Stable and unstable associations between learning environment factors and study approaches: two consecutive cross-sectional analyses of Norwegian occupational therapy students.

Relationships between learning environment variables and students' approaches to studying have been investigated from many points of view over the last decades. However, few studies have explored whether such relationships are stable over time. In the two consecutive cross-sectional analyses performed in this study, Norwegian occupational therapy students' perceptions of their learning environment and their approaches to studying were assessed in the second (162 students) and third (193 students) year of their study program. Aside from sociodemographic information, the students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, with the aim of exploring whether associations between learning environment variables and study approaches were stable across time. The data were analyzed with hierarchical linear regression analyses. Relatively stable associations with students' study approaches were found for the learning environment variables of 'generic skills' and 'appropriate workload'. The learning environment variables of 'clear goals and standards' and 'student autonomy' were directly associated with study approaches in both study years, but the nature of the associations shifted during the study period. Thus, knowledge of stability and change in these relationships could assist faculty in promoting a well-functioning learning environment throughout the study program.

Climbing the Integration Ladder: A Case Study on an Interdisciplinary and Case-Based Approach to Teaching General Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology in the Veterinary Curriculum.

The School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland, restructured the teaching of general pathology, parasitology, and microbiology in third year in 2018 as part of the development of an outcome-based curriculum. A new integrated teaching module was created, called Veterinary Pathobiology, which encompassed the three paraclinical subjects, worth 20 ECTS credits. Subject integration was driven and supported by case-based learning (CBL) activities, and practical classes, which were aimed at facilitating the understanding of basic disease processes, infectious agents, and the application of diagnostic tests. The disciplines maintained their identities within lectures which were aligned by content. The restructuring led to a reduction of contact hours by 20% and of assessment time by 40%. The examinations included integrated questions with an emphasis on the material students had covered in their CBL. Despite positive outcomes, which included equivalent examination scores and positive written feedback by students on teaching and learning, understanding, assessment, relevance, CBL, group work, and generic skills, the average scores for overall student satisfaction dropped dramatically in the second academic year of implementation. This followed the introduction of new regulations by the University relating to student progression, which was capped at "carrying" 10 ECTS credits, thus preventing students that failed the new module from progressing. Other criticisms of the new module by students included too little communication on the changes implemented in its first iteration and a workload perceived to be too heavy. Further restructuring is therefore necessary. This study highlights the process/pitfalls of integration/curricular innovation.

Competencias Transversales: Una Revisión de las Mallas Curriculares de la Carrera de Odontología en Chile

RESUMEN: El desarrollo de competencias transversales es un aspecto relevante en el currículum de pregrado de Odontología, sin embargo, existe escasa evidencia sobre su presencia en los planes de estudio nacionales. El objetivo de esta investigación fue conocer la presencia de asignaturas centradas en competencias transversales en la carrera de Odontología de las universidades chilenas. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de diseño transversal, revisando las mallas curriculares publicadas en la web por cada universidad que dictó el pregrado de Odontología el año 2020, con proceso de admisión abierto. De las 19 universidades consultadas, todas exhibieron en sus mallas curriculares asignaturas asociadas a competencias transversales y distribuidas a lo largo de los seis años del plan de estudios. Al utilizar la agrupación de competencias transversales propuesta por el Proyecto Tuning América Latina, se observó que las asignaturas relacionadas con los procesos cognitivos asociados al aprendizaje eran las más numerosas y suponían el 41 % del total; las vinculadas con los valores sociales correspondieron al 34 %; las asociadas al contexto tecnológico e internacional representaron el 20 %; mientras que las relacionadas con las habilidades interpersonales, solo alcanzaron un 5 %. Debido a su escasa presencia, es posible concluir que gran parte de los aprendizajes relacionados con el entrenamiento en habilidades interpersonales se encuentren resguardados en el currículum oculto y que probablemente estén a cargo del modelaje docente que se realiza diariamente en la práctica clínica. Como propuesta de futuro, el estudio sugiere mejorar la formación en competencias transversales de los egresados de odontología de las universidades chilenas.

ABSTRACT: The development of transversal competencies is a relevant aspect in the dental undergraduate curriculum. However, there is insufficient evidence about its implementation in national curriculums. The aim of this research was to know whether or not the courses are focused on transversal competencies in dental programs of Chilean universities. To accomplish this, a descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out. This research was based on the review of the curriculums published on the websites of each university that awarded undergraduate degrees in dentistry in 2020, and facilitated an open admission process. Of the 19 universities studied, all had courses associated with transversal competencies in their dental curriculum. These were distributed throughout the six years of the curriculum. Using the grouping of transversal competencies, as proposed by the Latin America Tuning Project, it was shown that courses related to cognitive learning processes were the most represented of the subjects, corresponding to 41 % of all courses studied. Those related to social values corresponded to 34 %; courses associated with informational technology and those within the international context represented 20 %; while the courses related to interpersonal skills only reached 5 %. Due to the fact that the courses related to interpersonal skills were scarce, it could be concluded that a large part of this learning is included in the hidden curriculum and is probably achieved via instructional modeling as part of the daily clinical practice. As a proposal for the future, this research suggests that we need to improve the training in transversal competencies for the dental graduates of Chilean universities.

