Differences In Curriculum Research Articles

Cross-cultural Differences in Mental Health, Quality of Life, Empathy, and Burnout between US and Brazilian Medical Students.

This study aimed to compare mental health, quality of life, empathy, and burnout in medical students from a medical institution in the USA and another one in Brazil. This cross-cultural study included students enrolled in the first and second years of their undergraduate medical training. We evaluated depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS 21), empathy, openness to spirituality, and wellness (ESWIM), burnout (Oldenburg), and quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref) and compared them between schools. A total of 138 Brazilian and 73 US medical students were included. The comparison between all US medical students and all Brazilian medical students revealed that Brazilians reported more depression and stress and US students reported greater wellness, less exhaustion, and greater environmental quality of life. In order to address a possible response bias favoring respondents with better mental health, we also compared all US medical students with the 50% of Brazilian medical students who reported better mental health. In this comparison, we found Brazilian medical students had higher physical quality of life and US students again reported greater environmental quality of life. Cultural, social, infrastructural, and curricular differences were compared between institutions. Some noted differences were that students at the US institution were older and were exposed to smaller class sizes, earlier patient encounters, problem-based learning, and psychological support. We found important differences between Brazilian and US medical students, particularly in mental health and wellness. These findings could be explained by a complex interaction between several factors, highlighting the importance of considering cultural and school-level influences on well-being.

How international studies contributed to educational theory and methods through measurement of opportunity to learn mathematics

The international comparative studies in 1959 were conducted by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) researchers who recognized that differences in student achievement measures in mathematics across countries could be caused by differences in curricula. The measurements of opportunity to learn (OTL) grew from a small effort in 1959 to a much larger efforts by 1995 to explain whether countries with high achievement were more likely to teach advanced mathematics. In general, the relationship of coverage of a mathematics topic was weakly related to the level of mathematics performance, but did have some effect on growth. This paper finds that differences in measurement methods of OTL across the studies greatly affected the outcome of the relationship. Recent Program for International Student Achievement (PISA) analyses indicate that the relationship between OTL and student achievement might be described as a curvilinear relationship. Countries with lower achievement are more likely to be affected by curriculum coverage than are high-performing countries.

Participation and selection effects of a voluntary selection process

Many different medical school selection processes are used worldwide. In this paper, we examine the effect of (1) participation, and (2) selection in a voluntary selection process on study performance. We included data from two cohorts of medical students admitted to Erasmus MC, Rotterdam and VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and compared them to previously published data from Groningen medical school, The Netherlands. All included students were admitted based on either (1) a top pre-university grade point average, or (2) a voluntary selection process, or (3) weighted lottery. We distinguished between lottery-admitted students who had participated in the voluntary selection process and had been rejected, and lottery-admitted students who had not participated. Knowledge test scores, study progress, and professionalism scores were examined using ANCOVA modelling, logistic regression, and Bonferroni post hoc multiple-comparison tests, controlling for gender and cohort. For written test grades, results showed a participation effect at Groningen medical school and Erasmus MC (p < 0.001), and a selection effect at VUmc (p < 0.05). For obtained course credits, results showed a participation effect at all universities (p < 0.01) and a selection effect at Groningen medical school (p < 0.005). At Groningen medical school, a participation effect seemed apparent in on time first-year completion (p < 0.05). Earlier reported selection and participation effects in professionalism scores at Groningen medical school were not apparent at VUmc. Top pre-university students performed well on all outcome measures. For both the participation effect and the selection effect, results differed between universities. Institutional differences in curricula and in the design of the selection process seem to mediate relations between the different admissions processes and performance. Further research is needed for a deeper understanding of the influence of institutional differences on selection outcomes.

EDUCATING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: INSIGHTS FROM THE HIGHER EDUCATION COURSES IN HONG KONG

The purpose of this article is to uncover the trend of developing education courses for social entrepreneurship in higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The author had searched the syllabi or course descriptions across the websites of the higher education institutions in Hong Kong with the keywords of entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and social innovation. It was found that most of the social entrepreneurship courses offered were one-off single subject for undergraduate students, General Education courses, and minor courses, with only a few courses targeting postgraduates. It was also found that curricular differences among the courses offered by various schools or faculties were not that obvious. To understand this, the author had undertaken an analysis of the schools where these courses resided, course objectives, course content, and teaching and learning strategies among these various social entrepreneurship courses. Discussion of these has given insights to arguing for the need of multidisciplinary collaborations among social entrepreneurship educators.

