Foundation Curriculum Research Articles

Applying cognitive integration to oncology: A novel asynchronous foundational science curriculum for medical students during clerkships.

11028 Background: Cognitive integration (CI) connects foundational science (FS) to medical practice and improves clinical reasoning. While evidence supports CI in medical training, the clinical relevance of FS is often obscure to medical students, particularly in oncology, and few learning materials exist to support CI during clerkships. Providing effective and engaging tools to promote CI may enhance understanding of FS relevance to clinical medicine. We therefore aimed to create an online module to integrate FS into clerkships. Methods: Previous student feedback at our institution advocated for clinically relevant FS content. Applying Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning principles, we (an oncologist, a biochemist, and an instructional designer) created a cancer module grounded in the hallmarks of cancer (HoC), a key FS principle. To emphasize clinical relevance, we recorded patient interviews incorporating FS. The module, composed in Qualtrics, includes an introduction and four cases, each starting with a brief patient interview, followed by clinical text, images, questions, and explanations. Content co-created by the oncologist and biochemist combined clinical and FS perspectives and referenced the HoC throughout. We piloted a draft with a focus group of four students. The evaluation plan includes written learner feedback, a case-based pre/post-test, and review of clerkship assessments for evidence of CI. Results: We produced an FS oncology module with an estimated engagement time of two hours, which students may complete over multiple sittings. The development team met monthly over the course of one year. Filming and editing cost $100/hour. Overall, the project required approximately 60 faculty person-hours and 12 instructional designer person-hours. The patients interviewed for the module expressed gratitude for sharing their stories with students. The student focus group yielded unanimously positive feedback about the content, the multimedia format, the level of FS covered, and the use of authentic patient videos to enhance clinical relevance. Students strongly preferred this module compared to prior online learning activities. Conclusions: This novel interactive module can serve as a model for development of clerkship curricula promoting CI. Module creation based on real patients resulted in authentic story-telling and enhanced FS relevance. Content development involving a clinician and a basic scientist aligned with CI goals. Limitations include the need for funding and instructional design assistance. A randomized controlled trial comparing a series of novel FS modules to older recorded lectures may demonstrate improved outcomes. Involving learners in curriculum development may decrease faculty burden and increase student interest in FS.

Online Feedback Systems and Debate on Scientific Issues during COVID-19: A Case Study on Sookmyung Women’s University

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, university education and feedback guidance have inevitably moved to online platforms, becoming a global trend. This study focuses on a case of Sookmyung Women’s University in South Korea, which has operated an online discussion clinic for university general education for more than a year as a case study. There are two main research methods. A frequency analysis was conducted to confirm what kind of counseling the students preferred at the discussion clinic based on the answers written in the students’ applications. The students whose applications were used for the analysis were divided into 57 teams, and there were two to six members per team. The results were as follows: In the survey results, students wanted help with the preparation process necessary for the discussion and the practical strategies for facilitating discussions. They wanted personalized counseling, demonstrating that discussion education provided in the foundational curriculum is insufficient. Second, the educational model of the discussion clinic and educational examples were examined. The findings confirmed that online discussion education is effective if the system is technically supplemented. Instructors and researchers are prepared to meet students’ demands for feedback and individual counseling, even if these are not provided through face-to-face discussions. Additionally, face-to-face guidance can be operated more effectively by taking advantage of online systems. The findings also demonstrate that further research on designing and operating online discussion centers is required. This study is a preceding study on developing online systems and educational guidelines for higher educational institutions to present new insights into smart learning. This paper also includes suggestions for educational and scientific discussions. The online discussion instructional model shown in this paper explores methods of scientific communication through a debate on scientific issues.

The Modus Operandi of National Benchmark Test Project in South Africa: A Systematic Review

National Benchmark Test Project (NBTP) was conceived as far back as 2004 by the public higher education leadership in South Africa and formally launched in 2005. NBTP was initiated to provide additional information to higher education in South African institutions in the admission and placement of students, establish the relationship between entry-level proficiencies and school-level exit, and inform the nature of foundation courses and curriculum responsiveness. The NBTP assessed the academic proficiency of candidates in three core domains. This test is criterion-referenced, providing additional information to complement the norm-referenced National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. About 22 studies dealing with various NBT titles are examined in a systematic review from multiple databases. There is no doubt that the end-product of NBTP will be an invaluable addition to the available current tools used for programme placement at higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. In this fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era, we also recommend NBTP to include Digital Literacy (DL) in the existing core domains.

