Individual Academics Research Articles

Academic Entrepreneurial Engagement among Academics in Canada and China: The Impact of Research Orientation and University Expectations

Despite a growing awareness of academic entrepreneurship undertaken by professors around the globe, there remain unanswered questions regarding how individual and organizational characteristics shape academics’ decision to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Drawing on data from the 2017–18 Academic Profession in the Knowledge-based Society (APIKS) survey, this study examines research-based and teaching-based academic entrepreneurship engagement in two countries, namely Canada and China, and examines through logistic regressions how academics’ individual research orientation and perceptions of their university’s expectations affect their likelihood of engaging in entrepreneurial activities. The results show that a majority of faculty members in the two countries are involved in entrepreneurial activities, including research-based activities (such as contract research, joint research and publications, and consultancy) and teaching-based activities (such as supervising student internships, volunteer-based work, and public lectures). Regression results suggest that academics who emphasize a theoretical research orientation are less likely to demonstrate entrepreneurial involvement, while academics who report a practical, commercial, or social research orientation are more likely to demonstrate entrepreneurial involvement. Academics who perceive that their university expects them to engage in entrepreneurial activities are also more likely to do so. These findings shed light on ways to reinforce academics’ social involvements and contributions in both countries.

Policy Support and Research Productivity among Lecturers in Ugandan Public Universities: Case of Kyambogo University

In today’s competitive global higher education market, research productivity has become a dominant criterion for determining the university’s effectiveness. Besides, high-quality research benefits individual academics, their departments and institutions by raising their global rankings, recognition and prestige, with multiple accruing benefits. However, in a situation of low research output from Ugandan public universities, there is urgent need for increased organisational support to facilitate lecturers in conducting this cardinal university function. This mixed-methods study was, therefore, intended to evaluate the effect of the university research policy on lecturers’ research productivity in Kyambogo University, one of the biggest but relatively new public universities in Uganda. A correlational survey design guided the study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A sample of 127 PhD-holding lecturers, three faculty deans, Directors of Quality Assurance and Human Resource, the University Bursar and the University Librarian participated in the study. Data collected using questionnaire and interviews were analysed using structural equation modelling for quantitative data while thematic content analysis was used for qualitative data to establish relationships between the variables. The findings revealed moderate policy support for research productivity with a mean value of 3.07, a positive and significant relationship between the variables with a beta value of .416 and a P-value of .000. The study recommended the formulation and implementation of favouring and supportive policies to increase lecturers’ research productivity in public universities. The findings will likely be used to inform university managers on generating practical policy interventions to boost research productivity among lecturers in public universities.

Faculty Views on Internationalization in Kazakhstan

Internationalization is viewed as the main mechanism for the modernization of higher education in Kazakhstan. Despite the strong policy push for internationalization, research on the process of implementation of internationalization initiatives by institutions, as well as on the experiences with the internationalization of individual faculty members, students, and administrators remains rather scarce. This paper fills the gap in existing research by using the data from the international Academic Profession in the Knowledge Society (APIKS) survey to explore faculty views on internationalization. The study addresses the following research questions: (1) What are faculty views on internationalization? (2) How do the views vary among the faculty of different demographic and professional characteristics (e.g. gender, rank, discipline, age, experience)? (3) What is the relationship between the views on internationalization and faculty language ability? (4) What is the relationship between the views and the extent of faculty engagement in international experiences? To answer the research questions, we use both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study reveals that faculty generally hold a positive view of internationalization, although remain concerned about the effect of internationalization initiatives on brain drain and loss of cultural identity. In addition, they seem to be less satisfied with the number of opportunities for international mobility and research collaboration, which are available for them as compared to students. The study points to the importance of gathering faculty input on the development and approaches to implementation of internationalization initiatives, as well as of expanding faculty access to internalization programs.

From growers to patients: Multi-stakeholder views on the use of, and access to medicinal cannabis in Australia.

