Good Practice In Learning Research Articles

Informing policy with health labour market analysis to improve availability of family doctors in Tajikistan

BackgroundTajikistan has embarked on health reforms to orient the health system towards primary health care (PHC). The health labour market analysis (HLMA) was initiated by the Ministry of Health with the World Health Organization (WHO) on policy questions related to the PHC workforce team. This article presents the results with focus on family doctors as a critical part of the PHC team, providing lessons for strengthening family medicine and PHC in the European Region and central Asia.MethodsThe HLMA framework was used to guide the analysis. The data for analysis were provided by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan. Descriptive means were used to analyse the data. A Technical Working Group guided the process.ResultsThere has been an increase in the number of health workers in the country over the last 7 years. However, there is a huge shortage of family doctors when compared with norms, with decreasing family doctor densities over the last 7 years. Family doctors have the highest vacancy rates among specialists and also constitute the highest proportion of specialists who migrate. There is inequitable distribution of doctors across the regions. Overall number of enrolments and graduates in family medicine are declining. Although salaries in PHC are higher than in hospitals, the overall health workforce salaries are lower than the national average. While there have been efforts to retain and attract doctors to PHC in rural and remote regions, challenges exist. The attraction of doctors to narrow specialties may be leading to undermining PHC and family medicine. While the optimal skill-mix and availability of nurses provide an opportunity to strengthen multi-disciplinary teams at the PHC level, shortages and unequal distribution of doctors are affecting health services coverage and health indicators.ConclusionsApplication of the HLMA framework has helped identify the bottlenecks in the health labour market flows and the possible explanations for them. The policy considerations emerging out of the HLMA have contributed to improving evidence-based planning for retention and recruitment of the PHC workforce, improvements in medical and nursing education, and higher investments in the PHC workforce and particularly in family doctors. Implementation of the Action Plan will require political commitment, financial resources, strong inter-sectoral collaboration, stakeholder management, and cross-country learning of best practices. Through this process, Tajikistan has shown the way forward in implementing the Central Roadmap for health and well-being in Central Asia and the Framework for Action on the Health and Care Workforce in the WHO European Region.

Meningkatkan Motivasi Belajar Peserta Didik Kelas 8B pada Materi Sistem Peredaran Darah Manusia Sub Materi Anemia di SMP Muhammadiyah 2 Taman Sidoarjo

The Human Circulatory System material has strong relevance to everyday life, and therefore, understanding the factors that influence motivation to learn this material is essential. Therefore, there is a need for innovation in the form of good practice in learning which is important to share so that it can be used as the best reference or inspiration for fellow teachers who experience the same problems as I experienced, so that it has an impact on improving learning in the classroom. The strategy used to achieve the goal is to carry out learning using the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model. The research results show that the use of media in learning practice is very significant in increasing students' understanding. The students' response to this learning activity was very enthusiastic, because learning was very fun. The media used is very close to students' daily lives so that the material can be easily understood. This can be seen from the results of initial test assessments, attitude assessments, and performance observations. Apart from that, based on the results of student evaluations, with a KKTP of 78 out of 28 students, there are 2 (7%) students who have not achieved the KKTP while 26 (93%) students have achieved the KKTP. In terms of student evaluation, the KKTP data shows satisfactory results. With 78 out of 28 students achieving the KKTP, it can be concluded that the majority of students have achieved the desired competency. Even though there were 2 students who had not yet achieved the KKTP, the overall percentage of students who achieved this competency reached 93%, indicating overall learning success. This evaluation is an indicator that the use of media and the learning approach applied has a positive impact on student competency achievement, as well as increasing students' learning motivation.

