NĚMČINU NA EKONOMICKÉ FAKULTĚ TECHNICKÉ UNIVERZITY V LIBERCI (TUL)

The article presents various types of standardized examinations and provides more detailed information on the German in der Wirtschaft (WiDaF®) Business German examination. Based on the data obtained over a period of several years during which the WiDaF® examinations have been organized at TUL, the paper deals with the evaluation of the overall results of this examination as well as its individual parts. The data obtained are a valuable indicator of students’ knowledge as well as its deficiencies, and have been taken into account in updating the curricula.

Emergence in School Systems: Lessons from Complexity and Pedagogical Leadership

The theoretical framework for this study draws on conceptual advances from two bodies of scholarship: 1) complexity thinking in education, which has recently focused on school system change and, 2) school leadership research, which has recently attended to the effects of leadership interventions to school improvement. Using a complexity-thinking framework, the purpose of this study was to understand how leadership practices contribute to shaping change in school systems and how change occurred across the system. Our study was conducted in an urban centre in Alberta within a public-school jurisdiction and in an area of the city that had a high population of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds from low-income households compared to other areas across the school jurisdiction. Students in this area typically scored in the lowest quartile on provincial standardized examinations. Our findings are significant because complexity thinking in the context of school leadership has not received sufficient empirical attention. In our study we identified and described pedagogical leadership practices that play a central role in redressing disparities currently found in schools.

Effect of a required online graded curriculum in the clerkship years on medical student national standardized examination performance

Context Many medical schools have a distributed model for clinical clerkship education, challenging our ability to determine student gaps during clinical education. With the graduating class of 2017, A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) began requiring additional online curricula for all clerkship courses. Objectives To determine whether third year and fourth year students receiving ATSU-SOMA’s online curricula during core clerkships performed better overall on national standardized examinations than students from previous years who had not received the curricula, and whether scores from online coursework correlated with outcomes on standardized examinations as possible early predictors of success. Methods This retrospective cohort study analyzed existing data (demographics and assessments) from ATSU-SOMA classes of 2017–2020 (curriculum group) and 2014–2016 (precurriculum group). The effect of the curriculum on national standardized examinations (Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Achievement Test [COMAT] and Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States [COMLEX-USA]) was estimated using augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW). Correlations between assignment scores and national standardized examinations were estimated using linear regression models. Results The curriculum group had 405 students with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 25.7 (±3.1) years. Two hundred and fifteen (53.1%) students in the curriculum group were female and 190 (46.9%) were male. The precurriculum group had 308 students (mean ± SD age, 26.4 ± 4.2 years; 157 [51.0%] male; 151 [49.0%] female). The online curriculum group had higher COMAT clinical subject exam scores in obstetrics and gynecology, osteopathic principles and practice (OPP), psychiatry, and surgery (all p≤0.04), as well as higher COMLEX-USA Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation (CE) family medicine and OPP subscores (both p≤0.03). The curriculum group had a 9.4 point increase in mean total COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE score (p=0.08). No effect was found for the curriculum overall on COMAT mean or COMLEX-USA Level 2-Performance Evaluation scores (all p≥0.11). Total coursework scores in each core clerkship, excluding pediatrics, were correlated with COMAT mean score (all adjusted p≤0.03). Mean scores for five of the seven assignment types in core clerkships, excluding evidence based medicine types, were positively correlated with COMAT mean scores (all adjusted p≤0.049). All assignment types correlated with COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE total score (all adjusted p≤0.04), except interprofessional education (IPE). Conclusions Results from this study of 713 students from ATSU-SOMA suggested that our online curriculum supplemented clinic based learning during clerkship courses and improved student outcomes on national standardized examinations.

Postsecondary Entrance Examinations in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of the Design and Predictive Validity of the Tripartite Assessment System

Admission into post-secondary education requires the fulfillment of specific standards or criteria by prospective candidates. Criteria include, but are not limited to, standardized examinations, resumes, intent statements, tests, interviews, etc. In Nigeria, prospective students must pass three examinations as part of the admission process into post-secondary programs. Reports suggest these examinations lack the best design features and have very low predictive validity in student success in post-secondary programs and their job roles after graduation. This paper critically evaluates the design features of SSCE, UTME, and PUTME in the context of Nigeria and their predictive validity towards student learning and success as graduates. Implications of the Nigerian post-secondary entrance assessment system are discussed. Recommendations are offered from two jurisdictional models to improve the current status of the tripartite post-secondary entrance assessment system in Nigeria.

