Predictors of numeracy performance in undergraduate psychology, nursing and medical students

Psychology, nursing and medicine are undergraduate degrees that require students to attain a level of numerical competence for graduation. Yet, the numeracy aspect of these courses is often actively disliked and poorly performed. This study's aim was to identify what factors most strongly predict performance in such courses. Three hundred and twenty-five undergraduate students from these three disciplines were given measures of numeracy performance, maths anxiety, maths attitudes and various demographic and educational variables. From these data three separate path analysis models were formed, showing the predictive effects of affective, demographic and educational variables on numeracy performance. Maths anxiety was the strongest affective predictor for psychology and nursing students, with motivation being more important for medical students. Across participant groups, pre-university maths qualifications were the strongest demographic/educational predictor of performance. The results can be used to suggest ways to improve performance in students having difficulty with numeracy-based modules.

Innovative interprofessional teaching session on labour and childbirth for undergraduate medical and midwifery students

There is an increasing recognition of the need to improve interprofessional relationships within clinical practice (Midwifery 2020, 2010). Evidence supports the assertion that healthcare professionals who are able to communicate and work effectively together and who have a mutual respect and understanding for one another’s roles will provide a higher standard of care (McPherson et al, 2001; Miers et al, 2005; Begley, 2008). The joint Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecologists(RCOG) / Royal College of Midwives (RCM) report (2008 Page 8) on clinical learning environment and recruitment recommended that “Inter-professional learning strategies should be introduced and supported at an early stage in the medical and midwifery undergraduate students' experience and continued throughout training.” Providing interprofessional education within a University setting offers an opportunity for a non-threatening learning environment where students can develop confidence and build collaborative working relationships with one another (Saxell et al, 2009).Further research supports the influence of effective team working on increased client satisfaction. Additionally it identifies that the integration of interprofessional learning into a curriculum improves students’ abilities to interact professionally and provides a better understanding of role identification within the workplace than students who have only been exposed to uniprofessional education (Meterko et al, 2004; Pollard and Miers, 2008; Siassakos, et al, 2009; Wilhelmsson et al, 2011; Murray-Davis et al, 2012). An interprofessional education indicative has been developed by teaching staff from the School of Nursing and Midwifery and School of Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast. The aim of the collaboration was to enhance interprofessional learning by providing an opportunity for medical students and midwifery students to interact and communicate prior to medical students undertaking their obstetrics and gynaecology placements. This has improved medical students placement experience by facilitating them to learn about the process of birth and familiarisation of the delivery suite environment and it also has the potential to enhance interprofessional relationships. Midwifery students benefit through the provision of an opportunity to teach and facilitate learning in relation to normal labour and birth and has provided them with an opportunity to build stronger and more positive relationships with another profession. This opportunity also provides a positive, confidence building forum where midwifery students utilise teaching and learning strategies which would be transferable to their professional role as registered midwives. The midwifery students were provided with an outline agenda in relation to content for the workshop, but then were allowed creative licence with regard to delivery of the workshop. The interactive workshops are undertaken within the University’s clinical education centre, utilising low fidelity simulation. The sessions are delivered 6 times per year and precede the medical students’ obstetric/gynaecology placement. All 4th year medical and final year midwifery students have an opportunity to participate. Preliminary evaluations of the workshops have been positive from both midwifery and medical students. The teaching sessions provided both midwifery and medical students with an introduction to inter professional learning and gave them an opportunity to learn about and respect each other’s roles. The midwifery students have commented on the enjoyable aspects of team working for preparing for the workshop and also the confidence gained from teaching medical students. The medical students have evaluated the teaching by midwifery students positively and felt that it lowered their anxiety levels going into the labour setting. A number of midwifery and medical students have subsequently worked with one another within the practice setting which has been recognised as beneficial. Both Schools have recognised the benefits of interprofessional education and have subsequently made a commitment to embed it within each curriculum.

Using low fidelity simulation in interactive workshops for undergraduate medical and midwifery students

There is recognition of the need to continuously improve inter-professional relationships within clinical practice. Mutual respect, effective communication and working together are factors which will contribute to higher standards of care (Miers et al, 2005; Begley, 2008). An inter-professional education initiative, using low-fidelity simulation has been piloted and subsequently embedded within a pre-registration midwifery curriculum. The aim of the collaboration is to enhance inter-professional learning by providing an opportunity for final year midwifery students and 4th year medical students within a non-threatening environment to interact and communicate prior to obstetric clinical placements. The midwifery students are provided with an outline agenda for the workshop, but are encouraged to use creative license with regard to workshop delivery. Preliminary evaluations have been positive from both midwifery and medical students. The teaching sessions have provided an opportunity to learn about and respect each other’s roles. The midwifery students have commented on the enjoyable aspects of team working during preparation and the confidence gained from teaching medical students. The medical students felt that the sessions lowered their anxiety levels going into the labour setting. This workshop will demonstrate how low-fidelity simulation can effectively enhance the students experience promoting team working and self-confidence.

