Impact of flipped classroom model in increasing the achievement for medical students.

BACKGROUND: Over the past few years, there has been a parallel development in the use of the internet and technology for teaching purposes. The Flipped classroom model (FCM) used by the instructor aims at spending more time interacting with students rather than lecturing them. There are very few studies about the effectiveness of FCM on student performance and perception as compared to the traditional lecture in colleges of medicine. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the FCM on the academic achievement of students in terms of increased performance and perception as compared to the traditional lecture the medical students in Al-Neelain University-Sudan. METHOD: This case-control study compares using (FCM) in the medical students at Al-Neelain University and the traditional lecture and its effect on students' academic achievement. The students were randomly assigned into two groups (A & B), flipped classroom group A (30 students as a test), and traditional classroom group B (33students as control). Major outcome indexes were pretest and posttest results used for students' academic achievement performance assessment and a questionnaire used for student perception evaluation about the FCM. Finally, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS programs. RESULTS: Although the pretest and posttest scores showed highly statistically differences within each group (A&B) with P<.000, when comparing the pretest and posttest scores of the studied groups showed that, there were no statistically significant differences between the pretest and posttest scores between them with P=0.912 and 0.100 respectively. However, more than 80% of participants were satisfied with using a flipped classroom. While more than 90% of students were more motivated to learn in flipped classrooms meeting learning targets when they used FCM. CONCLUSION: There was a positive student perception towards using the FCM, despite no significant effect of FCM on medical students' academic achievement.

Indicators of metabolic syndrome in normotensive normoglycemic asthmatic patients.

BACKGROUND: Pathophysiology of hypertension and bronchial asthma (BA) shares many similarities, especially those related to the metabolic syndrome (MS). AIM: In this study, the indicators of the MS were evaluated in normoglycemic normotensive asthmatic patients to clarify if the components of the MS can still interact to increase the risk of BA, provided that blood pressure and glucose level are kept within the normal physiological ranges. METHODS: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and fasting blood insulin (FBI) levels, the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), serum lipid profile, and spirometric measurements were all compared between 120 asthmatic patients and 59 non-asthmatic subjects. Cigarette smoking, pregnancy, age below 20 years or above 40 years, diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and other chronic diseases were excluded from all studied groups. RESULTS: Asthmatic patients demonstrated higher WC (median [25th-75th interquartile]=88.50 [78.00-101.75], FBI [19.98 (11.12-40.14)], and triglyceride (TG) level [109.5 (76.50-134.0)]) compared with non-asthmatic subjects (81.00 [72.00-92.00], 13.78 [8.84-30.24], and 89.00 [64.25-104], P<0.05). QUICKI and MABP were lower in asthmatic patients (0.310 [0.283-0.338] and 86.66 [83.33-93.33]) compared with non-asthmatic subjects (0.320 [0.297-0.353] and 93.33 [83.33-93.33]), (P<0.05). BMI, FBG, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and total cholesterol levels were comparable in the studied groups. CONCLUSIONS: The present finding gives further evidence for higher WC, FBI, TG level, and insulin resistance in normotensive, normoglycemic asthmatic patients compared to healthy controls. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: The findings of this study suggested that abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance may still be interacting and hence increase the risk of BA in normotensive, normoglycemic subjects.