Skills Of Undergraduate Students Research Articles

A Design of e-Learning Lessons to Enhance Advance Thinking Skill for Undergraduate Students

A Design of e-Learning Lessons to Enhance Advance Thinking Skill for Undergraduate Students

Developing Practical Data Skills in Undergraduate Students Using Ocean Observatories

AbstractDeveloping the workforce to meet the needs of the blue economy will require changing undergraduate marine science programs to provide a wider range of skills developed by “doing” rather than just “reading.” Students also need training on how to effectively work in a team, critically analyze data, and be able to clearly communicate key points. With that in mind, we developed a new undergraduate course (called Ocean Observing) focused on conducting research by analyzing data collected and delivered to shore in near real time from the growing global network of ocean observatories. The course structure is based on student teams that use data to develop a range of data products, many of which have been suggested by state and federal agencies as well as from maritime companies. Students can take the Ocean Observing course repeatedly throughout their undergraduate career. A complimentary second entry course (called Oceanography House) was developed to entrain freshmen first-term students into research on their first semester on campus. The Ocean Observing course has increased the number of marine science majors and the overall diversity of the marine science program and resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of independent student theses conducted each year. Over the last 10 years, student data profiles from the course emphasize the importance of conducting research in a public way so students can partake in the “adventure” of research before the outcome is known. To increase the public visibility of these “adventures,” collaborations between departments across the campus have developed nationally broadcast documentaries and outreach materials. Going forward, we seek to build on this success by developing an accelerated Masters of Operational Oceanography and link these undergraduate students with external companies through externships and coordinated research projects.

Computer Use Skills of Undergraduate Students in Bells University of Technology, OTA

The continuous adoption and use of technology in education has necessitated the need for computer use skills to all stakeholders in the educational sector. Apparently, education in the present age is characterized by the adoption and use of technology. Bells University of Technology, Ota, is a private institution that have demonstrated the use of technology in teaching, learning and research processes. This work is thereby aimed at determining students' ability to use educational technologies using Bells University of Technology as a case study. A structured questionnaire was adopted and used to generate inferences from 300 students that served as the population of the study. Findings revealed that the computer ability of a significant number (75%) of the newly admitted students is low and that will have an adverse effect on their ability to cope with a computerized educational system. The study thereby recommends the need for hands-on computer training sessions to students gaining admission into the institution.

The logic of success: the relation between complex problem-solving skills and university achievement

The successful completion of a university degree program is accompanied by multiple complex opportunities and challenges, which require students to react accordingly with the skills necessary to meet them. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of complex-problem solving (CPS) skills in undergraduate students’ university success in two independent samples. In Study 1, 165 university students completed a measure of intelligence as well as a measure of CPS. In addition, students’ university grade point averages (GPAs) and their subjective evaluation of academic success were collected. CPS made a significant contribution to the explanation of GPAs and the subjective success evaluations even when controlling for intelligence. To further investigate this effect, Study 2 relied on an independent and more heterogeneous sample of 216 university students. The findings of Study 1 were essentially replicated in Study 2. Thus, the combined results demonstrate a link between individual differences in CPS and the abilities necessary to be academically successful in university education.

Cadaveric Oath: The need of the hour

In today’s scenario the doctor –patient relationship is getting from bad to worse because of the lack of communication skills in undergraduate students pursuing medicine. Acquiring knowledge through dissection of human body is an age old concept started in 15th century by barber surgeons to demonstrate the structures of human body. Importance of cadaveric dissection for learning anatomy helps the students in developing spatial and tactile appreciation of the structures which cannot be obtained by prosected specimens or computerised learning aids. Cadaver being their first teacher, students should be imbibed with the moral values and have gratitude towards the cadaver for helping them understand the structures of the body by way of dissection. Cadaveric oath recitation will help the students in developing empathy with the cadaver as a “SILENT TEACHER” and in the long run with the patients while serving the humanity by way of medical practice. Keywords: Cadaveric oath, Doctor-patient relationship, Silent teacher, Anatomy teaching, Cadaveric dissection

Undergraduate nursing student mentors' experiences of peer mentoring in Korea: A qualitative analysis

