Distant Campuses Research Articles

Effectiveness of continuous home wound care on patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

To explore the effectiveness of continuous home wound care on patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). A non-randomized parallel controlled non-inferiority trial. Patients with Wagner grade I-III DFUs hospitalized in two distant campuses of the same hospital were included. All patients received infection treatment and wound bed preparation during hospitalization; after discharge, patients in one of the campuses received routine outpatient wound care, and those treated in the other received continuous home wound care. The per-protocol analysis was performed to compare ulcer healing indicators, knowledge, health belief, self-management behaviour and medical expenses of the two groups. Between October 2021 and December 2022, 116 patients were enrolled in the study; 107 completed. The home care was not inferior in terms of ulcer healing rate and demonstrated significant enhancements in the understanding of warning signs, health belief and self-management behaviour. Additionally, the home care saved 220.38 yuan (24.32 UK pounds) in direct medical expenses for each additional one square centimetre of ulcer healing. The continuous home wound care enhanced self-management behaviour of the patients and saved their medical expenses while not compromising ulcer healing. This is to date the first study to conduct continuous home wound care practice for patients with DFUs and confirmed its safety and non-inferiority in ulcer healing, and supported its superiority in improving self-management behaviour and saving medical expenses. We have adhered to the transparent reporting of evaluations with nonrandomized designs statements and the corresponding checklist was followed. The patients and their primary caregivers were involved in intervention design, we received input from them about the factors that facilitate and hinder patient self-management behaviours to develop intervention strategies.

A Simulated Approach to Fostering Competency in End-of-Life Care Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine if pharmacy students participating in simulation-based scenarios reported fewer learning needs about the transition from acute to end-of-life (EOL) care compared to students participating in solely case-based scenario delivery. Methods. Four end-of-life cases were developed for both paper-based case study and simulation delivery. Pharmacy students on three distant campuses were exposed to the case study approach while four teams of nine to ten pharmacy students were exposed to simulated versions of the same cases. A validated questionnaire was administered before and after exposure to assess end-of-life care learning needs. Results were analyzed following a Bonferroni-adjustment for multiple testing. Results. The case study groups produced similar pre/post changes on the questionnaire. After results were pooled and compared to the simulation only group, significantly higher changes in pre/post scores were found for the simulation group. Conclusion. Pharmacy students exposed to simulated EOL scenarios experienced significantly reduced learning needs following the scenarios, unlike their classroom-based counterparts.

Transition from Passive Learner to Critical Evaluator through Peer-Testing of Programming Artefacts

Offering timely feedback on programming while encouraging learners to engage in critical evaluation of programs are the objectives of peer-testing. We report on a peer-testing experiment with students on distant campuses using a Web platform. The experiment shows the potential that peer-testing has to help students transition from passive learners to critical evaluators. Keywords: Computer science education, peer testing, peer feedback, software testing, student transitions

MEASURING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF SCALE

The present study is an endeavor to develop and validate Access to Higher Education Scale (AHES) by administering it in a stratified sample of 51 predominantly third years’ bachelors program students enrolled in newly established distant campuses in rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out to analyze the data. This revealed good reliability and validity of scale and identified a two factor model. The data were further used to undertake confirmatory factor analysis. Results confirmed the reliability and validity of the scale. This study also used three other scales i.e. Teachers Support, Self-perceived Employability and Psychological Wellbeing for the validity of AHES. Shorter versions of these scales were confirmed through their adequate reliability and validity. Scholars in education and human resource management field can further use these scales to measure students’ outcome of graduate employability and psychological wellbeing.

Learning Programming: A Model Emerging from Data

Learning computer programming is a prominent issue in the fields of computer science and education. This paper is an attempt to address this issue by investigating the experiences of undergraduate university students who studied computer programming. A total of 260 computer science and engineering students (210 males and 50 females) were recruited from three geographically distant campuses. They were surveyed with a questionnaire that exhibited good internal reliability. Eventually, a learning model emerged from the data. It consisted of three independent structures that included most of the study times under focus. The study times creatively and dynamically interact stimulated by learning needs and sustained by learning passion. In addition, while some indices of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the learning model is an adequate fit, others suggested that it needs improvement, which should be considered by future research.

