Does participation in a pain course based on the international association for the study of pain's curricula guidelines change student knowledge about pain?

The People in Pain course was set up as a joint initiative of the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. It was instigated in response to the publication of Pain Curricula for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 1994 (1). The first year it was offered, the "People in Pain" course comprised 14 h of lecture content. It was then expanded to encompass 28 h of lectures and seminar involvement. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of participation in a university pain course that meets the IASP pain curricula guidelines to increase health professional students' knowledge about pain. METHODS: Students who participated in the People in Pain course over the first three years were invited to complete the Revised Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (R-PKAQ) pre- and postcourse. Data obtained from 22 students in the short course formed a pilot project, and data from 22 students in the longer version of the course were used in the present study. RESULTS: Examination of the correlation matrix indicated substantial correlations between all R-PKAQ subscales except physiological basis of pain and pharmacological management of pain. In both the pilot project during the first year of the course and the expanded course in the following two years, significant improvement was found in the students' knowledge on five of the six subscales of the R-PKAQ: physiological basis of pain, psychological factors of pain perception, assessment and measurement of pain, cognitive-behavioural methods of pain relief, and pharmacological management of pain. Improvements in the developmental aspects of pain perception subscale failed to reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated pain course developed according to the pain curriculum guidelines developed by the IASP resulted in increased student knowledge regardless of the length of the program attended.

Higher Educational Impact on Student Objectives: Longitudinal Change in Clark-Trow "Educational Philosophies"

This study explores the impact of higher education on 3,942 arts and sciences students as measured by change in their freshman and senior ratings of four Clark-Trow "educational philosophies": vocational, academic, collegiate, and nonconformist (Clark and Trow, 1966). A repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to each of the four philosophies, controlling for sex, entering year, major, parents' educational background, scholastic aptitude, and academic motivation. As expected from Clark-Trow theory, students showed significant increases in academic and nonconformist philosophies, and decreases in vocational and collegiate philosophies. Relationships between independent variables and freshman-senior change suggested post hoc reinterpretation of the dimensions underlying the Clark-Trow "phenotypes": i. e., from "identification with the college" and "involvement with ideas" to "social interests" and "academic interests" (the latter suggested by Terenzini and Pascarella, 1977).

Using Blackboard Administered Precourse and Post course Tests to Assess Student Readiness to Learn and Change in Knowledge

Students arrive at classes with a varying social situations and course subject knowledge. Blackboard is a web based course delivery program that permits testing of students before arriving at the first class. A pretest was used to assess preexisting subject knowledge(S) and a survey was used to assess non-subject (N) factors that might impact the student’s final grade. A posttest was administered after all content was delivered and used to access change in S. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Assessing student perceptions and comprehension of climate change in portuguese higher education institutions

The higher education system has a critical role to play in educating environmentally aware and participant citizens about global climate change. Yet, few studies have focused on higher education students’ knowledge and attitudes about this issue. This study aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of views and attitudes about climate change issues, across the postgraduate student population in three universities—the on Campus University of Porto and University of Coimbra, and the distance learning Universidade Aberta, Portugal. We surveyed university students and graduates from three master programs in environmental sciences targeting their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour on climate change issues, and their views of the role that their master degree had on it. A majority of the respondents believed that climate change is factual, and is largely human-induced; and a majority expressed concerns about climate change. Still, the surveyed students hold some misconceptions about basic causes and consequences of climate change. Further research is necessary to comprehend the university postgraduate students’ population, so that curricula programs can be adapted to grant consensus on scientific knowledge about climate change, and an active engagement of the graduate citizens, as part of the solution for climate change problems.

Undergraduate student experience in dental service delivery in rural South Australia: An analysis of costs and benefits

Background, Rural experience for dental students can provide valuable clinical education, change attitudes to rural practice, and make a valuable contribution to clinical service provision. The aim of this paper is to assess the costs and benefits of service delivery by students through rural training programmes Methods: Groups of two students worked in the public dental clinics in adjacent rural centres where there had been long-term difficulties in recruiting staff. The costs and benefits of the programme were assessed by the impact on waiting lists, the total cost per patient of, a course of care and by the marginal cost of adding service provision by students to existing arrangements. Results: The total costs of emergency and complete treatment provided by students were greater than the costs of treatment provided by public-sector dentists but less than the costs of private providers treating public patients. However, the value of services were greater when care was provided by students or private providers and the marginal cost of students providing services was 50-70 per cent of the cost of care provided by public dentists. Conclusion: This assessment suggests that the service benefits achieved compliment the primary objective of influencing the attitude of students to rural practice.

