Medical Education in Ireland A New Direction - Report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training

Ireland can be justly proud of the history and quality of its medical education. Graduates of Irish medical schools are accepted globally as being of international standard and many of the most eminent of Irish medical professionals have returned to Ireland after periods of distinguished service in other countries. This high international standing is reflected in the large number of North American, African and Asian students attending medical school in Ireland. Indeed, the ability of Irish medical schools to successfully compete at an international level in terms of attracting students to Ireland, and to establish a range of strategic relationships with Universities and Governments in other countries is to be commended.

Cochrane Training, Short Courses Guidance Notes 2011

Guidance Notes for Training Courses on Conducting Systematic Reviews, 2011.

Cochrane Short Courses Training Application Form 2011

Application Form for Training Courses on Conducting Systematic Reviews, 2011.

Capillaria hepatica in rats: focal parasitic hepatic lesions and septal fibrosis run independent courses

Capillaria hepatica causes two main lesions in the liver of rats: multifocal chronic inflammation, directly related to the presence of disintegrating parasites and their eggs, and a process of systematized septal fibrosis. The comparative behavior of these two lesions was investigated in rats experimentally infected with 600 embryonated eggs, following either corticosteroid treatment or specific antigenic stimulation, in an attempt to understand the relationship between these two lesions, and the pathogenesis of septal fibrosis. The two treatments differently modified the morphological aspects of the focal parasitic-related lesions, but did not interfere with the presentation of diffuse septal fibrosis, although a mild decrease in the degree of fibrosis occurred in corticoid-treated animals. These findings indicate that although the two lesions are C. hepatica induced, they are under different pathogenetic control, the induction of septal fibrosis being triggered during early infection to follow an independent pathway.

EduFeedr - following and supporting learners in open blog-based courses

In recent years several educators have organized open courses where participants reflect on their personal blogs. With a large number of participants it becomes a challenge to follow all the course discussions. In this paper we present the EduFeedr system that is specifically designed for following and supporting student activities in blog-based courses.

Open online courses in Colombia : report of an educational and technological experiment

Based on a discussion of the background, features and limitations of open online courses, this paper describes a technological solution to support their offering, built on online tools that don't require self-managed hosting. This is a proof of concept that intends to highlight the possibilities and obstacles related to this kind of educational practice in a Latin American context.

Open Educational Resources for Development of University Courses

Open Education Resources are educational materials purposely made available for free use by others. They offer tremendous potential for reducing costs and increasing access to education especially in the developing world. This paper discusses issues of quality, localization, adaptation and integration that need to be addressed in order to make OER adoption a successful strategy.

Multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids for preterm birth (MACS): a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: One course of antenatal corticosteroids reduces the risk of respiratory distress syndrome and neonatal death. Weekly doses given to women who remain undelivered after a single course may have benefits (less respiratory morbidity) or cause harm (reduced growth in utero). We aimed to find out whether multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids would reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality without adversely affecting fetal growth. METHODS: 1858 women at 25-32 weeks' gestation who remained undelivered 14-21 days after an initial course of antenatal corticosteroids and continued to be at high risk of preterm birth were randomly assigned to multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids (n=937) or placebo (n=921), every 14 days until week 33 or delivery, whichever came first. The primary outcome was a composite of perinatal or neonatal mortality, severe respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular haemorrhage (grade III or IV), periventricular leucomalacia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or necrotising enterocolitis. Analysis was by intention to treat. All patients and caregivers were unaware of the treatment given. This trial is registered as number ISRCTN2654148. FINDINGS: Infants exposed to multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids had similar morbidity and mortality to those exposed to placebo (150 [12.9%] vs 143 [12.5%]). Those receiving multiple doses of corticosteroids also weighed less at birth than those exposed to placebo (2216 g vs 2330 g, p=0.0026), were shorter (44.5 cm vs 45.4 cm, p<0.001), and had a smaller head circumference (31.1 cm vs 31.7 cm, p<0.001). INTERPRETATION: Multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids, every 14 days, do not improve preterm-birth outcomes, and are associated with a decreased weight, length, and head circumference at birth. Therefore, this treatment schedule is not recommended. FUNDING: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