The Electronic Health Record Objective Structured Clinical Examination: Assessing Student Competency in Patient Interactions While Using the Electronic Health Record.

Because many medical students do not have access to electronic health records (EHRs) in the clinical environment, simulated EHR training is necessary. Explicitly training medical students to use EHRs appropriately during patient encounters equips them to engage patients while also attending to the accuracy of the record and contributing to a culture of information safety. Faculty developed and successfully implemented an EHR objective structured clinical examination (EHR-OSCE) for clerkship students at two institutions. The EHR-OSCE objectives include assessing EHR-related communication and data management skills. The authors collected performance data for students (n = 71) at the first institution during academic years 2011-2013 and for students (n = 211) at the second institution during academic year 2013-2014. EHR-OSCE assessment checklist scores showed that students performed well in EHR-related communication tasks, such as maintaining eye contact and stopping all computer work when the patient expresses worry. Findings indicated student EHR skill deficiencies in the areas of EHR data management including medical history review, medication reconciliation, and allergy reconciliation. Most students' EHR skills failed to improve as the year progressed, suggesting that they did not gain the EHR training and experience they need in clinics and hospitals. Cross-institutional data comparisons will help determine whether differences in curricula affect students' EHR skills. National and institutional policies and faculty development are needed to ensure that students receive adequate EHR education, including hands-on experience in the clinic as well as simulated EHR practice.

Investigation of Translator Training Departments’ Course Contents with Regards to Language of Instruction

The information and technology era we live in has brought along an ever-increasing need for translation. In parallel with growing international co-operations of both political and commercial nature, the need for translation increased as well, therefore quality expectations are raised. Such expectations had a considerable effect on the number of Translation Studies and Translation and Interpreting departments. There are various languages offered in translator training in Turkey. German, English and French are prominent languages in that regard. Growing number of translator training departments has also accelerated the scientific research in Turkey. The content and aspects of scientific research in translation studies is determined by the scientific language of scholar along with other factors. In that context, translator training departments take certain language pairs into consideration for theory and application. This study aims to find out the role of scientific language on courses and their content, and whether there is a difference in curricula and courses in that regard and the reasons of possible differences and what their effects might be. For that purpose, curricula and course content of translator training departments will be compared according to certain criteria.

Gastroenterology fellowship programs: the fellows' perspective.

Gastroenterology fellowship programs: the fellows' perspective.

Concepción de la identidad química en estudiantes y profesores de química. Parte II: comparación entre participantes en dos universidades de diferentes países

In continuation from a previous paper, in which the concept of chemical identity was introduced, the elements that were used to collect and analyze cognitive interviews are presented, along with the results, implications and conclusions of a cultural-comparison study between students from a university in Costa Rica and another in the United States. Curricular differences between the two countries studied are also described. The results indicate, tentatively, patterns of reasoning about chemical identity, and also how they manifest in the context of a problem about benefits, costs and risks, as well as relationships between structure and properties, in chemistry. Diversity of thinking about chemical identity is shown across two countries with different chemistry curricula, and among student populations of different educational performance, in contexts with different geography, culture, norms, and other societal variables, which strengthens the validation of the hypothetic learning progression.

Differential Item Functioning: Item Level Analysis of TIMSS Mathematics Test Items Using Australian and Indonesian Database&#x0D;

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) aims to provide a broad perspective for evaluating and improving education. This assessment also ranks the participant countries based on their performance and makes inferences about factors affecting achievement and learning. However, the study may not function as it was expected because of differences in curricular, cultural, or language settings among countries. Consequently, this challenges assumptions about measurement equivalency. The present study aims to assess the equivalency of mathematics items on the TIMSS (2007) study across Australian and Indonesia. Students’ responses were subjected to Rasch analysis to determine DIF items. The results revealed that many items of mathematics tests are problematic because they showed significant bias. The study also found that Australian students performed better and found mathematics items on the test easier than their Indonesian counterparts did. Several factors such as curricular differences, methods used to solve mathematics problems, availability of textbooks and teachers’ quality might explain the existence of DIF between the countries. These findings indicate that serious limitations of using TIMSS results in comparing the performance of students across countries. Thus, further empirical evidence is needed before TIMSS 2007 results can be meaningfully used in research.