Patient interest in the use of cannabis-based medicines (CBMs) has increased in Australia. While recent policy and legislative changes have enabled health practitioners to prescribe CBMs for their patients, many patients still struggle to access CBMs. This paper employed a thematic analysis to submissions made to a 2019 Australian government inquiry into current barriers of patient access to medical cannabis. We identified 121 submissions from patients or family members (n = 63), government bodies (n = 5), non-government organisations (i.e., professional health bodies, charities, consumer organisations or advocacy groups; n = 25), medical cannabis and pharmaceutical industry (n = 16), and individual health professionals, academics, or research centres (n = 12). Data were coded using NVivo 12 software and thematically analysed. The findings were presented narratively using a modified Levesque's patient-centred access to care framework which includes: i) appropriateness; ii) availability and geographic accessibility; iii) acceptability; and iv) affordability. Submissions from government agencies and professional health bodies consistently supported maintaining the current regulatory frameworks and access pathways, whereas an overwhelming majority of patients, advocacy groups and the medical cannabis industry described the current regulatory and access models as 'not fit for purpose'. These differing views seem to arise from divergent persepctives on (i) what and how much evidence is needed for policy and practice, and (ii) how patients should be given access to medical cannabis products amidst empirical uncertainty. Notwithstanding these differences, there were commonalities among some stakeholders regarding the various supply, regulatory, legislative, financial, and dispensing challenges that hindered timely access to CBMs. Progress in addressing the fundamental barriers that determine if and how a patient accesses and uses CBMs needs i) a 'system-level' reform that gives due consideration to the geographic disparity in access to prescribers and medical cannabis, and ii) reframing societal and health professional's views of CBMs by decoupling recreational vs medical cannabis.

Using natural language processing to determine factors associated with high-quality feedback

PurposeFeedback is a cornerstone of medical education. However, not all feedback that residents receive is high-quality. Natural language processing (NLP) can be used to efficiently examine the quality of large amounts of feedback. We used a validated NLP model to examine factors associated with the quality of feedback that general surgery trainees received on 24,531 workplace-based assessments of operative performance.MethodsWe analyzed transcribed, dictated feedback from the Society for Improving Medical Professional Learning’s (SIMPL) smartphone-based app. We first applied a validated NLP model to all SIMPL evaluations that had dictated feedback, which resulted in a predicted probability that an instance of feedback was “relevant”, “specific”, and/or “corrective.” Higher predicted probabilities signaled an increased likelihood that feedback was high quality. We then used linear mixed-effects models to examine variation in predictive probabilities across programs, attending surgeons, trainees, procedures, autonomy granted, operative performance level, case complexity, and a trainee’s level of clinical training.ResultsLinear mixed-effects modeling demonstrated that predicted probabilities, i.e., a proxy for quality, were lower as operative autonomy increased (“Passive Help” B = − 1.29, p < .001; “Supervision Only” B = − 5.53, p < 0.001). Similarly, trainees who demonstrated “Exceptional Performance” received lower quality feedback (B = − 12.50, p < 0.001). The specific procedure or trainee did not have a large effect on quality, nor did the complexity of the case or the PGY level of a trainee. The individual faculty member providing the feedback, however, had a demonstrable impact on quality with approximately 36% of the variation in quality attributable to attending surgeons.ConclusionsWe were able to identify actionable items affecting resident feedback quality using an NLP model. Attending surgeons are the most influential factor in whether feedback is high quality. Faculty should be directly engaged in efforts to improve the overall quality of feedback that residents receive.

Navigating the academic ladder as an early career researcher in earth and environmental sciences

AbstractThere is growing concern in Higher Education around job security, work–life balance and inequalities, and early career researchers (ECRs) must make difficult trade‐offs and life choices. Literature confirms that women navigating academia face additional challenges compared to their male counterparts. Few studies connected contractual circumstances, employment priorities and their impacts on the life choices of individual academics. We report results from a survey exploring the experiences of 37 ECRs who completed PhDs in the United Kingdom (UK) navigating the academic ladder in geomorphology and earth/environmental science, and contextualize these findings by drawing on personal experiences and wider literature. We find evidence of multi‐directional pressures that have materially negative effects on individuals' life choices, including concern that academic employment is a barrier to living where and with whom one may want to. The level of precarity amongst survey respondents is stark in terms of number of years they have held fixed‐term contracts (maximum 10 years), the number of individual contracts held (maximum 14) and number of different institutions worked at (maximum six). Women respondents were less prepared to be employed on precarious contracts and put more emphasis on job security when applying for academic posts, with men being generally more satisfied by financial aspects of university employment; which will amplify the leaky pipeline and gender gaps at more senior levels. We also find that perceived institutional prestige was a surprisingly low priority for the majority of respondents, and there were notable divergences between career advice given by more senior colleagues and the priorities of ECRs seeking guidance. We put forward a set of key considerations: improving policies on parental leave and flexible working; formalizing and improving mentorship; more considerate recruitment procedures; reducing contract precarity; and, transparency on pay and promotion. We believe these are within the scope of action by departments, laboratories and research groups.