Understanding the Impact of the Psychological Cognitive Process on Student Learning Satisfaction: Combination of the Social Cognitive Career Theory and SOR Model.

In higher education, student learning satisfaction is a significant predictor of learning that indicates the commitment students have to their learning and future academic achievement. The study combines the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model to explore the psychological cognition and attitudes derived from students during their learning, discusses the pattern of student learning satisfaction enhancement from the aspect of process, and further understands the relationships among social support systems, interaction relationships, self-efficacy, generic skills, and learning satisfaction. In this study, 800 valid copies of questionnaires were collected from 12 universities through purposive sampling, and the structural model was analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the relationships among all the constructs were positive and showed a significant effect; furthermore, the research results showed that self-efficacy and student generic skills had a significantly indirect effect in the model-specifically, a mediating effect. Finally, corresponding theoretical and practical implications were put forward based on the research results.

Competence-Based Pharmacy Education in the University of Helsinki.

In order to meet the expectations to act as an expert in the health care profession, it is of utmost importance that pharmacy education creates knowledge and skills needed in today's working life. Thus, the planning of the curriculum should be based on relevant and up-to-date learning outcomes. In the University of Helsinki, a university wide curriculum reform called 'the Big Wheel' was launched in 2015. After the reform, the basic degrees of the university are two-cycle (Bachelor-Master) and competence-based, where the learning outcomes form a solid basis for the curriculum goals and implementation. In the Faculty of Pharmacy, this curriculum reform was conducted in two phases during 2012-2016. The construction of the curriculum was based on the most relevant learning outcomes concerning working life via high quality first (Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy) and second (Master of Science in Pharmacy) cycle degree programs. The reform was kicked off by interviewing all the relevant stakeholders: students, teachers, and pharmacists/experts in all the working life sectors of pharmacy. Based on these interviews, the intended learning outcomes of the Pharmacy degree programs were defined including both subject/contents-related and generic skills. The curriculum design was based on the principles of constructive alignment and new structures and methods were applied in order to foster the implementation of the learning outcomes. During the process, it became evident that a competence-based curriculum can be created only in close co-operation with the stakeholders, including teachers and students. Well-structured and facilitated co-operation amongst the teachers enabled the development of many new and innovative teaching practices. The European Union funded PHAR-QA project provided, at the same time, a highly relevant framework to compare the curriculum development in Helsinki against Europe-wide definitions of competences and learning outcomes in pharmacy education.

Important skills for biomedical services: The perspectives of Malaysian employers and employees.

BACKGROUND: Increase in the occurrence of existing diseases, continual emergence of new or exotic diseases and re-emergence of old diseases have placed increasing demands on biomedical services in Malaysia. Biomedical technicians play an important role in operating biomedical instruments. However, there are no clear specifications about characteristics and traits for these semi-professional employees. Employers in a few studies claimed that biomedical graduates are not ready to enter and face challenges in the job market. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify technical and generic skills for a biomedical technician from the perspectives of the biomedical technicians and their employers. METHODS: A quantitative survey design was employed whereby data were obtained through the administration of an instrument developed by the researchers. The sample consisted of 20 hospital managers and 186 biomedical technicians who are currently working in Malaysian government hospitals. RESULTS: The findings show that there are no difference in the perceptions of hospital managers and biomedical technicians regarding technical and non-technical skills. CONCLUSIONS: These findings resulted in a checklist which can be used for institutions to produce future biomedical technician graduates in order to meet job demands. However, future research is needed to validate the findings and explore the variables in depth.

Problem-Based Learning as an Effective Learning Tool in Community Medicine: Initiative in a Private Medical College of a Developing Country.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of community medicine is essential for health care professionals to function as efficient primary health care physicians. Medical students learning Community Medicine as a subject are expected to be competent in critical thinking and generic skills so as to analyze community health problems better. However, current teaching by didactic lectures fails to develop these essential skills. Problem-based learning (PBL) could be an effective strategy in this respect. This study was hence done to compare the academic performance of students who were taught Community Medicine by the PBL method with that of students taught by traditional methods, to assess the generic skills of students taught in a PBL environment and to assess the perception of students toward PBL methodology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted among seventh-semester final-year medical students between June and November 2014. PBL was introduced to a randomly chosen group of students, and their performance in an assessment exam at the end of postings was compared with that of the remaining students. Generic skills and perception toward PBL were also assessed using standardized questionnaires. RESULTS: A total of 77 students took part in the brainstorming session of PBL. The correlation between self-assigned scores of the participants and those assigned by the tutor in the brainstorming session of PBL was significant (r = 0.266, P = 0.05). Out of 54 students who took part in the presentation session, almost all 53 (98.1%) had good perception toward PBL. Demotivational scores were found to be significantly higher among males (P = 0.024). The academic performance of students (P < 0.001) and success rates (P = 0.05) in the examination were higher among students who took part in PBL compared to controls. CONCLUSION: PBL helped improve knowledge of students in comparison to those exposed only to didactic lectures. As PBL enabled students to identify the gaps in their knowledge and enhanced their group functioning and generic skills, we recommend PBL sessions: They would help optimize the training in Community Medicine at medical schools. Good correlation of tutor and self-assessment scores of participants in the brainstorming session suggests that the role of tutors could be restricted to assessment in presentation sessions alone. Demotivation, which hinders group performance in PBL, needs to be corrected by counselling and timely feedback by the tutors.