Differential Item Functioning: Item Level Analysis of TIMSS Mathematics Test Items Using Australian and Indonesian Database

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) aims to provide a broad perspective for evaluating and improving education. This assessment also ranks the participant countries based on their performance and makes inferences about factors affecting achievement and learning. However, the study may not function as it was expected because of differences in curricular, cultural, or language settings among countries. Consequently, this challenges assumptions about measurement equivalency. The present study aims to assess the equivalency of mathematics items on the TIMSS (2007) study across Australian and Indonesia. Students’ responses were subjected to Rasch analysis to determine DIF items. The results revealed that many items of mathematics tests are problematic because they showed significant bias. The study also found that Australian students performed better and found mathematics items on the test easier than their Indonesian counterparts did. Several factors such as curricular differences, methods used to solve mathematics problems, availability of textbooks and teachers’ quality might explain the existence of DIF between the countries. These findings indicate that serious limitations of using TIMSS results in comparing the performance of students across countries. Thus, further empirical evidence is needed before TIMSS 2007 results can be meaningfully used in research. Keywords: DIF items, mathematics test items, Rasch model

Instructional practices of elementary social studies teachers in North and South Carolina

Using data from the Survey of the Status of Social Studies (S4), this article describes the instructional decisions and practices of elementary teachers in two neighboring states, one where social studies is tested and another where it is not. We define students' opportunity to learn within these states as a composite of three variables: time allocations for social studies (teacher reported instructional time), methods for teaching social studies (teacher reported instructional strategies), and content focus (teacher reported content emphases and state-mandated curriculum standards). Our guiding research question for this study was: To what extent do teachers' perceptions of elementary school social studies instructional practices and content vary between two states with different testing policies for social studies? Initial findings revealed notable differences that could not be explained by testing policies alone. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory content analysis of the elementary social studies curricula in these neighboring states. We uncovered curricular differences that suggest that state standards influence teachers' decisions in both what and how they choose to teach social studies. However, there were curriculum differences that did not align with S4 instructional methods and content focus output. Thus, we concluded that other factors apart from the curriculum guide teachers' decision-making. Results provided evidence that students have different opportunities to learn based on (1) state testing policies in social studies, (2) curriculum content, (3) how social studies is delivered (e.g., stand-alone versus integration), and (4) time allocated to social studies. We concluded that these variables constrict or expand students' opportunity to learn social studies and may influence teachers' pedagogical and content choices in elementary social studies.

Student Off-Task Behavior in Computer-Based Learning in the Philippines: Comparison to Prior Research in the USA

BackgroundOff-task behavior can be defined as any behavior that does not involve the learning task or material, or where learning from the material is not the primary goal. One suggested path for understanding how to address off-task behavior is to study classrooms where off-task behavior is less common, particularly in Asia, in order to understand why off-task behavior is less common in those settings.PurposeIn this paper, we discuss three studies that examine the differences in the off-task behavior of students using intelligent tutoring software in the Philippines and the United States. We investigate whether Filipino students using intelligent tutors exhibit significantly less off-task behavior than their American counterparts, in line with the previously observed patterns of off-task behavior in traditional classrooms in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Using identical intelligent tutors in both countries allows us to control for confounds due to differences in curricula.Research DesignIn the first study, approximately matched cohorts of students in classrooms in the United States and Philippines used the same educational software (the Scatterplot Tutor) for an equal amount of time and according to an identical research protocol. In the second and third studies, students in the Philippines used different intelligent tutoring systems for a fixed amount of time.Data Collection and AnalysisAs students used the software, researchers used a quantitative field observation protocol to record their behaviors. From the quantitative field observations, we computed an approximate percentage of time that each student was off-task and then calculated the average time off-task for each group under study. An additional behavior, gaming the system (intentional misuse of educational software) was also coded.FindingsIn the first study, students in the United States were off-task, on average, seven times more than students in the Philippines. Interestingly, however, the proportion of gaming the system was higher in the Philippines than in the United States. In the second and third studies, the incidence of off-task behavior was comparable to the frequency of off-task behavior in the Philippines in the first study, and substantially lower than the frequency of off-task behavior in the United States in the first study or in prior research on off-task behavior in the United States.Conclusions / RecommendationsThe results of the first study suggest that the previously observed differences in off-task behavior between the United States and Asia cannot be attributed simply to differences in curricula. Understanding the relative roles of cultural factors and past experiences with adaptive educational technology in student off-task behavior is an important area of future work.