Thoughts of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on agricultural and industrial development in Bangladesh: An analysis

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is one of the most undeniable and charismatic leaders in the world. He won the trust, support and hope of the general public as a result of his inherent and exceptional traits (East Bengalis). The purpose of this study is to examine the important roles he has played in boosting Bangladesh's economy. Secondary data was acquired from a range of sources, including journals, websites, articles and books, as well as descriptive and preferred qualitative approaches, and national and international media. Government documents, research papers and publications from international organisations, research institutes and individual academics were examined. Bangladesh has become a global role model for sustainable development in addition to achieving food security, thanks to its energetic efforts and future recommendations (1972–1975). Bangladesh is progressing quickly because of its ideologies and ideals. Bangladesh is on track to becoming a developed country by 2041, thanks to its ideologies and ideals. Keywords: Agriculture, Bangabandhu, Bangladesh, development, economic;

Novel structural designs of 3D-printed osteogenic graft for rapid angiogenesis

Large bone defect regeneration has always been recognized as a challenging clinical problem due to the difficulty of revascularization. Conventional treatments exhibit certain inherent disadvantages (e.g., secondary injury, immunization, and potential infections). However, three-dimensional (3D) printing technology as an emerging field can serve as an effective approach to achieve satisfactory revascularization while making up for the above limitations. A wide variety of methods can be used to facilitate blood supply during the design of a 3D-printed scaffold. Importantly, the scaffold structure lays a foundation for the entire printing object; any method to promote angiogenesis can be effective only if it is based on well-designed scaffolds. In this review, different designs related to angiogenesis are summarized by collecting the literature from recent years. The 3D-printed scaffolds are classified into four major categories and discussed in detail, from elementary porous scaffolds to the most advanced bone-like scaffolds. Finally, structural design suggestions to achieve rapid angiogenesis are proposed by analyzing the above architectures. This review can provide a reference for organizations or individual academics to achieve improved bone defect repair and regeneration using 3D printing.

Opportunities to Increase Workplace Feedback: A Multi-institutional Examination

While feedback is an essential component of resident education, there are few large-scale studies examining when and under what conditions formative feedback is provided. Workplace-based assessment systems offer an opportunity to identify factors influencing when faculty provides feedback to trainees. Influential factors affecting feedback may provide targets for increasing and improving feedback in resident education. Data on whether dictated feedback was provided were obtained from the Society for Improving Medical Professional Learning (SIMPL) mobile application. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to identify the degree to which faculty members, procedures, surgical case characteristics, and trainee performance were associated with whether narrative feedback was provided using SIMPL. This study was conducted using data from members of the SIMPL collaborative. 67,434 evaluations from 70 general surgery programs were included from 2015 to 2021. Of these, 25,355 evaluations included dictated feedback. Approximately 61% of the variation in whether dictated feedback was provided was attributable to the individual faculty member. Compared to residents who achieved autonomy ratings of "Active Help," residents who achieved ratings of "Supervision Only" (odds ratio (OR) = 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.72, 0.88) had a lower likelihood of receiving dictated feedback. Residents who achieved ratings of "Intermediate" (OR = 0.81, CI = 0.74, 0.89), "Practice-Ready" (OR = 0.50, CI = 0.45, 0.57), or "Exceptional (OR = 0.64, CI = 0.54, 0.76) showed a lower likelihood of receiving dictated feedback compared to those rated as "Inexperienced." Cases rated as "High" in terms of complexity were associated with an increased likelihood of having dictation (OR = 1.35, CI = 1.26, 1.44). The largest contributing factor for whether dictated feedback is included in a SIMPL evaluation are factors specific to the attending surgeon. Resident performance, resident autonomy, and case complexity had only modest associations with feedback decisions. Efforts to improve the amount of formative feedback for trainees should be directed towards reducing the variation in which attending surgeons elect to provide feedback.

