Seminar Series Research Articles

The more you know, the less you fear: Reflexive social work practices in times of COVID-19

In this article, we present the results of a strategy to disseminate best social work practices during periods of social lockdown in Spain, in a climate characterised by post-truth, misinformation and fake news. Social work is challenged with the task of delivering reliable and quality information aimed at building a better society. At the time of writing, Spain was one of the countries most affected by COVID-19, with one of the highest numbers of deaths per million inhabitants in the world. With the population in lockdown, our strategy was to design a series of innovative web seminars on both the subject and the procedures involved in social work, with the aim of sharing information and best practices to counter disinformation campaigns on social media. The results show the growing demand – both by citizens in general and students and professionals in particular – for reliable information in the field of professional practice. One of the priorities of digital social work must be to disseminate its results in the digital environment.

I seminari di David Rapaport del 1957 sulla metapsicologia

Nel 1957 David Rapaport (1911-1960) tenne una serie di seminari sulla metapsicologia psicoanalitica agli allievi del primo anno del Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis (New Haven, Connecticut). Questi seminari, trascritti verbatim, non furono mai pubblicati, ma solo dattiloscritti e divisi in sette volumi curati da Stuart C. Miller nel 1959, i primi tre di "metapsicologia elementare" e gli altri quattro di "metapsicologia avanzata", per un totale di circa 700 pagine. I partecipanti erano, oltre a Rapaport che era sempre presente, Helen G. Gilmore, Nathaniel J. London, Seymour L. Lustman, George F. Mahl, Stuart C. Miller, John P. Plunkett, Herbert S. Sacks, Roy Schafer, Virginia Suttenfield e Robert B. White (in alcuni casi erano presenti Paul E. Emery, Jean Schimek, David Shapiro, Eugene Talbot, Eugene E. Trunnel, Ess A. White Jr.). Qui, dopo una Nota redazionale, vengono pubblicati " per mostrare il metodo di lavoro di Rapaport " i programmi dettagliati dei seminari (con l'elenco dei riferimenti bibliografici da leggere e dei "compiti assegnati") e il testo di una parte di un seminario, le pagine iniziali del primo dei quattro volumi di metapsicologia avanzata.

Faculty Development for Teaching International Students

This paper describes and reflects on a seminar series in linguistically responsive instruction across academic disciplines, providing faculty in different institutions a model for faculty development in working with international students.

How Africa Is Promoting Agricultural Innovations and Technologies amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible mark on Africa's Agribusiness sector. Millions of households whose livelihoods depend on farming are facing a huge food crisis. To mitigate these effects, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) gathered a panel of renowned agricultural experts through an interactive webinar themed “Promotion of Agricultural Technologies and Innovations for Agri-Business Resilience in Africa in the Wake of COVID- 19”, the first in a series of several interactive seminars to be held virtually until the end of December 2020.

Science during lockdown - from virtual seminars to sustainable online communities.

ABSTRACTThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional modes of scientific communication. In-person conferences and seminars have been cancelled and most scientists around the world have been confined to their homes. Although challenging, this situation has presented an opportunity to adopt new ways to communicate science and build scientific relationships within a digital environment, thereby reducing the environmental impact and increasing the inclusivity of scientific events. As a group of researchers who have recently created online seminar series for our respective research communities, we have come together to share our experiences and insights. Only a few weeks into this process, and often learning ‘on the job’, we have collectively encountered different problems and solutions. Here, we share our advice on formats and tools, security concerns, spreading the word to your community and creating a diverse, inclusive and collegial space online. We hope our experience will help others launch their own online initiatives, helping to shape the future of scientific communication as we move past the current crisis.

Longitudinal pharmacy student presentations mentored by pharmacy residents: A pilot study

Background and purposeAlignment of pharmacy student and resident experiences provides a unique opportunity for near-peer mentorship. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess pharmacy resident mentorship and feedback skills through participation in a longitudinal pharmacy student and resident seminar series. Educational activity and settingA longitudinal, near-peer mentorship experience was developed in which first- and second-year pharmacy residents mentored advanced pharmacy practice experience student seminar presentations. Following seminar presentations, residents provided verbal and written feedback to students and faculty pharmacists provided feedback to residents. Student and resident learners were then surveyed to assess resident near-peer mentorship. FindingsOver a single academic year, 26 students delivered 45 seminar presentations that were mentored by 20 residents. Student and resident survey responses were similar and provided favorable feedback on resident mentorship. SummaryThe structured near-peer mentorship experience embedded into our longitudinal seminar series provided residents the opportunity to develop and strengthen their mentorship and feedback skills. Resident mentors were found to be effective in near-peer mentorship of a single activity.

