Education Credit Research Articles

North Carolina head start teachers’ needs, resources, experiences, and priority for science education and professional development

ABSTRACT Early science learning is a part of preschool curriculum that can have positive outcomes for children’s scientific knowledge and interest. Head Start teachers are well positioned to implement quality science lessons. Through an in-depth needs assessment survey, the current study examined North Carolina preschool Head Start teachers’ responses on needs, resources, experiences with professional development, and personal priority levels for science education. Our analysis revealed that Head Start teachers mostly utilized informal teaching methods and used curricular and organizational resources, but utilizing mealtimes for teaching science had mixed responses. Teachers reported their access to resources and connections to community partnerships. Teachers preferred asynchronous or online PD formats and were motivated by compensation and continuing education credits while accessing PD. Most teachers rated science to be a very or extremely important personal priority. Differences in teacher education, experience, and position levels also influenced the findings of the study. The implication section delineates steps that can be taken toward strengthening science education within Head Start settings along with support that can be provided to teachers.

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in The Counseling Psychologist!

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in <i>The Counseling Psychologist!</i>

The Comparative Performance of Large Language Models on the Hand Surgery Self-Assessment Examination.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) models have emerged as capable of producing human-like responses and have showcased their potential in general medical specialties. This study explores the performance of AI systems on the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) Self-Assessment Exams (SAE). ChatGPT 4.0 and Bing AI were evaluated on a set of multiple-choice questions drawn from the ASSH SAE online question bank spanning 5 years (2019-2023). Each system was evaluated with 999 questions. Images and video links were inserted into question prompts to allow for complete AI interpretation. The performance of both systems was standardized using the May 2023 version of ChatGPT 4.0 and Microsoft Bing AI, both of which had web browsing and image capabilities. ChatGPT 4.0 scored an average of 66.5% on the ASSH questions. Bing AI scored higher, with an average of 75.3%. Bing AI outperformed ChatGPT 4.0 by an average of 8.8%. As a benchmark, a minimum passing score of 50% was required for continuing medical education credit. Both ChatGPT 4.0 and Bing AI had poorer performance on video-type and image-type questions on analysis of variance testing. Responses from both models contained elements from sources such as PubMed, Journal of Hand Surgery, and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. ChatGPT 4.0 with browsing and Bing AI can both be anticipated to achieve passing scores on the ASSH SAE. Generative AI, with its ability to provide logical responses and literature citations, presents a convincing argument for use as an interactive learning aid and educational tool.

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Excel Solver and What-If Analysis: Optimizing Tax Refunds Involving Education Credits and Scholarships

Excel Solver and What-If Analysis: Optimizing Tax Refunds Involving Education Credits and Scholarships

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in The Counseling Psychologist!

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in <i>The Counseling Psychologist!</i>

Continuing Education Credits and Questions

Continuing Education Credits and Questions

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

ACSM Committee on Certification and Registry Boards Update on Recertification and Continuing Education Credit Provider Policy

ACSM Committee on Certification and Registry Boards Update on Recertification and Continuing Education Credit Provider Policy

Antimicrobial Stewardship Practice Changes Following a Statewide Educational Conference in Nebraska

