In recent years, thanks to the efforts of several voluntary agencies, there has been a growing national awareness of the deficiencies in our health and education systems, as also of the enormity of the deprivation discrimination to which our women are subjected to. If this awareness is channelized in constructive directions that could promote reappraisal of our present strategies and a reordering of the existing systems, the country will stand greatly benefited. The time has come for an honest, in-depth examination of the factors that underlie (1) the Poor out-reach of basic primary health-care to our rural masses despite impressive investments in our Public Health System; (2) the persistent high rates of female illiteracy in most parts of the country despite a vast programme of Primary Education, and (3) the shockingly poor status of large sections of Women of our society, both within the family and in the community at large. Fortunately, we already have some indication that the need for such reappraisal is now being widely recognised The National Perspective Plan for Women Report is welcome indication that, at the highest levels of our Government, it is now being openly recognised (and publicly owned) that our efforts a upliftment of the status of women during the last forty years after independence, have been inadequate and that new initiatives are now needed-this, despite the fact that we may not agree with all the 'solutions' suggested in that report.
Retrieval practice is a deliberate recalling exercise that has been shown to enhance student learning and engagement. Yet another teaching method, the flipped classroom (FC), is gaining interest as it allows active learning instead of traditional lecture‐based teaching (TT). These three teaching methods were compared in a graduate‐level physiology course for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) students over four semesters using exam grades. The TT method involved classroom lectures during the entire class period with periodic quizzes and group activities over the lecture content. In the FC method, the lecture content was shifted outside of the classroom for students to review on their own prior to be engaged in active learning activities during class time. An online individual assessment was assigned to ensure student participation in completing the review of lecture content. The in‐class time was used for mini‐lectures for the clarification of content and team‐based learning activities (TBL), where the students could use resources to solve problems. Subsequently, FC was combined with retrieval practice (FCR). In the FCR teaching method, students were still given study materials to review prior to scheduled class meeting. However, the individual assessment was shifted to be completed during class where students were not allowed to use any of the resources, in order to enhance retrieval exercise. Similarly, the TBL assessment was completed in class without the use of any study materials. The FCR teaching method resulted in higher exam scores (M = 91.13, SD = 0.089) than the TT method (M = 89.57, SD = 0.549). Thus, students learning seems to be more enhanced with the use of the FCR teaching method than the TT or the FC methods. Also, when the exam scores were divided into the upper and lower half of the class, the upper half benefited more than the lower half in both the FC and FCR methods. On the other hand, when male and female students were compared between the three teaching methods, there was no statistical difference. Typically, CRNA students are highly motivated and maintain a very high class average (89.57% in the TT method). Thus, any further increment will require a major shift, such as the FCR teaching approach. The upper half of the class demonstrating significantly higher scores in both the FC and FCR teaching methods suggests that they utilize pre‐class content more efficiently in their preparation for their in‐class activities compared to the lower half of the class. Overall, in conclusion, FTR appears to be the best among the three teaching methods, TT, FC, and FCR studied.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to adopt emergency remote teaching strategies. This sudden switch from face-to-face teaching to online format prompted appropriate faculty training by the institutions. A university in Saudi Arabia organized a faculty development program to train its educators to design and implement a virtual classroom using the flipped teaching (FT) method. The flipped classroom is a student-centered instructional design where students are expected to learn basic concepts on their own using resources provided by the instructor outside of class. The class time is used to rehearse and master this knowledge through discussion and application. Moving lectures outside of class allows opportunity to engage students with the content using student-centered activities during class where more interaction between the faculty and students as well as among peers is expected. The present study tested the effectiveness of a remote faculty training program at an international institution in the development of their own remote flipped courses. The training was stretched over six biweekly sessions for which a course was created on Moodle, the Learning Management System. The participants (n=13) were guided to develop pre-class assignments such as lecture videos, formative assessments to encourage students in pre-class preparation, in-class student engagement activities, and assessments. The faculty participants were given a pre- and a post-training survey to learn about their knowledge, attitude, and confidence towards FT. The pre-course survey results indicated that 62% of the participants had never tried FT and about 46% were not familiar with FT prior to receiving training while only 54% felt ready to flip. However, all participants intended to implement the FT method after completing the course. Following the training, all participants reportedly felt they could confidently flip their courses and implement FT strategies. All participants valued the training and hoped to reconvene monthly as a group to continue meeting as a group to share their remote FT experiences. In conclusion, the virtual FT training helped improve the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and confidence of all participants in designing their flipped courses to engage students in the remote teaching mode.
