School Basic Science Research Articles

Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness of Science Ethical Issue Concepts in Basic Science and Technology Curriculum in Junior Secondary School, Gombe State

The study assessed the level of classroom conduciveness, appropriateness of stated performance objectives, teacher’s instructional techniques and evaluation procedures for effective teaching of science ethical issues in Junior Secondary School (JSS) basic science and technology curriculum. Ex post facto type of descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The study population comprised all the 286 public Junior Secondary Schools in Gombe State, Nigeria. One hundred and thirty-five schools were selected through simple random sampling techniques from three senatorial districts in Gombe State of which 45 JSS were selected from each district. Three hundred and fifty lessons on science ethical issues concepts in basic science and technology curriculum in Junior Secondary School in Gombe State were observed using Classroom Teaching Observation Schedule (r= 0.83) and adopting descriptive research. Findings indicated that classrooms were not conducive, instructional objectives not appropriate, ineffective instructional strategies and poor evaluation methods. It was recommended that basic science and technology teachers should pay more attention to ethical issues of science and technology in basic science and technology curriculum in Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria to enhance students’ good citizenship in the society.

Does high achievement in preclinical years predicts similar achievement in clinical year in medical students? A correlational study

Introduction: There is speculation that early medical school basic science instruction is ultimate of limited utility when students enter clinical rotations. It is worthwhile to establish whether early performance in pre-clinical years correlates with performance in later clinical years so that curricula can be adapted accordingly, and actionable predictors of student performance can be identified.Objective: The objective of the study is to investigate the predictive role of student academic performance in early (i.e. “pre-clinical”) medical school years for performance in later (i.e. “clinical”) medical school years.Methods: We employed a retrospective correlation approach by compiling data from medical students in a major academic center in Lahore, Pakistan. The sample cohort consisted of 413 students taken from three consecutive graduating classes (2018, 2019, 2020). Two separate (but thematically related) statistical analyses were undertaken: 1)we created a multivariate linear regression model to predict performance in later (clinical) years (year 5) based on a student’s known demographic factors and academic performance in early (pre-clinical) exams (years 1 and 2) we performed multivariate logistic regression to model the likelihood of attaining “super high achiever” status at the time of graduation (outcome variable) and used demographic data as well as “high achiever” status in early exams (i.e. first three ‘prof ’ exams) as covariates.Results: The most important predictor of performance in the final summative examination was the performance in early ‘prof ’ exams (Year 2 Prof Score F ratio 91.3, p<0.0001). Early attainment of high-achiever status in medical school correlated with the attainment of ‘super high achiever’ status at the time of graduation (p<0.0001).Conclusion: Performance in early medical school years (i.e., “pre-clinical”) correlated with performance in the later medical school years (i.e. “clinical”).
 KEYWORDS:Early performance, pre-clinical, high-achiever

Two decades of little change: An analysis of U.S. medical school basic science faculty by sex, race/ethnicity, andacademic rank.

To examine changes in U.S. medical school basic science faculty over the last 20 years (1998–2018), we undertook an observational study utilizing data from the American Association of Medical Colleges Faculty Roster. Rank (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor), sex (Female), and race/ethnicity (Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic, and White) were analyzed; this reflected a population of 14,047 (1998) to 18,601 (2018) faculty. Summary percent of faculty in various gender, race/ethnicity origin categories were analyzed across years of the study using regression models. We found that females (24.47% to 35.32%) were underrepresented at all timepoints and a minority of faculty identified as Black or African American (1.57% to 1.99%), Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic (3.03% to 4.44%), or Asian (10.90% to 20.41%). The largest population at all time points was White Male Professors (30.53% to 20.85%), followed by White Male Associate Professors (15.67% to 9.34%), and White Male Assistant Professors (13.22% to 9.75%). Small statistically significant increases were observed among female faculty and faculty at multiple ranks who identified as Black or African American or Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic. We then completed secondary analyses looking at the interaction of race/ethnicity and Gender. We found: (1) a significant increase (p<0.0001) in both genders who identify as Asian although males had a higher rate of increase (6 point difference, p<0.0001); (2) a significant increase for Black or African American females (P<0.01) not found among males; (3) significant increases (p<0.0001) among both genders of faculty who identify as Hispanic, Latino, Spanish Origin, or Multiple Race-Hispanic although females had an approximately 1% higher rate of increase; and (4) among faculty who identify as White, males had a significant decrease (p<0.0001) while females demonstrated an increase (p<0.0001).