Development of learning objectives for a medical assistance in dying curriculum for Family Medicine Residency

BackgroundMedical assistance in dying (MAID) became legal across Canada when Bill C-14 was passed in 2016. Currently, little is known about the most effective strategies for providing MAID education, and the importance of integrating MAID into existing curricula. In this study, a set of learning objectives (LOs) was developed to inform a foundational MAID curriculum in Canadian Family Medicine (FM) residency training programs.MethodsMixed methods were used to develop LOs based on a published needs assessment from a large, four-site family medicine residency program in southeastern Ontario. Draft LOs were evaluated and revised by faculty and resident leaders using a modified Delphi process and a focus group. LOs were mapped to the existing family medicine residency curriculum, as well as the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Priority Topics.ResultsNine LOs were developed to provide a foundational education regarding MAID. While all LOs could be mapped to the Domains of Clinical Care within the departmental curriculum, they mapped inconsistently to departmental Entrustable Professional Activities and the Priority Topics. LOs focused on patient education and identification of patient goals were most readily mapped to existing curricular framework, while LOs with MAID-exclusive content revealed gaps in the current curriculum.ConclusionsThe developed LOs provide a guide to ensure family medicine residents obtain generalist-level knowledge to counsel their patients about MAID. These LOs can serve as a model for developing LOs for both family medicine and specialist residency programs in Canada and in countries where MAID is legal.

Trauma radiology teaching for foundation doctors working within the Scottish Trauma Network improves radiology requests and patient safety: a multidepartmental quality improvement project

The importance of radiology in trauma management is particularly relevant today as Scotland develops its Scottish Trauma Network. Trauma and radiology are scarcely covered in the 2016 and 2021 Foundation...

Trauma radiology teaching for foundation doctors working within the Scottish Trauma Network improves radiology requests and patient safety: a multidepartmental quality improvement project.

The importance of radiology in trauma management is particularly relevant today as Scotland develops its Scottish Trauma Network. Trauma and radiology are scarcely covered in the 2016 and 2021 Foundation Programme Curriculum. Trauma is a significant and endemic public health challenge, while radiology is ever growing in use as a diagnostic and interventional tool. Currently, the majority of radiological investigation requests in trauma are made by foundation doctors. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to ensure foundation doctors are adequately trained in trauma radiology. This prospective, multidepartmental quality improvement project at a single major trauma centre primarily analysed the impact of trauma radiology teaching on the quality of foundation doctors' radiology requests according to Ionising Radiation Medical Exposure Regulations (IRMER) criteria. As a secondary outcome, the impact of teaching on patient safety was also evaluated. 50 foundation doctors across three departments dealing with trauma patients had their trauma radiology requests analysed before and after the intervention of trauma-focused radiology teaching. Results showed cancelled and altered radiology requests decreased from 20% to 5% and from 25% to 10%, respectively, with a p value of 0.01. This translated to fewer delays in trauma patients receiving radiological investigations. The foundation curriculum would benefit from the introduction of trauma radiology teaching for its foundation doctors, in parallel to the demands of a growing national trauma network. Education globally improves radiology request quality by raising awareness and respect of IRMER criteria and ultimately leads to positive changes for patient safety.

Relationship between Curriculum-Based Intervention and Fundamental Movement Skills among Preschoolers: A Systematic Literature Review

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are positively correlated with academic achievement, psychology, and participation in physical activities. However, many children's FMS are insufficient, which highlights the need for intervention. The study is aimed at investigating the influence of curriculum foundation intervention on the development of children's FMS and related influencing factors. We systematically reviewed the peer-reviewed articles published across 6 databases (Sport discus, Cochrane Library, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science) on curriculum-based interventions for fundamental movement skills, typically among developing children aged 3-6 years. The risk of bias within the study was assessed using the Quality Assessment and Validity Tool for Correlational Studies (QAVTCS). A total of 14 articles that met the criteria were included, with 1849 participants from across five countries. About 92.9% of the studies reported a significant improvement in the children's FMS after the intervention. Besides the research report on the instruction strategy, teacher experience, gender, and delivery quality influenced the intervention effect of the children's FMS. In future studies, a more rigorous control design, rich theoretical framework, multi-site study, and different perspectives are needed to identify more influencing factors with regards to intervention and an improvement in the efficacy of the intervention.

