EVALUATION OF THE SOFTWARE TO HELP ADVISING PROFESSORS IN ISFAHAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Background: One of the essential and inevitable principles in improving the education quality, particularly in universities, is the continuous assessment of students’ educational progress at different education levels. The role of advisors and consulting tutors at universities are considered as one of the important interventions of the Ministry of Health for the purpose of guiding students' studying affairs. This article studied the design, implementation and evaluation of the software used in aiding the advising professors of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical one. This investigation was done in pursuit of designing and implementing software procedures, helping the advising professors to instruct students to evaluate their results through its implementation. The researchers considered the software through analyzing the average grades of students and the circumstances before and after implementing the software (i.e. intervention). The statistical population included all of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students between 2009 and 2011, being the total of 11813 persons. Student workbook records were included in the study. The data was analyzed by the software SPSS 16, descriptive statistics and proper statistical tests. Results: The process evaluation showed both conditional probation situations (0.12 percent) and decreasing the average grades (0.11 percent) decreased as compared to the past, whereas students’ GPA increased significantly after the intervention (P<0.05) Conclusion: Implementing the instructional software for the advising professors, regarding the education of the students on the verge of academic failures in 2009, has significantly increased their capability in supervision and educational instructions, and reduced the number of students at risk of academic failures.