Rare cancers in Japan: definition, clinical features and future perspectives.

This review introduces the definition, epidemiology and therapeutic challenges of rare cancers and describes the establishment of the Rare Cancer Center at the National Cancer Center, Japan. Rare cancers are defined as malignant tumors with an incidence rate of less than 6 cases per 100000 individuals. Due to their low incidence rate, medical treatment for rare cancers is more challenging than for more common cancer types. Specifically, 190 types of cancers, including bone and soft tissue sarcomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), neuroendocrine tumors and gliomas, are classified as rare cancers. Individually, each of the rare cancers accounts for less than 1% of all cancers, but collectively they account for 15% of all cancers. On the basis of their medical management, rare cancers can be subclassified into two types: Type I (rare cancers within cancer-rare organs) and Type II (rare cancers within cancer-common organs). Most importantly, the outcomes for rare cancers are poorer compared to those of common cancers. In 2014, the Rare Cancer Center was established at the National Cancer Center to address the various challenges related to rare cancers. The Rare Cancer Center has adopted a multifaceted approach for overcoming these challenges, including active sharing of information through a dedicated website and an online seminar series 'Rare Cancer Meet the Expert', providing medical support through telephone consultations via a 'Rare Cancer Hotline', supporting basic research and establishing the 'MASTER KEY Project' aimed at developing new treatments.

When the jokes aren't funny.

At our first lab meeting since the COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted, I sensed unease. After taking a seat at a large table, I noticed that no one seemed to want to sit next to me. As more people shuffled in, most of my labmates huddled on the opposite side of the table. Someone mentioned the “kung flu.” Another labmate “joked” that Asians really ought to be wearing masks, especially in small gatherings such as lab meetings. It took me a few moments to realize that—as the only Asian person in the room—they were likely talking about me. I know I should have been wearing a mask, but I wasn't the only person in the room without one. > “Racist comments … should not be normalized and tolerated.” A few days before that, I was sitting in the building's atrium with a Black colleague discussing an experimental method when a scientist from another lab joined us. Upon noticing my colleague's Black Lives Matter pin, the scientist said, “You really ought to keep your politics at home.” We were both taken aback. Our visitor went on to declare that looting is not the right solution to George Floyd's killing, that people need to get jobs instead of protesting all day, and that Black people shouldn't be so angry all the time. We sat there, appalled, but didn't say anything. On another occasion, a former co-worker asked me—as an immigrant—how I felt about President Donald Trump's immigration bans. I said I wished immigrants weren't constantly viewed as a threat to the economy because we have so much to offer, particularly in niche work sectors. The person's response was along the lines of, “At least Silicon Valley will be less of a ‘brown town’ and give others a chance.” I laughed but felt seriously uncomfortable. Why didn't I speak up? Because I feared repercussions—and I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that way. On the rare occasions when I have voiced my concern about racist comments, I've been told I am “too much of a social justice warrior.” I'm at a precarious point in my training, because I'm currently doing lab rotations, and I will settle on a Ph.D. adviser next year. Strained relationships with my colleagues may make it harder to find a permanent lab, or they may lead to poor letters of recommendation or lost authorship opportunities. Yet racist comments, no matter how funny some people may think they are, should not be normalized and tolerated. I feel deeply unsettled that in the current political environment, some people—including some scientists—think it's OK to say these things. And I wish early-career scientists like me felt more comfortable questioning them. It will take action at all rungs of scientific institutions—from deans' offices down to individual labs—to change the climate. We need more than a few hours of mandated online bias training to really mobilize a shift. Universities need to create safe spaces to discuss racial issues and microaggressions head-on—for example, by developing seminar series or journal clubs to educate the community about problems and to generate solutions. And science itself needs a culture change. We should commit to holding one another accountable for problematic behavior. When issues arise, institutions should have a clear procedure for filing grievances. And, more broadly, there should be open and honest dialogue about the culture of intimidation and hierarchy in science. Universities and labs should seek actionable ways to flatten research team structures so that early-career scientists can feel empowered to speak up against problematic behavior. Change is hard and takes time. Talking about racism with your colleagues is even harder. Mopping up centuries of racism that have percolated into everyday parlance will take a long time. However, science thrives when there are alternate perspectives. Now more than ever, we must acknowledge that and champion a culture of positive change.

