Teaching and learning production and operations management: the journey from identity crisis to a cross, disciplinary approach

Este artigo tem suas raízes em algumas questões relacionadas à "forma" e ao "conteúdo" do que nós, professores, ensinamos na área de Administração da Produção e Operações. Inicialmente, descrevo a evolução histórica desse campo no Brasil. Em seguida, discuto a crise de identidade que o campo está sofrendo. Com o objetivo de apresentar respostas para essa situação, apresento seis propostas para o desenvolvimento e consolidação do campo. Finalmente, descrevo uma iniciativa prática, envolvendo uma disciplina específica da área, ensinada para alunos de pós-graduação. Essa iniciativa enfatiza a "dimensão do conteúdo" (de uma abordagem técnico-operacional para uma abordagem estratégico-gerencial) como também a "dimensão da forma" (do foco no ensino para o foco no aprendizado). O sucesso dessa experiência em curso confirma a coerência da agenda proposta e induz futuros aperfeiçoamentos.

Mortality problems in Brazil and in Germany: past-present-future. Learning from each other?

This article was written by a Swiss-German historical demographer after having visited different Brazilian Universities in 1984 as a guest-professor. It aims at promoting a real dialog between developed and developing countries, commencing the discussion with the question: Can we learn from each other? An affirmative answer is given, but not in the superficial manner in which the discussion partners simply want to give each other some "good advice" or in which the one declares his country's own development to be the solely valid standard. Three points are emphasized: 1. Using infant mortality in S. Paulo from 1908 to 1983 as an example, it is shown that Brazil has at its disposal excellent, highly varied research literature that is unjustifiably unknown to us (in Europe) for the most part. Brazil by no means needs our tutoring lessons as regards the causal relationships; rather, we could learn two things from Brazil about this. For one, it becomes clear that our almost exclusively medical-biological view is inappropriate for passing a judgment on the present-day problems in Brazil and that any conclusions so derived are thus only transferable to a limited extent. For another, we need to reinterpret the history of infant mortality in our own countries up to the past few decades in a much more encompassing "Brazilian" sense. 2. A fruitful dialog can only take place if both partners frankly present their problems. For this reason, the article refers with much emprasis to our present problems in dealing with death and dying - problems arising near the end of the demographic and epidemiologic transitions: the superanuation of the population, chronic-incurable illnesses as the main causes of death, the manifold dependencies of more and more elderly and really old people at the end of a long life. Brazil seems to be catching up to us in this and will be confronted with these problems sooner or later. A far-sighted discussion already at this time seems thus to be useful. 3. The article, however, does not want to conclude with the rather depressing state of affairs of problems alternatingly superseding each other. Despite the caution which definitely has a place when prognoses are being made on the basis of extrapolations from historical findings, the foreseeable development especially of the epidemiologic transition in the direction of a rectangular survival curve does nevertheless provide good reason for being rather optimistic towards the future: first in regards to the development in our own countries, but then - assuming that the present similar tendencies of development are stuck to - also in regard to Brazil.

Smoking, consumption of alcohol and sedentary life style in population grouping and their relationships with lipemic disorders

