Didactic Program Research Articles

Simulation training for embryo transfer: findings from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Embryo Transfer Certificate Course

To assess the value of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Embryo Transfer Certificate Course in confidence and skill building for performing a live embryo transfer (ET). Prospective cohort study. Two-day simulation workshops of reproductive endocrine and infertility (REI) fellows from American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology-approved training programs, using four different uterine models (A-D). None. Didactic and hands-on simulation training program. Primary outcomes included ET simulation scores of all exercises analyzed at various points of the training and self-assessed confidence before and after the completion of the Embryo Transfer Certificate Course based on a 6-point Likert scale and association of both with extent of prior live ET experience and year of fellowship. Data were collected for 78 REI fellows who completed the Embryo Transfer Certificate Course and demonstrated significant improvements in both skill and confidence. The data for a subset of 58 fellows who performed five direct transfers on both Embryo Transfer Certificate Course uterine models A and B demonstrated significant overall improvement in ET simulation scores between the first and fifth direct transfers. A separate data subset of 57 fellows who performed five afterload transfers for each exercise on all four uterine models demonstrated differences in difficulty among them. Embryo transfer simulation using the uterine A model was consistently the easiest. The ET simulation scores for fellows using the uterine B and C models showed a progressive and significant increase across the five afterload ETs. When using the uterine D model, ET simulation scores increased significantly between the first and second transfers but remained at the same level for the remaining three transfers. Except for uterus A, a significant increase in ET simulation scores between the first and last transfers was observed for fellows overall in all afterload transfers and for those fellows with <50 prior live transfers. Data for all 78 fellows demonstrate a significant gain of self-confidence for all parameters, with the highest overall increase (78%) observed for first-year fellows as well as for fellows of any year with no prior live transfer experience (109%). Fellows with the largest number of prior live ET experience started with higher confidence, which also increased significantly, although they had a lower gain in confidence compared with fellows with less experience. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine Embryo Transfer Certificate Course data analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of simulator-based ET training for REI fellows across the 3 years of training, regardless of prior experience with live ET.

Report on the Academy/Commission on Dietetic Registration 2020 Needs Satisfaction Survey

Report on the Academy/Commission on Dietetic Registration 2020 Needs Satisfaction Survey

Use of Hand-motion Analysis to Assess Competence and Skill Decay for Cardiac and Lung Point-of-care Ultrasound.

Assessment of competence in technical skills, including point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), is required before a novice can safely perform the skill independently. Ongoing assessment of competence is also required because technical skills degrade over time, especially when they are infrequently performed or complex. Hand-motion analysis (HMA) is an objective assessment tool that has been used to evaluate competency in many technical skills. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of HMA as an assessment tool for competence in both simple and complex technical skills as well as skill degradation over time. This prospective cohort study included 36 paramedics with no POCUS experience and six physicians who were fellowship trained in POCUS. The novices completed a 4-hour didactic and hands-on training program for cardiac and lung POCUS. HMA measurements, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE), and written examinations were collected for novices immediately before and after training as well as 2 and 4months after training. Expert HMA metrics were also recorded. Expert HMA metrics for cardiac and lung POCUS were significantly better than those of novices. After completion of the training program, the novices improved significantly in all HMA metrics, knowledge test scores, and OSCE scores. Novices showed skill degradation in cardiac POCUS based on HMA metrics and OSCE scores while lung POCUS image acquisition skills were preserved. Novices deemed competent by OSCE score performed significantly better in HMA metrics than those not deemed competent. We have demonstrated that HMA is a feasible and valid tool for assessment of competence in technical skills and can also evaluate skill degradation over time. Skill degradation appears more apparent in complex skills, such as cardiac POCUS. HMA may provide a more efficient and reliable assessment of technical skills, including POCUS, when compared to traditional assessment tools.

(Not an) ambivalence toward Michelangelo in Federico Borromeo’s De pictura sacra and Musaeum

This article discusses the role of Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Seventeenth-century art theory treatises of Cardinal Federico Borromeo De pictura sacra and Musaeum. In the referred text we can notice an ambivalent approach to the artistic genius of Buonarroti. In several cases Borromeo mentions Michelangelo as an artistic example who equalled or even exceled the great artists of Antiquity, albeit in other paragraphs the author criticises the artist for his aesthetic fallacy. A close reading of De pictura sacra and Musaeum, as well as an analysis of Borromeo’s didactic programme in the newly established Accademia del disegno in Milan allows to heed that Cardinal was rather an admirer of Michelangelo’s personality and talent. In De pictura sacra Buonarroti and other Renaissance Masters serve a rhetoric function and allow to conceptualise the theological and aesthetic framework for a post-Tridentine Catholic religious art.

