Greater Knowledge Acquisition Research Articles

Instructional mechanisms in immersive virtual reality serious games: Earthquake emergency training for children

AbstractChildren are vulnerable in earthquakes, but they are also essential to foster earthquake‐resilient communities. It is critical to enhance the preparedness of children against earthquakes through effective education and training. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) and serious games (SGs) are innovative digital technologies that enable realistic and engaging training environments. However, little research has been made on the applications of IVR SGs for earthquake training targeting children. In order to fill this gap, this paper presents an IVR SG training system based on a problem‐based gaming framework. Three instructional mechanisms within the training system, namely prior instruction, immediate feedback, and post‐game assessment, were investigated to promote learning through effective reflection. A controlled experiment involving 125 secondary school students aged from 11 to 15 years old was undertaken, using leaflets as a traditional training approach for the control group and the IVR SG training system as the main intervention. Results revealed that the IVR SG training system with post‐game assessment was the most effective way to train children, with greater knowledge acquisition and self‐efficacy improvement observed. Possible improvements, such as increasing the time for reflection and differentiating the stimulation between positive and negative feedback, are suggested for further research.

Aplicaciones móviles en las neurociencias: un nuevo aliado

Gracias al desarrollo continuo de las tecnologías en telecomunicaciones, el uso de los teléfonos inteligentes se ha ido enaumento, favoreciendo el crecimiento de las aplicaciones móviles (app). Actualmente, existen más de 700.000 en las diversas plataformas, de las cuales el 3% están relacionadas con temas de salud. Las apps en salud se encuentran enmarcadas en el concepto de salud móvil o mHealth, que en la actualidad no tiene una definición clara, pero la OMS se ha referido a este como la práctica de la medicina y la salud pública soportada por dispositivos móviles. Hasta el momento existen varias revisiones sobre aplicaciones móviles en otras disciplinas médicas, la cantidad de dichas revisiones sobre apps siendo utilizadas en áreas de las neurociencias son pocas, muy a pesar de que su uso en pacientes y personal médico ha ido en aumento. Dentro de los beneficios por su uso se han descrito el poder realizar seguimientos más objetivos y estandarizados, mayor comunicación entre los integrantes del equipo médico y respuestas más rápidas en casos de emergencias. Por parte de los pacientes estos han tenido mayor adquisición de conocimiento en relación a su enfermedad y mayores tasas de adherencia a los tratamientos.

Knowledge Accrual Following Participation in Pediatric Fundamental Critical Care Support Course in Gaborone, Botswana*

To describe provider characteristics, knowledge acquisition, perceived relevance, and instruction quality of the Society of Critical Care Medicine's Pediatric Fundamentals of Critical Care Support course pilot implementation in Botswana. Observational, single center. Academic, upper middle-income country. Healthcare providers in Botswana. A cohort of healthcare providers completed the standard 2-day Pediatric Fundamentals of Critical Care Support course and qualitative survey during the course. Cognitive knowledge was assessed prior to and immediately following training using standard Pediatric Fundamentals of Critical Care Support multiple choice questionnaires. Data analysis used Fisher exact, chi-square, paired t test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum where appropriate. There was a significant increase in overall multiple choice questionnaires scores after training (mean 67% vs 77%; p < 0.001). Early career providers had significantly lower mean baseline scores (56% vs 71%; p < 0.01), greater knowledge acquisition (17% vs 7%; p < 0.02), but no difference in posttraining scores (73% vs 78%; p = 0.13) compared with more senior providers. Recent pediatric resuscitation or emergency training did not significantly impact baseline scores, posttraining scores, or decrease knowledge acquisition. Eighty-eight percent of providers perceived the course was highly relevant to their clinical practice, but only 71% reported the course equipment was similar to their current workplace. Pediatric Fundamentals of Critical Care Support training significantly increased provider knowledge to care for hospitalized seriously ill or injured children in Botswana. Knowledge accrual is most significant among early career providers and is not limited by previous pediatric resuscitation or emergency training. Further contextualization of the course to use equipment relevant to providers work environment may increase the value of training.

Learner-Driven Telepractice

Learner-Driven Telepractice

The impact of environmental resource learning applied to geometry in education for power and citizenship

This article is based on education for power and citizenship and related educational and social problems, where the axis of the issue is the environmental resources applied to learning geometry. These have a great impact on the teaching process, as it is currently considered that education should be interactive with respect to the environment. In recent years, the educational system has been able to perceive that, in scientific areas such as geometry, students have been limited to the role of receivers of conceptual contents from texts and websites, leaving aside the interaction by the learner with the surrounding environment. Studies using surveys conducted based on a Likert scale and administered with questions in simple language that is easily understood by the respondents have shown us that if the utility of environmental resources can be successfully merged with scientific areas, the result is greater knowledge acquisition and interest among students, especially in the area of geometry. This proposal is based on a change in the current educational model, employing a more attractive design, in which young people achieve greater proximity to subject being studied.