Disinventing Native Speakerism in English Language Teaching

This article explores native speakerism, a chauvinistic ideology, in reference to relevant literature. It first exposes its ideological essence and adverse effects on English language teaching (ELT), and then moves to deconstruct the native speakerist practices concerning English language teachers, English language norm, cultural foundation of ELT curriculum, and teaching methodology, particularly the approaches of communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT). Through unearthing the culturist essence of native speakerism and the fallacies embedded in native speakerist ELT practices, this study is intended to contribute to eliminating native speakerism and building up more equitable and harmonious ELT profession.

An Afrophilic P4C intervention: The case of Sebakwe primary schools in Zimbabwe

Decades of research and practical engagement with an educational approach known as Philosophy for Children (P4C) has documented and exemplified how the approach provides an optimum environment for the advancement of children’s rationality in diversity, critical reflexive thinking, and problem-solving skills. While this is certainly important, there is still a need to expand insights into how curriculum reform and transformation in Zimbabwe emerge from Afrophilic P4C learning processes. Drawing on insights from my involvement in a formative intervention study in a Sebakwe schools cluster, the paper provides descriptions and practical insights on how children’s participation in a sociocultural approach to Afrophilic P4C sessions contributed to educational theory and practice The results showed that this formative intervention strengthens connections to children’s lifeworlds and their engagement with the world. Moreover, in an education system with a pedagogy that is transfixed on technical disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and success in examination, the experiences and practices of children need to become alternative lenses for mediating epistemic engagement and developing a critical generative approach that considers heritage-based curriculum foundations in the Zimbabwe national schools’ curriculum.

Curriculum of Management in Improving the Quality of Catholic School Education in Samarinda City, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

This study aims to describe curriculum management in improving the quality of education in Catholic schools in Samarinda City, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. This study uses a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. Observation, documentation, and interview techniques were used to obtain data related to curriculum management in improving the quality of Catholic education by involving foundation administrators, school principals, vice-principals, curriculum fields, and teachers. The collected data were analyzed in the form of data reduction, data presentation, drawing conclusions, and checking the validity of the data by using technical triangulation methods. The results of this study found that educational curriculum planning in improving the quality of education in Catholic schools always emphasizes the importance of aspects of the school's vision and mission, changes that occur in the education process, and is adjusted to the national education curriculum program and local content curriculum, school circumstances and needs. Curriculum organization is carried out by assigning duties and authority by the principal to the curriculum coordinator, namely the vice principal, and to senior teachers to supervise the learning process. In addition, through classroom supervision, teacher performance is assessed in the learning process. Good curriculum management, it can be a roadmap to achieve effective and efficient learning, build student character, improve learning achievement, and ultimately improve the quality of education.

Developing psychiatric resources for the new foundation programme curriculum

AimsOur aim was to develop an easily accessible, relevant and deliverable resource to meet the training requirements of the new foundation curriculum for Foundation Trainees in the West Midlands. The virtual resource needed to provide information at the correct knowledge depth, whilst also being flexible enough to allow trainees to access the materials despite the challenges of remote working. The West Midlands currently holds approximately 1,300 places for foundation training with an increase in numbers planned for 2023 and 2024.MethodThe United Kingdom Foundation Programme (FP) is a two-year structured, supervised training programme of learning in the workplace developed to prepare medical graduates for speciality training. The Foundation Curriculum is currently being updated in line with the GMC Standards for Post Graduate Curricula to reflect the developing and contemporaneous training needs of doctors and is expected to go live in August 2021.Though the foundation curriculum is broad and does not usually include specific diseases, it is recognised that mental health disorders are common and are frequently missed. The new curriculum makes a specific statement regarding the importance of mental health and specifies a syllabus covering this important area of medical practiceAround 80% of doctors are expected to have exposure to a community medicine placement, with around 40% expected to have placement within a specific mental health setting. Though other community placements may provide some exposure to the acute challenges of mental health, this is not guaranteed.To assist in meeting the FP requirement for training in mental health we developed an online resource for all West Midlands trainees, with lectures and information available that covers all of the core curriculum requirements for the FP. These resources can be accessed at any time of the day, at any point of foundation training, with each module certificated to show evidence of the attainment of foundation competencies ready for students ARCP (Annual Review of Competency Progression).ResultA programme of evaluation and effectiveness will be undertaken when the new curriculum goes live.ConclusionThere is an expected expansion in the number of training Foundation doctors within the next 5 years; therefore the demand for this training is expected to increase over time. As the understanding and awareness of the interaction between physical health and mental health continues to develop, we expected the use of this resource grow into the future.