Possibilities and Limitations in Shaping Customized Residential Interiors

Own, satisfying home is one of the things that having in a person’s lifetime is extremely important because it ensures meeting basic needs. Nowadays, in the era of increasingly stronger privatization and individualization of social life, paying attention to the individual and not universalistic user is becoming an important planning task. The Polish multi-family housing stock mostly comes from the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the construction was based on a large-panel system – hostile, rigid and heavily standardized. At present, the buildings are erected in technologies based on modern materials and technologies, but the layout and size of the residential units are not much different from those erected 40 years ago. The paper is an attempt to draw attention to the issue of shaping residential interiors tailored to the individual user. An attempt to analyze the possibilities or lack thereof for the free creation of residential interiors, The aim of the research is to analyze the possibilities of spatial creation of individualized residential interior layouts, both in existing multi-family residential stock – a project in adapted space, and in a model space (cube 6 x 6 x 6 meters). The research material comes from both: the design classes conducted by the author of the article and the housing stock that has been inventoried by her. The research method is a comparison of existing flats and ideological systems, designed by the students of the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, within the design classes based on the author’s own didactic program. The interior utility program includes residential functions – daily rest, sleeping, personal hygiene, preparation and consumption of meals, storage and implementation of hobbies. In principle, the residential interior is intended for two users: two people, or a person plus a pet, taking into account the individual needs of each co-resident. The designed residential interiors, apart from utilitarian solutions, are characterized by aesthetic and functional solutions related to the selected interests (hobby) of the inhabitants. Basing on the analysis of selected conceptual designs and comparing them with existing residential layouts, conclusions will be drawn about the occurrence of possibilities and limitations in shaping individualized residential spaces. It is important to determine – what are the restrictions on adaptations, in connection with the existence of a specific structural and installation system, the arrangement of windows on the facade, etc., which lead to the impoverishment of the arrangement possibilities and adaptation of the interior for a defined user. The presented projects will also show a different view on the way housing is shaped, which breaks the patterns existing in public awareness. The main conclusions from the research may be useful in subsequent development projects. They can be a clue to discuss the existing restrictions on residential interiors located in multi-family buildings, whose shape is governed by: building regulations, rigid building structure and its equipment with technical installations and devices, as well as the development policy focused on maximum investment return.

Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Undergraduate Dietetics Students

ObjectiveTo understand the mental health and stressors of current nutrition and dietetics students. DesignCross-sectional survey. ParticipantsA total of 611 current Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) students in the US were recruited through DPD program directors. MethodsElectronic survey included measures of anxiety, stress, depression, and specific stressors. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and qualitative thematic analysis. ResultsMost students experienced normal levels of depression, anxiety, and stress compared with the general population. A subset experienced some level of depression (30%), anxiety (40%), and stress (27%). Significant sources of stress were postgraduation plans (including internships), managing time, dietetics courses, finances, and self-imposed expectations. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe identification of a subset of DPD students experiencing symptoms of mental health challenges and recognition that there are common stressors among DPD students may increase awareness among educators, guide development of course policies, and highlight the importance of mitigating major sources of stress for students.

Current Methods for Assessing the Level of Foreign Language Proficiency of University Students

The associative technique is a traditional method to estimate a student’s foreign language proficiency. The aim of this article is to review the current methods for monitoring and assessing the level of foreign language proficiency of students; the arguments in favour of choosing the associative method of testing for knowledge of lexical semantics; and how assessments are conducted using this method through an associative experiment. The article is based on semantic analysis and field construction of the associative concept at the post-experimental stage. The experiment involved two groups of Ukrainian-speaking students studying German as a foreign language. Each group (control and experimental) consisted of 20 people. The results demonstrate that the assessment of the students’ linguistic and communicative competencies requires consideration of parameters in multiple aspects: paradigmatic, syntactic, syntagmatic relations; knowledge of typical idiomatic and phraseological correlations and all possible logical-associative relations. The experiment revealed shortcomings to include: contamination; weak knowledge of phraseology and moderate ability to establish logical relationships. In order to avoid the above shortcomings, there is a need to use associative experiment in foreign language learning and computer programs to achieve traditional associative learning methods. Lexical-semantic concept analysis revealed different content for semi-peripheral, peripheral and extreme peripheral zones. The article also outlines further promising areas of research, including psycholinguistic and metalinguistic ones. The research is potentially useful for the development of didactic computer programs, for the improvement of associative diagnostic methods in foreign language teaching, etc.