Information Security Construction of SPOC: Path Selection for Japanese Information Acquisition

INTRODUCTION: In the traditional oral Japanese teaching model, Japanese courses emphasize theoretical knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, with few practical functions, low student interest in learning, and low attendance in class. They have made breakthroughs in information technology, e-commerce, and other professional fields.
 METHODS: A traditional teaching format is used, with the mains taught by teachers, without using learning platforms or offline teaching. Each lesson contains three elements: preschool, instructional practices, and external extensions. A cloud-based classroom learning platform is part of Cyber Chemistry's preschool and out-of-school learning. Classroom instruction consisted primarily of discussions and exchanges between teachers and students, competitive exercises, and visualization of the results of conversations. To test the effectiveness of the SPOC-based model, the authors administered two speaking tests, as well as related questionnaires and interviews, during and at the end of the test.
 RESULTS: Improvements in the intermediate pretest and post-test speaking tests compared to the control group suggest that the Japanese hybrid speaking test model, SPOC, is positively compelling.
 CONCLUSION: The class stimulates students' interest and motivation. It plays an active role in developing good learning practices and improving the learning of spoken Japanese.

Best practice learning in cooperative entrepreneurship to engage business students in the SDGs

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the challenge of introducing cooperative entrepreneurship as an option for university business students, as recommended by the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) adopted in the European Union (EU). This aim is linked to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which calls for efforts to ensure quality education for all. Our study jointly addresses both entrepreneurship and the need for high-quality education among the university students we are analysing. The use of success stories in cooperative entrepreneurship is based on a Best Practice Learning (BPL) methodology. The students under analysis are categorized into two areas of knowledge, law and economics, depending on whether the main content of their studies focuses on aspects of law or on purely economic aspects. The results show an increased interest in cooperative entrepreneurship in all participants after the application of BPL, and a high level of satisfaction with the activities carried out as part of this experience. However, differences were found between economics and law students, with the former having more knowledge about the concept of entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the latter group shows a greater awareness of the importance of cooperativism. The results of this study can provide the basis for new initiatives at the university level, aimed at the promotion of cooperative entrepreneurship in line with its key role in the SEAP and the SDGs.

Cherenkov and Plan Integration for Real-Time Delivery Verification: The Opportunity for Automated Visualization and Guidance of All Treatments in EBRT

Initiatives in the national radiation oncology incident learning system (RO-ILS) have been exceptionally useful in discovery of factors that lead to incidents and learning of best practices that can help make the national practice of RO safer as a whole. Incident learning systems come from the flight industry, where both visual cues and instrument control are essential parts of implementation, and similarly both human and instrument tools are used in RO. However, numerous RO studies have reported that human factors are a leading cause of incidents discovered and that timelines, such as QA, setup, delivery, and verification are areas where most incidents are found. Tools such as Cherenkov imaging and SGRT can be used to automate many of the riskiest human decisions and/or providing both human vision and instrument-guided oversight in these areas of treatment delivery process. The value of continuous online imaging is reviewed and the two parts have been tested towards complete automation. The conceptual framework of comparing images to the patient treatment plan is outlined with software examples. Development towards a combined SGRT & Cherenkov imaging system that could achieve fully automated incident detection is outlined. Cherenkov imaging has shown direct visualization of many instances of beam delivery to patients that were sub-optimal. These are seen mostly in isolated cases of normal tissue in the beam where it was not expected, such as limbs, chin, contralateral breast or axilla. Incorrect placement of bolus is also readily visualized. Comparisons can be made on a day-to-day basis, but also on a delivery to plan basis if the plan was incorporated into the treatment delivery process. Analysis of the incidents seen indicates that there are automatable metrics of image quality that could have detected them. Overall, if the system detection of variations were fully automated, these could be detected without human intervention. The capabilities for reducing nearly all human error in setup and delivery are available or emerging, and Cherenkov imaging is perhaps one of the most direct ways to capture and computationally analyze the treatment in real time. These tools require further integration with automated analysis and plan integration, but the initial steps are well underway and individual parts are now possible with advances in R&D of the system integration.