Competencias genéricas para la educación en odontología forense: pensamiento crítico y responsabilidad social / Generic skills for education in forensic dentistry: critical thinking and social responsibility

La Educación Basada en Competencias representa una estrategia de enseñanza-aprendizaje donde se busca que el estudiante logre un mejor desempeño en los entornos sociales cada vez más complejos a través del desarrollo de sus propias habilidades. Esto requiere que las instituciones educativas ofrezcan oportunidades curriculares que desplieguen Competencias Genéricas (CGs) transparentes y explícitas. Los desafíos contextuales de las ciencias forenses en general, y de la Odontología legal y forense en lo particular, han determinado una necesaria adaptación de sus contenidos conceptuales, procedimentales y actitudinales en la búsqueda de definición de sus campos específicos, desarrollo holístico de sus áreas de conocimiento, la adquisición de habilidades y experiencia, orientación hacia valores profesionales éticos, e integración de todos esos contenidos. Se presentan al Pensamiento Crítico y a la Responsabilidad Social como las CGs más idóneas para una educación focalizada en la Odontología legal y forense, como maneras de asumir el desafío de mejorar la calidad, consistencia y suficiencia de no sólo de futuros nuevos peritos sino también del profesional asistencial generalista, y se discute la trascendencia de formalizar estos aspectos según las realidades y paradigmas imperantes hoy en algunos países de habla hispana.

The competence-based training nowadays represents a strategy of teaching-learning, which supports the student to prepare him/her for better performance in the increasingly complex social environments through the development of their own skills. This model requires that educational institutions must offer curricular opportunities to develop explicit and transparent generic skills (GSs). The contextual challenges of forensic sciences in general, and of the legal and forensic dentistry in particular, have to determine a necessary adaptation of their conceptual, procedural and attitudinal contents to define their specific fields, holistic development of their areas of knowledge, the acquisition of skills and experience, orientation toward professional ethical values, and integration of all these contents. We present Critical Thinking and Social Responsibility as the more suitable GSs for a training focused on the legal and forensic dentistry. To take up the challenge to improve the quality, consistency and adequacy of not only of new future experts but also of the professional healthcare practitioner, and the significance of formalizing these aspects with the realities and prevailing paradigms today in some Spanish-speaking countries is discussed.

Developing Enterprise Skills in Undergraduate Medical Students: A Mixed-methods Evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Support for the development of enterprise skills in medical education exists from the perspectives of educators, researchers, and healthcare leaders. However, literature is limited evaluating the understanding of medical students about these skills. This study aimed to determine whether medical students valued gaining enterprise skills within the course and those skills that they identified and recognized contributed to enterprise practice in subsequent training. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative and qualitative evaluations were undertaken for over three years. Students completed end-of-course evaluations (n = 895) in 2011 and 2012, responding to closed questions utilizing a Likert scale. Subsequent qualitative reflections were collected by interviews one year later with nine students and eight supervisors. RESULTS: Immediately after course completion, students gave positive feedback, identifying the development of independent learning, creativity, and reflection, as these enterprise skills were most valued. However, in subsequent reflection one year later, they were unable to transfer the acquired knowledge and identify the examples of enterprise around them in their later experiences and had mixed beliefs about its value in medicine. CONCLUSION: Enterprise skills need to be revisited explicitly throughout the medical curriculum, with authentic real-life examples, to sustain students' understanding about the role of enterprise in medicine.

Using peer-assisted learning and role-playing to teach generic skills to dental students: the health care simulation model.

Increasing importance is attached to teaching generic skills to undergraduate students in various disciplines. This article describes an extracurricular, student-led activity for teaching generic skills using the Model United Nations over three months. The activity used the Health Care Simulation Model (HCSM) with peer learning and role-playing to accomplish its objectives. An interview was used to select from undergraduate and postgraduate dental students at Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, to develop a group of staff to act as peer teachers after receiving training (n=77). These peer teachers provided training for 123 undergraduate dental students to serve as delegates who acted as trainees or peer learners. At the end of the training sessions, a conference was held in which the students played the roles of delegates representing officials responsible for health care systems in ten countries. The students reported improvement in generic skills, enjoyed several aspects of the experience, and disliked other aspects of the model to a lesser extent. In multivariate analysis, perceived usefulness of the HCSM was significantly greater for staff than delegates and increased as self-reported improvement in knowledge of health care systems increased. This study suggests that innovative, student-centered educational methods can be effective for teaching generic skills and factual information.