Hiring Schedule: Deans Office, Finance and Administration, Teaching Faculty Y1 and Y2, Clinical Sciences

A hiring schedule for the Dean's Office based on a three year plan.

Effects of structured writing versus nonstructured writing as an effective and efficient teaching and learning strategy

This research investigated the effectiveness and efficiency of structured writing as compared to traditional nonstructured writing as a teaching and learning strategy in a training session for teachers.^ Structured writing is a method of identifying, interrelating, sequencing, and graphically displaying information on fields of a page or computer. It is an alternative for improving training and educational outcomes by providing an effective and efficient documentation methodology.^ The problem focuses upon the contradiction between: (a) the supportive research and theory to modify traditional methods of written documents and information presentation and (b) the existing paradigm to continue with traditional communication methods.^ A MANOVA was used to determine significant difference between a control and an experimental group in a posttest only experimental design. The experimental group received the treatment of structured writing materials during a training session. Two variables were analyzed. They were: (a) effectiveness; correct items on a posttest, and (b) efficiency; time spent on test.^ The quantitative data showed a difference for the experimental group on the two dependent variables. The experimental group completed the posttest in 2 minutes less time while scoring 1.5 more items correct. An interview with the training facilitators revealed that the structured writing materials were "user friendly." ^

Effects of using manipulative materials to teach remedial algebra to community college students on achievement and attitudes towards mathematics

This dissertation derived hypotheses from the theories of Piaget, Bruner and Dienes regarding the effects of using Algebra Tiles and other manipulative materials to teach remedial algebra to community college students. The dependent variables measured were achievement and attitude towards mathematics. The Piagetian cognitive level of the students in the study was measured and used as a concomitant factor in the study.^ The population for the study was comprised of remedial algebra students at a large urban community college. The sample for the study consisted of 253 students enrolled in 10 sections of remedial algebra at three of the six campuses of the college. Pretests included administration of an achievement pre-measure, Aiken's Mathematics Attitude Inventory (MAI), and the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT). Posttest measures included a course final exam and a second administration of the MAI.^ The results of the GALT test revealed that 161 students (63.6%) were concrete operational, 65 (25.7%) were transitional, and 27 (10.7%) were formal operational. For the purpose of analyzing the data, the transitional and formal operational students were grouped together.^ Univariate factorial analyses of covariance ($\alpha$ =.05) were performed on the posttest of achievement (covariate = achievement pretest) and the MAI posttest (covariate = MAI pretest). The factors used in the analysis were method of teaching (manipulative vs. traditional) and cognitive level (concrete operational vs. transitional/formal operational).^ The analyses for achievement revealed a significant difference in favor of the manipulatives groups in the computations by campus. Significant differences were not noted in the analysis by individual instructors.^ The results for attitude towards mathematics showed a significant difference in favor of the manipulatives groups for the college-wide analysis and for one campus. The analysis by individual instructor was not significant. In addition, the college-wide analysis was significant in favor of the transitional/formal operational stage of cognitive development. However, support for this conclusion was not obtained in the analyses by campus or individual instructor. ^

The effects of student -centered and traditional models of teaching on reading skills

A pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental design was used to examine the effects of student-centered and traditional models of reading instruction on outcomes of literal comprehension and critical thinking skills. The sample for this study consisted of 101 adult students enrolled in a high-level developmental reading course at a large, urban community college in the Southeastern United States. The experimental group consisted of 48 students, and the control group consisted of 53 students. Students in the experimental group were limited in the time spent reading a course text of basic skills, with instructors using supplemental materials such as poems, news articles, and novels. Discussions, the reading-writing connection, and student choice in material selection were also part of the student-centered curriculum. Students in the control group relied heavily on a course text and vocabulary text for reading material, with great focus placed on basic skills. Activities consisted primarily of multiple-choice questioning and quizzes. The instrument used to collect pre-test data was Descriptive Tests of Language Skills in Reading Comprehension; post-test data were taken from the Florida College Basic Skills Exit Test. A MANCOVA was used as the statistical method to determine if either model of instruction led to significantly higher gains in literal comprehension skills or critical thinking skills. A paired samples t-test was also used to compare pre-test and post-test means. The results of the MANCOVA indicated no significant difference between instructional models on scores of literal comprehension and critical thinking. Neither was there any significant difference in scores between subgroups of age (under 25 and 25 and older) and language background (native English speaker and second-language learner). The results of the t-test indicated, however, that students taught under both instructional models made significant gains in on both literal comprehension and critical thinking skills from pre-test to post-test.