The study, part of the project "Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, lipemic disorders, hypertension, obesity and diabetis mellitus in a population of the metropolitan area of the southeastern region of Brazil", had the following objectives: a) the characterization and distribution among typical human socio-economic groupings, of the prevalence of some particular habits which constitute aspects of life-style-the use of tobacco, the use of alcohol and sedentary activity; b) the establishment of the interrelation between the above-mentioned habits and some lipemic disorders. The prevalence of the habits cited behaved in the following manner: the use of tobacco predominated among men, distributed uniformly throughout the social strata; among the women the average percentage of smokers was 18,9%, a significant difference occurring among the highest socio-economic class, where the average was of 40.2%. The sedentary style of life presented high prevalence, among both men and women with exception of the women of the highest socio-economic level and of the skilled working class. The use of alcohol, as one would expect, is a habit basically practised by the men, without any statistically significant differences between classes. For the purpose of establishing associations between these risk fictors and lipemic conditions four situations were chosen, of the following characteristics: 1- total cholesterol > or = 220 mg/dl and triglycerides > or = 150 mg/dl; 2- HDL cholesterol <35 mg/dl for men and <45 mg/dl for women and triglycerides levels > or = 150 mg/dl; 3- HDL cholesterol <35 mg/dl for men and <45 mg/dl for women and triglycerides levels <150 mg/dl; 4- total cholesterol 220 mg/dl with triglycerides levels <150 mg/dl. Six models of multiple (backward) regression were established, with seven independent variables- age, sex, use of tobacco, consumption of alcohol, light physical activity, hypertension and obesity. Significant associations (P<0,05) were revealed with hypercholesterolemia, accompanied by triglyceride levels > or = 150 mg/dl, and the following independent variables: age, use of tobacco and the interactions between obesity and smoking, age and sedentary lifestyle, sex and obesity (R2=22%); the standardized B coefficient showed that the variables with the greatest weight in the forecasting of the variation in the levels of cholesterol were smoking and the interaction between obesity and smoking. The hypercholesterolemia accompanied by triglycerides levels <150 mg/dl showed a positive association between total cholesterol and sex and the interactions obesity/smoking and sex/obesity. As regards HDL cholesterol accompanied by triglyceride/ levels > or = 150 mg/dl was inversely associated with obesity and the interaction smoking/ age and directly with age (R=31%). The standardized B coeffients, indicated that the variables obesity and the interactions smoking/age possessed a weight three times greater than age alone in accounting for the variation in the serum levels of HDL cholesterol. When accompanied by triglycerides <150 mg/dl there was no association between and the independent variables and the set of them presented R equal to 22%. The sum of top, in the population stutied in this project, the component habits of life-style (smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary activity) which constitute risk factors which determine morbidity from atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are be found distributed through all the typical social groupings of this particular form of social organization. On the other hand, the seven independent variables used in the multiple regression models for the explanation of the lipemic conditions considered presented multiple determination coefficients which varied, approximately, between 20% and 30%. Thus it is important that in the genetic epidemiology the study of the morbidities in question be emphasized.

Stress During ACLS Courses: Is it Important for Learning Skills?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of stress on teaching medical emergencies in an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course and to verify this influence on learning, and the efficiency of emergency care training. METHODS: Seventeen physicians signed up for an ACLS course. Their pulses were taken and blood pressure (BP) verified on the first day, before the beginning of the course, and on the second day, during the theoretical and practical test (TPT). Variations in pulse rates and BP were compared with students' test grades. Then, students answered a questionnaire of variables (QV) about the amount of sleep they had during the course, the quantity of study material and the time spent studying for the course, and a stress scale graphic. RESULTS: Seven students had a pulse variation less than 10% between the 2 periods and 10 had a 10% or more variation. Grades on TPT were, respectively, 91.4±2.4 and 87.3±5.2 (p<0.05). Six students had a BP variation less than 20 mmHg, and in 11 it varied more than 21 mmHg. Grades on the TPT were 92.3±3.3 and 86.2± 8.1, respectively (p<0.05). The QV dates did not significantly influence grades. CONCLUSION: Stress, as an isolated variable, had a negative influence on the learning process and on the efficiency of emergency training in this situation.

Associative learning in wild Anastrepha obliqua females (Diptera, Tephritidae) related to a protein source

The aim of the present study was to determine whether wild adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart, 1835) females are able to associate a compound (quinine sulphate - QS) not related to their habitual diet with a protein-enriched food. Females were first fed on diets based on brewer yeast and sucrose containing or not QS. The groups were then allowed to choose between their original diets and a diet with or without QS, depending on the previous treatment, and between a diet based on agar and a diet containing agar and QS. When the nutritional value of the diets was adequate, the females did not show any preference for the diet with or without QS. With respect to the agar diet and the agar + QS diet, females previously fed on a nutritive diet containing QS preferred the diet containing QS, indicating an association between the compound and the nutritional value of the diet. The importance of this behavioral strategy is discussed.