Background: In 2023, Nebraska held its 4th state antimicrobial stewardship (AS) educational conference, an annual one-day in-person event with continuing education offered for nurses, pharmacists, microbiology lab technicians, and physicians. One challenge of educational events is determining if content has been translated into practice. We sought to assess AS-related practice changes implemented by conference attendees. Methods: Conference attendees were sent 2 surveys by email following the conference. Survey 1 questions were integrated into the continuing education credit evaluation immediately following the conference. Survey 2 was sent three months later to all registered attendees. Qualitative responses were grouped by theme and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate Results: There were 203 attendees from across the state including a diverse group of learners (Table 1) representing metropolitan and rural areas of Nebraska (Figure 1) from acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, long-term care settings, and public health. A total of 148 attendees (73%) answered questions in Survey 1 (Table 2), and 79 (39%) attendees responded to Survey 2. On Survey 1, 94% of respondents indicated that they intended to make practice changes, though 60% anticipated barriers including further staff training needs and lack of resources and health system support. On Survey 2, 83% of respondents indicated successful implementation of practice changes at three months after the conference. The most common practice changes included enhanced communication strategies, improved antibiotic tracking, monitoring, and review, policy and procedure updates, and AS tool implementation. On Survey 1, 26% (35/131) strongly agreed that their ability to treat patients was adequate prior to the conference; this increased to 55% (72/131) post-conference. On Survey 2, 56% (22/39) of respondents reported improvement in patient outcomes because of implemented practice changes following conference attendance. However, some also mentioned a short follow-up survey timeline as a limitation in assessing patient outcome improvements. Reported outcomes included improved receptiveness from providers, patients, and families to antibiotic use recommendations, shorter prescribed durations, and more appropriate initial antibiotic selection. Improved team performance was noted by 73% (27/37) of respondents. Themes included improved communication with internal and external stakeholders, more collaborative team discussions, increased confidence in recommendations, expanded provider and staff engagement, and increased leadership involvement. Conclusions: In addition to improved knowledge and understanding for a variety of AS-related areas, attendees of the conference also reported a high rate of practice changes that led to perceived improvements in patient outcomes and team function.

ECONOMIC IMPACT EVALUATION AND FACTORS AFFECTING THE DECISION OF FARMERS FOR ADOPTION OF GAR-13 VARIETY OF RICE

The study highlighted the economic impact of technology of GAR-13 variety and local variety of rice grown by the farmers in the study area. The analysis was carried out by collecting the primary data on the various economic aspects considering 60 GAR-13 respondents and 60 local variety respondents. The results evident that per hectare higher gross and net income earned by the farmers of GAR-13 as compared to the farmers cultivated local variety of rice. Moreover, the yield and price obtained from GAR-13 was significantly higher as compared to the local variety. Further, the contribution of technology was about 15.87 per cent and the difference due to input use level was about 4.71 per cent which together contributed to the total productivity difference of about 19.57 per cent. Probability of the farmer's decision in adoption of GAR-13 was positive and significantly influenced by education level, farm size, credit facility and income.

Health Care Workers' Motivations for Enrolling in Massive Open Online Courses During a Public Health Emergency: Descriptive Analysis.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are increasingly used to educate health care workers during public health emergencies. In early 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a series of MOOCs for COVID-19, introducing the disease and strategies to control its outbreak, with 6 courses specifically targeting health care workers as learners. In 2020, Stanford University also launched a MOOC designed to deliver accurate and timely education on COVID-19, equipping health care workers across the globe to provide health care safely and effectively to patients with the novel infectious disease. Although the use of MOOCs for just-in-time training has expanded during the pandemic, evidence is limited regarding the factors motivating health care workers to enroll in and complete courses, particularly in low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). This study seeks to gain insights on the characteristics and motivations of learners turning to MOOCs for just-in-time training, to provide evidence that can better inform MOOC design to meet the needs of health care workers. We examine data from learners in 1 Stanford University and 6 WHO COVID-19 courses to identify (1) the characteristics of health care workers completing the courses and (2) the factors motivating them to enroll. We analyze (1) course registration data of the 49,098 health care workers who completed the 7 focal courses and (2) survey responses from 6272 course completers. The survey asked respondents to rank their motivations for enrollment and share feedback about their learning experience. We use descriptive statistics to compare responses by health care profession and by World Bank country income classification. Health care workers completed the focal courses from all regions of the world, with nearly one-third (14,159/49,098, 28.84%) practicing in LICs and LMICs. Survey data revealed a diverse range of professional roles among the learners, including physicians (2171/6272, 34.61%); nurses (1599/6272, 25.49%); and other health care professionals such as allied health professionals, community health workers, paramedics, and pharmacists (2502/6272, 39.89%). Across all health care professions, the primary motivation to enroll was for personal learning to improve clinical practice. Continuing education credit was also an important motivator, particularly for nonphysicians and learners in LICs and LMICs. Course cost (3423/6272, 54.58%) and certification (4238/6272, 67.57%) were also important to a majority of learners. Our results demonstrate that a diverse range of health care professionals accessed MOOCs for just-in-time training during a public health emergency. Although all health care workers were motivated to improve their clinical practice, different factors were influential across professions and locations. These factors should be considered in MOOC design to meet the needs of health care workers, particularly those in lower-resource settings where alternative avenues for training may be limited.