New method for early evaluation of clitoris innervation using clitoro-perineal reflex after feminizing genitoplasty in early childhood: a pilot-study

A major complication of feminizing genitoplasty in children is the loss of clitoral sensation with serious impact at adult life. We suggest a new method to evaluate the surgical results during childhood based on the bulbocavernosus or clitoro-perineal reflex (CPR). The afferent pathway of CPR implies the intact sensory receptors on the clitoral glans. Girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia who were followed-up medically without surgery or who underwent feminizing genitoplasty with or without clitoroplasty were included (2002–2018). All clitoroplasties were standardized reduction clitoroplasty with preservation of neurovascular bundles associated with vaginoplasty and vestibuloplasty. Standardized examinations were prospectively performed including the CPR starting at one year postoperatively. The reflex was triggered by gentle touch of the glans by a cotton swab. Contraction of the perineal muscles was considered positive. Thirty-two children were operated at a median age of 8.6 months (5.8–12.1). Median follow-up (FU) was 3.9 years (1.3–6.4). Twenty-four patients had clitoroplasties: 17 were tested for CPR at one-year FU, and all had a positive test. Eight girls had genitoplasty without clitoral surgery, two of them were tested and were positive. Ten patients were managed without surgery, two of them were tested for the CPR and were positive. The reflex was always triggered easily and repeated at least twice during the FU. The clitoro-perineal reflex is a simple, non-invasive and reproducible test in early childhood and may serve as an early evaluation tool of clitoral innervation after feminizing genitoplasty. These results need to be confirmed at long term and completed at adult life.

Use of simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of barrier precautions to prevent patient-to-patient transfer of healthcare-associated pathogens

Background: There is controversy regarding whether the addition of cover gowns offers a substantial benefit over gloves alone in reducing personnel contamination and preventing pathogen transmission. Design: Simulated patient care interactions. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of different types of barrier precautions and to identify routes of transmission. Methods: In randomly ordered sequence, 30 personnel each performed 3 standardized examinations of mannequins contaminated with pathogen surrogate markers (cauliflower mosaic virus DNA, bacteriophage MS2, nontoxigenic Clostridioides difficile spores, and fluorescent tracer) while wearing no barriers, gloves, or gloves plus gowns followed by examination of a noncontaminated mannequin. We compared the frequency and routes of transfer of the surrogate markers to the second mannequin or the environment. Results: For a composite of all surrogate markers, transfer by hands occurred at significantly lower rates in the gloves-alone group (OR, 0.02; P < .001) and the gloves-plus-gown group (OR, 0.06; P = .002). Transfer by stethoscope diaphragms was common in all groups and was reduced by wiping the stethoscope between simulations (OR, 0.06; P < .001). Compared to the no-barriers group, wearing a cover gown and gloves resulted in reduced contamination of clothing (OR, 0.15; P < .001), but wearing gloves alone did not. Conclusions: Wearing gloves alone or gloves plus gowns reduces hand transfer of pathogens but may not address transfer by devices such as stethoscopes. Cover gowns reduce the risk of contaminating the clothing of personnel.

Use of Simulations to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Barrier Precautions for Prevention of pathogen Transmission

Background: Barrier precautions (eg, gloves and gowns) are often used in clinical settings to reduce the risk for transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens. However, uncertainty persists regarding the efficacy of different types of barrier precautions in preventing transmission. Methods: We used simulated patient care interactions to compare the effectiveness of different levels of barrier precautions in reducing transfer of pathogen surrogate markers. Overall, 30 personnel performed standardized examinations of contaminated mannequins while wearing either no barriers, gloves, or gloves plus cover gowns followed by examination of a noncontaminated mannequin; the order of the barrier precautions was randomly assigned. Participants used their usual technique for hand hygiene, stethoscope cleaning, and protective equipment removal. The surrogate markers included cauliflower mosaic virus DNA, bacteriophage MS2, nontoxigenic Clostridium difficile spores, and a fluorescent tracer. We compared the frequency and route of transfer of each of the surrogate markers to the second mannequin or to the surrounding environment. Results: As shown in Fig. 1, wearing gloves alone or gloves plus gowns significantly reduced transfer of each of the surrogate markers by the hands of participants (P < .05 for each marker). However, wearing gloves or gloves plus gowns only modestly reduced transfer by stethoscopes despite cleaning of stethoscopes between exams by approximately half of the participants. Contamination of the clothing of participants was significantly reduced in the glove plus gown group versus the gloves only or no-barriers groups (P < .05). Conclusion: Barrier precautions are effective in reducing hand transfer of pathogens from patient to patient, but transfer may still occur via devices such as stethoscopes. Cover gowns reduce the risk for contamination of the clothing of personnel.Funding: Proprietary Organization: The Center for Disease Control.Disclosures: None

How Social Numbers Are Made Valid

This chapter explains that, as with the methods of natural science, the quantitative technologies used to investigate social and economic life work best if the world they aim to describe can be remade in their image. Numbers alone never provide enough information to make detailed decisions about the operation of a company. Their highest purpose is to instill an ethic. Measures of profitability — measures of achievement in general — succeed to the degree they become “technologies of the soul.” They provide legitimacy for administrative actions, in large part because they provide standards against which people judge themselves. Grades in school, scores on standardized examinations, and the bottom line on an accounting sheet cannot work effectively unless their validity, or at least reasonableness, is accepted by the people whose accomplishments or worth they purport to measure. When it is, the measures succeed by giving direction to the very activities that are being measured. In this way, individuals are made governable; they display what Foucault called governmentality. Numbers create and can be compared with norms, which are among the gentlest and yet most pervasive forms of power in modern democracies.