The identification of the pillars of education in the class comprehensiveness in healthcare

The objective of the present study was to verify, based on the analysis of student portfolio narratives, if the four pillars of education were approached in the class "Comprehensiveness in health care", part of the integrated curriculum of the Baccalaureate in Nursing Program of the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto College of Nursing. A qualitative, documental study was performed using 46 portfolios constructed during the classes. Data collection was performed using an assessment tool that contained items addressing cognitive and affective dimensions. The data were submitted to thematic categorical analysis using the pillars of education as predefined categories. The results show that the pillars of education were, apparently, included in the class. Despite the present study findings, no evidence was found that the expected competencies were actually discussed among students and faculty, according to the records regarding the evaluations of each pedagogical cycle of the studied class.

The impact of structured teaching methods on the quality of education in Brazil

This paper estimates the impact of the use of structured methods on the quality of education for students in primary public school in Brazil. Structured methods encompass a range of pedagogical and managerial instruments applied in the educational system. In recent years, several municipalities in the state of Sao Paulo have contracted out private educational providers to implement these structured methods in their schooling systems. Their pedagogical proposal involves structuring of curriculum content, development of teacher and student textbooks, and the training and supervision of teachers anti instructors. Using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the 4th- and 8th-grade students in the municipalities with structured methods performed better in Portuguese and mathematics than did students in municipalities not exposed to these methods. We find no differences in passing rates. A robustness test supports the assumption that there is no unobserved municipal characteristics associated with proficiency changes over time that may affect the results. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alteration of distortion product otoacoustic emission input/output functions in subjects with a previous history of middle ear dysfunction

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sub-clinical alterations on the amplitudes and slopes of the DPOAE input-output responses from subjects with previous history of middle ear dysfunction. Material/Methods: The study included 15 subjects with and 15 subjects without a history of otitis media in the last 10 years. All participants were assessed with acoustic immittance, pure-tone audiometry, and DPOAEs. For the later, I/O functions and I/O slopes were estimated at 1501, 2002, 3174, 4004 and 6384Hz. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups in terms of behavioral thresholds. The group with a previous history of middle ear dysfunction presented significantly lower mean DPOAE amplitudes at 2002, 3174 and 4004 Hz. In terms of DPOAE slopes, no statistically significant differences were observed at the tested frequencies, except at 3174 Hz. Conclusions: Middle ear pathologies can produce subclinical alterations that are undetectable with traditional pure-tone audiometry. The data from the present study show that reduced amplitude DPOAEs are associated with a previous history of middle ear complications. The corresponding DPOAE slopes were affected at only 1 tested frequency, suggesting that the cochlear non-linearity is preserved. Considering these results, it remains to be elucidated to what degree the DPOAE amplitude attenuation interferes with higher-order auditory tasks.