NCSA 2022 John F. Schnable Teaching Address: Teaching in the Age of Accountability: What’s a Sociologist to Do?

ABSTRACT The pandemic has exacerbated the dilemmas facing college students and their institutions of higher education, and the pressures on institutions to be accountable to multiple stakeholders have, if anything, increased. No one is opposed to accountability in principle. The issue, rather, is who determines what constitutes academic quality and the key dimensions of student success. A substantial literature now exists highlighting the problems that accrue when neoliberal thinking gains ascendancy in higher education. What is not stressed enough in these discussions are the implications of the neoliberal audit mentality on pedagogy itself – on how we teach. I will discuss the negative impact on teaching of three accountability systems that are widely institutionalized on college campuses – the student evaluation of teaching at the end of the semester, the assessment of student learning in the major, and program review of the major or academic program. Further, I will outline ways that we as sociologists might act as individual faculty members, as members of departments, or as members of larger professional organizations to resist or mitigate those pressures. As sociologists, we should be well positioned to see beyond the individual course or career and to argue for the collective with a reality sui generis.

Dynamics in the Pursuance of Higher Education’s Mandate Amidst Workload Policy: The Optimism for Academics’ Career Growth

The paper explores multiple challenges encountered by academics in an attempt to fulfil the mandate of higher education institutions in Uganda of; teaching, research and service to community. Whereas teaching is the core function of any university, research and the third mission had majorly been used to inform most personnel decisions, thereby threatening not only quality but academics’ enthusiasm and growth. Two HEIs; Makerere University and Uganda Management Institute (UMI), were purposively selected to unravel the underlying dynamics using a descriptive design. It was revealed that university teaching was the most gratifying profession, and a cardinal role why universities exist, but research was a prerequisite for exception instructional delivery, evidence based teaching, institutional and individual visibility. Similarly, masterly through research was provided effective service to the community. Nonetheless, as individual academics strive to balance the three roles of teaching, research and service, the policy on minimum workload that majorly focuses on teaching load, has remained a hurdle, thereby jeopardizing academics’ career growth and progression. Paradoxically, even those who have endeavored to publish, suffer not only serious burnout and lack of adequate time to prepare for teaching, but their contract renewals that are constantly in jeopardy due to workload deficits. These stringent benchmarked evaluation tools, is threatening not only individual and institutional profiling, but also, diminished professorial collegiate. Further, it is recommended that institutions review their workload perimeters to take into consideration other aspects such as; number of students one has supervised, program development and review, representation on professional bodies and leadership.

Constructing an academic skills toolkit for embedding academic practices

This case study explores the successes and challenges experienced while creating the Learning Development Toolkit (LDT) for use by academic staff at London South Bank University (LSBU). Based on similar initiatives at Queen Mary University of London (2016) and the University of Derby (2021). LSBU’s LDT is a database of formative academic skills activities which are available for academic staff to adapt and deliver during lectures and seminars. The case study opens by explaining LSBU’s institutional context, including our Educational Framework, and the Centre for Research Informed Teaching’s (CRIT) role in supporting various features: employability, embedded learning development, pedagogy, inclusivity and assessment. The case study also discusses LSBU’s student profile, namely that we have a large proportion of students from non-traditional academic backgrounds. As such, the LDT’s activities have been designed to enhance students’ criticality, analysis and confidence in their academic writing in a more general sense. The LDT is freely available to academic staff on LSBU’s intranet, but our team can advise on its implementation by discussing ways to tailor activities to a given session with individual academics. The LDT has five key areas: critical thinking development, quantitative analysis development, reading development, reflective development and writing development. The case study describes the elements within the LDT and explains how it was developed, tested and revised. It discusses the difficulties faced with building the LDT within LSBU’s existing IT framework but outlines how it ultimately succeeded in generating a comprehensive database of tasks to support student .

Factors affecting faculty conformity in South China universities.