Academic Service Partnerships: A 21st Century Business Strategy to Integrate Physician Assistant Learners Into a Value-Based Health Care Delivery Model.

Although there has been a surge in physician assistant (PA) programs in the United States, PA programs have concurrently experienced challenges with partnering with a sufficient pool of clinical training sites. During the long-lived fee-for-service era, many programs have relied on transactional relationships with individual clinicians, hospitals, community health centers, private practices, and other entities to provide the required clinical experiences for PA learners. These arrangements often involved bargaining a supervised clinical experience in exchange for continuing medical education credit or other incentives included in a clinician's benefits package. However, with the recent transformation of the US health care delivery system into a value-based care model, academic service partnerships have emerged as valuable solutions. Academic service partnerships uniquely integrate health professions learners into health systems by providing more sustainable, results-driven clinical experiences that benefit the program, the clinical training site, and the patients.

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in The Counseling Psychologist!

Earn Continuing Education Credit for Reading Articles in <i>The Counseling Psychologist!</i>

Teachers’ Conceptions on the Value of History Education in Eswatini

History as a subject is expected to instil a sense of unity, patriotism and veneration for the nation sublime heritage. Supposedly history education’s sustainability has to emanate from the teachers’ confidence and reflective practices in a history classroom. The History syllabus demands the use of socio-constructivism strategy which postulates that meaningful learning occurs through conversations and interaction, among learners and with teachers and that the realities are determined by their experiences (EGCSE History Teaching Syllabus 2022-2025). However, most educators tend to teach History mostly using the lecture method which then relegates the subject to being monotonous as largely considered by the learners. The credit percentage of History learners in EGCSE completing class is showing a mediocre performance. A five year range study indicates that the highest credit percentage stood at 30.74% in 2020, hence the lowest was 26.76% in 2018 (ECESWA 2023). The range mentioned depicts that History Education credit percentage is not appealing to learners.

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Factors Determining Private Agricultural Investment: A Comparative Case Study of Two States of India

The study endeavours to examine the pattern and determinants of agricultural investment in two states of India viz., Haryana and Odisha. The existing literature points out that public investment in agriculture is one among the strongest determinants of private investment and output in agriculture. Accordingly, emphasis has been laid to accelerate the rate of public investment. The present study using primary data in two diverse regions of India is an attempt in that direction. Data from 150 households from both states have been collected using proportionate stratified random sampling method. The study finds that private farm investment as well as output are relatively lower in Odisha, being an agriculturally lagged region. It is further seen that private investment in agriculture has been significantly influenced by canal irrigation, institutional credit, and land size in Odisha. While in Haryana, farmer’s education, land size and institutional credit positively and significantly affected private farm investment. Capital use in agriculture turned out to be positive and significant variables influencing agricultural productivity in both regions. The study thus recommends to ensure public policies on the aspects of irrigation infrastructure, research and extension, improvement rural infrastructure etc. in stimulating private investment and agricultural output. Public investment in agriculture on these components would bridge inter-regional inequalities and ensure inclusiveness as it promotes employment opportunities and sustainable growth in agriculture. In the context of Odisha, being a poorer state, these policies could serve as important tools of poverty alleviation.

Instructions for Obtaining Anesthesiology Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

Instructions for Obtaining A<scp>nesthesiology</scp> Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit