The Association Among Achievement Goal Orientations, Academic Performance, and Academic Well-Being Among Chinese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Learning motivation is a significant factor that ensures quality in medical education, and might affect the academic performance and well-being of medical students. This study aimed to explore the status of achievement goal orientations among medical students in China and to further identify the association among academic performance, academic well-being, and achievement goal orientations. Data were collected through a cross-sectional, anonymous survey conducted with 3,511 respondents (effective response rate = 81.7%), from four medical universities in China, and demographic factors, achievement goal orientations, academic performance, and academic well-being were assessed. The average score of achievement goal orientations of Chinese medical students suggested a difference in demographic factors, including sex, year of study, experience of leadership cadre, and family income. Both mastery and performance-avoidance goals were associated with academic performance, subjective academic stress, subjective learning adaptability, subjective sleep quality, and subjective well-being. Performance-approach goals were related to academic performance, subjective academic stress, and subjective learning adaptability. The achievement goal orientations of the medical students in this study were at a middle level. The findings emphasize the importance of mastery goals for promoting the academic performance and well-being of medical students. More care and attention toward achievement goal orientations can be beneficial for the improvement of the academic performance and well-being among medical students.

How to Effectively and Efficiently Communicate Research Results? Experimental Study on the Influence of Interactivity and Presentation form on Knowledge Transfer and Cognitive Activity

When it comes to presenting research results, the usual approach is to use PowerPoint or similar slide applications, or to opt for alternative presentation tools. A central question is how well the knowledge is transferred and to what extent the target audience is addressed emotionally. Based on a 2*2 factorial design, the effects of presentation form (PowerPoint slide presentation vs. explainer video) and interaction (no interaction vs. interaction by means of additional questions on the topic) were investigated. Overall, the presentation factor is more important for learning success than the interaction factor and explainer videos perform significantly better than the PowerPoint presentation. This applies to the objective and subjective learning success, but also to the emotional appeal and the increase in engagement, interest and other cognitive activities. The effects of the interaction factor are relatively low, achieving minor improvements in combination with the PowerPoint presentation, while no statistically significant and relevant effects were found in combination with the explainer video.

ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: DESIGNING A TEXTBOOK

This paper considers some issues in designing a textbook for students of psychology and students of education enrolled in the same ESP course. These issues include balancing students’ objective and subjective learning needs in the selection of real content aimed at developing necessary competences in accordance with the course objectives, as well as selecting carrier content to satisfy the needs and interests of students of both disciplines. An additional challenge involves accommodating learning needs of students with different levels of language proficiency, while also taking into account their evolving specialist knowledge. The paper then looks at the structure and content of the textbook English for Students of Psychology and Education, published by the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

Psychological transformation methods and Countermeasures of higher vocational students with mathematics learning disabilities

In recent years, the learning disabilities of vocational school students for their weak mathematical foundation and lack of interest have become a hot topic in vocational education. Mathematics learning disabilities of vocational school students are not only objective learning difficulties, but also subjective learning psychology problems. Exploring the psychology transformation methods and countermeasures of mathematics learning disabilities of higher vocational students provides an important reference for solving this problem.

Comparing Early Childhood Teacher Education in the subject Language learning and Early literacy in Denmark and Norway

Few studies highlight the content of early childhood teacher education (ECTE) and examine the quality of knowledge acquired by future early childhood teachers. The current study concerns two questions. The first explores the goals of the national curricula in Danish and Norwegian ECTE concerning children’s language learning and early literacy. The second explores how satisfied Danish and Norwegian student teachers are with their own subjective learning outcomes related to the same themes. To answer the first question, data were collected through document analysis of the two countries’ national curricula. To answer the second question, data were collected through a survey handed out to student teachers in both countries at the end of their education. The survey contained questions about factual, procedural, and meta-knowledge areas. The survey participants comprised 199 Norwegian student teachers from three University Colleges and 90 Danish student teachers from three separate campuses at one University College. This study reveals that the Norwegian student teachers evaluated their subjective learning outcomes in the fields of language learning and early literacy more highly than Danish student teachers. Our research points to the fact that, compared to the Norwegian ECTE, the breadth of subjects in the Danish ECTE bachelor program tends to give lower subjective learning outcomes in these knowledge areas.