The impact of an audience response system on a summative assessment, a controlled field study

BackgroundAudience response systems allow to activate the audience and to receive a direct feedback of participants during lectures. Modern systems do not require any proprietary hardware anymore. Students can directly respond on their smartphone. Several studies reported about a high level of satisfaction of students when audience response systems are used, however their impact on learning success is still unclear.MethodsIn order to evaluate the impact of an audience response system on the learning success we implemented the audience response system eduVote into a seminar series and performed a controlled crossover study on its impact on assessments. One hundred fifty-four students in nine groups were taught the same content. In four groups, eduVote was integrated for the first topic while five groups were taught this topic without the audience response systems. For a second topic, the groups were switched: Those groups who were taught before using eduVote were now taught without the audience response system and vice versa. We then analysed the impact of the audience response system on the students’ performance in a summative assessment and specifically focused on questions dealing with the topic, for which the audience response system was used during teaching. We further assessed the students’ perception on the use of eduVote using questionnaires.ResultsIn our controlled crossover study we could not confirm an impact of the audience response system eduVote on long-term persistence i.e. the students’ performance in the summative assessment. Our evaluation revealed that students assessed the use of eduVote very positively, felt stronger engaged and better motivated to deal with the respective topics and would prefer their integration into additional courses as well. In particular we identified that students who feel uncomfortable with answering questions in front of others profit from the use of an audience response system during teaching.ConclusionsAudience response systems motivate and activate students and increase their engagement during classes. However, their impact on long-term persistence and summative assessments may be limited. Audience response systems, however, specifically allow activating students which cannot be reached by the traditional way of asking questions without such an anonymous tool.

SOCIAL NETWORK FOR LEARNING: AL-HIKMAH UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS� PERSPECTIVE

This study was carried out to investigate the awareness and utilization of social network for learning among undergraduate students at Al-hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria. Gender, technology background, age, level, and area of specialization are the variables involved. The descriptive survey research design was employed to draw responses with the use of a self-structured questionnaire. All Al-hikmah university students are the population of the study while the target population are 200leve to 400level students from which a sample size of 400 undergraduate students was selected via random sampling techniques from six out of seven faculties available. The instrument was validated by experts and the reliability co-efficient using a split-half test was 0.86. Four research questions and one hypothesis were used for the study. Frequency distribution, charts, and t-test were the statistical tools used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that social network is used for educational purposes with improved engagement, better understanding of the subject matter as it helps to reinforce learning with technology because 80.0% of learners were digital native. Despite the benefits, the social network can interrupt personal study, distract the conventional classroom learning, loss of privacy and exposure to cybercrimes as indicated by the respondents with 82%, 68%, and 55% respectively. Hence, Tertiary Institutions should organize series of seminars, workshops, conferences to update, enlighten and encourage students and lecturers on the good and not forgetting the not too-good and disadvantages attached with the use of the social network as a tool for learning and interaction.Corresponding author:Semiu Olawale MakindeDOI: 10.24071/ijiet.2020.040204

Negating Our Social Bonds: Experiencing Shame in Body Art as a Political Act

In April 2018, as part of Leeds Beckett University’s performance seminar series Performance Philosophy Happy Hour, along with body artist Martin O’Brien, I was invited to talk about performance pra...

Contribution of Constructivism Seminar Series to Postgraduate Students’ Academic life in Uganda: A Case Study of Kampala International University

The constructivism seminar mode of knowledge delivery is known to improve learners' attitudes and bring more interest to the learning process. Seminars are a means of sharing knowledge and skills beyond the university curriculum where students gain societal practices. This study aimed at evaluating the postgraduate seminar series that is carried out at Kampala International University to establish their constructivism and their benefits to the learners. A descriptive survey and qualitative methods were employed, and self-administered questionnaires were administered on 52 respondents, and a literature review was also carried out on similar studies to draw conclusions in this study. Findings revealed that students were using seminars for collective academic problem solving, putting into practice their experiences, innovation, and gaining new knowledge. This study’s findings revealed that 35% (R Square =.035) of the effective learning of postgraduate students was explained by seminar series that they had gone through. Based on this study's findings, it is recommended that universities and other higher intuitions of learning offering postgraduate programs, should adopt seminar series mode of learning for effective learning outcomes.

