Strengthening the coding skills of teachers in a low dropout Python MOOC

In this paper, we present a structured approach to developing an outreach program aimed at improving the coding abilities of pre- and in-service teachers. The paper presents the design and development decisions made using the ADDIE model. External evaluators assessed the material's quality, confirmed the estimated workload, and examined the material's relevance to the educational goals. Learners’ active participation was encouraged through multiple quizzes, and learners were assisted in their learning activities by means of practical examples. Based on the number of people who actually logged into the course, a completion rate of 70.84 percent is achieved. The paper presents and discusses the findings of an evaluation conducted with the assistance of experienced teachers and course participants.

Clinical and Sonographic Classification of Neurofibromas in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 – A Cluster Analysis

Purpose High-frequency ultrasound allows the accurate identification of neurofibromas in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). This study aimed to analyze the ultrasound features of neurofibromas in children with NF1, to establish a classification based on the clinical and sonographic patterns of the different types of neurofibromas, and to evaluate the interobserver correlation coefficient (κ) of this classification. Materials and Methods In this prospective, single referral center observational study, clinical and ultrasound findings of neurofibromas in children diagnosed with NF 1 were analyzed. To identify the ultrasound patterns, a cluster analysis allowing the inclusion of both clinical and ultrasound data was designed. The κ coefficient was calculated using 9 external evaluators. Results 265 ultrasound scans were performed on a total of 242 neurofibromas from 108 children diagnosed with NF1. Cluster analysis allowed the identification of 9 patterns (Snedecorʼs F, P < 0.001) classified as “classic” cutaneous neurofibroma, blue-red neurofibroma, pseudoatrophic neurofibroma, nodular subcutaneous neurofibroma, diffuse subcutaneous neurofibroma, congenital cutaneous neurofibroma, congenital plexiform neurofibroma, congenital diffuse and plexiform neurofibroma, and subfascial neurofibroma. The κ coefficient of the interobserver ratings was 0.82. Conclusion Patterns identified in the cluster analysis allow neurofibromas to be classified with a very high interobserver correlation.

Brazil’s National System for the Evaluation of Higher Education: Context, Challenges and Perspectives

This article discusses the implementation of the National System for the Evaluation of Higher Education (SINAES) from its inception in 2004 to present times, giving special attention to advances achieved and to the challenges that must be met in the near future. After a discussion of higher education quality assurance from an international perspective, the text examines adjustments that have been made to operationalize the implementation of the SINAES model and then emphasizes the importance of improving the self-evaluation component of the System. The article concludes by addressing the challenges that must still be met, such as the inclusion within SINAES of state higher education systems, the improvement of indicators and external evaluators, the effective utilization evaluation results, the need to distinguish evaluation processes from regulation policies, and the possibility of transforming the existing framework into a multidimensional evaluation model.

A journey in family literacy : investigation into influences on the development of an approach to family literacy

In this critical reflective self study I have examined the Family Literacy Project (FLP) to determine the influences that contributed to the development of an approach to family literacy. This study responds to the question What influences contributed to the development of an approach to family literacy relevant to the needs of families in rural KwaZulu Natal? By identifying and exploring and critically reflecting on these influences I provide insights that can inform policy and practice in the adult education and early childhood development sectors in South Africa. The study includes my critical reflections on finding a voice within a self study and how this has contributed towards the development of a methodology. In the process, I have developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of what has been achieved in the FLP during the first eight years under my directorship, and why. In the study, I report on these insights. The FLP project in this study is situated in deeply rural KwaZulu Natal, where the existing extensive knowledge base is almost exclusively oral, and informed by well established insights, understandings and values. In this context, I have examined the roles of families, adult literacy and early childhood development to establish their impact on the development of literacy in families. Through critical reflection, I then identified the principles – active learning, holistic development, community and children‟s rights – underpinning the FLP and was able to establish how these impacted on the development and success of the project. I then examined the roles, practices and characteristics of the FLP facilitators, and the experiences of facilitators and those who engaged in the project. I also looked at the roles played by the community, the external evaluators, and the effect of exposure of the project in the public domain through attendance at iv conferences, publication of journal articles, and awards made to the project because of its successes. I conclude the study by suggesting how the insights from the study might provide support for others engaged in such initiatives and indicating how the topic may be further investigated.