The effectiveness of peer mentoring in promoting a positive transition to higher education for first-year undergraduate students: a mixed methods systematic review protocol

Background: The global transfer of nursing and midwifery education to higher education institutes has led to student nurses and midwives experiencing challenges previously faced by traditional third-level students, including isolation, loneliness, financial difficulties and academic pressure. These challenges can contribute to increased stress and anxiety levels which may be detrimental to the successful transition to higher education, thus leading to an increase in attrition rates. Peer mentoring as an intervention has been suggested to be effective in supporting students in the transition to third-level education through enhancing a sense of belongingness and improving student satisfaction, engagement and retention rates. This proposed systematic review aims to determine the effectiveness of peer mentoring in enhancing levels of student engagement, sense of belonging and overall satisfaction of first-year undergraduate students following transition into higher education.
Methods: MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge, ProQuest, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO and CENTRAL databases will be searched for qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies on the implementation of peer assessment strategies in higher education institutes (HEIs) or universities for full-time, first-year adult students (>17 years). Included studies will be limited to the English language. The quality of included studies will be assessed using a validated Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The findings will be presented as a narrative synthesis or meta-analysis as appropriate following sequential explanatory synthesis.
Discussion: The review will provide clear, non-biased evidence-based guidance to all third-level educators on the effectiveness of peer-mentoring programmes for first-year undergraduates. The review is necessary to help establish which type of peer mentoring is most effective. The evidence from qualitative and quantitative studies drawn from the international literature will be utilised to illustrate the best way to implement and evaluate peer mentoring as an effective intervention and will be useful in guiding future research and practice in this area. These findings may be applied internationally across all disciplines.

The impact of a simulated intervention on attitudes of undergraduate nursing and medical students towards end of life care provision

Background: The concerns of undergraduate nursing and medical students’ regarding end of life care are well documented. Many report feelings of emotional distress, anxiety and a lack of preparation to provide care to patients at end of life and their families. Evidence suggests that increased exposure to patients who are dying and their families can improve attitudes toward end of life care. In the absence of such clinical exposure, simulation provides experiential learning with outcomes comparable to that of clinical practice. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the impact of a simulated intervention on the attitudes of undergraduate nursing and medical students towards end of life care.
Methods: A pilot quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design. Attitudes towards end of life care were measured using the Frommelt Attitudes Towards Care of the Dying Part B Scale which was administered pre and post a simulated clinical scenario. 19 undergraduate nursing and medical students were recruited from one large Higher Education Institution in the United Kingdom.
Results: The results of this pilot study confirm that a simulated end of life care intervention has a positive impact on the attitudes of undergraduate nursing and medical students towards end of life care (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Active, experiential learning in the form of simulation teaching helps improve attitudes of undergraduate nursing and medical students towards end of life. In the absence of clinical exposure, simulation is a viable alternative to help prepare students for their professional role regarding end of life care.

The impact of curricular change on medical students' knowledge of anatomy

Background: In recent years, following the publication of Tomorrow's Doctors, the undergraduate medical curriculum in most UK medical schools has undergone major revision. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the time allocated to the teaching of the basic medical sciences, including anatomy. However, it is not clear what impact these changes have had on medical students' knowledge of surface anatomy. Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of these curricular changes on medical students' knowledge of surface anatomy. Setting: Medical student intakes for 1995-98 at the Queen's University of Belfast, UK. Methods: The students were invited to complete a simple examination paper testing their knowledge of surface anatomy. Results from the student intake of 1995, which undertook a traditional, 'old' curriculum, were compared with those from the student intakes of 1996-98, which undertook a new, 'systems-based' curriculum. To enhance linear response and enable the use of linear models for analysis, all data were adjusted using probit transformations of the proportion (percentage) of correct answers for each item and each year group. Results: The student intake of 1995 (old curriculum) were more likely to score higher than the students who undertook the new, systems-based curriculum. Conclusion: The introduction of the new, systems-based course has had a negative impact on medical students' knowledge of surface anatomy.

Right-left discrimination among medical students: Getting it right all of the time?