Content Validation of Basic Education Certificate Examination Questions in Basic Science in Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study assessed the content validation of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) questions in Basic Science set by Adamawa State Educational Resource Centre (ERC), Yola, Nigeria. This was to determine the representativeness of the topics and their levels of the cognitive domain in the Junior Secondary School Basic Science curriculum in the Basic Education Certificate Examination in Basic Science question papers from 2013 to 2017. Document analysis research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all past Basic Education Certificate Examination questions in Basic Science. The research instrument used for the data collection was a designed checklist along table of specification. A pilot study was conducted and a reliability index of 0.86 was obtained using Cronbach alpha analysis. Three research questions were raised with two hypotheses tested at 0. 05 level of significance. The result of the findingp=0.000 revealed that there is no significant difference between the topics in the Basic Science curriculum and those examined in the Basic Education Certificate Examination questions in Basic Science. Again, the result 0.675 showed that there is significant difference between the weights assigned to the various levels of cognitive domain in the Basic Science curriculum and those weights assigned to them in Basic Education Certificate Examination Basic Science question papers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that re-training, workshops, conferences and seminars should be organized for Basic Science teachers and external examiners regularly to update their knowledge on test construction.

MSphere of Influence: Hiring of Underrepresented Minority Assistant Professors in Medical School Basic Science Departments Has a Long Way To Go.

Michael D. L. Johnson is a molecular microbiologist observing the role of metals in bacterial biology. In this mSphere of Influence article, he discusses the impact that the paper "Decoupling of the minority PhD talent pool and assistant professor hiring in medical school basic science departments in the US" by Kenneth D. Gibbs, Jr., Jacob Basson, Imam M. Xierali, and David A. Broniatowski (eLife 5:e21393, 2016, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21393) had on him regarding hiring underrepresented minorities at research-intensive institutions and what he considers to be the next steps.

Effect of Formative Classroom Assessment on Students’ Academic Achievement in Junior Secondary School Basic Science in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria

The research investigated the effect of formative classroom assessment on students’ achievement in junior secondary school Basic science in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The study adopted a pre-test, post–test experimental design. The population of the study comprised all the public Junior Secondary School two (JSS II) students out of which 80 students were purposively sampled and used for the study. Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT) was used for the pre-test and post–test. The instrument was content validated by Basic science teachers who are experts in the subject. The reliability of the BSAT was determined by the test-retest method yielding a reliability co-efficient of 0.70. Data collected were analysed using paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test at 0.05 level of significant. The Findings revealed that formative classroom assessment had effect on the students’ academic achievement in favour of the experimental group; formative classroom assessment was also found to improve the students’ academic achievement as observed in the difference between pre-test and post-test in favour of the post-test; and no significant difference in the scores of male and female exposed to the formative classroom assessment. It was recommended that teaching and learning at the junior secondary school should be improved by regular formative classroom assessment with adequate feedback and remediation for learners to improve their academic achievement. Keywords: Assessment, Formative assessment, Classroom, Academic achievement DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-15-22 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