716 Supporting diversity in skin science: Development of a summer curriculum for underrepresented minority medical students

Diversity in the scientific workforce fosters innovation, improves research quality, increases the likelihood of generalizable findings, and builds public trust. Despite a recent commitment to diversity in dermatology, gender, racial and ethnic diversity in skin science is still lacking. We developed a 6-week summer curriculum for underrepresented minority (URM) medical students conducting research with a faculty mentor in our department. The curriculum goals were to: create a supportive environment for URM students to develop research mentorship relationships, expose URM students to the breadth of research in dermatology, and facilitate acquisition of skills needed for academic success. The curriculum consisted of a weekly lunch seminar series led by faculty; peer mentoring with residents; and an informational career panel. Students attended resident didactics, and networking events were held to facilitate mentoring. All students completed program evaluations. Seven URM students (6 rising MS2s, and 1 rising MS4) from 5 medical schools participated (5 female, 5 black, 2 Hispanic, 1 Native American, 3 bi-racial). Two students received Dermatology Foundation Diversity Supplement awards and 2 received departmental funding designated for URM students. 5/7 reported having an academic mentor and 4/7 reported having a dermatology mentor at their home institutions. Upon program completion, students reported improved understanding of dermatology research and careers in dermatology, and feeling better prepared to read an article, give a presentation and write an academic paper. 4/7 reported financial constraints and affordable housing as the primary barrier to program participation. All were extremely likely to continue their mentoring relationship with their assigned mentors. We report an initiative aimed at supporting and cultivating racial and ethnic diversity in investigative dermatology. Longitudinal data are needed to understand the impact and long-term outcomes of this initiative.

Health Café Series: a Potential Platform to Reduce Health Disparities.

To help bridge the increasing gap between health scientists/physicians and the community, we have developed a new seminar program—Health Café series. Health Café takes place in causal settings, is open to everyone, and features a keynote speaker regarding prevalent healthcare-related topics. Health Café topics are usually generated via community feedback and are coordinated in partnership with local nonprofit community organizations. The Health Café series is completely free, and no prior knowledge is required to attend seminars. We have been collaborating with a web of community organizations in the Hartford areas of Connecticut, especially among populations with health disparities. We believe our new Health Café series program would serve as a forum to reduce health disparities in the region.

4116 Comprehensive training and support for Research Professionals at the University of Minnesota

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Coordinating research studies is multifaceted and requires a foundational level of research knowledge, skills and abilities in order to contribute to high-quality, ethical research projects that adhere to local and federal regulations as well as Good Clinical Practice. Oftentimes, coordinators who are new to research or new to an institution have trouble navigating the research landscape. Departments within the University of Minnesota have limited resources to devote to developing robust training programs above and beyond protocol or department-specific training. Therefore, UMN’s CTSI created a comprehensive training and support program for research professionals at the University of Minnesota. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: CTSI employs several strategies to provide a comprehensive training program for the University of Minnesota Research Workforce. The offerings are based on the The Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF). In addition to training programs, valuable resources, materials, and connections are provided to trainees.An Onboarding process for new coordinators that includes a welcome email upon hire that provides resources as well an opportunity to meet face-to-face to get their questions answered about where to start with research training.Foundations for Research professionals, two week (20 hour) training program, provides a foundational level of knowledge to new coordinators via in-person and online training modules.Informed Consent 1 & 2 provides in-person training on the informed consent including the process, documentation, and ethical issues around consenting vulnerable populations.Over 40 on-line research training modules that coordinators can take at anytime.An active list serv that connects >600 research professionals with training updates and opportunities.Bi-weekly seminar series that provides a forum to share current regulations, best practices, resources, and guidelines pertaining to clinical research at the University.An online training “Roadmap” tool that customizes individual research training plans, and includes an inventory of training available.RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: 218 research professionals participated in our Foundations blended training program with 191 completing (88% completion rate) the entire training. A comprehensive assessment based on national competencies is completed by all participants at Baseline and Post training. Baseline scores average at 75% and Post scores average at 82% (7% increase). Satisfaction is measured and participants are overall satisfied with the training, 4 out of 5 on a Likert Scale.353 research professionals have participated in our Informed Consent Session 1 & 2 in-person training. Satisfaction is measured and participants are overall satisfied with the training, 4.5 out of 5 on a Likert Scale.Over 190 research professionals have utilized our research on-line training modules.Training participants have been from 27 different departments across the University.The Clinical Research Professional Development Seminar Series has offered over 87 seminars with 4907 total attendees. These seminars are offered in-person and live stream.DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Establishing a comprehensive training program at the University has streamlined the training that research professionals receive across departments. It also ensures that all coordinators have access to research training, a network of other research professionals, resources, and continuing education opportunities.

Value-Based Health Care in Undergraduate Medical Education.

