Duration Of Lectures Research Articles

Preference and views on lecture delivery methods of clinical students in Bayero University Medical School

Background: Lectures are essential parts of undergraduate medical education for the transfer of information to students. The traditional method of lecture delivery is widely practiced while some lecturers prefer the use of multimedia powerpoint. Objectives: This study intends to find out the preference and views on lecture delivery methods among the clinical students of Bayero University Medical School. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving the 400, 500 and 600 levels students. Self-administered pretested questionnaires were administered. Data were analysed by the use of frequencies and percentages. The difference between the various classes was analysed using one-way ANOVA with a P < 0.05 considered to be significant. Results: The age range is between 20 and 41 years with a mean age of 24.9 ± 2.91. There are 171 males and 90 females with a male: female ratio of 1.9:1. The predominant method of lecture delivery by teachers is the use of multimedia powerpoint, 215 (82.4%). Most of the students, 185 (70.9%) prefer a combination of the traditional and powerpoint methods, whereas 13 (12.6%) prefer the use of powerpoint while a minority 33 (5%), the traditional method. Majority, 181 (69.3%) are of the view that the duration of lectures should not exceed 1 h. Conclusion: A combination of the traditional method and multimedia powerpoint is the preferred lecture delivery method of Bayero University clinical students and they opined that lectures should not exceed an hour.

English

To evaluate lecture as a large group teaching method from student's perspective. METHODS: The present study was undertaken in the department of Microbiology, KIMS, Amalapuram. A total of 60 Second year MBBS students were taken as study subjects. A questionnaire was designed and students were asked to fill it and also give suggestions as a part of feedback about the lectures conducted in the department of Microbiology. RESULTS: A total of 83.4% students find Chalkboard method + Power point presentation as the best way of delivering a lecture. Nearly 56.6% students opined that ideal duration for class should be 40 - 50 minutes. Long duration of lecture was a major disadvantage according to 66.6% students. 90% students feel that some time period of lecture should be reserved for interactive session. Majority of students also preferred class on e- learning. 70% students feel that tutorials or seminars are needed along with theory class for better understanding of the subject. CONCLUSION: Lectures should be efficiently delivered by the instructor giving a conceptual understanding of the subject instead of mere reading the content. Lecture should be supplemented with tutorials and group discussion to improve learning. Duration of class should be restricted to 40-50 minutes as traditional long duration class makes it difficult to hold the attention of the students for an entire class period. Brief interaction with students will promote active learning. E- learning should be encouraged.

Potential of Twitter in Post-reading Activities Among Community College Students in Malaysia

Since its introduction in 2006, many studies have been made on the use of Twitter as learning tool especially in language classrooms. These studies, however, tend to look at the use of Twitter as language learning tool in the school, college or universities and rarely in the community college environment. Although it is one of the higher education institutions in Malaysia, community colleges do have vast differences with other institutions in terms of students’ educational background and learning motivation, lecture duration and semester, mission and vision and lecturer expertise. Thus, this paper describes a survey study using a Fuzzy Delphi method to investigate the potentials of using Twitter for post-reading activities among Malaysian community college students. The main focus of this study was to get experts’ consensus on the future of Twitter and its usage in language learning in the future for community college students. Experts consisted of experienced community college English lecturers and curriculum developers and academic specialists from the Community College Department, Ministry of Higher Education. Findings indicated that low level of Twitter usage among lecturers and students make Twitter as a learning tool rather vague in the future. This article discusses the reasons behind the moderate level of Twitter usage and the direction for future research in implementing Twitter in the language learning classroom.

The Current State of Sleep Medicine Education in US Neurology Residency Training Programs: Where Do We Go from Here?

To evaluate the current state of sleep medicine educational resources and training offered by US neurology residency programs. In 2010, a 20-item peer reviewed Sleep Education Survey (SES) was sent to neurology residency program directors surveying them about sleep medicine educational resources used in teaching residents. Pearson product momentum correlation was used to determine correlation of program attributes with resident interest in pursuing a career in sleep medicine. Of the programs completing the survey, 81% listed a formal sleep rotation and 24% included a forum for sleep research. A variety of innovative approaches for teaching sleep medicine were noted. Program directors noted that 5.7% residents entered sleep medicine fellowship training programs in the preceding 5 years. Programs that had a more substantial investment in sleep medicine teaching resources were more likely to report residents entering a sleep medicine training program. This is the first report providing an analysis of the current state of sleep medicine training in US Neurology Residency Programs. Our data provide evidence that investment by the residency program in sleep education may enhance the ultimate decision by the neurology trainee to pursue a career in sleep medicine.

The effectiveness of propositional manipulation as a lecturing method in the statistics knowledge domain

The current experiment examined the potential effects of the method of propositional manipulation (MPM) as a lecturing method on motivation to learn and conceptual understanding of statistics. MPM aims to help students develop conceptual understanding by guiding them into self-explanation at two different stages: First, at the stage of propositions (statements referring to single statistical concepts and ideas), and subsequently, at the stage of more complex problems that comprise a set of relevant propositions. A total of 71 bachelor students in psychology who were preparing for the re-sit of their inferential statistics exam participated in one of two possible lectures. Topic, content, lecturer, and duration of both lectures were the same, and in both lectures five true/false hypotheses were presented. Students in the first lecture (control group) discussed interactively the truth or falsity of each hypothesis. In the second lecture (MPM group), this interactive discussion was structured by presenting a number of short open-ended questions along with each hypothesis. Conceptual understanding was measured by means of a twelve items multiple choice test. Further, the intrinsic motivation inventory was administered to examine motivation to learn. The results indicate that MPM does not lead to enhanced motivation to learn but can facilitate conceptual understanding development among students.