“It takes A Village”: An Examination of Intra-local Collaborative Economic Development Practices in Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Economic development practitioners have traditionally acted in isolation from their local counterparts, such as community organizations, businesses, and other municipal agencies. This type of economic development practice hinders practitioners’ ability to access available resources in their local economy and effectively undertake economic development. Local practitioners in Ontario, Canada, are no exception, as they typically engage in siloed economic development practices, characterized by a general lack of intra-local collaboration. The aim of this paper is to determine if the COVID-19 pandemic has facilitated local practitioners’ economic development practices in Ontario towards intra-local collaboration. To do so, thirty-seven in-depth interviews were conducted with senior local development practitioners in Ontario during the pandemic. The findings indicate that intra-local collaboration had been occurring in localities to a limited extent prior to the pandemic, but has since been intensified, despite several barriers. The gravitation towards intra-local collaboration was motivated by the tremendous challenges brought about by the pandemic, but underpinned by the realization that effective economic development cannot be undertaken in isolation, requiring collective engagement by local actors. During the pandemic, the practitioners intensified their intra-local collaborative practices to increase their access to available local resources, enhance their learning of best practices and acquisition of knowledge, and address common issues faced by various local actors.

Post-Operative Prescription of Opioid Medications and Patient Education: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Opioid medications are essential in the management of pain. 80-85% of surgical patients and 51% of inpatients are discharged with opioid prescriptions. With increased prescriptions, an increase in opioid abuse and overdose was identified. In 2018, nearly 47,000 deaths were reported secondary to opioids. Also, in 2015, 504 billion dollars were spent on the opioid crisis. Our aim was to determine if our division, urology, was prescribing opioids appropriately in the post-operative setting. We sought to identify gaps in patient knowledge of opioid risks, storage, and disposal. Methods: Our institution initiated an after-visit summary (AVS) detailing opioid abuse, storage, and disposal. This AVS was given to all patients that were discharged, inpatient and outpatient, with an opioid prescription. Our group analyzed patient use of opioids and knowledge before and after AVS initiation in 2019-2020. This was done using surveys at initial follow up of post-operative patients. Only completed surveys were analyzed, 50 pre-protocol and 44 post-protocol. Results: While no statistically significance difference was noted for patient knowledge, we observed a clinical difference in usage of entire opioid prescription, 20% pre-protocol vs 11% post-protocol. More patients disposed of narcotics, 60% pre-protocol vs 91% post-protocol. Pre-protocol, zero patients identified addiction as a risk of opioid use while four post-protocol. Additionally, areas of improvement were identified within the AVS. Conclusion: The survey was not statistical significance, it suggested clinical differences. Opioid prescribing is important in medicine but requires continued learning of best practices and understanding of opioid risks.

Impacts of after-action reviews on mathematical learning performance

Reviewing the completed exercises was essential to mathematical learning, but students often jump to the next exercise after finishing the current one without reviewing. It is not clear how to effectively conduct this learning activity. On the other side, after-action reviews (AARs) have proved to be a good learning practice that has been widely used in military and unmilitary training for decades. It helps students learn through reviewing. This study applied AARs in mathematical learning to improve students’ learning effectiveness through reviewing their completed exercises. In addition, the study further investigated how the question types of AARs influence students’ cognitive engagement. Ninth-grade students (N = 125) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions (AARs of general questions, AARs of specific questions, and no AARs). The results revealed that conducting AARs after solving mathematics problems could significantly improve learning performance (p < .05). Compared with AARs of specific questions, AARs of general questions could significantly improve students’ cognitive engagement (p < .001). The findings provide important implications for mathematical education and learning practice.

Waking Up In the Morning (WUIM): A Smart Learning Environment for Students with Learning Difficulties

Effectiveness, efficiency, scalability, autonomy, engagement, flexibility, adaptiveness, personalization, conversationality, reflectiveness, innovation, and self-organization are some of the fundamental features of smart environments. Smart environments are considered a good learning practice for formal and informal education; however, it is important to point out the pedagogical approaches on which they are based. Smart learning environments (SLEs) underline the flexibility of eclectic pedagogy that places students at the center of any educational process and takes into account the diversity in classrooms. Thus, SLEs incorporate pedagogical principles derived from (1) traditional learning theories, e.g., behaviorism and constructivism, (2) contemporary pedagogical philosophy, e.g., differentiated teaching and universal design for learning, (3) theories that provide specific instructions for educational design, e.g., cognitive theory of multimedia learning and gamification of learning. The innovative concept of transmedia learning is an eclectic pedagogical approach, which in addition to learning principles, blends all available media so far. WUIM is a transmedia program for training independent living skills aimed primarily at children with learning disabilities, which emerged from the composition of pedagogical theories, traditional educational materials and cutting-edge technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, and art-based production methodologies. This paper outlines the development of WUIM, from the prototyping presented at the 4th International Conference in Creative Writing (2019) to the Alpha and Beta stages, including user and expert evaluations.