Creating a virtual, clinical scenario based teaching programme for foundation doctors in Leeds

AimsThrough consultation with foundation doctors on their psychiatry placements in Leeds, we established that they didn't feel the trustwide teaching programme met their needs, with them rating the relevance as 5.8 on a 1-10 Likert scale. They also reported their access to formal and informal teaching had been limited by COVID-19 restrictions. We aimed to create an accessible teaching programme that met their developmental needs as set out by the Foundation curriculum, as well as their confidence and skill set in dealing with common mental health presentations. Our supplementary aims were to promote psychiatry as a career and to provide supervised teaching opportunities to core trainees.MethodHaving assessed the foundation doctors confidence in dealing with different scenarios, we created a 9 week teaching programme covering common mental health presentations they're likely to encounter during their training. The virtual sessions focus on what assessment and management skills would be expected for a foundation doctor, as well as when and how to access support and refer on. The programme was designed to be trainee led with the teaching being facilitated by core trainees as it was felt that they would best relate to the experiences and developmental needs of foundation doctors. This also provided the CTs with an opportunity to develop their teaching skills, something that has become more difficult during COVID.ResultThrough weekly feedback of the sessions we were able to demonstrate that for 8 of the 9 sessions the foundation doctors rated them as being ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’ and we're currently reviewing the topic and materials for the outlying session.Through self-assessed ratings before and after the programme, we demonstrated significant increases in confidence in dealing with all 9 of the scenarios. All of the foundation doctors indicated that they had found the programme beneficial.ConclusionAs shown in the results, the programme has been well received by the foundation doctors who's confidence in dealing with a range of scenarios has improved. The programme has also been well received by the trust who have asked us to repeat the it for future foundation rotations and by core trainees who were grateful of the development opportunities that this provided. Further developments will include extending the programme for the duration of the placement to enable us to cover an enhanced range of presentations and to consolidate core skills.

Nurse practitioner and physician assistant onboarding in a family medicine practice.

The nurse practitioner (NP) and physician assistant (PA) professions are rapidly growing. Historically, these professions have filled a health care delivery gap caused by lack of health care access and physician shortages. Many medical practices are more accustomed to adding new physicians as compared with adding new NPs or PAs. This article describes one institution's approach to develop and implement a successful NP/PA onboarding program. Several key components are discussed, including (1) established roles and responsibilities, (2) a clear timeline of the onboarding period including a foundational curriculum, (3) the mentor-mentee relationship, (4) the onboarding checklist, and (5) the onboarding itinerary. The objective was to have our NPs/PAs on a regular patient calendar within the 6-month period. The success rate with this has been 86%. In addition, there has been a 90% retention of NP/PA hires over the past 3 years. The authors believe this approach to NP/PA onboarding serves the patients well, providing excellent patient outcomes and patient experience.

Design of a foundational sciences curriculum: Applying the ICAP framework to pharmacology education in integrated medical curricula.

Expectations for physicians are rapidly changing, as is the environment in which they will practice. In response, preclerkship medical education curricula are adapting to meet these demands, often by reducing the time for foundational sciences. This descriptive study compares preclerkship pharmacology education curricular practices from seven allopathic medical schools across the United States. We compare factors and practices that affect how pharmacology is integrated into the undergraduate medical education curriculum, including teaching techniques, resources, time allocated to pharmacology teaching, and assessment strategies. We use data from seven medical schools in the United States, along with results from a literature survey, to inform the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches and to raise important questions that can guide future research regarding integration of foundational sciences in medical school and health professions’ curricula. In this comparative study, we found that there is significant heterogeneity in the number of hours dedicated to pharmacology in the preclerkship curriculum, whereas there was concordance in the use of active learning pedagogies for content delivery. Applying the ICAP (Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive) Framework for cognitive engagement, our data showed that pharmacology was presented using more highly engaging pedagogies during sessions that are integrated with other foundational sciences. These findings can serve as a model that can be applied beyond pharmacology to other foundational sciences such as genetics, pathology, microbiology, biochemistry, etc.