Narrative and aesthetics as antecedents of perceived learning in serious games

PurposeThis study uses a critically acclaimed digital game as an instructional tool to explore the role of emotional design elements on psychological flow and perceived learning.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ transportation theory to generate a set of antecedents of psychological flow and the theory of flow to connect the gaming experience to positive learning outcomes. The authors investigate the subjective learning experience of players with the use of a psychometric survey, and the authors employ structural equation modelling (SEM) to unearth the direct as well as the indirect effects amongst narrative, aesthetics, flow and learning outcomes.FindingsThe findings of this study demonstrate that narrative and aesthetics in serious games positively influence the perceived learning by facilitating a state of psychological flow.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to better understanding and theorizing the role of narrative and aesthetics on learning outcomes in the context of serious games.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study bear valuable implications for the design of serious games as they highlight the importance of elements often disregarded as not directly related to the learning process and are typically absent from the design of serious games.Originality/valuePrior studies have identified aesthetics and narratives as design elements that contribute to the perceived enjoyment of a game; this study empirically investigates the role of narratives and aesthetics in enhancing perceived learning through psychological flow.

Video-based, student tutor- versus faculty staff-led ultrasound course for medical students – a prospective randomized study

Background Ultrasound education is propagated already during medical school due to its diagnostic importance. Courses are usually supervised by experienced faculty staff (FS) with patient bedside examinations or students among each other but often overbooked due to limited FS availability. To overcome this barrier, use of teaching videos may be advantageous. Likewise, peer teaching concepts solely with trained student tutors have shown to be feasible and effective. The aim was to evaluate 1) objective learning outcomes of a combined video-based, student-tutor (ViST) as compared to a FS-led course without media support, 2) acceptance and subjective learning success of the videos. Methods Two ultrasound teaching videos for basic and advanced abdominal ultrasound (AU) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were produced and six students trained as tutors. Fourth-year medical students (N = 96) were randomized to either the ViST- or FS course (6 students per tutor). Learning objectives were defined equally for both courses. Acquired practical basic and advanced ultrasound skills were tested in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) using modified validated scoring sheets with a maximum total score of 40 points. Acceptance and subjective learning success of both videos were evaluated by questionnaires based on Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model with scale-rated closed and open questions. Results 79 of 96 medical students completed the OSCE and 77 could be finally analyzed. There was no significant difference in the mean total point score of 31.3 in the ViST (N = 42) and 32.7 in the FS course (N = 35, P = 0.31) or in any of the examined basic or advanced ultrasound skill subtasks. Of the 42 ViST participants, 29 completed the AU and 27 the TTE video questionnaire. Acceptance and subjective learning success of both videos was rated positively in 14–52% and 48–88% of the rated responses to each category, respectively. Attendance of either the student or faculty tutor was deemed necessary in addition to the videos. Conclusions A ViST versus FS teaching concept was able to effectively teach undergraduate students in AU and TTE, albeit acceptance of the teaching videos alone was limited. However, the ViST concept has the potential to increase course availability and FS resource allocation.

Developing physician leaders: does it work?

BackgroundLeader development programmes are signature features of frontrunner multinational companies. Healthcare institutions have generally lagged behind, though attention to implementing leader development programmes in healthcare institutions is increasing. The rationale for leader development in healthcare is that leadership competencies matter and that traditional selection and training of physicians may conspire against both optimal leadership competencies and followership.MethodsThe growth of leader development in healthcare institutions begs the question: Does leader development work?ResultsIn this context, three meta-analyses have examined the impact of leader development programmes in healthcare institutions. In general, findings from these studies indicate that while studies do assess the subjective learning of participants, few studies have evaluated the organisational impact of such leader development programmes.ConclusionsThese findings suggest the need for more rigorous, objective assessment of the organisational impact of leader development programmes in healthcare institutions. Such evidence is critically needed in the current resource-constrained environment of healthcare.