The Willingness of Jordanian EFL Teachers to Endure Taking Online Professional Development Programs Rather Than Face to Face: رغبة معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية في متابعة الانخراط بالتنمية المهنية عن بعد عوضا عن التعلم المباشر

This study attempts to investigate the willingness of Jordanian EFL teachers to endure taking Online Professional Development Programs (OPD) rather than face to face learning in both private and public schools. Therefore, a qualitative research methodology was carried out to examine the extent to which Jordanian EFL teachers are willing to endure taking Online Professional Development Programs (OPD) rather than face to face learning. Data were collected via online interviews with teachers through e-Learning forums as well as other means of interactive social Medias such as Zoom, Facetime and Microsoft teams during COVID-19 Pandemic in the second semester of the scholastic year 2019-2020. Ten EFL teachers were randomly chosen from forty public and private EFL school teachers to respond to the interviews. The sample consisted of ten teachers who were selected randomly for the interview. The interview content focused on two domains which are: the challenges faced teachers in online learning and the good learning practices experienced by EFL teachers during online learning regarding their experiences through the pandemic. The interviews were taking the form of semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of EFL teachers are unwilling to continue taking online professional development programs as they faced many troubles and obstacles through experiencing distant learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic as part of their first hands on experience. Two teachers showed a tendency to continue Online Professional Development Programs in parallel with face to face programs.

SIGCSE special projects grants awards

Special Project Grants of up to $5,000 USD are available to SIGCSE members to support projects that will bring some clear benefit to the computing education community in the form of new knowledge, a resource, or good practice in learning, teaching, or assessment.

SIGCSE special projects grants awards

Special Project Grants of up to US$5000 are available to SIGCSE members to support projects that will bring some clear benefit to the computing education community in the form of new knowledge, a resource, or good practice in learning, teaching, or assessment.

QUALITY ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES ON STUDENT RESPONSE THROUGH QFD APPROACH TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY OF 17 AGUSTUS 1945 (UNTAG) BANYUWANGI

ABSTRACT&#x0D; University of 17 Agustus 1945 or UNTAG Banyuwangi is a private university, where the source of mostly income comes from students or in other words that all forms of activities carried out are geared towards students, therefore efforts to acquire new students from year to year must be increased, one the effort that must be done is that UNTAG Banyuwangi is in addition to implementing the PMB program (admission of new students) with effective and great promotions as well as keeping students who have attended UNTAG Banyuwangi not stop studying midway. Therefore it is necessary to conduct research on the analysis of the quality of education services to the students' responses through Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach in improving the performance of UNTAG Banyuwangi. The sampling result of the level of importance and satisfaction on the dimensions of infrastructure, learning process, human resources, curriculum and student affairs of all variables have corrected total correlation value greater than 0.1430 (r table value) for each dimension, of the sample questionnaire of 83 students have been valid. For the value of  (alpha) obtained each dimension is also greater than 0.05, so it can be concluded that the data is reliable. The results of the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of UNTAG are based on their importance and level of satisfaction are then plotted into quadrant maps Variables included in quadrant IV are weaknesses for UNTAG Banyuwangi educational institutions, namely: How to teach Lecturers, Strategies for teaching lecturers are understood by students, The ability of lecturers to use learning tools white board, UHP, LCD, lecturers in teaching in class, how to deliver material, how to answer student questions, quality of lecturers in conducting research, community service, infrastructure (office, classroom, laboratory room, studio , library rooms, experimental gardens, etc. except lecturer room), facilities / equipment used in the learning process such as computers, software and hardware. HOQ analysis in the technical response matrix derived from the way the UNTAG Banyuwangi Institute in answering the request of the Student (Hows). After conducting an interview with the leadership, namely the Rector, the selected technical response was: 1. Providing assistance to the Lecturer to develop the substance of the field of knowledge 2. Sending Lecturers to take part in the learning method training 3. Implementing a cycle of good practice learning processes. 4. Inventory of land, buildings and all the room. 5. Trying to obtain laboratory equipment and information technology.&#x0D; Keywords: quality of service, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Higher Education