380TF Mixed Asynchronous/Didactic ECG Curriculum to Increase Resident Competency

Emergency physicians are considered experts in the acute interpretation of the ECG. This occurs during shifts, and most commonly as an interruption during care on other patients. In some departments, interruptions in patient care can occur as often as once every 6 minutes. Our newer graduates routinely report anxiety regarding interpreting ECGs in this context. There are very few formalized ECG curricula available, the decision was made to design a mixed asynchronous and flipped classroom model to better equip residents to interpret ECGs during a shift. This curriculum is being developed to increase the ability to successfully interpret ECGs by the residents. After completing the course, the resident would be eligible to take a “credentialing” exam to be able to sign ECGs for patients. Successful completion of the course would be obtaining a score of >80% on the credentialing exam. The learners will initially watch one ECG video a month, then have an interactive in-class discussion of similar ECGs one week later. After one to two weeks, an online quiz will be given to assess their retention of the information presented. This lecture series will be a longitudinal experience, occurring once per four-week block. This will take approximately 2 hours per 4-week block, with 13 blocks per year. After completing the full course, the resident would be allowed to take a 1-hour ECG “credentialing” quiz. If they score greater than 80% on the examination, and without missing any STEMI designations, they would then be allowed to sign ECGs during shift. At time of initiation of this curriculum we will have 2 years of credentialing data which we could then compare to the trainees’ scores that undergo our curriculum. At the completion of a longitudinal one year mixed asynchronous and in class didactic training program on ECGs, the residents will successfully complete a “credentialing” examination to be able to sign ECGs during shift with attending oversight. Prior to the initiation of this curriculum, the entire residency was given the “credentialing” exam with a 28% (9/32) pass rate. Most of the residents that passed were seniors at the time and have graduated the program. This process should increase the comfort of signing ECGs as well as increase the overall ability to interpret the ECG in the correct clinical setting.

The Introduction of Community-Engaged Learning Into a DPD Community Nutrition Course

The objective of this article is to describe the development process of incorporating community-engaged learning activities in the Mississippi Delta to an undergraduate, community nutrition course for didactic programs in dietetics (DPD) students. Lessons learned from this experience indicate that it is crucial to include service-learning experts in the planning process, meet the needs of key stakeholders, and obtain student buy-in. These lessons as well as others learned have important implications for pedagogy practice. Integrating community-engaged learning activities into community nutrition courses is one way of serving at-risk communities.

Representações do corpo docente sobre o ensino-aprendizagem da disciplina Paisagem e Sustentabilidade em salas de aula secundárias na Galicia, Espanha

The short curriculum titled Landscape and Sustainability, a new optional subject implemented in Galicia (Northwest of Spain), allows teachers to design their didactic programs with an important degree of autonomy when they do not have to be subjected to normative prescriptions. This circumstance allows analyzing and seeing the influence of the teachers’ social representations (SR) in the classroom around their teaching practice, the subject, and the type of educational context that favors innovation. This research article aims to answer that, also to identify how three secondary teachers conceive the innovation possibilities offered by this new subject, and to what extent they believe that this develops innovative educational attitudes in the didactic practice. It is a qualitative study whose data was obtained by applying three semi-structured interviews with open questions organized in blocks. These blocks were analyzed using the constant comparison method. The three teachers coincided with (1) an integral and critical view of the educational context; (2) they gave importance to the use of active methods and a critical approach as the key to success in their proposals; (3) the possibility of providing specific knowledge around the landscape supported by an interdisciplinary perspective; (4) they primarily aimed to have the students identify with their surroundings as a way to promote their social responsibility with those places; and (5) in two cases explicitly, and more indirectly in the third, they linked their proposals about the surroundings with heritage elements, pursuing different learning objectives. The analysis of these representations allows advancing the pre-eminence of the teacher’s disciplines over their interdisciplinary intention. Furthermore, it can be observed a tendency to make up students’ identities with places or heritage elements linked to the aesthetic, historical, or traditional factors.