Alternative Teacher Certification and the New Professionalism: The Pre-service Preparation of Mathematics Teachers in the New York City Teaching Fellows Program

Background/ContextFor more than a decade, large alternative teacher certification programs (ATCP) such as the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF) have provided qualified applicants with fast-track or “early entry” routes to paid teaching. While early-entry ATCPs enjoy powerful support in the public and private sectors, critics (e.g., Zeichner, 2010) claim that early-entry ATCPs are aligned with a “new professionalism” which views teaching as a technical undertaking and teachers as easily replaceable implementers of others’ prescriptive ideas. Yet little is known about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions these programs seek to develop in teachers during pre-service preparation.Purpose/Focus of StudyThis study seeks to understand the nature of teacher preparation in early-entry ATCPs and how this reflects both the trends associated with the new professionalism and broader traditions of teacher education. The paper focuses on preparation of pre-service mathematics teachers who began the NYCTF program in the summer of 2007.Research DesignResults for this paper are based on a mixed-methods analysis of curriculum and survey data. Curriculum data included course materials, journal entries and daily audio reflections, and exit interviews for nine mathematics teacher candidates who began NYCTF in the summer of 2007. The two authors coded this qualitative data with a high degree of inter-rater reliability. Survey data was collected from 90% of the approximately 300 mathematics candidates who began NYCTF in the summer of 2007. The analysis focused on responses to Likert-scale survey items that inquired about the focus of pre-service coursework. The Mann Whitney test was used to gauge the statistical significance of curricular differences reported by mathematics candidates in different sections of the NYCTF program.Findings/ResultsWe find that only some of the major components of NYCTF summer preparation were well aligned with the expectations of the new professionalism. In particular, the curriculum delivered by NYCTF staff and staff at one of the four university coursework providers seemed to meet these expectations. Whereas, to varying degrees, the curriculum delivered by staff at the three other university partners did not. We also find that pre-service preparation was subject-general and featured little in the way of mathematics-specific teaching methods.Conclusions/RecommendationsThe results simultaneously support, extend, nuance, and challenge the hypothesis that such early-entry ATCPs such as NYCTF prepare program participants to meet the expectations of the new professionalism. The conclusion includes discussions of both the promise of early-entry ATCPs and how schools of education might respond to the rise of early-entry ATCPs and the trend of the new professionalism.

Reflections on the Law and Curricular Values in American Schools

The Supreme Court's 1925 ruling in Pierce v. Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (Pierce), striking down a law from Oregon that would have required all children, other than those needing special education, between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend public schools, essentially upheld the right of nonpublic schools to operate. At the same time, the Court recognized that state officials could “reasonably…regulate all schools, to inspect, supervise, and examine them, their teachers and pupils” (p. 534). However, in practice, other than health and safety code issues, educational officials typically impose fewer restrictions on nonpublic schools than on public schools, particularly on curricular content. In light of the significant curricular differences between public and nonpublic schools, this two-part article reflects on how educators in both systems can learn from one another as they seek to ensure the presence of diversity of educational perspectives in the marketplace of ideas. The first part of the article examines legal developments on selected curricular issues, and the second section offers recommendations on how educational leaders can work to maintain the vibrancy of American schools by affording parents the opportunity to send their children to study in schools best meeting their needs.

Un acercamiento al ethos profesional en estudiantes de psicología al inicio del ciclo centrado en la formación profesional

Between 2008 and 2010 the impact of four learning modules on the ethics of clinical and educational psychology was studied. In order to measure their effectiveness, before and after each intervention, -a filmed interview was presented rela- ted to each module and dramatized by actors- with ethical and technical errors. On the base of the responses given subjected to open and axial codification, correct and erroneous answers were analyzed, grouped by topics which showed the stand from which subjects answered. Realizing that this meant an approach to professional ethos, we analyzed part of the data with the aim to explore this ethos in 100 students, from three universities, which are starting their professional training cycle and which possess a different insertion of ethics training, organized in four groups and evaluated before being exposed to the modules.The results suggest that a professional ethos is being built with great convergences despite curricular differences.