Upper Primary School Basic Science Curriculum Materials Development Process in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to explore upper primary school basic science curriculum materials development process in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. For the purpose of this study, qualitative research method, more specifically, case study design was used. Non-probability purposive sampling techniques was used to select participants from various groups. To this effect, sample of five basic science curriculum experts were selected and used as a sample of the study. Interview guides and document analysis were employed to gather information. Qualitative data analysis method was used to analyze the data. Qualitative data were analyzed through narrative description and direct quotations of the opinions of the participants. The result of data analyses revealed that curriculum experts from the Oromia Region Education Bureau, representatives from the Ministry of Education, representatives from colleges and universities were involved in the process of curriculum development. However, concerned bodies from primary school teachers, students, parents, who are the main actors of curriculum implementers were not involved in the process of curriculum development in Oromia Regional State. The study also revealed that no clearly defined model was used for the development and the selection of the components of the basic science curriculum in the upper primary in Oromia Regional State. Based on the findings, it is recommended that policy makers and curriculum developers in the region reconsider and revisit the developed upper primary school basic science curriculum materials currently implemented in Oromia regional state. Keywords: Curriculum, Curriculum materials, Curriculum development, Basic science and Upper primary school. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-1-08

Influence of Attitude, Cooperative and Inquiry Instructional Strategies on the Academic Performance of Students in Basic Science and Mathematics in Katsina, Nigeria

Investigating the effects of cooperative learning as an instructional strategy for teaching basic science and mathematics to junior secondary school students in Katsina state was the focus of this study. Equally, it also looked at how gender affect students' performance and attitude in basic science and mathematics when cooperative learning was used as an instructional strategy. Quasi-experimental design was used in the study with 240 students as sample selected purposively. Findings of the study revealed that students taught using cooperative learning strategy performed higher than those taught using inquiry learning strategy; there was an insignificant difference in performance between the male and female students in the cooperative learning group. The students in cooperative learning group show a more positive attitude towards basic science and mathematics than those in inquiry classroom learning. On the bases of these findings, it was recommended that cooperative learning strategy be adopted by all secondary school Basic Science and Mathematics teachers as an effective learning strategy in order to improve students’ performance and positive attitude towards science and mathematic

Telequantum Medical Technologies Taught, Practiced, and Assessed by Medical Students in a Millennial Anatomy Lab Developing Telemedicine Skills

IntroductionMedical school basic science curriculum is formally attempting a facelift from traditional curricula better preparing trainees to succeed in todays changing healthcare arena. Evolving technologies and patient care have created logical behavioral changes for both patient and physician. Teleporting units have continued to develop and evolve into better quality audiovisual transmissions with friendlier interfaces. Third/fourth year medical students(MS) and junior residents arrive with no or minimal formal training skills interacting with teleporting, tele‐emotion and telemedicine technology skills(TTS).ObjectiveTelequantum medical technologies(TqMedTech) successfully integrated into a millennial anatomy lab resulting in TTS.MethodsTqMTech were taught, used and assessed in a millennial anatomy lab during 1st year anatomy course. MS(n=103) participated with the following TqMTechs, Sectra cross‐sectional and 3D visualization table, PercuVision catheterization, SKY‐EYE camera system, Ultrasound Triple feedback technique, finger probe and 3D/4D ultrasound, robotic OPUS ultrasound simulator, C‐Link and novel scopes, Otoscope teleporting and Google Glass.ResultsMS successfully used all technologies as revealed by timed hands‐on assessment results(&gt;80%) from anatomy lab examinations. Likert scale scores ranged 3.8–4.5 from questions addressing instruction, hands‐on time and perceived importance.DiscussionTelemedicine is growing and appears to have an invaluable contribution in today's health care system. Ideally suited for use between 7pm–7am weekdays and weekends when virtually all family practices are closed. MS appear to have the acumen to integrate TTS during basic science curriculum. MS incorporated TqMTech, skills, education and clinical benefits to improve.ConclusionThis pilot study successfully integrated telequantum medical technologies, skills and clinical uses demonstrated by MS in a millennial anatomy lab.Support or Funding InformationWith the cordial support of Jim &amp; Heather McDaniel and Dr. Jeff Heatherington, as well as the gracious donors who donated themselves for science.