BackgroundAlthough mentoring involves the achievement of a mutual relationship between mentors and mentees, most studies have focused on the effects of mentoring on the mentees rather than that on the mentors, which necessitates the need to identify mentors' experiences to provide original resources for mentoring. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to explore the mentoring experience of nursing students who participated as mentors in a mentoring learning program, to offer evidence-based resources for nursing educators to develop mentoring programs and to use mentorship as an educational method. DesignA qualitative content analysis of transcribed focus groups was conducted to describe and explore the undergraduate nursing students' mentoring experiences. SettingThis study was conducted in two nursing schools in South Korea. ParticipantsFifteen student mentors from the peer mentoring program participated in the present study. They were aged between 21 and 24years, and 87% of the participants were female. MethodsThe experiences of the mentors were explored through focus groups, and the collected data were analyzed by content analysis. ResultsThe mentors' experiences could be summarized by the core theme, “Self-growth as a leader,” consisting of the following themes: taking pride, guiding mentees, coping with conflicts, and building leadership. ConclusionThe themes and codes derived from mentors' experiences would provide evidence-based guidelines and resources for nursing educators and professionals in related disciplines regarding successful peer mentoring, which could facilitate self-growth and foster the development of leadership skills in undergraduate students.

Examination of the translation of practical skills of undergraduate students from a multidisciplinary laboratory environment to real world practice related to infectious diseases

Examination of the translation of practical skills of undergraduate students from a multidisciplinary laboratory environment to real world practice related to infectious diseases

Viewing Teaching Techniques in Enhancing Viewing Comprehension Skills of Undergraduate Students in Literature

Viewing Teaching Techniques in Enhancing Viewing Comprehension Skills of Undergraduate Students in Literature

Nutrition Tea Club; engaging students in reading scientific papers.

Many students do not engage with reading the scientific literature, which is a core skill in undergraduate students. The learning environment has an important impact upon learning. It was postulated that taking reading out of the formal learning environment might impact upon students’ willingness to engage with the literature, and confidence in doing so. A staff-student research partnership initiative funded by Kingston University allowed this hypothesis to be tested. Three Tea Club sessions, informal drop-in reading sessions were offered in a student-owned space within the Students’ Union. Refreshments were supplied, aiming for a ‘coffee house’ feel. Although the numbers of students who engaged with the Tea Club were small, evaluations were positive. In particular students valued the opportunity for peer learning. However the chosen environment was too noisy. Future sessions will be offered within a different, less noisy environment with facilities for refreshments, and will be offered throughout the academic year to facilitate student engagement.Keywords: Learning environment, peer support, extracurricular, scientific reading

The use of clinical case studies to develop clinical reasoning in sports therapy students: the students’ perspective

Relevance: The study is relevant to the theme of research, education and practice. It is a pedagogical study and involves innovative practice via the use of clinical case studies (CCS) in developing clinical reasoning skills in undergraduate students. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine a cohort of undergraduate 2nd year undergraduate sports therapy students’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of CCS in the development of clinical reasoning skills and how CCS may influence performance in a Sports Injury Clinic. Methods/analysis: The study involved 55 students (n=23 male, 32 female) and used a mixed methods approach involving a questionnaire with open ended questions, Likert scale questionnaire and interviews which aimed to determine students’ perceptions of their performance. The entire second year undergraduate cohort participated in the study as they were deemed to have the appropriate knowledge level. The questions and statements were constructed by the researcher following a review of similar approaches via a pilot study involving 15 undergraduate 3rd year sports therapy students to determine that the questions were appropriate and to ensure face validity. The CCS were reviewed by lecturers on the programme to ensure face validity. Five main areas were investigated via open ended questions: defining clinical reasoning; advantages of CCS; disadvantages of CCS; the effectiveness of CCS in comparison to real patients; and whether CCS helped students working in a Sports Injury Clinic. Students completed a 5 point Likert scale which asked three statements regarding the clinical environment. Questionnaire responses were assessed via inductive category building which involved the identification of common themes across the responses which were then grouped according to similarity and then discussed and explored further via individual interviews with 15 randomly selected students. Themes had to be present in at least 10 separate questionnaire responses to be considered and theme analysis was reviewed by one other lecturer on the programme to confirm that identified themes were appropriate. Data collected from the Likert scale was used to provide descriptive statistics. Analysis was divided into males and females and the total cohort. Results: Students’ perceptions of whether CCS improve their patient communication skills demonstrates that the majority of students (n = 51) either strongly agreed or agreed with this statement and only one student disagreed. Students’ perceptions of whether CCS improve confidence levels when working in the Sports Injury Clinic demonstrated that the majority of students (n = 51) either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement and only one student disagreed. Students’ perceptions of whether CCS improved clinical reasoning demonstrated that the majority of students (n = 53) either strongly agreed or agreed and two students neither agreed nor disagreed. Discussion and conclusions: The students’ responses were generally in favour of the use of CCS to aid the development of confidence, communication and clinical reasoning. CCS may assist the journey to clinical competence and create ‘thinking therapists’ and bridge the gap to treating actual patients. Future research may investigate gender differences. Impact and implications: CCS may develop clinical reasoning and may aid the development of core clinical skills. Funding acknowledgement: No funding was required.