Benzodiazepine receptor ligand influences on learning: an endogenous modulatory mechanism mediated by benzodiazepines possibly of alimentary origin

In rats pre-but not post-training ip administration of either flumazenil, a central benzodiazepine (BSD) receptor antagonist, or of n-butyl-B-carboline-carboxylate (BCCB), an inverse agonist, enhanced retention of inhibitory avoidance learning. Flumazenil vlocked the enhancing effect of BCCB, and the inhibitory effect of the BZD agonists clonazepam and diazepam also given pre-training. Post-training administration of these drugs had no effects. The peripheral BZD receptor agonist/chloride channel blocker Ro5-4864 had no effect on the inhibitory avoidance task when given ip prior to training, buth it caused enhancement when given immediately post-training either ip or icv. This effect was blocked by PK11195, a competitive antagonist of Ro5-4864. These results suggest that ther is an endogenous mechanism mediated by BZD agonists, which is sensitive to inverse agonists and that normally down-regulates the formation of memories through a mechanism involving GABA-A receptors and the corresponding chloride channels. The most likely agonists for the endogenous mechanism suggested are the diazepam-like BZDs found in brain whose origin is possibly alimentary. Levels of these BZDs in the cortex were found to sharply decrease after inhibitory acoidance training or mere exposure to the training apparatus.

Tradução e adaptação para a língua portuguesa do In-hospital Utstein Style

A parada cardiorrespiratória (PCR) é um evento potencialmente letal e a qualidade do atendimento prestado depende da agilidade, conhecimento e habilidade de toda a equipe envolvida. Desenvolvido em 1997, o In-hospital Utstein Style é um relatório padrão para coleta de dados significativos em PCR. O estudo objetivou realizar a tradução e adaptação à língua portuguesa do instrumento. O instrumento foi submetido ao processo de tradução e adaptação cultural. O resultado deste processo gerou um instrumento aplicado em fase de pré-teste a 20 pacientes vítimas de PCR. As variáveis de resultado não foram coletadas, pois pressupõe o acompanhamento destes pacientes ao longo do tempo. O ritmo de PCR mais comum foi atividade elétrica sem pulso (65%); o tempo médio para desfibrilar foi de 1,25 minutos. Houve itens sem resposta. Podemos concluir que o instrumento é aplicável à realidade brasileira, buscando melhor atendimento ao evento da PCR.

The use of the Family Management Style Framework to evaluate the family management of liver transplantation in adolescence

Objective: To understand the family management experience of liver transplantation during adolescence based on the Family Management Style Framework(FMSF). Method: This is a case study that used the FMSF as theoretical framework and the hybrid model of thematic analysis as methodological reference. The case presented is from an adolescent’s family that lives in Salvador, Bahia. The data were collected through interviews with the mother and the patient charts analysis. Results: The results shows that the family defines the transplantation as threatening and there are divergence between mother and daughter related to the teen’s capabilities perception. Facing those discrepancies, the family assumes a protective posture by believing that the teen cannot take care of herself alone. The perceived consequences reflect how much the uncertainty permeates the family environment. Conclusion: It is concluded that the use of a model to evaluate the management can help professionals to direct and plan specific interventions.



Modes of acquisition of health literacy skills in informal learning contexts

In this article we try to analyze the learning processes of health literacy skills in informal contexts. We intend to broaden the understanding of the learning process beyond the formal contexts, thus contributing to the elucidation of health professionals on how individuals acquire and manage their knowledge in health matters. Given our goal, we use an analytic corpus constituted by one hundred autobiographical narratives written between 2006 and 2011, in educational contexts but with recognized potential for use in different scientific fields, including health. The results reveal the existence of three different types of modes of learning health literacy skills in informal context: : i) learning that takes place in action, in achieving daily tasks; ii) learning processes that result from problem solving; iii) learning that occurs in an unplanned manner, resulting from accidental circumstances and, in some cases, devoid of intentionality.

