The Benefits of Academically Oriented Peer Mentoring for At-Risk Student Populations

This article examines an academically oriented peer-mentoring program at St. John’s University. The program targeted at-risk first-year students who were having difficulty making the transition to college and matched them with trained student mentors within their major discipline. In addition to meeting with one another bi-weekly, all of the students came together for a series of organized events over the course of the academic year. The goals of the program were that mentees would (1) feel an increased sense of belonging at the university, (2) raise their GPAs, and (3) show improved retention to the second year. After examining how successful the program was relative to these goals, the authors recommend some best practices for peer-mentoring programs. These recommendations are based on both features of the program in the study that contributed to its success and areas where the program could have been improved based on the results.

In-class and after-class lecture note-taking strategies

There is a need to better understand note-taking in lectures. Specifically, how in-class and after-class note-taking strategies are used, whether the use of in-class and after-class note-taking strategies varies by gender, year of study and field of major/discipline and to explore the connection between the use of in-class note-taking strategies and after-class note-taking strategies. The study described in this article gathered data from 1072 undergraduate students. The results showed that during class, the most frequently employed strategy was key point selection, followed by comprehension-monitoring, organisation, copying and elaboration. After class, the strategy employed most frequently was elaboration, followed by organisation and help-seeking. It was revealed that females are more likely than males to employ copying, key point selection, organisation and comprehension-monitoring strategies during class as well as elaboration, organisation and help-seeking strategies after class. In addition, students majoring in humanities or social sciences are more likely than those majoring in the natural sciences to use key point selection strategy during class. Finally, students’ in-class note-taking strategies were correlated with their after-class note-taking strategies. Implications for practice are presented.

FROM PERSONAL TO GLOBAL: CULTIVATING YOUR GERONTOLOGICAL VOICE

From intro-level undergraduates to advanced graduate students in gerontology, understanding and developing a “gerontological voice” is often an elusive concept and challenging process to articulate. How we view, understand, and give voice to aging-related issues is influenced by a number of different factors: Micro-level factors (e.g., personality, personal experiences with older adults, and personal interests and values); meso-level factors (e.g., coursework in aging and academic major/discipline); and, macro-level factors (e.g., societal and cultural values, media, activism, and advocacy). As an adaptable teaching exercise for all levels of students, this poster presents a novel framework to support students’ exploration and cultivation of their unique gerontological voice. Through this three-level scaffolded discovery, students across disciplines strengthen their awareness and understanding of their distinct voice and build confidence to activate around aging-related issues pertinent to their specific interests and passions. From personal to global, this guided introspective exercise provides an opportunity for students to focus and embed their voice into the larger tapestry of gerontology, an inclusive community rich with perspective and diversity. Encouraging the development of students is an essential part of building social capital which is instrumental to the creation of strong networks to serve older adults through a multitude of disciplines.

Mapping Global Research Output in Big Data during 2007-16

The paper examines global research in big data, as covered in Scopus database 2007-16, on a series of bibliometric indicators. The study finds that big data registered exceedingly fast growth (135.2%), but averaged low citation impact per paper (3.75) and accounted for very low share of highly cited papers (0.86%) in 10 years. The study reports publication trends in big data research by top countries, top institutions, top authors, top journals, major subject areas, publication modes, and country-level share of international collaborative publications. The study concludes that big data is a subject of recent origin. Given its major potential to impact business, governance, society, healthcare, industry and many other sectors, big data is fast emerging as a major discipline of interest and importance to nations, corporates, and institutions across developed and fast emerging economies.

2553 Authors’ perceptions of the interdisciplinarity of their research

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The objectives of this study were to compare different methods for determining the disciplines involved in a research article. We sought to address the following questions: To what extent does the number of disciplines reported by an article’s corresponding author agree with their description of the article as unidisciplinary or interdisciplinary? (Q1) and To what extent does the corresponding author’s description of the research as unidisciplinary or interdisciplinary agree with its classification as unidisciplinary or interdisciplinary based on the affiliation of its co-authors? (Q2). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Using Scopus, we randomly selected 100 articles from 2010 and 2015 from science teams that had at least 1 author affiliated with Johns Hopkins. Author affiliations were grouped into common academic disciplines: Basic Science, Medicine (and all clinical specialties), Public Health, Engineering, Social Science, Computer Science, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Other. Articles with more than 1 discipline were considered, interdisciplinary. We then sent an online Qualtrics survey to the corresponding author of each article and asked them to indicate (1) all of the disciplines that contributed to the research article at hand, and (2) to indicate whether they considered the research to be “unidisciplinary” or “interdisciplinary” based on definitions that we provided. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: For Q1, we asked corresponding authors to indicate the number of disciplines involved in their research and then to choose the definition that best described their research. Among 76 respondents, 42 indicated that their research consisted of 1 discipline, and 34 indicated that their research consisted of more than 1 discipline. Of the 42 respondents who indicated that their research consisted of one discipline, 21 (50%) respondents described their research as “unidisciplinary” and 21 (50%) described their research as “interdisciplinary.” However, of the 34 respondents who indicated that their research consisted of more than 1 discipline, all but 1 (97%) described their research as “interdisciplinary.” For Q2, we assigned a discipline to each co-author based on his/her affiliation and counted the number of disciplines involved. Among 76 respondents, of the 22 who described their research as “unidisciplinary,” 16 (73%) were categorized as “unidisciplinary” and 6 (27%) were categorized as “interdisciplinary,” using this method. Of the 54 respondents who described their research as “interdisciplinary,” 30 (56%) were categorized as “interdisciplinary” and 24 (44%) as “unidisciplinary.” DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results highlight that different methods for determining whether a given research article is interdisciplinary are likely to yield different results. Even when researchers indicate that their research is based within one major discipline, they may still consider it interdisciplinary. Likewise, classifying an article as either unidisciplinary or interdisciplinary based on the affiliations of its co-authors, may not be consistent with the way it is viewed by its authors. It is important to acknowledge that assessing the interdisciplinarity of research is complex and that objective and subjective views may differ.