An alternative to BlackboardTM? Student use of web-based textbook teaching and learning material

This paper investigates the use of web-based textbook supplementary teaching and learning materials which include multiple choice test banks, animated demonstrations, simulations, quizzes and electronic versions of the text. To gauge their experience of the web-based material students were asked to score the main elements of the material in terms of usefulness. In general it was found that while the electronic text provides a flexible platform for presentation of material there is a need for continued monitoring of student use of this material as the literature suggests that digital viewing habits may mean there is little time spent in evaluating information, either for relevance, accuracy or authority. From a lecturer perspective these materials may provide an effective and efficient way of presenting teaching and learning materials to the students in a variety of multimedia formats, but at this stage do not overcome the need for a VLE such as Blackboard™.

A study of primary teeth restored by intracoronal restorations in children participating in an undergraduate teaching programme at Cork University Dental School and Hospital, Ireland

Aim: To study the outcomes for restored primary molar teeth; to examine outcomes in relation to tooth type involved, intracoronal restoration complexity and to the material used. Materials and methods: Design: Retrospective study of primary molar teeth restored by intracoronal restorations. A series of restored primary molar teeth for children aged 6-12 years was studied. The principal outcome measure was failure of initial restoration (re-restoration or extraction). Three hundred patient records were studied to include three equal groups of primary molar teeth restored with amalgam, composite or glass ionomer, respectively. Restorative materials, the restoration type, simple (single surface) or complex (multi-surface) restoration, and tooth notation were recorded. Subsequent interventions were examined. Data were coded and entered into a Microsoft Excel database and analysis undertaken using SPSS v.18. Statistical differences were tested using the c2 test of statistical significance. Results: Of the 300 teeth studied, 61 restoration failures were recorded with 11 of those extracted. No significant differences were found between outcomes for upper first, upper second, lower first or lower second primary molars. Outcomes for simple primary teeth restored by intracoronal restorations were significantly better than those for complex intracoronal restorations (P = 0.042). Teeth originally restored with amalgam accounted for 19.7% of the 61 failures, composite for 29.5%, while teeth restored with glass ionomer represented 50.8% of all restoration failures. The differences were significant (P = 0.012). Conclusions: The majority (79.7%) of the 300 restored primary teeth studied were successful, and 3.7% teeth were extracted. Restorations involving more than one surface had almost twice the failure rate of single surface restorations. The difference was significant. Significant differences in failure rates for the three dental materials studied were recorded. Amalgam had the lowest failure rate while the failure rate with glass ionomer was the highest.

Recommendations to Create a Systemic Approach to Improving the Teaching and Learning of Iowa History in Iowa’s K-12 Schools / Iowa History Advisory Council (2016)

Report from the Iowa History Advisory Council on the following goals related to the teaching of Iowa history: Identify the current status of the teaching of Iowa history and the resources available regarding K-12 Iowa history instruction. Identify current materials that are dedicated to the teaching of Iowa history at the K-12 level. Study how other states and organizations implement state and local history. Study best practices for the teaching and learning of state and local history. Develop appropriate academic standards related to Iowa history. Provide recommendations to advance the study of Iowa history at the K-12 level.

A university e-learning system to enhance higher education teaching environments: a model-base innovative service-orientated clouds intensive evolution approach.

The International Conference on Advanced Materials, Structures and Mechanical Engineering 2015 (ICAMSME 2015) was held on May 29-31, Incheon, South-Korea. The conference was attended by scientists, scholars, engineers and students from universities, research institutes and industries all around the world to present on going research activities. This proceedings volume assembles papers from various professionals engaged in the fields of materials, structures and mechanical engineering.

Ear-related problems among children attending the paediatric and otorhinolaryngology out-patients clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.

Background: Ear related diseases are commonly seen in clinics worldwide especially among children. They are associated with significant morbidity and frequent hospital visits. Limited data exists regarding the burden of ear disease among Nigerian children. Objective: To determine the prevalence of ear-related problems among children presenting at the Paediatric and Otorhinolaryngology clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Paediatric and Otorhinolaryngology Clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu. All children aged 0 and 17 years presenting between 1st June and 31st August 2006 with ear-related problems were enrolled consecutively into the study. Data analysis was by SPSS version 11. Results: Three thousand and twenty-one children were seen during the study period. Out of these, 248 children (8.2%) presented with ear-related problems. Chronic otitis media (30.5%), acute otitis media (29.9%), cerumen auris (11.3%), otitis externa(10.1%), hearing impairment (7.3%) and foreign body in the ear (5.7%) were the most commonly diagnosed ear-related problems. Conclusion: Ear-related problems among children presenting at the UNTH Enugu were not uncommon. However, otitis media was the most commonly diagnosed ailment affecting the ears in children.