Leader-member exchange and subjective well-being: the moderating role of metacognitive cultural intelligence

PurposeThis study examines employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence as a moderator in the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and employees' subjective well-being.Design/methodology/approachWe tested the conceptual model using regression analysis from a sample of 462 migrant workers in Australia.FindingsThe results demonstrated that employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence moderated the relationship between LMX and employees' subjective well-being in such a way that the effect was stronger among those employees with lower levels of metacognitive cultural intelligence.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional design, with self-reporting at one point in time, could affect a causal relationship among variables, although each relationship was built on strong theoretical perspectives. However, prior research emphasizes that a single source is not considered to be an issue when interactions are examined.Practical implicationsOne way to improve metacognitive cultural intelligence for global leadership effectiveness could be through the introduction of diversity and cross-cultural training, such as didactic programs provided either in-house or by external institutions.Originality/valueDrawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating that employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence is a boundary condition that alters the strengths of the LMX–subjective well-being relationship.

The implementation of Small Private Online Courses (SPOC) as a new approach to education

SummaryThis article presents a study of the participants of a Small Private Online Course (SPOC) entitled “The Didactic Programming: Elements and Process of Elaboration” at the University of Málaga (Spain). Since the concept was first introduced in 2013, SPOCs have been progressively implemented in higher education. They were conceived to succeed where Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) failed, namely in the high drop-out rate. Using a descriptive method, a questionnaire was designed to collect data on the individual characteristics of the University students participating in the SPOC, the degree of satisfaction they expressed at the end of the training process and their opinion regarding class-based courses. The completion rate was 78.7%, and 70.6% of them had previously undertaken online training activities. All the sections of the course (objectives, contents, evaluation, etc.) were favourably evaluated by more than 85% of the participants, as well as their preference for online training.

A National Survey on Didactic Curricula in Psychology Internship Training Programs.

Didactic curricula in psychology doctoral internship training programs in health service psychology are important components of the training experience. However, the nature of didactic curricula, including how they are developed and implemented, is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of didactic programs, better understand their development, and identify barriers to implementation. This study surveyed psychology doctoral internship program directors about didactic training in their programs. A total of 122 internship directors consented to participate. On average, internship didactics were held for 11 hr per month, during regular work-day hours, and on a weekly basis. Internal faculty members were the most common didactic speakers. Didactic curricula were typically developed to meet profession-wide competencies as established by the accrediting body, the American Psychological Association. Identified barriers to didactic program development and implementation included lack of protected release time for faculty and trainees, presenter- and facility-related challenges, and difficulty addressing learner needs. Ideas for future research in this area are suggested.

Establishing Consensus-based Objectives for the Creation of an Opioid Overdose Curriculum for Emergency Medical Services Clinicians.

Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians are on the front lines of the opioid epidemic and are often the first health care personnel system to contact patients experiencing opioid toxicity. Although national educational guidelines include opioid toxicity, no specific standardized prehospital educational objectives or competencies exist. The goal of this project was to identify objectives for an EMS opioid toxicity curriculum that could be used for EMS training. A list of preliminary educational objectives from U.S. EMS training programs was compiled and reviewed by a group of experts. The Delphi method was used to attain consensus on a final list of objectives for an EMS opioid curriculum. A total of 107 opioid-related preliminary objectives were identified and then narrowed down to 81 preliminary objectives after accounting for redundancy. After four successive rounds of evaluating/accepting/rejecting objectives, 18 final objectives were identified and unanimously approved by the expert panel. We identified 18 objectives to serve as a framework for an opioid toxicity curriculum for EMS clinicians. These objectives can serve as a basis for creating a standardized didactic training program for EMS training programs nationwide. Further evaluation will be needed to explore the best means for educational program delivery.

Clinical Simulation Training in Nurses Caring for Pediatric Oncology Patients

BackgroundGeneral nurses caring for pediatric oncology inpatients lack training and confidence to provide safe effective care. MethodsMajor components of pediatric oncology care were identified and a combined didactic and clinical simulation educational program was provided to 60 nurses caring for pediatric oncology inpatients in an urban academic hospital. ResultsExcellent response rate (96.7%, 58/60). Statistically significant improvement in nurses' self-efficacy six months after intervention on paired sample t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank tests in each care domain. ConclusionsThe didactic and clinical simulation program was effective for training nurses caring for pediatric oncology patients and can be used as a model for general nurses caring for vulnerable patient populations.