Value-based health care (VBHC) is an innovative framework for redesigning care delivery to achieve better outcomes for patients and reduce cost; however, providing students with the skills to understand and engage with these topics is a challenge to medical educators. Here, the authors present a novel, VBHC curriculum integrated into a required course for post-core clerkship students-launched in 2018 at Harvard Medical School and taught in conjunction with Harvard Business School faculty-that highlights key principles of VBHC most relevant to undergraduate medical education. The course integrates VBHC with related health disciplines, including health policy, ethics, epidemiology, and social medicine, using a case-based method. Students practice active decision making while learning key concepts to address value in clinical practice. Since the course's inception in March 2018, 95 students (87%) completed the standardized course evaluation; the majority said VBHC content and pedagogical style (i.e., case-based learning) enhanced their learning. Students' critiques focused on too little integration with other disciplines (e.g., social medicine, ethics), the physical space, and inadequate time for debates about potential tensions between VBHC and other course disciplines. The authors believe that by exposing medical students to the principles of VBHC, students will fulfill the expectations of graduating physicians by excelling as critical thinkers, collaborative team members, and judicious care providers throughout their residency, clinical practice, and beyond. Future VBHC curricula expansions may include elective coursework, intensive seminar series, and formal dual degrees.

New Nationalisms: Sources, Agendas, Languages. An Introduction

New Nationalisms: Sources, Agendas, Languages, a seminar organised by Academia Europaea Wrocław Knowledge Hub, the University of Wrocław and the Lower Silesian University, on 25–27 September 2017, inquired into the problem of the rise of right-wing populism in Central Europe. Manifest in responses to the refugee crisis of 2015 and to the Brexit referendum in 2016 across Europe, the populists successfully mobilised constituencies with anti-EU and anti-immigration sentiments. These attitudes, in turn, stimulated the emergence of nationalist agendas on an unexpected scale, moving radical right-wing parties with a pronounced nationalist programme from the margins, much closer to real political power. As part of the Relocating Central Europe seminar series, our reflection focused on that region, attempting to answer fundamental questions about the sources, purposes and modes of operation of the new nationalist impetus in political programmes, including those fostered at government level.

"Landpartie 2.0" - Conceptual development and implementation of a longitudinal priority program to promote family medicine in rural areas.

Objective: This article reports on the conceptual development and subsequent implementation of a targeted and attractive general practice teaching program in a rural area for students of human medicine at the medical faculty of Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. Project description: Since the 2016/2017 winter semester, usually up to 15 interested students a year have had the opportunity to participate in the longitudinal priority program “Landpartie 2.0”. The program runs for six semesters during the clinical stage of medical studies and consists of regular internships during which the students receive one-to-one support in a family practice, and participate in a series of seminars and an annual one-day excursion. The aim is to enable students, early on in their studies and without any obligations, to gain uninterrupted experience of providing patient care, and to find out what it means to pursue a career in family medicine. Results: Since the beginning of the annual program, 62 students have been included in it. The initial results show that the different elements of the program fulfil the expectations and requirements of participants and that their overall level of satisfaction is high. Almost 95% of students reported that they felt their knowledge had increased as a result of the internships, and they rated them as a useful part of their medical education. Despite the rural focus of the program, around half of the participants were of urban origin. Conclusion: The “Landpartie 2.0” provides students with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with family health care in a rural area. Further studies should investigate to what extent the program encourages students to continue their training with a view to pursuing a career in family medicine.

Examining Occupational Therapy Students’ Responses to Integrative Seminars

The integrative seminar is an innovative teaching-learning approach that focuses on active learning and peer collaboration, characteristics that align with millennial learners’ preferences. The use of integrative seminars has been reported by various health professions with positive outcomes. Course feedback survey data from the first cohort of occupational therapy students who participated in a new four-course integrative seminar series were analyzed. Findings suggest that the format of the courses was engaging for the learners. The students particularly valued the small class; the opportunities for peer collaboration; and the variety of active learning opportunities, including simulations. The students also indicated that the seminars helped them to integrate and apply their learning across the curriculum. In another survey completed near the end of their Level II fieldwork rotations, the students indicated that the seminars contributed to their readiness for fieldwork as well as to the development of their critical thinking, interpersonal skills, and professional identity. The findings from this analysis support the potential value of integrative seminars in occupational therapy education.

Impact, Strategies, and Opportunities for Early and Midcareer Cardiovascular Researchers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Impact, Strategies, and Opportunities for Early and Midcareer Cardiovascular Researchers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.