Teaching and enhancement of critical thinking skills for undergraduate students in a computational fluid dynamics course

This paper reports the recent development and implementation of three teaching modules in order to teach and enhance the students’ critical thinking skills in a level IV undergraduate/postgraduate course ‘Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for Engineering Applications’. These teaching modules include a lecture module, an online test module and a CFD project module. The lecture module introduces the importance of critical thinking skills by an example case, critical thinking definition and processes, and the application of critical thinking skills in formulation of CFD problems. In the online test module, seven online tests have been developed to enhance the students’ understanding of the contents of lectures and practical sessions. Meanwhile, students apply their critical thinking skills to work out some of the tests. In the project module, a student-driven CFD project is designed to help students to apply CFD techniques and critical thinking skills in engineering problems. In the project, students choose their own project topic and problems. They use CFD skills learned in the course and critical thinking skills to critically analyse their problems, identify the important parameters and review results. They apply the critical writing skills to finalise a project report. To the best knowledge of the author, this systematical integration of teaching and enhancement of critical thinking skills in computational fluid dynamics course is innovative. Feedback from students is quite positive shown by an anonymous survey in 2014.

A Comparative Analysis of Effectiveness of Learner-centered Approach and Teacher-centered Approach in Writing Skills of undergraduate students

The research article investigates the effectiveness of Learner Centered Approach on the development of writing skills of undergraduate students. It is an experimental study on 60 undergraduate students of first semester in University of Management and Technology, Lahore. The participants were divided into two groups of 30. One group was taught through the Learner Centered Approach and the other was taught through Teacher Centered Approach. A pre-test was conducted at the start of the experiment to assess the performance of students at initial stage. The Teacher Centered Class was taught writing skills through Teacher Centered based activities and the Learner Centered Class was taught writing skills through Learner Centered activities. At the end of the experiment, a post test was conducted in order to assess the effect of the two approaches on the writing performance of the students. Ten (10) activities were conducted in total. IELTS assessment method was used to assess the performance of students in the pre-test, post-test and in the activities conducted during the experiment. The quantitative analysis was done through SPSS 21. The scores of the pre-test and post-test were compared to determine the approach that had relatively more positive effects on the writing skill of students. The results of the study show that the Learner Centered Approach is more effective in developing writing skills of undergraduate students at University of Management and Technology, Lahore.

Teaching Small Group Communication: A Do Good Project

This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the “Do Good” project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures (e.g., team dynamics, project management, conflict resolution, decision making, leadership) with community outreach. Included are an overview of the project, and examples for how each component both challenges students’ ability to communicate in groups and provides motivation that foster students’ ability to link in-class knowledge with practical, real world application.

Teaching for higher levels of thinking: developing quantitative and analytical skills in environmental science courses

AbstractProfessionals with strong quantitative and analytical skills are essential to understanding and responding to current environmental challenges. The goal of this study was to promote and evaluate the development of data analysis (DA) skills in undergraduate students through targeted interventions in environmental science courses. We developed materials to promote practice, instruction, and assessment of four core DA dimensions: the ability to make appropriate calculations, convert data to graphical representations, interpret graphical or mathematical information, and draw conclusions based on the analysis of data. We integrated two conservation exercises as pre/post assessment tools, flanking differentiated teaching interventions, into selected science courses and used a standardized rubric to measure students' performance level. We found that students improved their DA skills in a single semester, but the level of improvement varied across skill dimensions. Students struggled with dimensions that require higher levels of thinking such as data interpretation and drawing conclusions. The use of additional exercises targeting these dimensions and alternative practices might enhance gains. Importantly, students also gained content knowledge in ecological principles while developing skills, and demonstrated an increase in self‐confidence with their DA skills. Our approach and open‐access materials can be integrated into existing courses to develop and assess data skills in undergraduate learners.