Based on social contagion theory, this study examines the mediating role of formalization of organizational structure between organizational identification and faculty conformity. It also analyzes the moderating role of conflict management style between organizational identification and faculty conformity, and formalization of organizational structure and faculty conformity in universities in Hunan province, China. Convenience sampling was employed to select the subjects, and 1,024 Chinese faculty members including teaching staff and administrative staff were surveyed online with the questionnaire consist of organizational identification scale, organizational formalization scale, conflict management style scale, and faculty conformity scale. 1,000 valid respondents were collected and SPSS was used to analyze the data through descriptive analysis, analysis of variance, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression. The results showed that faculty members’ organizational identification had a positive effect on faculty conformity; formalization of organizational structure partially mediated the relationship between organizational identification and faculty conformity; and conflict management style positively moderated the relationship between organizational identification and faculty conformity and between formalization of organizational structure and faculty conformity. University administrators are often the initiators of conformity as they are responsible for formulating internal regulations. Therefore, they must monitor and coordinate workplace conflicts, resolve and guide faculty conformity, promote individual faculty members’ self-improvement, and foster steady organizational development.

Balancing interests between freedom and censorship: Organizational strategies for quality assurance in science communication

AbstractWhile science communication is increasingly being discussed as a third mission alongside research and teaching, there is little research on how universities and research organizations deal with issues regarding the quality of science communication. This article examines, from an organizational perspective, which new forms of quality assurance processes scientific organizations in Germany apply when addressing quality risks for science communication such as exaggeration in press releases or in the online communication of individual faculty members. Six focus group discussions were conducted with 22 participants (rectors or presidents of universities, heads of communication, ombudsmen, and high-impact researchers). Based on the results, proposals were developed to extend central as well as decentral organizational structures to assure good scientific communication practice. Their possible implementation was discussed in a workshop with representatives of all abovementioned groups. In conclusion, recommendations for future institutional policy are presented.

Atomic Research Centres to Intensify Research – An Innovative Approach of Srinivas University, India

Purpose: To find an innovative way to boost research work and contribution by individual faculty members of higher education institutions including universities by creating their own micro-research centre. This should also help faculty members to plan and intensify their research at low cost and internally available resources and to contribute to the research output of their institutions, and society in a micro but effective way. Methodology: Proposing and implementing micro-research centres in individual departments of universities by individual faculty members. This centre is independently coordinated by an individual faculty member along with colleagues and students at research, Post-graduate, and Undergraduate levels. The research methodology consists of developing a case study by collecting information about individual efforts of innovative research and crystalizing such efforts to be a systematic innovation as best practice in the higher education space. Information is collected from the research and innovation council of Srinivas University through its website and by interviewing its faculty members. The collected information is analyzed using ABCD analysis framework and presented in scholarly article format. Results &amp; Outcome: This case study on innovation in research efforts by motivating faculty members to develop and coordinate a micro-research centre called Atomic Research Centre to carry out intensive and focussed research on a micro-topic by individually and through a micro-team consisting of self, colleagues, and students at research, Post-graduate, and Undergraduate levels. This best practice speeds up and intensifies the research activities of individual faculty members in many micro-research areas without the huge investment in research as research funding. This best practice of individual research contribution through Atomic research centres (ARCs) also allows the faculty members to coordinate on one or many research topics at a time, individually or with different small teams. Based on an intense search in the literature, it is found that initiation and implementation of Faculty level Atomic Research Centre to promote and intensify departmental research is a unique innovative best practice in HEIs and Universities. Originality: Studying the initiation, formation, modalities, and details of faculty-initiated Atomic Research centres and their success in contributing to departmental research is studied systematically and analysed using ABCD analysing framework. Type of Research: Case Study &amp; Analysis.

Will Any Road Get You There? Examining Warranted and Unwarranted Variation in Medical Education.

Undergraduate and graduate medical education have long embraced uniqueness and variability in curricular and assessment approaches. Some of this variability is justified (warranted or necessary variation), but a substantial portion represents unwarranted variation. A primary tenet of outcomes-based medical education is ensuring that all learners acquire essential competencies to be publicly accountable to meet societal needs. Unwarranted variation in curricular and assessment practices contributes to suboptimal and variable educational outcomes and, by extension, risks graduates delivering suboptimal health care quality. Medical education can use lessons from the decades of study on unwarranted variation in health care as part of efforts to continuously improve the quality of training programs. To accomplish this, medical educators will first need to recognize the difference between warranted and unwarranted variation in both clinical care and educational practices. Addressing unwarranted variation will require cooperation and collaboration between multiple levels of the health care and educational systems using a quality improvement mindset. These efforts at improvement should acknowledge that some aspects of variability are not scientifically informed and do not support desired outcomes or societal needs. This perspective examines the correlates of unwarranted variation of clinical care in medical education and the need to address the interdependency of unwarranted variation occurring between clinical and educational practices. The authors explore the challenges of variation across multiple levels: community, institution, program, and individual faculty members. The article concludes with recommendations to improve medical education by embracing the principles of continuous quality improvement to reduce the harmful effect of unwarranted variation.