Similarities and differences in curricula of a bachelor’s degree in oceanology at the universities in St Petersburg, Klaipeda, and Kaliningrad

Similarities and differences in curricula of a bachelor’s degree in oceanology at the universities in St Petersburg, Klaipeda, and Kaliningrad

Judgments of Widely Held Beliefs about Psychological Phenomena among South African and Australian Postgraduate Psychology Students

Lay understandings of human cognition, affect, and behaviour often diverge from the findings of scientific investigations. The present study compared South African and Australian fourth year psychology students' judgments about the factual correctness of statements of psychological phenomena that have been demonstrated to be incorrect by empirical research. Students enrolled in the psychology Honours programmes at two large residential universities in South Africa and one university in Australia were asked to respond to a questionnaire that required them to decide on the validity of a list of empirically untrue statements. The results show that a large proportion of all universities believed many incorrect statements to be true. Significant differences between the samples emerged that may have been due to curricular differences between the academic programmes in the two countries. These results are discussed with reference to the teaching of critical thinking skills in psychology courses and the influence of popular culture on beliefs about human behaviour. Recommendations are also made about the teaching of scientific and critical reasoning skills in academic psychology programmes.

Measuring Growth in a Longitudinal Large-Scale Assessment with a General Latent Variable Model

The aim of the research presented here is the use of extensions of longitudinal item response theory (IRT) models in the analysis and comparison of group-specific growth in large-scale assessments of educational outcomes. A general discrete latent variable model was used to specify and compare two types of multidimensional item-response-theory (MIRT) models for longitudinal data: (a) a model that handles repeated measurements as multiple, correlated variables over time and (b) a model that assumes one common variable over time and additional variables that quantify the change. Using extensions of these MIRT models, we approach the issue of modeling and comparing group-specific growth in observed and unobserved subpopulations. The analyses presented in this paper aim at answering the question whether academic growth is homogeneous across types of schools defined by academic demands and curricular differences. In order to facilitate answering this research question, (a) a model with a single two-dimensional ability distribution was compared to (b) a model assuming multiple populations with potentially different two-dimensional ability distributions based on type of school and to (c) a model that assumes that the observations are sampled from a discrete mixture of (unobserved) populations, allowing for differences across schools with respect to mixing proportions. For this purpose, we specified a hierarchical-mixture distribution variant of the two MIRT models. The latter model, (c), is a growth-mixture MIRT model that allows for variation of the mixing proportions across clusters in a hierarchically organized sample. We applied the proposed models to the PISA-I-Plus data for assessing learning and change across multiple subpopulations. The results of this study support the hypothesis of differential growth.

Quantile regression analysis of the Italian school system

We analyze the score on a reading literacy test of 15-year-old Italian students. The data depict a fracture in the Italian school system. By means of quantile regressions (QR) and by repeatedly implementing a QR-based test for structural break, computed in different sub-samples and at various quantiles, we can not only pin down the determinants of the gap but also rank them. We find that the difference in curricula is the main factor in explaining the gap in the students’ scores, and the regional difference is linked to structural and behavioural variables, like poor library facilities and student absenteeism, both mirroring the economic lag of the southern Italian regions. In terms of policy actions, curbing absenteeism in the south could help reduce the regional gap. If instead the target is to enhance excellence, funds could be directed towards academic track and/or north-centre regions.

An Investigation of Nursing Competence and the Competency Outcomes Performance Assessment Curricular Approach: Senior Students' Self-Reported Perceptions

This study was designed to measure the construct of competence as perceived by nursing students in different programs of study. An exploration of a competence-based curricular model was undertaken to determine if there are distinguishing differences between schools that have formally adopted Dr. Carrie Lenburg's Competency Outcomes Performance Assessment (COPA) model as a curricular guide and those who have do not have a formal competence model guiding the curriculum. The Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (6-D Scale) was used to evaluate nursing competence. Using a purposive sample, senior nursing students (N = 391) from three different types of nursing programs (baccalaureate, associate [ADN], and diploma) were surveyed. Students completed a two-part questionnaire that included the 6-D Scale, demographic questions, and a researcher-generated questionnaire designed to measure competency-based learning and evaluation. Faculty (n = 101) from these same programs were also surveyed. The results revealed that students from COPA and non-COPA schools reported slightly lower scores in three subscales: teaching/collaboration, critical care, and leadership. Significant curricular differences as defined by the Klein Scales were found between COPA and non-COPA senior students, with 17% to 30% of the variance explained for the COPA students. The findings reflect that baccalaureate students reported significantly lower 6-D Scale scores in multiple areas when compared to diploma and ADN students. Enhancement of student learning and curricular revisions designed to improve leadership and technical expertise are suggested by the findings of this study.