Team-Based Learning in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

To characterize the use of team-based learning (TBL) in US colleges and schools of pharmacy, including factors that may affect implementation and perceptions of faculty members regarding the impact of TBL on educational outcomes. Respondents identified factors that inhibit or enable TBL use and its impact on student learning. Results were stratified by type of institution (public/private), class size, and TBL experience. Sixty-nine of 100 faculty members (69%) representing 43 (86%) institutions responded. Major factors considered to enable TBL implementation included a single campus and student and administration buy-in. Inhibiting factors included distant campuses, faculty resistance, and lack of training. Compared with traditional lectures, TBL is perceived to enhance student engagement, improve students' preparation for class, and promote achievement of course outcomes. In addition, TBL is perceived to be more effective than lectures at fostering learning in all 6 domains of Bloom's Taxonomy. Despite potential implementation challenges, faculty members perceive that TBL improves student engagement and learning.

A Participation Requirement to Engage Students in a Pharmacokinetics Course Synchronously Taught at a Local and Distant Campus

To design, implement, and evaluate a strategy to actively engage doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students at local and distant sites in a pharmacokinetics course. A Web-based system was designed that allowed second-year pharmacy students to choose whether to participate in a instructor-led class discussion session by registering prior to or during the first 10 minutes of each class. The instructor then used the program to randomly select students to respond to questions based on the assigned reading. Five percent of the overall course grade was based on class participation. For each class session, an average of 85% of students at both the local and distant campuses registered for participation in class discussion and approximately 5% were called on to respond to questions. Student responses to course survey questions regarding the participation strategy were overwhelmingly positive, with 75%-90% agreeing that the strategy more actively engaged them in classroom activities, resulting in improved learning. Student performance in all assessment categories was almost identical at the local and distant sites. Implementation of a participation strategy in a large course synchronously taught on 2 campuses is feasible and results in successful engagement of most students at both sites.

The development of an Education Grand Rounds program at an academic health center

Objectives: Faculty in the health professions need to demonstrate teaching effectiveness and faculty development of teaching can help them achieve this expectation. While there are several development options, the utility of an Education Grand Rounds was explored. The objectives were to coordinate eight yearly sessions focused on six topic priorities, involve our main and distant campus and national presenters, deliver live sessions to the main and distant campus and video-capture sessions, and dedicate session time to active learning. Methods: Education Grand Rounds was developed by faculty and administrative representatives from all six colleges on our two campuses and made available to all faculty at our academic health sciences center. Six sessions topics were prioritized: didactic and clinical teaching, education research, assessment/evaluation, education administration, and instructional technology. Results: Over five years, eight active learning sessions a year were delivered to the main and distant campuses emphasizing six prioritized teaching areas, included local and national presenters, with sixteen sessions videocaptured. On average monthly attendance was nineteen from the main and three from the distant campuses, representing five of six disciplines. The majority of attendees reported above/significantly above average satisfaction with the sessions. Conclusions: Education Grand Rounds is a sustainable form of faculty development for health sciences center faculty located on two campuses. Future directions should assess the impact of topic sequencing presented in multiple modalities, synchronous versus asynchronous participation, and the types of active learning used on participants’ teaching improvement and change as a result of the ses

Ask a UT System Librarian

SUMMARY University of Texas System libraries initiated a chat reference program to support distance learners enrolled at University of Texas component institutions, including the UT Telecampus Digital Library. Librarians at several geographically distant campuses staffed the collaborative chat reference service. Librarians assisted students at other UT System campuses, in effect becoming “distance librarians” who must have thorough knowledge of both their own library resources and the resources available at other campus libraries. Librarians at The University of Texas at San Antonio share their experiences with this collaborative chat reference service.