Lowering the walls and crossing boundaries: applications of experiential learning to teaching collaboration

Higher education is being confronted with a paradigm shift that is forcing it to collectively reexamine their ability to develop graduates who have relevant professional competencies. Collaboration and team work are competencies that are sought after by many employers. The creation of effective collaboration is critical to developing the interdisciplinary linkages that are necessary to confront the many environmental challenges posed by human activities and prepare today’s students to meet future intellectual and workforce demands. To address the challenge of developing collaboration skills, the Environmental Studies (ES) program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) used a backward curriculum design, multiple modalities of experiential learning, and a reflective action research approach to develop collaboration and teamwork skills in undergraduate students. The ES program partnered with Target Training International Ltd. (TTI), to gain insights into the use of their instruments as boundary objects to help student’s understand self and create interdisciplinary teams. Through the use of an instrument, the TriMetrix®, the UNL-ES program is taking a page from the business world and partnering with it to help students understand themselves, adapt their behaviors to more effectively work in a team, and be introduced to the concept of assessments and their use in the professional world. These assessments played a positive role in the dynamics of each group, some more than others. The analyses of these data for this class have informed us about how to improve the use of the assessment output in class. Specifically, we can use these data as specific examples in debriefing future classes. We have also identified certain mixtures of behavioral styles and motivational drivers that may be problematic to group work. Many students have experienced team projects. However, most students have not explicitly had to learn about the factors that go into effective collaboration or they have never been explicitly explained to them. This is particularly the case with regard to processes of developing shared responsibility.

Singing video games may help improve pitch-matching accuracy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of singing video games on the pitch-matching skills of undergraduate students. Popular games like ‘Rock Band’ and ‘Karaoke Revolutions’ rate players' singing based on the correctness of the frequency of their sung response. Players are motivated to improve their scores each time they play. In this experiment, I tested undergraduate non-musicians' (N = 33) pitch-matching ability before and after playing one of these games for 10 minutes. Acoustical analysis revealed a significant difference between pre- and post-test scores. These data suggest that playing the video game for 10 minutes may have produced an immediate, observable change in pitch-matching scores. Music teachers regularly teach students how to develop pitch-matching skills. Games like the one used in this study may add to the tools used in that process.

Accreditation and assessment of learning in the UAE

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the successful efforts made at a university business school in the Gulf region to develop an assessment tool to evaluate the communication skills of undergraduate students as part of satisfying the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation requirements. We do not consider the validity of establishing learning outcomes or meeting these according to AACSB criteria. Rather, we address ourselves solely to the design of a testing instrument that can measure the degree of student learning within the parameters of university-established learning outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The testing of communication skills, as opposed to language, is notoriously complex, and we describe our identification of constituent items that make up the corpus of knowledge that business students need to attain. We discuss our development of a testing instrument which reflects the learning process of knowledge, comprehension and application. Findings – Our work acted as a valid indicator of the effectiveness of teaching and learning as well as a component of accreditation requirements. Originality/value – The challenge to obtain accreditation, supported by appropriate assessment procedures, is now a high priority for more and more universities in emerging, as well as in developed, economies. For business schools, the accreditation provided by AACSB remains perhaps the most sought after global quality assurance program, and our work illustrates how the required plotting and assessment of learning objectives can be accomplished.

The Design of an Instructional Model using Digital Classroom Communication Networks through a AAA Model for Improving the 21st Century Learning Skills of Undergraduate Students

The Design of an Instructional Model using Digital Classroom Communication Networks through a AAA Model for Improving the 21st Century Learning Skills of Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate Research Involving Human Subjects Should not be Granted Ethical Approval Unless it is Likely to be of Publishable Quality

Small-scale research projects involving human subjects have been identified as being effective in developing critical appraisal skills in undergraduate students. In deciding whether to grant ethical approval to such projects, university research ethics committees must weigh the benefits of the research against the risk of harm or discomfort to the participants. As the learning objectives associated with student research can be met without the need for human subjects, the benefit associated with training new healthcare professionals cannot, in itself, justify such risks. The outputs of research must be shared with the wider scientific community if it is to influence future practice. Our survey of 19 UK universities indicates that undergraduate dissertations associated with the disciplines of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy are not routinely retained in their library catalogues, thus closing a major avenue to the dissemination of their findings. If such research is unlikely to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, presented at a conference, or otherwise made available to other researchers, then the risks of harm, discomfort or inconvenience to participants are unlikely to be offset by societal benefits. Ethics committees should be satisfied that undergraduate research will be funnelled into further research that is likely to inform clinical practice before granting ethical approval.

Enhancing Critical Thinking Across The Undergraduate Experience: An Exemplar From Engineering

Faculty in a large, urban school of engineering designed a longitudinal study to assess the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students as they progressed through the engineering program. The Paul-Elder critical thinking framework was used to design course assignments and develop a holistic assessment rubric. The curriculum was re-designed to include deliberate teaching of critical thinking and assessment in at least one key course for every student each year of their undergraduate curriculum. The critical thinking scores for seniors using the holistic rubric were significantly higher than their baseline critical thinking scores as freshmen (p = .004). This case-study can serve as an exemplar for other units, departments, or programs to model or replicate.