Towards improving peer review: Crowd-sourced insights from Twitter

Peer review is an essential part of academic publishing, yet many authors, reviewers, and editors have reportedly encountered problems with the review process. Some scholars view peer-review as a necessary process for the advancement of science, while other scholars argue that for many publishers and journals, both authors and reviewers are being exploited. The aim of this commentary is two-fold. First, to provide a narrative review of current perspectives and available research on the peer-review process to date, and second, to summarise potential solutions elicited from scholars on Twitter. A review of the literature identified several problems with peer-review including publication delays, an over reliance on a narrow pool of reviewers, threats to anonymity, perceived exploitation, as well as overworked editors. Recommendations to redress these issues that emerged from scholars on Twitter suggested publishers, journals, their editors and associate editors, universities, individual academics and their communities all have a role to play towards creating an equitable and fair system. This commentary aims to ignite conversations about improving the peer-review process.

The Medical Metropolis: Health Care and Economic Transformation in Pittsburgh and Houston

The Medical Metropolis: Health Care and Economic Transformation in Pittsburgh and Houston

Dual Process Clinical Reasoning Assessment: Quantifying the Qualitative.

The objectives of this study were to: (1) describe a standardized clinical reasoning (CR) assessment process for preclinical physician assistant (PA) students; (2) describe student grades on a checklist by comparing clinical faculty members' judgment on a global rating scale (GRS) with judgments made by a faculty panel; and (3) evaluate interrater reliability between individual faculty members' grading and faculty panel grading. Three clinical faculty members created a checklist to assess preclinical PA students' CR on a standardized patient assessment. Individual faculty graders and a panel of faculty graders evaluated student performance. Interrater reliability between individual faculty members and the faculty panel was assessed with Cohen's kappa. The study participants included 88 PA students (n = 88) and 12 faculty evaluators (n = 12). The faculty panel changed 11 grades (12.5%) from individual faculty members. Cohen's kappa indicated substantial agreement (k = 0.698, [95% CI: 0.54-0.85]) between the individual faculty members' grades and the faculty panel's grades. The process of conducting a comparison of a checklist, the GRS, and a panel review improves the standardization of assessment and reduces grade inflation.

Reimagining Faculty Development Deployment: A Multipronged, Pragmatic Approach to Improve Engagement.

Faculty at academic health centers have many competing demands on their time, leading to high work stress, burnout, and limited capacity to meaningfully improve their teaching, evaluation, feedback, and other education-related skills. Faculty development provides a useful mechanism to assist faculty in enhancing their knowledge and skills in these areas, but engaging faculty can be a challenge. To promote engagement, the authors developed a multipronged, pragmatic approach to faculty development. They created: (1) brief videos leveraging micro-learning strategies; (2) prepackaged workshops for use during existing faculty meetings; (3) a newsletter to raise awareness of faculty development opportunities; (4) a searchable, web-based catalog to facilitate rapid retrieval of faculty development content; and (5) an academy to acknowledge engagement of individual faculty members, provide certificates, and promote a culture that prioritizes our education mission. Since they launched the new approach in 2017, they have developed 41 microlearning videos, 15 prepackaged workshops, and 24 issues of the newsletter. Between January 2017 and May 2021, the videos generated more than 150,055 views; the workshops were downloaded 2,850 times; and the issues of the newsletter, emailed bimonthly to 3,500 members of the faculty, had an open rate that increased from 30% in 2017 to 70% in 2021. The Academy of Educational Excellence, which was launched in 2018, grew to more than 490 members. Preliminary feedback suggests faculty and education leaders are highly satisfied with the faculty development resources and approaches to engagement. Next steps include obtaining more user satisfaction data and evaluating whether education-related knowledge and skills have improved among faculty participants.