Mechanisms leading to misattribution errors and cooperative knowledge acquisition

AbstractThis study sought to clarify the process of knowledge acquisition by examining why people tend to misattribute others' activities as their own after having interacted with them. In Study 1, an experiment was conducted with 4‐year‐old children allocated to 2 groups: one group of children interacted with an adult, and the other group interacted with a peer. The latter group was further divided into 2 subgroups on the basis of the strength of children's friendships (high intimacy vs. low intimacy). Children in the low intimacy condition demonstrated more misattributions and greater knowledge acquisition. Study 2 focused on interactions and revealed that knowledge acquisition was influenced by the nature of children's interactions, which depended on the strength of their friendships. Those in the low intimacy condition (i.e., weaker friendships) provided their peers with appropriate support sufficient to complete a task but did not unilaterally complete tasks for their peers. These results suggest that misattribution occurs when individuals actively participate in interactions with others, and that new knowledge is acquired as they internalize the knowledge of others.Highlights This paper examined the role of “error bias” (a tendency to mistakenly attribute others' activities to oneself more often than attributing one's own activities to others) in knowledge acquisition. Error bias occurred in child‐child pairs with low intimacy more often than in adult‐child pairs, as the level of intimacy leads to differences in attitudes to taking part in interactions. The findings suggest that although intimacy is useful for starting active interactions with others, meaningful interactions that lead to knowledge acquisition are developed through an individual's recognition of appropriate ways of interacting with others.

Cortisol as a Predictor of Simulation-Based Educational Outcomes in Senior Nursing Students: A Pilot Study

BackgroundParticipation in a simulation may cause high levels of stress in students and negatively affect their learning outcomes. This pilot study investigated the association between nursing students' stress and their knowledge acquisition and improvement in self-confidence. MethodThis study used a quasiexperimental design. The experimental group (n = 12) participated in the birthing simulation. The control group (n = 11) watched a video of the normal delivery process. Participants' knowledge, self-confidence, and stress (salivary cortisol levels) were measured before and after the interventions. Twenty-three senior nursing students participated in this study. ResultsRegression analyses revealed that being in the experimental group was associated with greater knowledge acquisition and improved self-confidence. Higher cortisol levels were associated with greater knowledge acquisition, and previous simulation experience was associated with improved confidence. ConclusionThe learning outcomes of simulation-based education may vary according to students' emotional status.

E-Learning: Is it any better than Traditional Approaches in Psychotherapy Education?

Aim of the studyThere is a trend towards competency based psychotherapy education in psychiatry training but programs are finding it difficult to meet the expanded requirements for learner competence in multiple modalities of psychotherapy. E-learning has been raised as a potential solution to the problem. However, there have been few studies determining if e-learning is any better than traditional learning. The objective of this study is to determine if online learning modules can enhance knowledge acquisition and learner satisfaction in psychotherapy education.Subject or material and methodsA need analysis was performed at this institution to determine the learning needs and preferences of the psychiatry residents. A blended course (consisting of traditional lectures, online modules and videotape review) was designed and developed based on these needs. Lectures and online modules were evaluated by means of pre-tests and post-tests. A paired t-test was used to determine if knowledge acquisition occurred in each online module and lecture group. An independent t-test was used to determine if there was greater knowledge acquisition in the online module group versus the lecture group. A learner satisfaction questionnaire was distributed with each online module.ResultsNineteen residents completed the study. There was statistically significant knowledge acquisition in each online module and lecture group. There was no difference in knowledge acquisition between online modules and lectures. Learners were satisfied with the modules, but experienced minor technical difficulties.DiscussionOnline modules may enhance learner satisfaction in psychotherapy education. But there may be no difference in learning compared to traditional classroom-based lectures.ConclusionsFurther studies are needed.

Lectures versus case discussions: randomised trial of undergraduate psychiatry teaching

Aims and methodTo test whether medical students find case-based discussion of child psychiatry more educationally stimulating and more enjoyable, and whether this leads to greater knowledge acquisition than traditional didactic lectures. Four cohorts of Cambridge medical students (n = 54) were randomised to case-based discussion or traditional didactic lectures for two topics in their psychiatry placements. Enjoyment and stimulation were determined by feedback forms; knowledge acquisition was tested by an end-of-placement exam.ResultsStudents in case-based discussion groups scored significantly higher than students in the lecture groups in the extent to which they enjoyed the teaching session (P = 0.006); the extent to which they understood the principles of management of real-life patient problems (P = 0.044); and their interest in looking up further information (P = 0.003). There was no significant difference in exam performance (P = 0.9).Clinical implicationsMedical students find case-based discussion more engaging and enjoyable than didactic lectures, with no reduction in exam performance.

