An Exploratory Study of a Novel Approach to Improve Readiness for a Rural Family Medicine Residency

Background and Objectives: Transitioning from medical school to residency is challenging, especially in rural training programs where a comprehensive scope of practice is needed to address rural health disparities. Oregon Health & Science University partnered with Cascades East Family Medicine Residency in Klamath Falls, Oregon to create an integrated fourth-year medical student experience (Oregon Family medicine Integrated Rural Student Training (Oregon FIRST). Participants may then enter this residency to complete their training with the intention to practice in rural underresourced settings. Methods: In this exploratory study, we conducted key informant interviews with 9 of ten Oregon FIRST participants to determine how Oregon FIRST contributed both to their readiness for residency training and their choice to practice in rural underserved locations. Interviews were conducted between June 10, 2020 and July 8, 2020. We analyzed field notes taken during interviews for emergent themes using classical content analysis. Results: Emergent themes included logistical ease, relationship development, key curricular elements, and commitment to rural practice. Overwhelmingly, Oregon FIRST participants reported the experience had many challenging and demanding components because they served as subinterns for their entire fourth year of medical school, but this prepared them very well for internship. When asked if they would choose to enroll in Oregon FIRST again, given what they now know about physician training and patient care, all nine (100%) said they would. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that Oregon FIRST students felt better prepared for the rigors of residency and are committed to practicing in rural areas.

The measurement model of geo-education among trainee teachers in Malaysia

<p>This study conducted to develop a measurement model for measuring Geo-Education in Malaysia context. This cross-sectional survey involved 245 trainee teachers in Universities and Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia (IPGM). The data collection was made through a set of questionnaires and analyzed using SEM-AMOS. There are four main elements measured, which are loading factors, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and composite reliability. The findings indicated that Geo-Education had a significant contribution to the proposed constructs, namely primer, issues, ecosystem, lifestyle, and cross-curricular elements. A model of Geo-Education was successfully developed in this study using these five constructs, namely primer, issues, ecosystem, lifestyle, and cross-curricular elements. This study also identified twenty-five behaviours of Geo-Education among the trainee teachers in Malaysia. The findings of this study are essential as a guideline for Malaysian teachers to implement the concept of Geo-Education in Malaysia. Additionally, the application of this subject as cross-curricular elements in the Malaysian curriculum is essential to ensure the success of the implementation of Education Sustainable Development (ESD) in the school environment.</p>

Backpack Process Model (BPPM): A Process Mining Approach for Curricular Analytics

Curricular analytics is the area of learning analytics that looks for insights and evidence on the relationship between curricular elements and the degree of achievement of curricular outcomes. For higher education institutions, curricular analytics can be useful for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the curricula and for justifying changes in learning pathways for students. This work presents the study of curricular trajectories as processes (i.e., sequence of events) using process mining techniques. Specifically, the Backpack Process Model (BPPM) is defined as a novel model to unveil student trajectories, not by the courses that they take, but according to the courses that they have failed and have yet to pass. The usefulness of the proposed model is validated through the analysis of the curricular trajectories of N = 4466 engineering students considering the first courses in their program. We found differences between backpack trajectories that resulted in retention or in dropout; specific courses in the backpack and a larger initial backpack sizes were associated with a higher proportion of dropout. BPPM can contribute to understanding how students handle failed courses they must retake, providing information that could contribute to designing and implementing timely interventions in higher education institutions.

Broadening student musicians’ career horizons: The importance of being and becoming a learner in higher education

Research in higher music education acknowledges a persistent divide between performance studies and the realities of musicians’ work. Alongside this is global pressure for curriculum that is more supportive of students’ metacognitive engagement, experiential learning and career preparation. However, scholars assert that the provision of these curricular elements is insufficient unless students recognise their value and engage in them at a deep level; this is because career-long employability in precarious industries such as music is underpinned by strategic, lifelong and self-regulated learning. The study reported here featured a scaffolded employability intervention located within the existing curriculum and trialled with seven student musicians at a European institution. The study had three aims: to understand the students’ career-related thinking and confidence; to determine whether such an intervention might be scalable; and to gauge the intervention’s potential efficacy in helping students to become conscious of their learner identity. Results indicate that many student musicians are aware of the need to extend their essential professional capabilities but unaware of how to address these deficits. Participants realised that ‘learning how to learn’ would help them achieve personal and professional goals. The findings suggest that similar in-curricular interventions are achievable at scale. Furthermore, they have the potential to foster a more holistic vision of performance education and practice such that aspiring musicians might graduate as both skilled professionals and agentic learners.