Decoupling of the minority PhD talent pool and assistant professor hiring in medical school basic science departments in the US.

Faculty diversity is a longstanding challenge in the US. However, we lack a quantitative and systemic understanding of how the career transitions into assistant professor positions of PhD scientists from underrepresented minority (URM) and well-represented (WR) racial/ethnic backgrounds compare. Between 1980 and 2013, the number of PhD graduates from URM backgrounds increased by a factor of 9.3, compared with a 2.6-fold increase in the number of PhD graduates from WR groups. However, the number of scientists from URM backgrounds hired as assistant professors in medical school basic science departments was not related to the number of potential candidates (R2=0.12, p>0.07), whereas there was a strong correlation between these two numbers for scientists from WR backgrounds (R2=0.48, p<0.0001). We built and validated a conceptual system dynamics model based on these data that explained 79% of the variance in the hiring of assistant professors and posited no hiring discrimination. Simulations show that, given current transition rates of scientists from URM backgrounds to faculty positions, faculty diversity would not increase significantly through the year 2080 even in the context of an exponential growth in the population of PhD graduates from URM backgrounds, or significant increases in the number of faculty positions. Instead, the simulations showed that diversity increased as more postdoctoral candidates from URM backgrounds transitioned onto the market and were hired.

Effects of Two Methods on Student’s Achievement in Junior Secondary Schools in Yakurr, Cross River State

In Nigeria, student’s performances in basic science in the public examinations have not been encouraging over the years. The conventional method of teaching employed by the teachers has been one of the salient factors contributing to the discouraging performance. Previous studies have examined different instructional methods in different subjects without paying much attention to the use of guided inquiry and expository lecture methods on student’s achievement in Basic science in Yakurr. This study therefore investigates the effects of guided inquiry and expository lecture methods on students’ achievement in junior secondary school Basic science in Yakurr, Cross River State.

Providing context for a medical school basic science curriculum: The importance of the humanities

Introduction: To increase students’ understanding of what it means to be a physician and engage in the everyday practice of medicine, a humanities program was implemented into the preclinical curriculum of the medical school curriculum. The purpose of our study was to determine how medical students’ views of being a doctor evolved after participating in a required humanities course.Methods: Medical students completing a 16-clock hour humanities course from 10 courses were asked to respond to an open-ended reflection question regarding changes, if any, of their views of being a doctor. The constant comparative method was used for coding; triangulation and a variety of techniques were used to provide evidence of validity of the analysis.Results: A majority of first- and second-year medical students (rr = 70%) replied, resulting in 100 pages of text. A meta-theme of Contextualizing the Purpose of Medicine and three subthemes: the importance of Treating Patients Rather than a Disease, Understanding Observation Skills are Important, and Recognizing that Doctors are Fallible emerged from the data.Conclusions: Results suggest that requiring humanities as part of the required preclinical curriculum can have a positive influence on medical students and act as a bridge to contextualize the purpose of medicine.

Introducing First Aid Skills to Pre-Clerkship Medical Students While Reinforcing Basic Science Concepts