EXAMINING SECONDARY MATHEMATICS TEACHER CANDIDATES’ LEARNING AND ENACTMENT OF MATHEMATICS TEACHING PRACTICES: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

This qualitative case study explored three teacher candidates’ learning and enactment of discourse-focused mathematics teaching practices. Using audio and video recordings of their teaching practice this study aimed to identify the shifts in the way in which the teacher candidates enacted the following discourse practices: elicited and used evidence of student thinking, posed purposeful questions, and facilitated meaningful mathematical discourse. The teacher candidates’ written reflections from their practice-based coursework as well as interviews were examined to see how two mathematics methods courses influenced their learning and enactment of the three discourse focused mathematics teaching practices. These data sources were also used to identify tensions the teacher candidates encountered. All three candidates in the study were able to successfully enact and reflect on these discourse-focused mathematics teaching practices at various time points in their preparation programs. Consistency of use and areas of improvement differed, however, depending on various tensions experienced by each candidate. Access to quality curriculum materials as well as time to formulate and enact thoughtful lesson plans that supported classroom discourse were tensions for these teacher candidates. This study shows that teacher candidates are capable of enacting discourse-focused teaching practices early in their field placements and with the support of practice-based coursework they can analyze and reflect on their practice for improvement. This study also reveals the importance of assisting teacher candidates in accessing rich mathematical tasks and collaborating during lesson planning. More research needs to be explored to identify how specific aspects of the learning cycle impact individual teachers and how this can be used to improve practice-based teacher education courses.

Effects of two teaching interventions on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation

Purpose: Nurse ability to recognise patient arrhythmias could contribute to preventing in-hospital cardiac arrest. Research suggests that nurses and nursing students lack competence in electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two training strategies on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation. Materials and methods: A controlled randomised trial with 98 nursing students. Divided in groups of 12–16, participants were randomly allocated to one of the following 3-h teaching intervention groups: 1) traditional instructor-led (TILG), and 2) flipped classroom (FCG). Participants’ competence in ECG interpretation was measured in terms of knowledge (%), skills (%) and self-efficacy (%) using a specifically designed and previously validated toolkit at pre-test and post-test. Two-way MANOVA explored the interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ and its impact on participants’ competence. Within-group differences at pre-test and post-test were explored by carrying out paired t-tests. Between-group differences at pre- and post-test were examined by performing independent t-test analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ on participants’ competence in ECG interpretation (F(3,190) = 86.541, p = 0.001; Wilks’ Λ = 0.423). At pre-test, differences in knowledge (TILG = 35.12 ± 12.07; FCG = 35.66 ± 10.66), skills (TILG = 14.05 ± 10.37; FCG = 14.82 ± 14.14), self-efficacy (TILG = 46.22 ± 23.78; FCG = 40.01 ± 21.77) and all other variables were non-significant (p > 0.05). At post-test, knowledge (TILG = 55.12 ± 14.16; FCG = 94.2 ± 7.31), skills (TILG = 36.90 ± 16.45; FCG = 86.43 ± 14.32) and self-efficacy (TILG = 70.78 ± 14.55; FCG = 79.98 ± 10.35) had significantly improved, regardless of the training received (p < 0.05). Nonetheless, participants in the FCG scored significantly higher than participants in the TILG in knowledge, skills and self-efficacy (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Flipping the classroom for teaching ECG interpretation to nursing students may be more effective than using a traditional instructor-led approach in terms of immediate acquisition of competence in terms of knowledge, skills and self-efficacy. Further research on the effects of both teaching strategies on the retention of the competence will be undertaken.

Effects of two teaching strategies on the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED

Purpose: Nurses and nursing students are often first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrest events; thus they are expected to perform Basic Life Support (BLS) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) without delay. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance before and after receiving a particular training intervention in BLS/AED. Materials and methods: Explanatory correlational study. 177 nursing students received a 4-h training session in BLS/AED after being randomized to either a self-directed (SDG) or an instructor-directed teaching group (IDG).1 A validated self-efficacy scale, the Cardiff Test and Laerdal SkillReporter® software were used to assess students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED at pre-test, post-test and 3-month retention-test. Independent t-test analysis was performed to compare the differences between groups at pre-test. Pearson coefficient (r) was used to calculate the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and performance in both groups at pre-test, post-test and retention-test. Results: Independent t-tests analysis showed that there were non-significant differences (p-values > 0.05) between groups for any of the variables measured. At pre-test, results showed that correlation between self-efficacy and performance was moderate for the IDG (r = 0.53; p < 0.05) and the SDG (r = 0.49; p < 0.05). At post-test, correlation between self-efficacy and performance was much higher for the SDG (r = 0.81; p < 0.05) than for the IDG (r = 0.32; p < 0.05), which in fact was weaker than at pre-test. Finally, it was found that whereas the correlation between self-efficacy and performance increased from the post-test to the retention-test to almost reach baseline levels for the ILG (r = 0.52; p < 0.05), it slightly decreased in this phase for the SDG (r = 0.77; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Student-directed strategies may be more effective than instructor-directed strategies at promoting self-assessment and, therefore, may help to improve and maintain the relationship between nursing student self-efficacy and actual ability to perform BLS/AED.