SIGCSE special projects grants

Since 2003, SIGCSE has awarded grants to help SIGCSE members investigate and introduce new ideas in the learning and teaching of computing. Projects provide clear benefits to the wider disciplinary community in the form of new knowledge; developing or sharing of a resource; or good practice in learning, teaching, or assessment. The next deadline for submissions is May 15, 2017. See http://sigcse.org/sigcse/programs/special/ for additional information. Questions are welcome and should be sent to apply@sigcse.org. Proposers must be ACM/SIGCSE members.

SIGCSE special project grants

Since 2003, SIGCSE has awarded a limited number of Special Projects Grants each year. These grants help SIGCSE members investigate and introduce new ideas in the learning and teaching of computing. Projects must provide some clear benefit to the wider disciplinary community in the form of new knowledge, developing or sharing of a resource, or good practice in learning, teaching, or assessment. The next deadline for submissions is November 15, 2016. See http://sigcse.org/sigcse/programs/special/ for additional information. Questions are welcome and should be sent to apply@sigcse.org. Proposers must be ACM/SIGCSE members.

The role of peer-learning and formative assessment in effective engineering learning environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of peer learning and formative assessment as two creative learning methods in engineering learning environments. The results show that both models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum. However, the integrated model has resulted in better results than the model of formative assessment. The paper discusses also some practical and theoretical aspects related to the learning models. Design/methodology/approach – It is advanced two general learning models; in the first model, the formative assessment is integrated with peer learning and in the second one, the formative assessment is solely used to enhance the learning. A field case study is conducted to investigate the effect of using the learning models on the expected learning outcomes of the students in an engineering course. Findings – The results show that both learning models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum. However, the integrated model has resulted in better results than the model of formative assessment. Research limitations/implications – The two models can be applied for the engineering course that has both practical and theoretical aspects. It is expected that areas of expertize in engineering education can be developed very well with the models. Practical implications – The results show that the two learning models have yielded promising results with regard to meeting the criteria for the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum and that formative assessment link to good learning practice does indeed give improved learning. Social implications – Increase the effectiveness of learning in engineering education. Originality/value – Case study based on observation and planning.

SIGCSE special project grants

The SIGCSE Board would like to announce that applications for the next round of Special Project Grants are due on November 15. Special Project Grants of up to US$5000 are awarded each year to support projects that will bring some clear benefit to the computing education community in the form of new knowledge, developing or sharing of a resource, or good practice in learning, teaching, or assessment.

Current status of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in intensive care medicine

Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) has been of great help in the management of critically ill patients. Its safety and usefulness in the hands of experienced professionals, with the required measures of caution, have resulted in the increasingly widespread use of the technique even in unstable critical patients subjected to mechanical ventilation and with high oxygen demands. The Spanish Society of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC), through its Acute Respiratory Failure (GT-IRA) and Infectious Diseases (GT-EI) Work Groups, aims to promote knowledge and standards of quality in the use of FB among all specialists in Intensive Care Medicine. Through an expert committee, the SEMICYUC has established the objective of accrediting such training, with the preparation of a curriculum and definition of those Units qualified for providing training in the different techniques and levels. The accreditation process seeks to stimulate good learning practice and quality in training. Both specialists in Intensive Care Medicine and other specialists, and the patients, will benefit from the commitment and control afforded by such accreditation, and from the learning and training which the mentioned process entails.