Designing health professional education curricula using systems thinking perspectives

Background Medical students navigate complex personal learning pathways from entry into medical school, through an educational program, and into life-long practice. However, many stakeholders have called for substantive reforms in contemporary curricula, citing concerns about the lack of key abilities amongst newly graduated doctors to work in complex healthcare environments. Despite the need for educators to focus on curricula design, there is a paucity of overarching perspectives that allow synthesis of the various curricular elements in a way that lends meaningfulness and appreciation to the students in terms of navigating the immediate program requirements and beyond. Without such guidance, educators risk creating fragmented program designs that can lead to both unintended and unactionable outcomes for students as well as curriculum designers. Using systems thinking, we set out to address this gap by providing an overarching perspective for curriculum designers to appreciate the relationships and the interactions of the various curricular elements that inform and impact student’s preparedness for practice. Methods By framing a curriculum as a complex adaptive system, we used soft systems thinking to develop an initial prototype of a conceptual curricular toolkit, underpinned by an appraisal of relevant literature within health professional education and the broader educational context. The prototype was further refined iteratively after critical reflection by the authors with a diverse range of national and international colleagues via posters, short communications, and workshops at several conferences, and through social media. Results We describe how the 3P-6Cs toolkit captures a learner’s personal journey through an educational program into a field of practice by logically linking the three key elements: the personal, the program, and the practice. We demonstrate its application in three examples related to contemporary health profession education curricula. These are: creating integrated educational designs to capture students’ developmental continua, conceptualising immersive clinical placements in non-traditional settings, and complexity-consistent evaluation of curricular interventions. Conclusion Applying the 3P-6Cs curricular toolkit to problems of curricula (re)design can provide overarching perspectives that enable educators to have a better understanding of how integration of elements within education programs can inform and impact student’s preparation for lifelong practice.

Gamification as a Didactic Strategy for the Physical Education of Pre-School Students

In the last decade, gamification has become one of the teaching-learning strategies that has received the most attention in the world of education. This new tool uses the elements of the games to design experiences that attract the attention of students, increase their interest and motivation, and improve their learning results. Nevertheless, despite the potential of gamification, teachers are faced with the difficulty of fusing curricular elements with gamable elements to achieve an effective educational experience adapted to the curricular level of students. For this reason, the present chapter aims to design a didactic proposal of gamification destined to work with contents of physical education in the pre-school stage. This chapter shows that gamification can be used in the field of early childhood education without the need to use a large amount of educational resources, if teachers have knowledge about the process to be followed to adapt the curriculum.

La Música en Educación Infantil: Análisis comparativo de los currículos autonómicos de España

The transfer of the Spanish State to the Autonomous Communities with full competences in education during the last two decades of the 20th century, currently allows two different levels to be found where official curricula are developed: the national and the autonomous ones. This double conception is the starting point of this study where it is intended to delve into the differences and similarities of a specific curricular element, the contents. The purpose of this study is to establish the differences and similarities between the music content present in the curricula of the different Spanish autonomous communities and the Royal Decrees published that contain the minimum teachings for the second cycle of Early Childhood Education for the Spanish national framework. With its own methodological design within the field of Comparative Education and using the CARMEN questionnaire based on the comparative analysis of curricular elements as the main research instrument. The results reveal that the presence of the musical contents in the different blocks there are starting differences regarding the national documents taken as a reference. Changes in the contents of the regional documents with respect to their national documents were more frequent for the LOGSE period than in the LOE period. It has been verified that there is no influence of the political party present in order to establish a greater or lesser degree of similarity in the minimum teachings. Educational curricula are not used in Spain as an ideological tool at the service of the ideals of one political party or another.

Statistical literacy and quantitative reasoning: Rethinking the curriculum

The importance of statistical literacy/quantitative reasoning has been highlighted for decades; today the need is even more compelling with data science emerging as foundational in many disciplines. Educated students should understand how to make decisions in the presence of uncertainty and how to interpret quantitative information presented to them in the course of their professional and personal activities. Too often, however, students have limited experience in thinking and reasoning based on real data. This paper explores how ideas from data science interface with notions of statistical literacy/quantitative reasoning, considers foundational concepts necessary to enable students to engage with real data sets in the learning process, and identifies potential curricular elements that are important for all students from these perspectives.

Cultivating change: Engaging residents in research

Background The American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines for scholarly activities by family medicine residents require at least one activity per resident and encourage conference presentations. Meeting these guidelines has traditionally been challenging due to a multitude of factors from lack of time to limited administrative support. Studies have shown that resident participation in research was associated with higher levels of satisfaction with training. We aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a dedicated research curriculum in achieving ACGME goals for our residents. Methods We performed a need assessment that identified strengths and obstacles related to research which then guided the actions taken to build the curriculum. Revised curricular elements included a research focused lecture series, a restructured journal club, financial support for presentations and project expenses, a specific timeline for project completion, and the development of a regional research day involving multiple family medicine programs. Dedicated research time was built into the resident schedule and presentations at local, regional and national conferences were encouraged and supported. Results Following implementation of the curriculum there was a marked increase in the number of scholarly projects performed by residents. Prior to implementation there had only been one presentation at a national conference in the previous five years. This increased to an average of four presentations per year in the following five year period. On a regional scale, the initial success of the local research day led to a continued expansion and now includes six family medicine programs. Conclusion Implementation of a dedicated multifaceted research curriculum significantly increased the participation of our residents in scholarly activities and led to a near five-fold increase in presentations at regional and national levels. Additionally, resident satisfaction in scholarly activities increased and a far greater number of graduating residents went on to complete fellowships.