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BACKGROUND: Despite the restrictions on providing medical courses online in medical universities, all instructors were required to provide training on virtual platforms. This study aimed to explain faculty members' experiences applying effective strategies in online class teaching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study has been done with a qualitative approach and using the method of conventional content analysis. Participants included 14 faculty members working at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Faculty members who had experience in conducting online classes were purposefully selected. Graneheim and Lundman's (2004) approach was used to analyze interview data. RESULTS: Two main categories were obtained from the data analysis: interpersonal communication and supportive behavior. The category of interpersonal communications comprises the subcategories of emotional expression and flexibility. The category of supportive behavior includes the subcategories of educational design, learner encouragement, diversity in evaluation, collaborative learning, and prompt feedback. CONCLUSION: Our findings confirmed that an appropriate teaching strategy leads to better attention to class and deep learning in learners. The cause is that in online classes, the student's attention is more minor than in daily classes due to its virtual nature. Appropriate educational strategies will motivate learners, interest them, and improve teacher interaction. These strategies increase students' participation in educational activities.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Education development centers (EDCs) have a vital role in improving the quality of medical education. This study was conducted with the aim of discovering educational leadership characteristics in EDCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was carried out with a qualitative approach and using a conventional content analysis method. The sampling was purposive. Twenty-four faculty members, managers, and experts of EDCs in the universities of medical sciences included 13 males and 11 females participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews were utilized for data collection. The conventional content analysis approach was utilized to analyze the data. RESULTS: From the data analysis, two categories included "personality characteristics" and "job characteristics" and six subcategories included reliabilism, humanness and altruism, accountability, decisiveness, dynamism and perfectionism, and knowledge, experience, and expertise and 24 codes were extracted. CONCLUSION: Results obtained in the present study will help to increase the awareness of the educational leaders of the EDCs in improving their personality and job skills and this will lead to the qualitative development of educational leadership.
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CONTEXT: Performance is a significant objective of any organization. To grow and develop and to improve the performance of the education development centers (EDCs) of medical sciences universities at Iran, the recognition of the performance criteria of these centers is important. This study was conducted with the aim of discovering the performance criteria of EDCs of medical science universities. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using qualitative research and a semi-structured interview. Participants were selected using an expert sampling method is a sub-type of purposive sampling. Twenty-three faculty members and expert staff (11 males and 12 women) participated in the interview. Data were collected using the participant's perception. The data analysis was performed based on the interpretative analysis steps of Gillham and Rubin. RESULTS: From the analysis of data, seven categories including leadership, strategy, stakeholders, workforce, knowledge management, processes management, and results were obtained. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained criteria in this study assist managers to design and to develop self-assessment questionnaires and a performance measurement program for EDCs of medical sciences universities. This will facilitate performance evaluation of EDCs.
RESUMO
In medicine, there is a rapid development of a knowledge base. Medical professionals need to sustain and advance their competence to practice in response to these varieties. So, there is increased interest in self-directed learning methods. Study guides can make a major contribution to self-directed learning. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of study guides on improving self-learning skills of medical students in the Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS). In this quasi-experimental study, 46 medical students were randomly assigned into two groups; the intervention group and the control group. Both groups participated in a diagnostic test at the beginning of the course (pre-test). The same test was taken at the end of the course (post-test). The intervention group was provided with study guides on thyroid disorders and diabetes. Meanwhile, they continued their routine clinical training. The control group was only involved in the conventional training program. Students in the intervention group were also asked to complete a designed questionnaire in regard to their attitude toward the study guides. At enrollment, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The mean scores of the pre-test for the control group and the intervention group were 6.18 and 6.13 respectively (P=0.9). In the post-test, the mean score of the students in the intervention group was considerably higher: 9.25 vs. 12 (P=0.002). The students in the intervention group found the study guides useful. The study guides were potentially effective in motivating self-learning in this group of medical students and had a remarkable effect on their final score.