The tutor's role in student learning

Higher education in Portugal, in the last forty years, has undergone profound changes with the enlargement of public higher education network, the appearance of new institutions, the quantity and the heterogeneity of students. The implementation of the Bologna Process in European community countries led to the redesign of higher education Portuguese courses as well as their corresponding curricula. In recent years, the use of Project-led education was one of the most significant changes in teaching and learning, particularly in engineering in higher education in Portugal. This teaching methodology encourages students and teachers to undertake new roles, new responsibilities and a new learning perspective. This study aims at understanding whether the role of the tutor is to be suitable to the needs and expectations of Project-led education students. These changes however are not only structural. At the University of Minho, new teaching and learning methodologies were adopted, which could guide the training of professionals on to the twenty-first century. The opportunity arising from the implementation of Project-led education in Engineering methodology was used in the University of Minho’s courses. This teaching method is intended to provide students with educational support programs that benefit the academic performance, allowing the opportunity to upgrade, train and develop the ability to study and learn more effectively. Through the Project-led education it is possible to provide students with techniques and procedures and develop the ability to communicate orally and in writing. Students and teachers have assumed new roles in the teaching-learning process allowing in one hand the students to explore, discover and question themselves about some knowledge and on the other hand the teachers to change to a tutor, a companion and to a student project guide. Therefore, surveys were analyzed, comprising questions about the most significant contribution of the tutor as well as if there are some initial expectations that have not been foreseen by the tutor.

El Misterio de la biblioteca Mil.lènium o cómo promover relaciones colaborativas desde la participación del alumnado = The Mystery of the Mil.lènium Library: How to Promote Collaborative Relationships Through Student Participation

La pedagogía crítica acentúa la falta de neutralidad de la escuela respecto a las relaciones de poder que existen en la sociedad. Su propuesta consiste en modificar las relaciones de poder en el aula en el sentido de transformar las relaciones coercitivas –las que reproducen las relaciones existentes– en relaciones colaborativas partiendo del reconocimiento y la participación de los alumnos en las actividades escolares. Desde esta perspectiva, uno de los objetivos de las actividades es que los niños produzcan «textos identitarios», entendidos como artefactos que los alumnos se pueden apropiar para promover su desarrollo cognitivo. El artículo muestra el trabajo educativo integrado desde Educación Infantil hasta 6.º de Primaria de una escuela de la provincia de Girona en la que el 97% de los alumnos es de origen extranjero y cuyo propósito es incrementar las habilidades lingüísticas orales y escritas en la lengua escolar, así como la utilización de otros lenguajes multimedia. La unidad didáctica consiste en la elaboración de un cuento a lo largo de un curso escolar por parte de todo el alumnado con la ayuda de los profesores, de dos autores y de tres ilustradores. Cada ciclo escolar decide los personajes y el escenario y explicita textualmente el transcurso de la acción. Los ilustradores producen las imágenes y los autores posibilitan la transición de aquello que ha elaborado un ciclo al producto del siguiente. La actividad basada en la participación y la utilización de procedimientos democráticos de decisión se inserta en la propuesta educativa y lingüística de la escuela, así como en sus concreciones curriculares. Los resultados muestran que los textos construidos por los niños se apoyan en sus «fondos de conocimiento» sociales y familiares y constituyen una fuente de progreso en la consecución de las competencias básicas y en la construcción de valores democráticos

La Participación de los estudiantes en la universidad: dificultades percibidas y propuestas de mejora = Student participation in the university: perceived problems and proposals for improvement

Este artículo se centra en el análisis de la participación de los estudiantes en el gobierno de la universidad y muestra específicamente las principales dificultades que hay para ella y las propuestas que pueden facilitar la implicación de los estudiantes en el funcionamiento de las universidades. A partir de una investigación desarrollada durante los cursos 2007-08 y 2008-09, en la que se utilizaron cuestionarios y grupos de discusión con estudiantes y entrevistas dirigidas al profesorado, se obtiene información sobre los principales obstáculos para la participación estudiantil. El estudio realizado muestra que, de acuerdo con la tónica general reflejada en otras investigaciones sobre esta misma temática en nuestro contexto, la participación de los estudiantes en los distintos estamentos universitarios es escasa. Ahora bien, la metodología seguida en esta investigación permite contrastar las opiniones de los estudiantes con las percepciones del profesorado y obtener así matices significativos que muestran las principales direcciones que hay que tomar para facilitar un cambio de orientación en el asunto. Los cambios que debemos emprender están relacionados no solo con la mejora de los mecanismos de información acerca de los canales de participación, sino también con el replanteamiento de los procesos participativos por parte de la universidad, así como del papel del profesorado y, específicamente, de los coordinadores de los órganos de gestión más próximos a los estudiantes. En las conclusiones del documento se presentan las propuestas de mejora dirigidas a potenciar la implicación de los estudiantes en el funcionamiento universitario. Entre ellas se apuntan las siguientes: mejorar la información y los canales de comunicación con los estudiantes, mejorar los procesos electorales, ofrecer formación a los estudiantes para la participación y formación al profesorado acerca de las metodologías, recursos e instrumentos que pueden repercutir en la motivación de los estudiantes