Efficacy of the social-emotional learning foundations curriculum for kindergarten and first grade students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders

Researchers have shown that children's social-emotional growth is inextricably connected to academic learning. We developed the Social-Emotional Learning Foundations (SELF) intervention, a Grade K-1 curriculum merging social-emotional learning (SEL) and literacy instruction, to promote language supported self-regulation, specifically for primary grade children at early risk for emotional or behavioral difficulties. We report findings from a pretest-posttest cluster randomized efficacy trial with one fixed between-subjects factor to test the effects of teacher-delivered SEL instruction against those of business as usual (BAU). We recruited 163 kindergarten (K) and 141 first grade teachers from 52 schools across 11 school districts within one southeastern state. Our student sample (n = 1154) consisted of 627 kindergarteners and 527 first graders identified by teachers as at risk for internalizing or externalizing emotional and behavioral problems using the Systematic Screening for Behavioral Disorders; 613 of these students participated in the SELF condition and 541 participated in the BAU condition. We randomly assigned schools to SELF or BAU and used a multilevel model with three levels (i.e., children, classrooms, schools) to analyze data on subscales of six (four teacher-report and two direct) assessments related to self-regulation, social-emotional learning, social-emotional vocabulary, and general behavioral functioning. We found positive main effects of SELF compared to BAU on all but one measure, with effect sizes (calculated using Hedges' g) ranging from 0.20 to 0.65. Findings provide evidence for guiding future SEL intervention research and informing practice to improve student outcomes, particularly for children at risk for behavior problems.

Why flipping the classroom is not enough: Digital curriculum making after the pandemic

To slow down the proliferation of Covid-19, governments virtually shut down public life, temporarily closed schools, and forced teaching to be done exclusively on a remote basis. These measures offer an opportunity to reexamine conventional teaching and learning arrangements, test new digital and analogue concepts, and provide essential inspiration for curriculum making in the twenty-first century. This article addresses the historical development of schooling in the classroom as differentiated from “homeschooling”. On one hand, the question of how school closures and digitally supported teaching settings may affect an increase in educational inequalities is investigated using an international comparison. On the other hand, the pedagogical and didactical implications of distance learning and a digital teaching culture, which constitute the foundation for digital curriculum making, are examined.

Política educativa en América Latina

The purpose of this work was to know the scientific evidence on educational policy in a systematic review from 2018 to 2020 in Latin America. For it, a review was made according to the PRISMA guidelines of the articles found in the Scopus, Scielo, ProQuest and Ebscohost databases. The results indicate the existence of inequalities in educational policies in the different educational systems, stating that the determining factors are: inclusion and equality, the importance of funding, curriculum foundations and educational curriculum, the educational system from the epistemological point of view and historical, educational policies from the aspect of assessment and its relationship to the curriculum, the use of teaching strategies, democratic consolidation and coexistence school, dialogue and consensus, concentration and participation of educational and social actors actors, rights of free education and quality migrants.

Dance Teaching Activities in the Context of Informatization

In the context of the rapid development of the Internet in the information age, the deepening of resource sharing concept and the enhancement of information reform awareness in the field of higher education have played a catalytic role in the development of MOOC and the rise of SPOC. This paper mainly studies the design of dance teaching activities under the background of informatization. This paper makes full preparations for the model construction and teaching design by using the preliminary analysis, and at the same time synthesizes the curriculum foundation of many subjects involved in the teaching of physical dance, and chooses the professional course of physical dance as the medium for the next teaching experiment. In the teaching effect verification based on summative evaluation, 40 students majoring in dance performance in an art college were selected as experimental objects, and SPSS22.0 software was used to test homogeneity within and between the experimental group and the control group, respectively. It is feasible to apply the MOOC+SPOC based hybrid teaching mode to the external conditions, internal motivation, emotion and other support of sports dance teaching in universities.

Landasan Pengembangan Kurikulum Pendidikan di Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to have a broad understanding of the foundations for curriculum development; identify several curriculum foundations that become the basis for developing the curriculum by various related parties. The formulation of the curriculum either at the stage of ideas, plans, experiences or as a result of its development must refer to or use a strong and solid foundation, so that the curriculum can function and play a role in accordance with the demands of education in accordance with Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System. There are four main foundations that form the basis of curriculum development, namely: philosophical landscape, psychological foundation, socio-cultural foundation, as well as scientific and technological foundations. Philosophical assumptions have implications for the formulation of educational goals, the development of educational content or materials, determining strategies, as well as on the role of students and the role of educators. The psychological foundation refers to cognitive, behavioristic, and humanistic learning theories. The socio-cultural foundation has implications for the educational program that will be developed. Meanwhile the scientific and technological foundations are the starting points in developing the curriculum so that it is adaptive to the changes and challenges of the times.

Levering adult learning principles into a residency core curriculum.

Levering adult learning principles into a residency core curriculum.