Situación actual de la realización de fibrobroncoscopias en los Servicios de Medicina Intensiva

Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) has been of great help in the management of critically ill patients. Its safety and usefulness in the hands of experienced professionals, with the required measures of caution, has resulted in the increasingly widespread use of the technique even in unstable critical patients subjected to mechanical ventilation and with high oxygen demands. The Spanish Society of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC), through its Acute Respiratory Failure (GT-IRA) and Infectious Diseases (GT-EI) Work Groups, aims to promote knowledge and standards of quality in the use of FB among all specialists in Intensive Care Medicine. Through an expert committee, the SEMICYUC has established the objective of accrediting such training, with the preparation of a curriculum and definition of those Units qualified for providing training in the different techniques and levels. The accreditation process seeks to stimulate good learning practice and quality in training. Both specialists in Intensive Care Medicine and other specialists, and the patients, will benefit from the commitment and control afforded by such accreditation, and from the learning and training which the mentioned process entails.

Good learning practices in the field of science and technology

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) scenario offers a new framework in which the role of universities can be rethought, regardless of the field of new degrees and postgraduate Studies involved. Therefore, the roles of teachers and students might differ significantly as the student would be obliged to request teacher’s guidance in order to acquire not only knowledge, which could be easily obtained elsewhere (books, internet etc. ), but also personal skills and, especially, those related to their future professional career. By the term “Good learning practices” we refer to those activities asociated with professorship itself ,such as those of facilitating and guiding the student learning process, or rather, those activities which are aimed at the student´s thorough learning of specific (related to the field of study ) and generic skills. It is now a common occurrence to describe the students of a given classroom as being little motivated and as having great interest in passing but not in actually learning. This fact is quite concerning, as it suggests that the student sees the university as a mere transaction by which they can obtain a degree, certifying that they are apt for the professional world, where they consider the “real” learning will take place. A good classroom environment is essential for the generation of teaching-learning processes. It is precisely because of this that we are able to raise the issue of effective practices among teachers who foster a suitable classroom dynamics facilitating, then, the targeted learning experience. Within this context, there are some authors who discuss good practices by professors especially concerned on how to perform assessment and feedback to enhance student’s learning activity. Thus, providing them with a deep and lasting impact. Generally speaking, the activities in question are those which enable the student to execute a learning process that will continue throughout their professional and personal lives. In the present issue we have selected a number of articles related to good practices taking place in the context of new studies plan implementation (EHEA ) in several Spanish Universities. In the first paper: Reflections and conclusions on the work developed by the group of teaching innovation in electronics at the university of Valladolid ,they present the main conclusions and results obtained over the three last academic years in the Electronics and Automatic Industrial Engineering degree. As a result of cooperative work of the group, an improvement in activity coordination and provision of tools to facilitate the teaching-learning process has been obtained. The work in question shows relevant strategies and tools that facilitate the incorporation and evaluation of generic competences in the new degrees within the EHEA framework. The second article, Realising pedagogical potential of the Bologna Process third cycle is contextualised within the issues of internationalisation, standards and standardization of degree credit ratings, with special attention on collaboration and competition, and language and writing. In other words, the main challenges that the emerging EHEA poses in terms of third cycle students needs as to the pedagogical essence is concerned, such as the structural change. The EHEA has many practical gains to offer, but it also has potential disadvantages that this research discusses in depth. The third article, ( Best practices in academic assessment in higher education: A Case in formative and shared assessment ) presents an example of good practices of formative assessment in a course that bases the entire learning process on an ongoing, formative system with real shared student assessment . In the last article of this second issue of JOTSE, Design and analysis of questionnaires for survey skills in chemical engineering ) some specific questionnaires following the recommendations of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) for Chemical Engineering Education in Bologna are discussed. In the academic context of a three cycle degree system the authors analyse the effectiveness of teaching strategies carefully developed to help students acquire specific and interdisciplinary skills. We hope that JOTSE readers enjoy the contents of the present issue which may bring some ideas on good practices for future implementation.