E‐learning vs lecture: which is the best approach to surgical teaching?

Most medical teaching is still delivered by traditional face-to-face interaction. E-learning has the potential benefit of instilling deeper learning of topics by virtue of repeated and convenient access to content presented in a range of media. We aimed to evaluate objectively the benefit of educating medical students on a common surgical topic (haemorrhoids), through a website and podcast package vs a traditional lecture. Baseline knowledge was established by a questionnaire given to two different groups of third-year medical students starting their first clinical attachment. Group A (n = 73) was given a lecture and group B (n = 75) was asked to use a website containing text and pictures augmented by a podcast. Students were reassessed using the same preintervention questionnaire, and satisfaction was acquired from details given in a feedback form. There was no difference in knowledge between the two groups at baseline. Both groups demonstrated significant gains in knowledge after intervention (P < 0.0001). Group B (Web/podcast) showed a significantly greater increase in knowledge (P < 0.05) than group A (lecture). Preintervention subjective assessment of knowledge rated by the students showed no difference between the groups. Both groups of students were equally satisfied with the educational method. E-learning supplemented with a podcast results in greater knowledge acquisition when compared with a traditional lecture, without a loss of satisfaction with teaching. Using augmented Web-based educational tools reduces demands on teaching time with no decrease in quality for selected parts of the curriculum.

Evaluating a national science and technology program using the human capital and relational asset perspectives

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance of the National Science and Technology Program (NSTP) by targeting the Taiwan National Telecommunication Program (NTP) initiated in 1998. The Taiwan telecommunications industry has prospered, currently occupying key positions in global markets even though NTP seldom contributes positively to patent citation performance. Hence, the authors of this study investigate the qualitative perspective of intellectual capital rather than quantitative technological indices. The current study focuses on both human capital and relational assets through surveys of 53 principal investigators of NTP projects and 63 industrial R&D managers of telecommunications corporations in the Taiwan market. Results show that NSTP member quality and the flow of employment are good indicators of human capital and that both perform better than the middle value in the case of Taiwan NTP. In addition, we find that industrial participants are more likely to share R&D resources than other academic researchers with higher intention of co-publishing, co-funding, and sharing equipments and facilities. The industrial NTP participants also have higher expectations regarding achieving advanced technology breakthroughs in contrast to non-NTP industrial interviewees. Moreover, industrial participants with greater industry–university cooperation intensity indeed obtain a particular advantage, that is, greater knowledge acquisition from other fields related to the effect of knowledge spillovers through the particular NSTP linkage. Accordingly, from the perspectives of human capital and relational assets, the authors conclude by articulating the importance of absorptive capacity resulting from good human capital and knowledge spillover contributed by relational assets within governmental technology policy and NSTP programming.

Knowledge acquisition and the foreign development of high-tech start-ups: A social capital approach

In this paper, we use social capital theory to discuss the growth of “international new ventures”, aiming to verify whether or not social capital may be considered as a critical source of knowledge acquisition abroad. We analyse social capital embedded in vertical relationships between global high-tech start-ups and their largest single foreign customer. Our findings confirm that while the structural dimension of social capital is positively associated with greater knowledge acquisition, both relational and cognitive dimensions are negatively linked to knowledge acquisition.

Social capital, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge exploitation in young technology‐based firms

AbstractEmploying a sample of 180 entrepreneurial high‐technology ventures based in the United Kingdom, we examine the effects of social capital in key customer relationships on knowledge acquisition and knowledge exploitation. Building on the relational view and on social capital and knowledge‐based theories, we propose that social capital facilitates external knowledge acquisition in key customer relationships and that such knowledge mediates the relationship between social capital and knowledge exploitation for competitive advantage. Our results indicate that the social interaction and network ties dimensions of social capital are indeed associated with greater knowledge acquisition, but that the relationship quality dimension is negatively associated with knowledge acquisition. Knowledge acquisition is, in turn, positively associated with knowledge exploitation for competitive advantage through new product development, technological distinctiveness, and sales cost efficiency. Further, our results provide evidence that knowledge acquisition plays a mediating role between social capital and knowledge exploitation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Do Broad-Based Stock Options Create Value?

Once the exclusive province of company executives, today organizations across the corporate landscape are offering stock options to employees at all levels. Identifying strategically important behaviors and linking them to the stock option plan design can create value for an organization. Options can be used to attract and retain employees, align worker and company interests, and enhance corporate performance, particularly when worker participation and ownership are actively encouraged. However, a vital component of this equation is greater knowledge acquisition: options should be accompanied by training dollars to allow employee-owners to learn about the organization's industry and competitive forces and how to read and interpret financial documents. Under these circumstances, a corporate culture steeped with ownership participation and continuous learning will flourish and ultimately enhance the organization's bottom line.