Evaluation of Internship Assessment in Medical Colleges of Bangladesh

This study aimed to evaluate the current status of the internship assessment in medical colleges of Bangladesh. Internship acts as the pathway from being a medical student to becoming a registered doctor. Hence, a rigorous and robust internship leads to producing better doctor and in turn better healthcare. Thus, proper assessment is necessary to ensure the quality of the future medical practitioners. Unfortunately, no study has been done in Bangladesh related to this context. A cross-sectional descriptive study with pre-tested self-administered questionnaires covering study place and population and factors relevant to intern assessment (assessment after each major discipline completion, assessment techniques, and feedback) was performed. The study was carried out in 8 medical colleges (4 public and 4 non-government; 4 inside Dhaka and 4 outside). 300 completed questionnaires (250 interns, 50 supervisors) were analyzed. All the collected data were analyzed and presented with SPSS v 19.0 software. Results revealed that there was no assessment present after completion of major placement rotation (about 54% interns and 24% teachers). Furthermore, only logbook was signed as the prevailing assessment technique (more than 66% interns and 72% doctors). Moreover, assessment feedback system was not fully functional (48.7% respondent views). Hence, the overall scenario is shabby and poses questions on our future doctors' skill set.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.8(1) 2017: 14-17

Small-Diameter Implants: A 7-Year Retrospective Study

Oral implantology has become a major discipline within the field of dentistry. Small or mini dental implants have demonstrated success in the retention of removable and fixed prostheses. Small-diameter implants (SDI) and mini-diameter implants (MDI) describe a group of implants that demonstrate a diameter less than 3 mm. This retrospective study reports on 335 SDI placed during a 7-year period. All implants were placed in healed sites (>6 months) and loaded immediately or after waiting 3 months. A total of 321 implants were restored and functional within the study's time interval. A total of 14 implants failed, resulting in a 96.1% implant success rate. Treatment plan considerations should include prosthetic design, specific arch, and immediate load. Overall, SDI can be utilized as an alternative implant treatment option for patients with atrophic bone, compromised medical histories and financial constraints.

Learning motivation and personal reflection in students: features and relationship

The paper discusses the intensity of learning motivation in university students of various forms, stages and courses of education and its relationship with personal reflection. Large amounts of empirical data obtained in this research allow us to assert that the adequacy of learning motivation is higher in graduate students than in undergraduate students, the latter demonstrating the highest rates in their first year of study and the lowest in the third. Motivation rates in part-time undergraduate students tend to decrease during the first three years at university; however, the rates increase in the fourth year. We also compared learning motivation in respondents with different levels of reflective thinking. Asit was revealed, adequate motivation and motives for acquiring the profession were higher in students with high levels of reflection as compared to those displaying average and low levels. Moreover, the highest rates of reflection were found in students who planned to pursue their profession and knew exactly in which field, whereas the lowest rates were common for students who were not certain as to whether their work would correspond with their major discipline.

Creating variable developmental situations in primary school lessons

The paper discusses the intensity of learning motivation in university students of various forms, stages and courses of education and its relationship with personal reflection. Large amounts of empirical data obtained in this research allow us to assert that the adequacy of learning motivation is higher in graduate students than in undergraduate students, the latter demonstrating the highest rates in their first year of study and the lowest in the third. Motivation rates in part-time undergraduate students tend to decrease during the first three years at university; however, the rates increase in the fourth year. We also compared learning motivation in respondents with different levels of reflective thinking. Asit was revealed, adequate motivation and motives for acquiring the profession were higher in students with high levels of reflection as compared to those displaying average and low levels. Moreover, the highest rates of reflection were found in students who planned to pursue their profession and knew exactly in which field, whereas the lowest rates were common for students who were not certain as to whether their work would correspond with their major discipline.