What works for poor farmers? Insights from South Africa’s national policy evaluations

Background: Growing numbers of developing countries are investing in National Evaluation Systems (NESs). A key question is whether these have the potential to bring about meaningful policy change, and if so, what evaluation approaches are appropriate to support reflection and learning throughout the change process.Objectives: We describe the efforts of commissioned external evaluators in developing an evaluation approach to help critically assess the efficacy of some of the most important policies and programmes aimed at supporting South African farmers from the past two decades.Method: We present the diagnostic evaluation approach we developed. The approach guides evaluation end users through a series of logical steps to help make sense of an existing evidence base in relation to the root problems addressed, and the specific needs of the target populations. No additional evaluation data were collected. Groups who participated include government representatives, academics and representatives from non-governmental organisations and national associations supporting emerging farmers.Results: Our main evaluation findings relate to a lack of policy coherence in important key areas, most notably extension and advisory services, and microfinance and grants. This was characterised by; (1) an absence of common understanding of policies and objectives; (2) overly ambitious objectives often not directly linked to the policy frameworks; (3) lack of logical connections between target groups and interventions and (4) inadequate identification, selection, targeting and retention of beneficiaries.Conclusion: The diagnostic evaluation allowed for uniquely cross-cutting and interactive engagement with a complex evidence base. The evaluation process shed light on new evaluation review methods that might work to support a NES.

Development of a List of Competencies and Entrustable Professional Activities for Resident Physicians During Death Pronouncement: A Modified Delphi Study

Purpose: Appropriate delivery of death pronouncements potentially affects bereaved families’ wellbeing positively. Younger physicians need to learn death pronouncement skills; currently, the competencies and entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in death pronouncement practice have not been clarified.Therefore, this study aimed to develop a list of competencies and EPAs necessary for death pronouncement practice, which resident physicians need to acquire by the end of their residency training (postgraduate year 2).Methods: An anonymous modified Delphi study was conducted with a panel of 31 experts. The experts were invited online from general wards in hospitals with resident physicians across Japan to participate in the study using the purposive and snowball sampling method. A non-anonymous web conference was held with three additional external evaluators to finalize the item list. The consensus criterion was defined as a mean response of at least 4 points on a 5-point Likert scale for each competency and EPA item and a rating of 4 or 5 points by at least 80% of the participants.Results: Consensus was achieved, with consistently high levels of agreement across panel members, on 11 competencies and 9 EPA items. Additionally, a correspondence matrix table between competencies and EPAs was developed.Conclusions: This study clarified the standardized educational outcomes for knowledge, skills, and attitudes in death pronouncement practice and the level of physicians who can perform this practice independently, serving as a blueprint to aid the development of an educational model and evaluation method for clinical educational institutions and developers of medical school curriculums.

The IMPACT OF ACCREDITATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS/INSTITUTIONS IN PAKISTAN

The role of the education in the development of any country is very well accepted .In fact it is the only solution to socioeconomic, regional/geographical issues of any nation. Education and its quality are directly related to the quality of instruction by teacher in classroom. In-fact no system of education is better than its teacher. In Pakistan’s case serious and consistent efforts are needed to improve the quality of teachers on the priority bases. Because the qualitative dimension of teacher education programs have resulted in mass production of teachers with shallow understanding of content and methodology. In Pakistan accreditation system has been introduced to accredit teacher education programs and initiatives are been taking to initiate registration, licensing and certification process of teachers. The accreditation of teacher education programs has been declared mandatory by HEC. All the institutions offering any graduate level teacher education programs are required to get the accreditation of their programs. The purpose of initiating the accreditation process for Teacher Education was to ensure and improve the quality of teacher education, programs and institutions. Formal accreditation is being has been conducted since 2010-2011. The NACTE has accredited around 450 programs of more than 180 public and private sector teacher education institutions by 2019, which includes colleges and universities offering teacher education all over Pakistan. It was descriptive in nature, which focused on providing an accurate description of the impact of teacher education programs and institutions. This method was preferred as the study primarily sought to describe and understand the stakeholder’s response of the impact of accreditation on institution and program improvement, rather than determining any cause-and-effect relationship. The criteria for sample selection were based on the participation of the concerned faculty, HOD and external evaluators in the accreditation process of the programs offered by the institutions. Five point Likert scale was developed to collect data from the stakeholders HOD, Teacher Educators and External Evaluators. The use of mean, SD provided the basis for calculation, application and interpretation of t-test and ANOVA. Majority of participants said that accreditation process have high impact on improvement of teacher education programs. It is important question to participants about Program Accreditation whether it helped to improve teacher education program while some participants said that program accreditation sensitized the accountability of staff, administration and students. In conclusion, a number of important implications at both national and institutional levels for more effective accreditation are identified.

Comparative analysis of Advanced and Immediate Life Support acquisition degree.