The art and learning patterns of knowing in nursing

Objective To identify the perception of the students about the use of art as a pedagogical strategy in learning the patterns of knowing in nursing; to identify the dimensions of each pattern valued in the analysis of pieces of art. Method Descriptive mixed study. Data collection used a questionnaire applied to 31 nursing students. Results In the analysis of the students’ discourse, it was explicit that empirical knowledge includes scientific knowledge, tradition and nature of care. The aesthetic knowledge implies expressiveness, subjectivity and sensitivity. Self-knowledge, experience, reflective attitude and relationships with others are the subcategories of personal knowledge and the moral and ethics support ethical knowledge. Conclusion It is possible to learn patterns of knowledge through art, especially the aesthetic, ethical and personal. It is necessary to investigate further pedagogical strategies that contribute to the learning patterns of nursing knowledge.

Effects of web-based electrocardiography simulation on strategies and learning styles

OBJECTIVETo identify the association between the use of web simulation electrocardiography and the learning approaches, strategies and styles of nursing degree students.METHODA descriptive and correlational design with a one-group pretest-posttest measurement was used. The study sample included 246 students in a Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support nursing class of nursing degree.RESULTSNo significant differences between genders were found in any dimension of learning styles and approaches to learning. After the introduction of web simulation electrocardiography, significant differences were found in some item scores of learning styles: theorist (p < 0.040), pragmatic (p < 0.010) and approaches to learning.CONCLUSIONThe use of a web electrocardiogram (ECG) simulation is associated with the development of active and reflexive learning styles, improving motivation and a deep approach in nursing students.

Assessment of the teaching-learning process in students of the health area: cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the skills and knowledge of undergraduate students in the health area on cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers with the use of an automatic external defibrillator.METHODThe evaluation was performed in three different stages of the teaching-learning process. A theoretical and practical course was taught and the theoretical classes included demonstration. The evaluation was performed in three different stages of the teaching-learning process. Two instruments were applied to evaluate the skills (30-items checklist) and knowledge (40-questions written test). The sample comprised 84 students.RESULTSAfter the theoretical and practical course, an increase was observed in the number of correct answers in the 30-items checklist and 40-questions written test.CONCLUSIONAfter the theoretical class (including demonstration), only one of the 30-items checklist for skills achieved an index ≥ 90% of correct answers. On the other hand, an index of correct answers greater than 90% was achieved in 26 (86.7%) of the 30 items after a practical training simulation, evidencing the importance of this training in the defibrillation procedure.

Adaptação transcultural e validação da Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale no Brasil

RESUMO Objetivo Realizar a adaptação transcultural e a validação da versão de 29-itens daReadiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) para língua portuguesa falada no Brasil. Método Foram adotadas cinco etapas: três traduções, síntese, três retrotraduções, avaliação por especialistas e pré-teste. A validação contou com 327 estudantes de 13 cursos de graduação de uma universidade pública. Foram realizadas análises paralelas com o software R e a análise fatorial utilizando Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Resultados A análise fatorial resultou em uma escala de 27 itens e três fatores: Fator 1 – Trabalho em equipe e colaboração com 14 itens (1-9, 12-16), Fator 2 – Identidade profissional, oito itens (10, 11, 17, 19, 21-24), e Fator 3 – Atenção à saúde centrada no paciente, cinco itens (25-29). Alfa de Cronbach dos três fatores foi respectivamente: 0,90; 0,66; 0,75. Análise de variância mostrou diferenças significativas nas médias dos fatores dos grupos profissionais. Conclusão Foram identificadas evidências de validação da versão em português da RIPLS em sua aplicação no contexto nacional.

Bilateral anomaly in the style of Micropygomyia schreiberi (Martins, Falcão & Silva) (Diptera, Psychodidae)

This paper presents a specimen of phlebotomine sand fly with a bilateral anomaly in the style. Although such anomaly be rare in this group of insects, it may cause confusion in taxonomic identification and even lead to description of new species, increasing the number of synonymies. The specimen was measured and compared with the holotype and four paratypes of Micropygomyia schreiberi (Martins, Falcão & Silva, 1975) and confirmed that it belongs, in fact, to this species.