The benefit of exposing medical students throughout their medical training to emergency medicine concepts, including basic first aid knowledge, has been established [1]. The American College of Emergency Physicians (2008) called for introduction and integration of basic first aid skills throughout the 4 years of medical school [2]. Teaching clinical skills to preclinical students has the benefit of enhancing learning by providing meaningful clinical relevance to basic science learning, is motivating for learning, and is beneficial for reviewing and reinforcing basic science concepts [3]. It is often assumed that entering medical students have knowledge and skills to provide essential medical care; however, many are unfamiliar with even very basic first aid skills. A 2-hour workshop to teach first aid procedures was developed and presented to 25 volunteer first (M1) and second year (M2) students at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). The workshop covered procedures for wound care, hemorrhage control, and treatment of burns. Relevant basic science content (musculoskeletal anatomy and physiology, microbiology of tetanus and skin infections, and antibiotic pharmacology) was presented, followed by demonstrations and hands-on practice sessions. The practice sessions included procedures for applying direct pressure to a wound, dressing a wound, and wrapping burns with sterile gauze. Workshop evaluations via pre and post-surveys measured knowledge acquisition, comfort in providing first aid, and overall effectiveness of the session. Evaluation results were very positive. The mean score (12 questions) of first aid knowledge increased from 38.3 % to 81.7 % (p<0.001). On a Likert scale measuring student comfort in providing care to a bleeding patient (1=very uncomfortable to 5=very comfortable), scores increased from 2.68 to 4.36 (p<0.001); comfort for providing burn care increased from 2.28 to 4.48 (p<0.001). On additional posttest Likert scale questions (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree), students also responded very positively to the integration of basic science content (4.72), hands-on practice sessions (4.58), usefulness of information (4.76), and interest level and quality of presentation (4.76). There were no significant differences between M1 and M2 students; at least one semester of medical school basic science material is recommended. Based on this initial success, another workshop about limb injuries and cervical spine injury care is being developed as another optional student experience, and will include both basic science correlations and hands-on practice sessions.

Development and Validation of a Project Package for Junior Secondary School Basic Science

This was a Research and Developmental study designed to develop and validate projects for Junior Secondary School Basic Science instruction and evaluation. The projects were developed using the project blueprint and sent for validation by experts in science education and measurement and evaluation; using a project validation scale. They were to rate the project task and skills in terms of their appropriateness and suitability. The projects were later administered on 1584 students. The result showed that the project measures of skills and task were significantly related. The project sub-scale of cognitive, affective and psychomotor was also significantly correlated. The inter-rater reliability index varied from 0.75 to 0.92. Hence, the projects were recommended for instructing and evaluating Junior Secondary School Basic Science.

Innovations in Care Delivery to Slow Growth of US Health Spending

THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO SLOW ITS RATE OF growth in inflation-adjusted per capita health spending by 2.5 percentage points annually without sacrificing health or slowing biomedical technology advances. The consequences of failure may include shifting of funding away from resources for elementary and high school education, infrastructure (such as highways), and basic science research, as well as weakening the global competitiveness and financial health of US workers and their employers. One approach lies upstream—the prevention of disease by mitigating underlying environmental, social, and behavioral health risks. The most immediate progress is likely to come downstream from innovations that safely and compassionately lower health spending by reducing the cost of hospitalization for all patients and its unplanned occurrence for the 5% of individuals who incur half of health care expenditures in the United States. Opportunities include preventing expensive health crises among medically fragile patients, helping patients in late stages of serious illness avoid dying in a hospital, increasing patient flow through hospitals to lower average fixed cost per hospitalization, and reducing hospital readmissions.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston

Neural Blockade in Clinical Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 4th edition

Neural Blockade in Clinical Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 4th edition

Student performance on levels 1 and 2-CE of COMLEX-USA: do elective upper-level undergraduate science courses matter?

The effect of a variety of preadmission variables, including the number of elective preadmission upper-level science courses, on academic achievement is not well established. To investigate the relationship between number of preadmission variables and overall student academic achievement in osteopathic medical school. Academic records of osteopathic medical students in the 2008 and 2009 graduating classes of Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, California, were analyzed. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of academic achievement based on Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) subscores, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), GPA in medical school basic science (preclinical GPA) and clinical clerkship (clinical GPA), and scores on the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination-USA (COMLEX-USA) Level 1 and Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation (CE). Records of 358 osteopathic medical students were evaluated. Analysis of beta coefficients suggested that undergraduate science GPA was the most important predictor of overall student academic achievement (P<.01). Biological sciences MCAT subscore was a more modest but still statistically significant predictor of preclinical GPA and COMLEX-USA Level 1 score (P<.01). Physical sciences MCAT subscore was also a statistically significant predictor of preclinical GPA, and verbal reasoning MCAT subscore was a statistically significant predictor of COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE score (both P<.01). Women had statistically significantly higher preclinical GPA and COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE scores than men (P<.05). Differences in some outcome variables were also associated with racial-ethnic background and age. Number of preadmission elective upper-level science courses taken by students before matriculation was not significantly correlated with any academic achievement variable. Although undergraduate science GPA and MCAT biological sciences subscore were significant predictors of overall academic achievement for osteopathic medical students, the number of elective upper-level science courses taken preadmission had no predictive value.