Teaching Motivational Interviewing to Medical Students to Improve Behavior Change Counseling Skills - Results of a Pilot Test

BACKGROUND: Patient behavior accounts for half or more of the variance in health, disease, mortality and treatment outcome and costs. Counseling using motivational interviewing (MI) effectively improves the substance use and medical compliance behavior of patients. Medical training should include substantial focus on this key issue of health promotion. The objective of the study is to test the efficacy of teaching MI to medical students. METHODS: Thirteen fourth-year medical students volunteered to participate. Seven days before and after an 8-hour interactive MI training workshop, each student performed a video-recorded interview with two standardized patients: a 60 year-old alcohol dependent female consulting a primary care physician for the first time about fatigue and depression symptoms; and a 50 year-old male cigarette smoker hospitalized for myocardial infarction. All 52 videos (13 students×2 interviews before and after training) were independently coded by two blinded clinicians using the Motivational Interviewing Training Integrity (MITI, 3.0). MITI scores consist of global spirit (Evocation, Collaboration, Autonomy/Support), global Empathy and Direction, and behavior count summary scores (% Open questions, Reflection to question ratio, % Complex reflections, % MI-adherent behaviors). A "beginning proficiency" threshold (BPT) is defined for each of these 9 scores. The proportion of students reaching BPT before and after training was compared using McNemar exact tests. Inter-rater reliability was evaluated by comparing double coding, and test-retest analyses were conducted on a sub-sample of 10 consecutive interviews by each coder. Weighted Kappas were used for global rating scales and intra-class correlations (ICC) were computed for behavior count summary scores. RESULTS: The percent of counselors reaching BPT before and after MI training increased significantly for Evocation (15% to 65%, p<.001), Collaboration (27% to 77%, p=.001), Autonomy/Support (15% to 54%, p=.006), and % Open questions (4% to 38%, p=.004). Proportions increased, but were not statistically significant for Empathy (38% to 58%, p=.18), Reflection to question ratio (0% to 15%, p=.12), % Complex reflection (35% to 54%, p=.23), and % MI-adherent behaviors (8% to 15%, p=.69). There was virtually no change for the Direction scale (92% to 88%, p=1.00). The reliability analyses produced mixed results. Weighted kappas for inter-rater reliability ranged from .14 for Direction to .51 for Collaboration, and from .27 for Direction to .80 for Empathy for test-retest. ICCs ranged from .20 for Complex reflections to .89 for Open questions (inter-rater), and from .67 for Complex reflections to .99 for Reflection to question ratio (test-retest). CONCLUSION: This pilot study indicates that a single 8-hour training in motivational interviewing for voluntary fourth-year medical students results in significant improvement of some MI skills. A larger sample of randomly selected medical students observed over longer periods should be studied to test if MI training generalizes to medical students. Inter-rater reliability and test-retest findings indicate a need for caution when interpreting the present results, as well as for more intensive training to help appropriately capture more dimensions of the process in future studies.

Monotonic trend and change points in southern Brazil precipitation

Scientific evidence on climate changes at global level has gained increasing interest in the scientific community in general. The impacts of climate change as well as anthropogenic actions may cause errors in hydro-agricultural projects existent in the watershed under study. This study aimed to identify the presence or absence of trend in total annual precipitation series of the watershed of the Mirim Lagoon, state of Rio Grande do Sul-RS / Brazil / Uruguay (Brazilian side) as well as to detect the period in which they occurred. For that, it was analyzed the precipitation data belonging to 14 weather stations. To detect the existence of monotonic trend and change points, it was used the nonparametric tests of Mann-Kendall and Mann-Whitney, the "t" test of Student for two samples of unpaired data (parametric), as well as the technique of progressive mean. The Weather Station 3152014 (Pelotas) presented changes in the trend in the series of annual precipitation in the period from 1953 to 2007. The methodologies that use subdivided series were more efficient in detecting change in trend when compared with the Mann-Kendall test, which uses the complete series (from 1921 to 2007).