La Parada Cardiorrespiratoria (PCR) es un problema de salud pública en los países desarrollados. De acuerdo con La Sociedad Española de Resucitación, en España hay alrededor de treinta mil muertes al año y unos veinte mil intentos de resucitación, y aun así hasta hace muy poco los alumnos de Medicina no recibían formación reglada en Soporte Vital Avanzado (SVA). Con la introducción en 2018 de una nueva asignatura afrontamos este problema, y sin embargo nos encontramos con que no está establecido qué tipo de Soporte Vital es el adecuado para nuestros estudiantes. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio es analizar de manera comparativa el nivel de adquisición de competencias en SVA y SVI y su evolución temporal en estudiantes de quinto y sexto de Medicina de la Universidad de Granada (UGR). Para alcanzar este objetivo, obtuvimos datos en una primera evaluación de los alumnos de medicina que participaron en la asignatura optativa de SVA en la Universidad de Granada durante los meses de Octubre y Noviembre (2019). Meses después, se llevó a cabo una nueva re evaluación durante los meses de Febrero y Marzo de 2020 a la misma muestra de estudiantes, gracias a la cual obtuvimos los datos para la comparación. Dichos datos mostraron que el nivel de adquisición de competencias en SVI supera al de las competencias que componen el SVA y, además, el efecto de la Curva del Olvido para las competencias incluidas en el SVI es menor. De esta manera, se puede concluir que las competencias que componen el SVI presentan un mayor nivel de adquisición, y un menor efecto de la Curva del Olvido y por tanto deberían ser las que pasaran a formar parte de la formación para los estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad de Granada. Cardiac arrest (CA) is a major public health problem in developed countries. According to the Spanish Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Council, in Spain there are around thirty thousand deaths a year and about twenty thousand resuscitation attempts, and yet until very recently medical students did not receive formal training in Advanced Life Support (ALS). With the introduction in 2018 of a new subject, we faced the problem of not having established what type of Life Support was appropriate for our students. As a result, the aim of this study is to analyze in a comparative way the degree of acquisition of competences in ALS and Immediate Life Support (ILS) and their temporal evolution by the students of fifth and sixth year (Medicine Degree) of the University of Granada (UGR). To achieve that aim, we obtained the data in an initial evaluation to the medical students who enrolled in the optional subject of Advanced Life Support in the Faculty of Medicine (UGR), during the months of October and November (2019). This evaluation was carried out by external evaluators and was based on the ERC 2015 guidelines. Months later, a reassessment that was carried out during the months of February and March 2020 to the same sample of students gave us the data for the comparison. Data showed that the degree of acquisition of competencies related to the ILS exceeds the level of acquisition of the competences included within the ALS, and that the effect of the Oblivion Curve for the competences included in the ILS is lower than those included in the ALS. We could conclude that the competences that are integrated within the ILS present a higher level of acquisition and a lesser effect on the forgetting curve, so they should become part of the curricular content of the UGR Medical Degree.

How to Analyze Communication Data from Laboratory Experiments Without Being a Machine Learning Specialist

Recently, the analysis of communication has gained attention in experimental research. One important question is whether certain types of communication affect decisions differently than others. In this regard, Houser & Xiao (2011) present an approach for the classification of natural language messages. The primary limitation of their approach is its limited applicability to large message datasets. Therefore, Penczynski (2019) extends the methodological instruments by applying a machine learning classifier to experimental communication data. This is accompanied by the problem of a dearth of machine learning knowledge among experimenters. Hence, this paper presents an approach that employs a publicly available machine learning text analysis application. This makes it possible to analyze larger datasets based on small training datasets classified beforehand by human evaluators. As a first step, I use primary communication data reported by Charness and Dufwenberg (2006) to generate both training and test datasets. Following this approach, I am able to substantially replicate the original classification results obtained by Charness and Dufwenberg. The second step again involves messages from Charness and Dufwenberg as training data, while I take messages from a related trust game published by Deck et al. (2013) as a test, dataset. Promisingly, I am also able to replicate the classification results obtained by the external evaluators, as reported by Deck et al. The findings suggest that machine learning can be used to analyze large message datasets, both if the artificial intelligence is trained with data from the very same experiment and if it is trained with message data from a comparable experiment.

Mechanisms and Obstacles of Investing Social Capital of Retired Saudi Woman

The present research aims to identify the mechanisms required for investing the social capital of retired Saudi woman and the relevant obstacles. To achieve the research objectives, the author adopted the descriptive analytical approach. A questionnaire was used to identify the major mechanisms and obstacles of investing the social capital of retired Saudi woman. The results showed that the mechanism of (the inclusion of retired holders of master or doctorate degrees in the membership of evaluation committees instead of the external evaluators) was ranked the most required one, whereas the mechanism of (providing good allowances and benefits for the retired women to encourage them to return to work and rearranging their life requirements according to the relevant studies and papers) was ranked the least required. Furthermore, it indicated the substantial obstacles that prevent investing the social capital of retired Saudi woman. The paper recommends collaboration among civil society institutions to reinforce and disseminate volunteering culture, especially among the retired women because they constitute the foundations of the community that adopts the fundamentals ​​of social capital, which achieve human development by setting the regulations that organize and protect voluntary work. Received: 4 October 2020 / Accepted: 30 November 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021