„Времето“ като аспект в творбата (избрани примери от полско концептуално изкуство, собствени и студентски творби)

Attempting to visualize concept of “time” has a great tradition in contemporary art, in particular in conceptual art in the 20th century. The starting point for that consideration are conceptual activities in Polish contemporary art and their influence on the didactic program of teaching photography – the topics and selections taken for the visual structure of the work. Discussion on the example of selected works of Polish conceptual art of the 20th century, including the effects of the didactic process of the Photography and Multimedia Activities Studio that I run at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. As a part of research and didactic observations, for many years students have been given the task of creating a visual work that shows the passage of time. The selection of photographic pictures and the method of working should be treated as an attempt to create a personal commentary on the surrounding reality. Students are choosing a theme, planning and recording over for a long period of time, for example a few weeks or months, the natural variability of the motif with particular emphasis on the type of light resulting from the time of day and the environment. The collections are presented in the form of a slide show, and the rhythm of the appearing photographs can be variable, consciously used as an additional artistic element. In the initial phase, the students discuss the selected issue and chosen artistic convention, while the technique and artistic form are free. In my own artistic work, too, the aspect of the “time” is an important factor. In many art works and art projects it is an important semantic element. Years later, I return to the same themes or places to reinterpret them and relate to the past. It concerns both the topic, issues and the composition of the visual implementation. Examples of artistic projects implemented over many years are cycles regarding the identity of the home city, for example “Postcards from Łódź”, “genius_lodzi” or “The Origin”.

Influence of Clinical Expertise Between Clinician-Instructors Versus Student-Instructors on the Effectiveness of Ultrasound Courses

To investigate how the extent of an ultrasound instructor's clinical expertise influences the level of hands-on ultrasound competency achieved by clinicians after three-day ultrasound courses in abdominal and emergency ultrasound. The second goal was to determine how physicians in residency rate the sonographic and didactic skills of student instructors compared to medical staff instructors. A total of N = 100 residents participating in a 3-day ultrasound workshop were randomly trained either by 15 student instructors or by clinical staff physicians, both with > 2years of teaching experience. Both instructor groups had previously completed 120 hours of didactic instructor training. Ultrasound competencies were assessed by a standardized objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) of healthy individuals. The sonographic and didactic skills of both instructor groups were rated by questionnaires with six-step Likert items (1 = excellent, 6 = poor). The cohort, trained by student instructors, achieved the same scoring level as the second cohort, trained by physician instructors (mean score 76.4, versus 73.7 of max.100points, p = 0.28) in the final OSCE. The sonographic qualification was rated for student educators as 1.44 (mean) [1.1-1.62], versus residents 1.46 [1.26-1.61], versus attendings 1.29 [1.05-1.61]. Didactic skill levels were rated without significant differences with means of 1.53, 1.57 and 1.53, respectively. The didactic competence of student instructors does not differ statistically from the competency levels of experienced physicians. In terms of the acquired ultrasound skills of trainees, our data indicate that student instructors can be as efficient as staff instructors. Therefore, student instructors can be employed as resource-saving ultrasound educators without decreasing the skills level achieved by course participants, provided that they previously underwent a comprehensive didactic and sonographic training program.

Resident Education in the Time of a Global Pandemic: Development of the Collaborative OMS Virtual Interinstitutional Didactic (COVID) Program

Disparity in didactic education among oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) training programs has driven a national conversation regarding the need for a standardized OMS curriculum, which has been recently amplified by the drastic interruption of OMS training programs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In the present report, we have described the Collaborative OMS Virtual Interinstitutional Didactic (COVID) Program, a multi-institutional educational curriculum developed in response to the pandemic and aimed toward OMS resident education.

How to Teach Pre-Service Teachers to Make a Didactic Program? The Collaborative Learning Associated with Mobile Devices

Today, pedagogical proposals are increasingly moving away from purely traditional approaches, with a proliferation of active methodologies in the teaching–learning processes. This research aims to find out the effectiveness of the collaborative method in mobile learning, as opposed to traditional methodology, for university students in the learning of the didactic program. The research methodology is quantitative, applying a quasi-experimental design with a control group and experimental group. The results show that the collaborative learning teaching method associated with mobile learning mainly increases motivation, the relationships between teachers and students, the relationships between students and content, the relationships between students and students, autonomy in learning, pedagogical collaboration between students, problem-solving, and the sense of time in the training process. It is concluded that the collaborative learning method associated with mobile learning is more effective for learning didactic programming than the traditional method.

Main stages of development of architectural science. Organization, methodology and updating of theoretical knowledge in the field of architecture and design

The paper focuses on research of the background and basic elements of complexity issue in architectural theory, and in the context of design practice. It also brings forth the question of introduction of complexity in didactic and education programs implemented in universities in architecture as a field of study. Paper contains critical analysis of limitations of traditional approach to architectural practice based mainly on intuition and confronts it with integrated design ideas. These ideas contribute to the development of wider application of the theory of complexity.