Marketing Brock University in the 1980's: assessing freshman student feedback in strategic planning approach

Universities have entered a period of rapid change and upheaval due to an external environment beyond their control which includes shifting demographic patterns, accelerating technology, funding shortages, and keener competition for students. Strategic planning, a comprehensive vision which challenges universities to take bold and creative measures to meet the threats and opportunities of the future, is an institutional imperative in the 1980's. This paper examines freshman student feedback in an effort to incorporate this important element into a strategic plan for Brock University, a small, predominantly liberal arts university in St. Catharines, Ontario. The study was designed to provide information on the characteristics of the 1985-86 pool of freshman registrants: their attitudes towards Brock's recruitment measures, their general university priorities, and their influences in regard to university selection (along with other demographical and attitudinal data). A survey involving fixed-alternative questions of a subjective and objective nature was administered in two large freshman classes at Brock in which a broad cross-section of academic programs was anticipated. Computer analysis of the data for the 357 respondents included total raw frequencies and rounded percentages, as well as subgroup cross-tabulation by geographic home area of respondent, academic major, and high school graduating average. The four directional hypotheses put forward were all substantiatied by the survey data, indicating that 1) the university's current recruitment program had been a positive influence during their university search 2) parents were the most influential group in the students' decisions related to university 3) respondents viewed institutional reputation as less of a priority than an enjoyable university lifestyle in a personal learning atmosphere 4) students had a decided preference for co-operative study and internship programs. Strategic planning recommendations included a reduction in the faculty/student ratio through faculty hirings to restore the close rapport between professors and students, increased recruitment presentations in Ontario high schools to enlarge the applicant pool, creation of an Office of Co-operative Study and Internship Programs, institutional emphasis on a "customer orientation", and an extension of research into student demographics and attitudinal data.

The effect of schooling on student self-concept /|nRonald S. Cowley. -- 260 St. Catharines [Ont. : s. n.],

The following research paper was a study into change in student academic and general self-concept with increase in grade level and age# The majority of literature found by this researcher dealt with self-concept and its relationship to achievement and interactions with others, Review, then, was in these two areas-particularily within the academic setting, but outside of it as well. It wrs hypothesized that there would be a decrease in both academic and general student self-concept with increase in grade level and age. Self-Appraisal inventories, measuring general and academic selfconcept, and Inferential Self-Reports, measuring only academic selfconcept, were the instruments used* Subjects were students, Trade 1 to 13, and ranging in age from 5 to 21„ Although al] Self-Appraisal inventories and all Self-1?eports were very similar, they differed according to three Grade levels: Primary (Grades 1 to 3)> Intermediate (Grades L to 8), and Secondary (Grades 9 to 13) • Students in the Primary division received only their respective Self-Appraisal inventory, while others v/ere administered both inventories designed for their grade level. Scores on the inventories were computed to percents and then mean percents were arrived at for epch grade, each of the three grade levels, each age, and each of three age intervals. In all of these instances Spearman1 s rank order coefficients (!lpff) were calculated and significance, at the *05 level, was determined by referring to a table of critical values for one-tailed tests* Similarily fftff scores were computed, but only for individual grades and ages, and significance was determined at the *0b level* In only one instance, the General Dimension for individual grades, was significance of overall decrease found* Consequently the hypotheses put forth did not gain support* The fltff scores, however, revealed some isolated significant changes for the Academic Dimension, which were generally decreases in mean percents from the last grade of one level to the first grade of the next* For age mean percents, significant changes generally took place at early (5 or 6) and late (20 or 21) ages* A number of reasons for the results were presented and were generally based upon the studentfs encounters, or lack of encounters, with achievement or success* No definite conclusions, relevant to the hypotheses stated^ could be made, although a number of isolated ones were drawn on the basis of significant fltff scores* As well, mention was made of the possible trends or tendencies that were revealed by the results, but that could not, or were not, proven significant by "t's11 or "p's"* Teaching methods stressing improvement in academic, as well as socially related, situations, were recommended and a model teaching approach was presented in Appendix B#

Régime de change, développement du commerce et du bien-être : une analyse économétrique.

Rapport de recherche

Régime de taux de change et volatilité macroéconomique.

Rapport de recherche