Factors Influencing Pediatric Dental Program Directors’ Selection of Residents and Demographics of Current Directors

The primary goal of this study was to examine the criteria that influence rankings of candidates by advanced education program directors in pediatric dentistry. Secondary objectives were to obtain information on the resident selection process and to explore demographics of current program directors. A survey was sent in 2005 to all sixty-three program directors of pediatric dentistry residency programs accredited within the United States for the graduating class of 2007. The survey had a response rate of almost 78 percent (49/63). Respondents were requested to rank the importance of eleven factors that are typically included in the selection criteria for pediatric dentistry residents. Factors were rated on a scale of critical, very important, fairly important, somewhat important, and not important. The four highest ranked criteria by program directors were the following, in order: National Board scores, dental school clinical grades, class rank, and grade point average (GPA). Other factors ranked in descending order of perceived importance were the following: dental school basic science grades, experience in pediatric dentistry, extracurricular activities, completion of a general practice residency or advanced education in general dentistry program, the application essay, a publication or professional presentation, and private practice experience. All directors ranked personal interviews as very important to critical. Letters of recommendation from a pediatric dentistry department chairperson or faculty member were viewed more favorably than letters from dental school deans and non-pediatric dentistry faculty. Fifty-seven percent of the directors responding (28/49) were male, and 81 percent (40/49) were white, non-Hispanic. Fifty-nine percent of the directors (29/49) graduated from a residency program over twenty years ago, with 39 percent (19/49) having been a director for less than five years.

A survey of resident selection procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery

Purpose: This study was conducted to analyze the current procedures used in oral and maxillofacial surgery resident selection, to compare these selection procedures with those used 2 decades ago, to determine whether any differences exist in the selection procedures between 4-year certificate programs and programs that offer formal medical education, and to provide criteria to assist in the counseling of dental students on the application process for oral and maxillofacial surgery residencies.Subjects and Methods: Questionnaires were sent to the 106 oral and maxillofacial surgery graduate training programs accredited by the American Dental Association. To provide for a more direct comparison to the study completed in 1976, the current questionnaire was developed, using the original survey as a model. It was divided into 5 sections: general information, information obtained from the formal application and letters of recommendation, the interview, the decision process, and a retrospective view of past decisions. The results were tabulated and the Pearson chi-square test was used to determine statistical significance when comparing the 4-year certificate programs to the programs that offer formal medical education.Results: Seventy-one responses (75.5%) from nonmilitary programs were returned and analyzed. Thirty-nine responses represented dual-degree (MD) programs. Factors that were considered very important when judging a candidate's written application included dental school class rank (76.1%), dental school basic science grades (70.4%), and dental school clinical grades (63.4%). Dual-degree programs placed a greater emphasis on predental basic science grades (P < .01) and dental national board scores (P < .05). When asked about prior resident selection, 86.7% of the respondents said they would select 80% of their former residents again. In addition, 89.9% of the respondents were satisfied with their current selection process.Conclusions: The procedures used to select oral and maxillofacial surgery residents are relatively constant among programs. Although the dual-degree and 4-year certificate programs use the same criteria for resident selection, the dual-degree programs place greater emphasis on predental academic performance and on the results of the national dental boards. Criteria used 22 years ago to select residents are still applicable, but there has been a shift in the importance of some variables.