Objective To determine medical students’ self awareness and ability to discriminate right from left; to identify characteristics associated with this ability; and to identify any techniques used to aid discrimination. Design Questionnaire and psychometric study. Setting Undergraduate medical school, Northern Ireland. Participants 290 first year undergraduate students. Main outcome measure Medical students’ ability to discriminate right from left using the Bergen right-left discrimination test. Results Test scores ranged from 31 to 143 on a scale of 0- 144 (mean 112 (standard deviation 22.2)). Male students significantly outperformed female students (117.18 (26.96) v 110.80 (28.94)). Students who wanted to be surgeons performed significantly better than those who wanted to be general practitioners or medical doctors (119.87 (25.15) v 110.55 (27.36) v 112.50 (26.88)). The interaction effect for sex and career wishes was not significant (P=0.370). Students who used learnt techniques to help them discriminate scored significantly less than those who did not (P

The immediate Life support course: implementation into an undergraduate nursing programme

This paper outlines how the immediate life support (ILS) course was incorporated into an undergraduate-nursing curriculum in a university in Northern Ireland. It also reports on how the students perceived the impact of this course on their clinical practice. The aim was to develop the student’s ability to recognise the acutely ill patient and to determine the relevance of this to clinical practice. Prior to this the ILS course was only available to qualified nurses and this paper reports on the first time students were provided with an ILS course in an undergraduate setting. The ILS course was delivered to 89 third year nursing students (Adult Branch) and comprised one full teaching day per week over two weeks. Recognised Advanced Life Support (ALS) instructors, in keeping with the United Kingdom Resuscitation Council guidelines, taught the students. Participants completed a 17 item questionnaire which comprised an open-ended section for student comment. Questionnaire data was analysed descriptively using SSPSS version 15.0. Open-ended responses from the questionnaire data was analysed by content and thematic analysis. Results Student feedback reported that the ILS course helped them understand what constituted the acutely ill patient and the role of the nurse in managing a deteriorating situation. Students also reported that they valued the experience as highlighting gaps in their knowledge Conclusion. The inclusion of the ILS course provides students with necessary skills to assess and manage the deteriorating patient. In addition the data from this study suggest the ILS course should be delivered in an inter-professional setting – i.e taught jointly with medical students. References: Department of Health & Quality Assurance Agency (2006). Department of Health Phase 2 benchmarking project – final report. Gloucester: Department of Health, London and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

Accounting and business students' approaches to learning: A longitudinal study

This study reports the results of an investigation into the learning approaches of undergraduate accounting and business students from three universities in Ireland who were exposed to a learning environment, namely the case study method, which aimed to encourage a deep approach to learning. In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, the ASSIST research instrument was used to investigate changes in students’ approaches to learning over time. Consistent with previous research, this study considers whether gender is related to students’ approaches to learning over time and if there are differences between students majoring in accounting or business in their approaches to learning. The results of the study indicate that the case study intervention was successful in some respects. However, contrary to expectations, an overall statistically significant increase in students’ surface approach to learning was found. Additionally, it is reported that changes in students’ approaches to learning over time are not associated with gender or degree program. The results of this study offer insights to accounting educators developing educational interventions to encourage deep approaches to learning.

The Design Process- Making It Relevant For Students

Within the ever-changing arenas of architectural design and education, the core element of architectural education remains: that of the design process. The consideration of how to design in addition to what to design presents architectural educators with that most constant and demanding challenge of how do we best teach the design process?

This challenge is arguably most acute at a student's early stages of their architectural education. In their first years in architecture, students will commonly concentrate on the end product rather than the process. This is, in many ways, understandable. A great deal of time, money and effort go into their final presentations. They believe that it is what is on the wall that is going to be assessed. Armed with new computer skills, they want to produce eye-catching graphics that are often no more than a celebration of a CAD package. In an era of increasing speed, immediacy of information and powerful advertising it is unsurprising that students want to race quickly to presenting an end-product.

Recognising that trend, new teaching methods and models were introduced into the second year undergraduate studio over the past two years at Queen's University Belfast, aimed at promoting student self-reflection and making the design process more relevant to the students. This paper will first generate a critical discussion on the difficulties associated with the design process before outlining some of the methods employed to help promote the following; an understanding of concept, personalisation of the design process for the individual student; adding realism and value to the design process and finally, getting he students to play to their strengths in illustrating their design process like an element of product. Frameworks, examples, outcomes and student feedback will all be presented to help illustrate the effectiveness of the new strategies employed in making the design process firstly, more relevant and therefore secondly, of greater value, to the architecture student.