Project to investigate improving literacy and numeracy outcomes of distance education students in the early years of schooling

The project was commissioned to investigate and analyse the issue of effective support for distance education students in the early years of school to maximise literacy and numeracy outcomes. The scope of this project was limited to students living in rural and remote areas who are undertaking education at home and who are in their early years of schooling. For the purpose of this project, the early years are conceptualised as the first three years of formal compulsory schooling in each of the States and Territories. There were a number of key tasks for the project which included: 1. Examining of the role of home tutors/supervisors This included interviewing personnel from the State and Territory distance education providers as well as the principals, teachers, home tutors and children. 2. Describing literacy and numeracy teaching and learning, and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in distance education This aspect of the project involved a critical review and analysis of relevant literature and reports in the last five years, and a consideration of the new initiatives that had been implemented in the States and Territories in the last two years. 3. The development of resources Through examination of the role of home tutors/supervisors, and an examination of literacy and numeracy and the use of technology in distance education, three resources were developed: ● A guide for home tutors/supervisors and schools of distance education about effective intervention and assessment strategies to support students’ learning and to assist the home tutors/supervisors in implementing ICT to support the development of literacy and numeracy in the early years. ● A calendar of activities for literacy and numeracy that would act as a stimulus for integrated and authentic activity for young children. ● An embryonic website of resources for the stakeholders in rural and distance education that might act as a catalyst for future resource building and sharing. In this way the final key task of the project, which was to create a context for a strategic dissemination plan, was realised when a strategy to address effective dissemination of the findings of the project so as to maximise their usefulness for the relevant groups was achieved.

Integrating infection control into the dental curriculum

The dental profession has possessed traditional standards of cross-infection control but the recent expression of real concerns by both the public and the profession over the transmissibility of infectious diseases in the dental surgery has demanded a formalized and extended approach to teaching cross-infection control in the dental curriculum. Clear curriculum content must be formulated within contemporary Workplace Health and Safety Guidelines and the Strategic Plan of the Dental School or academic health centre. The full integration demands that the area is taught as a discrete entity but recognized as an intrinsic part of each clinical encounter. This paper discusses the structure and integration of cross-infection control into the curriculum at the University of Queensland Dental School.

A randomized trial of a problem-based learning approach for teaching epidemiology

Purpose. To conduct a controlled trial of traditional and problem-based learning (PBL) methods of teaching epidemiology. Method. All second-year medical students (n = 136) at The University of Western Australia Medical School were offered the chance to participate in a randomized controlled trial of teaching methods fur an epidemiology course. Students who consented to participate (n = 80) were randomly assigned to either a PBL or a traditional course. Students who did not consent or did not return the consent form (n = 56) were assigned to the traditional course, Students in both streams took identical quizzes and exams. These scores, a collection of semi-quantitative feedback from all students, and a qualitative analysis of interviews with a convenience sample of six students from each stream were compared. Results. There was no significant difference in performances on quizzes or exams between PBL and traditional students. Students using PBL reported a stronger grasp of epidemiologic principles, enjoyed working with a group, and, at the end of the course, were more enthusiastic about epidemiology and its professional relevance to them than were students in the traditional course. PBL students worked more steadily during the semester but spent only marginally more time on the epidemiology course overall. Interviews corroborated these findings. Non-consenting students were older (p < 0.02) and more likely to come from non-English-speaking backgrounds (p < 0.005). Conclusions. PBL provides an academically equivalent but personally far richer learning experience. The adoption of PBL approaches to medical education makes it important to study whether PBL presents particular challenges for students whose first language is not the language of instruction.

Evaluating curriculum changes in undergraduate cancer education

Background. Previous studies have indicated that Australian medical schools have not adequately prepared our graduating doctors to care for patients with cancer. The University of Western Australia (UWA) introduced a two-week clinical attachment in cancer medicine for fifth-year students in 2000 and a four-day clinical attachment in palliative care for sixth-year students in 2001. This article evaluates the introduction of these dedicated clinical attachments in cancer and palliative care. Method. The Australian Cancer Society's Cancer Education Survey was administered to the UWA graduates starting their intern year in teaching hospitals in Perth, Western Australia, in 2002. Their responses were compared with data collected in a similar national survey of Australian and New Zealand interns in 2001. Results. The response rate was 56% (n = 70). When compared with the national data for 2001, more UWA interns (2002) would refer a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient to a multidisciplinary breast clinic (97% vs. 74%, P<.001). Fewer UWA 2002 interns rated their training as poor or very poor in the management of patients with incurable cancer (19% vs. 35%, P=.008) and the management of symptoms in patients dying from cancer (10% vs. 37%, P<.001), but they were more likely to rate their training in assisting a patient to stop smoking as poor or very poor (54% vs. 21%, P<.001). Only a quarter of the UWA 2002 interns had examined a patient with a cancer of the mouth or tongue (25% vs. 49%, P<.001), and only two thirds had examined a patient with lymphoma (64% vs. 83%, P<.001). Conclusions. Our data reflect changes in the final two years of the medical course at UWA and suggest that the introduction of dedicated attachments in cancer and palliative care has better prepared graduating doctors to care for patients with cancer.