Human anatomy education serves as a gateway for entering the intricacies of health science. Human cadavers have been the gold standard for learning regional and gross anatomy. However, increasing barriers in acquisition, maintenance, and longevity have pushed anatomy education toward technology-based alternatives such as the Anatomage Table (AT), an interactive, life-sized virtual dissection table with many anatomy education-centric features. The AT has found purchase in various contexts, such as clinical settings, research, outreach, and education. Studies into the efficacy of the AT in teaching settings have been generally positive but limited in its application, particularly in clinical procedure education. In this study, we conducted an informal workshop for second-year Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) students to aid in being able to identify the important neuraxial landmarks for performing peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs), an anesthetic technique often used before other procedures. In our workshop, we paired the AT with identification of the same neuraxial landmarks on volunteer models with an ultrasound probe to provide students with relevant tactile experience for the procedure. From our pre-/post-surveys of the participants (
Flipped teaching (FT) is a student-centered instructional method that shifts lectures out of the classroom and uses a variety of activities to apply content during class time. FT has gained attention among educators as a student-centered instructional method. However, many faculty still lack the skills, knowledge, confidence, and expertise to implement FT in their classrooms. Therefore, course-specific training and focused mentorship are critical in successfully implementing FT. Four faculty members, from an adjunct professor to a full professor, from four diverse institutions around the country, were recruited and funded through the American Physiological Society's Teaching Career Enhancement Award to receive training in the implementation of FT in their courses. This study aimed to provide specific tools and strategies to engage students in deeper learning through activities in the participants' courses. A course was built using the Blackboard Learning Management System for the participants to receive relevant readings to be completed prior to the FT workshop. Upon completing this training, the participants examined the design and execution of FT in their classrooms and, subsequently, reflected on and refined their future course offerings. The facilitator mentored the participants throughout the process, including an on-site observation of a live FT session. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected before and after their FT experiences. Based on the survey results, this study helped improve the FT knowledge and self-efficacy of all participants. In conclusion, the faculty utilized the training and mentoring to implement FT in their classrooms successfully and disseminate their experiences and findings.
DEVELOPING countries need the benefits of modern technology in order to overcome their present poverty, ill-health, undernutrition and socio-economic and industrial underdevelopment. Most of these countries, however, lack the resources and expertise needed to identify, acquire, adapt, and absorb the technology that they thus sorely need. 'Technology transfer' in several industrial fields has been attempted for se;eral years through bilateral commercial arrangements between governments aid institutions of developed and developing countries. Technology transfer in the field of health, and more particularly in the field of nutrition, however, stands on a somewhat different footing. Here we must make a distinction between, on the one hand, the highly sophisticated technology for diagnostic and curative purposes (which, under present circumstances, will mainily cater to the needs of the affluent) and, on the other hand, the health/nutrition technology essential for basic health and nutrition care and prevention and control of common communicable diseases andl nutritional deficiencies of the poor. The reinarlks and comments contained in this article apply to health/nutrition technology transfer of this latter kind. The transfer of health/nutrition t echnology related to basic health care ircd eradication of undernutrition in povertystricken populations cannot be looked upon as a purely conmmercial operation to be solely dictated by considerations of profit. The subject raises important humanitarian and ethical issues that transcend narrow commercial considerations; and these should command the attention of the enlightened international community and of international agencies. Of the latter, the World Health Organisation (WHO), as the premier world body concerned with the promotion of health and eradication of undernutrition carries maior responsibility.
Cell membrane transport is an important topic discussed in the biology classroom from the middle school to the graduate level. Membrane transport is complex, and students are often confused between different types of transport mechanisms. Dramatization is an active-learning strategy to engage students in learning. The flipped teaching method is designed to introduce lecture content prior to class meeting, thus creating time during class to adapt active-learning strategies such as dramatization. In this work, students were given a pretest prior to the dramatization activity. As each type of membrane transport was discussed, which included simple diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, and active transport, students were assigned specific roles to demonstrate the movement. The dramatization activity triggered many questions related to the topic, and these questions were addressed immediately. A posttest was conducted at the end of the dramatization activity. Our results demonstrated increases in the students’ understanding, engagement, and confidence level. The combination of flipped teaching and dramatization thus serves as a student-centered active-learning strategy for teaching difficult biological concepts.
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