A teaching/learning support tool for introductory programming courses

In This work we present a Web-based tool developed with the aim of reinforcing teaching and learning of introductory programming courses. This tool provides support for teaching and learning. From the teacher's perspective the system introduces important gains with respect to the classical teaching methodology. It reinforces lecture and laboratory sessions, makes it possible to give personalized attention to the student, assesses the degree of participation of the students and most importantly, performs a continuous assessment of the student's progress. From the student's perspective it provides a learning framework, consisting in a help environment and a correction environment, which facilitates their personal work. With this tool students are more motivated to do programming

26/10/19, Longchamp, Shah de Perse aux courses : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

Référence bibliographique : Rol, 56630

An electronic portfolio for quantitative assessment of surgical skills in undergraduate medical education.

BACKGROUND We evaluated a newly designed electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) that provided quantitative evaluation of surgical skills. Medical students at the University of Seville used the e-Portfolio on a voluntary basis for evaluation of their performance in undergraduate surgical subjects. METHODS Our new web-based e-Portfolio was designed to evaluate surgical practical knowledge and skills targets. Students recorded each activity on a form, attached evidence, and added their reflections. Students self-assessed their practical knowledge using qualitative criteria (yes/no), and graded their skills according to complexity (basic/advanced) and participation (observer/assistant/independent). A numerical value was assigned to each activity, and the values of all activities were summated to obtain the total score. The application automatically displayed quantitative feedback. We performed qualitative evaluation of the perceived usefulness of the e-Portfolio and quantitative evaluation of the targets achieved. RESULTS Thirty-seven of 112 students (33%) used the e-Portfolio, of which 87% reported that they understood the methodology of the portfolio. All students reported an improved understanding of their learning objectives resulting from the numerical visualization of progress, all students reported that the quantitative feedback encouraged their learning, and 79% of students felt that their teachers were more available because they were using the e-Portfolio. Only 51.3% of students reported that the reflective aspects of learning were useful. Individual students achieved a maximum of 65% of the total targets and 87% of the skills targets. The mean total score was 345 ± 38 points. For basic skills, 92% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and all achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer and assistant. For complex skills, 62% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and 98% achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer or assistant. CONCLUSIONS Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

An electronic portfolio for quantitative assessment of surgical skills in undergraduate medical education.

BACKGROUND We evaluated a newly designed electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) that provided quantitative evaluation of surgical skills. Medical students at the University of Seville used the e-Portfolio on a voluntary basis for evaluation of their performance in undergraduate surgical subjects. METHODS Our new web-based e-Portfolio was designed to evaluate surgical practical knowledge and skills targets. Students recorded each activity on a form, attached evidence, and added their reflections. Students self-assessed their practical knowledge using qualitative criteria (yes/no), and graded their skills according to complexity (basic/advanced) and participation (observer/assistant/independent). A numerical value was assigned to each activity, and the values of all activities were summated to obtain the total score. The application automatically displayed quantitative feedback. We performed qualitative evaluation of the perceived usefulness of the e-Portfolio and quantitative evaluation of the targets achieved. RESULTS Thirty-seven of 112 students (33%) used the e-Portfolio, of which 87% reported that they understood the methodology of the portfolio. All students reported an improved understanding of their learning objectives resulting from the numerical visualization of progress, all students reported that the quantitative feedback encouraged their learning, and 79% of students felt that their teachers were more available because they were using the e-Portfolio. Only 51.3% of students reported that the reflective aspects of learning were useful. Individual students achieved a maximum of 65% of the total targets and 87% of the skills targets. The mean total score was 345 ± 38 points. For basic skills, 92% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and all achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer and assistant. For complex skills, 62% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and 98% achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer or assistant. CONCLUSIONS Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

Adaption of Courses and Learning Environment to the User Context in dotLRN

The explosive growth of Internet during the last years has been reflected in the ever-increasing amount of the diversity and heterogeneity of user preferences, types and features of devices and access networks. Usually the heterogeneity in the context of the users which request Web contents is not taken into account by the servers that deliver them implying that these contents will not always suit their needs. In the particular case of e-learning platforms this issue is especially critical due to the fact that it puts at stake the knowledge acquired by their users. In the following paper we present a system that aims to provide the dotLRN e-learning platform with the capability to adapt to its users context. By integrating dotLRN with a multi-agent hypermedia system, online courses being undertaken by students as well as their learning environment are adapted in real time