Evaluation of undergraduate medical students’ learning environment in Goa: A cross-sectional study

Background: An increase in the medical student intake capacity from 100 to 150 seats in Goa Medical College during the academic year 2012-2013, led the author to assess the undergraduate Medical students’ learning environment with a view to suggest policy changes that enhance learning experience. Objective: To describe some of the preferences of the undergraduate Medical students regarding their learning environment with the aim of making the environment more conducive to learning. Methods: A cross sectional study design was used. Student volunteers from all the three phases of MBBS course were invited to participate in the study and after obtaining informed consent, data was collected through predesigned pretested self administered structured anonymous questionnaires. Of the total 446 undergraduate students from various semesters, 387(86.77%) students participated in the study. Data were entered in SPSS software (version.17) and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: For lectures 53.7% of the study participants preferred small group teaching (20-30 students). Most (62%) believed that 30-45 minutes was the ideal duration for a lecture, the attention span during lecture classes as admitted by 44.2% was only 20-30 minutes. Most of the students (66.9%) thought multimedia to be the most effective teaching tool followed by traditional blackboard teaching and transparencies. Most students (62.5%) favored the multiple choice question and short question system of assessment. Conclusion: Duration of lectures should be reduced to 30-45 minutes. More of multiple choice and short questions rather than long questions need to be part of our student assessment.

Medical education: views and recommendations by final year MBBS students of a private medical college in Lahore.

To obtain the views and recommendations of final year MBBS medical students of Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore about various aspects of the current medical education. Cross-sectional survey. Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore in October and November 2007. Preformed close ended structured questionnaire regarding medical teaching and evaluation methods and recommendations was used to collect the data from students of final year MBBS (n=120) at Lahore Medical and Dental College. SPSS 15 program was used for analysis. Data was presented as frequency percentages. A majority of the students (79%) thought that multimedia was the most effective teaching tool, (54%) students viewed 45 minutes as ideal lecture duration. Measures suggested to improve the examination results were regular tests (54%), improved lecture content (32%) and regular tutorials (10%). MCQ's were the mode of examination questions preferred by 62% of students. Recommendations given by students for improving the current medical education were better teaching (26%) followed by increased motivation in students 54 (16%) and more hands-on training/practical field work (12%). Medical students in this study preferred multimedia, lecture duration less than 45 minutes and MCQ's as their preferred mode of evaluation. Students recommended increased emphasis on better lectures, increasing learning motivation in students and more hands on training/practical field work to improve current medical teaching.

Heuristic Algorithm for a Military Training Timetabling Problem

This paper focuses on a military training timetabling problem (MTTP) that occurs in the Korea army. The MTTP can be considered a generalized version of the professor-lecturer model composed of classes, groups of classes, professors for group lectures and lecturers for class lectures. Unlike the typical professor-lecturer model, we need to consider additional constraints to reflect real situations, such as those for lunch time, duration of each lecture (2 hours and 4 hours), and set-up time required between the lectures if places (indoor and outdoor) for two consecutive lectures are different. We suggest a heuristic algorithm for the MTTP with the objective of minimizing the makespan and the number of setups. This algorithm employs solution methods for the edge-coloring problem, in which solutions are found by edge-ordering rules. Results of computational experiments show that the suggested algorithm gives good schedules in a reasonably short time.

Medical Students\' Perception Of Undergraduate Training in Anaesthesia

Background: Modern teaching methods emphasize feed-back from students on all aspects of any course. This study was done to assess students\' perception of their posting in anaesthesia and to permit them suggest ways it can be more rewarding. Methodology: A structured questionnaire was voluntarily and anonymously filled by 56 students at the end of their 6-week posting in anaesthesia which comprised lectures, demonstrations, theatre and intensive care unit(ICU) sessions. Results: Mean age of the students was 24.09 ± 2.83yrs. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation was the most popular topic (23.2%), while Breathing Systems was the most difficult to understand (28.6%) and Oxygen Therapy the most boring (12.5%). Suggestions to improve lectures included improved audiovisuals (25%) and reduced duration of lectures (17.9%). To improve learning during theatre sessions, 44.7% suggested step-by-step explanation of procedures while 41.1% suggested permitting students to carry out procedures e.g. cannulation, maintenance of a patent airway, and endotracheal intubation. Prior to their posting, 26.8% had limited knowledge of anaesthesia while 21.5% thought it was irrelevant. Forty-eight students (85.7 %) changed their impression of anaesthesia in a positive direction after their posting. At the end, 76.7% found the specialty challenging. Thirteen students (23.2%) would consider anaesthesia for postgraduate training.80.3% rated the posting as good. Conclusion: The variable response of the students has given insight into areas requiring adjustments to lecture topics and techniques of teaching. This will assist in imparting the vital knowledge and skills that are peculiar to our specialty. This would go a long way in changing the perception of anaesthesia thereby encouraging more students to consider postgraduate training in anaesthesia. NQJHM Vol. 16 (3) 2006: pp. 106-108