Book Review: Intelligent Character as a Basic Moral of Millenial's Character Education

The author made this review intending to fulfill the final project of the Pancasila course with Pancasila and the 21st-century millennial generation theme. Pancasila has values in each of its precepts and is the nation's ideology that has officially become the life guide for the Indonesian people.The book, entitled Educating Millennial Generation, has been addressed to Prof. Rama. Dr. Paulus Suparno, SJ, M.S.T. which will be retired in 2020. Not only that, at the moment when the book had launched, it also stated that this book could be a part of educating media for the millennial generation to become a smart generation and has a noble character. This book aimed to influences the millennial generation in an effort to advancing Indonesia. But in reality, it has shown a contrary habit among millennial generations. There were so many disrespectful events which becomes evidence that younger generations are no longer practicing the noble values of Pancasila. This is in accordance with the development of science and technology. This book is not only intended for millennials, but also for educators because educators are also required to improve their teaching preferences so that the current generation is not only intelligent but also has character. The Intelligent Character as a Basic Moral of Millenial's Character Education book provides some new information about millennial generations that are in accordance with what is happening today. The younger generation who have been instilled since childhood with ethics and morality will have a strong character and adhere to Pancasila as their guide to maintain their existence and identity. In addition, there is also a section where teachers can get information on how to do educated students and conducting their character even in these pandemic situations.The thing that makes Intelligent Character as a Basic Moral of Millenial's Character Education books important to review because contains several explanations about education which are in accordance with the era of globalization for Millenials. In addition, considering that the millennial generation will always follow technological developments, several chapters mentioned about tips for educators to carry out an intelligent learning for character education.

One-on-one mentoring for final year medical students during the neurosurgery rotation

Background Medical students show varying clinical practical skills when entering their final year clinical clerkship, which is the final period to acquire and improve practical skills prior to their residency. We developed a one-on-one mentoring program to allow individually tailored teaching of clinical practical skills to support final year students with varying skill sets during their neurosurgical clinical clerkship. Methods Each participating student (n = 23) was paired with a mentor. At the beginning students were asked about their expectations, teaching preferences and surgical interest. Regular meetings and evaluations of clinical practical skills were scheduled every 2 weeks together with fixed rotations that could be individually adjusted. The one-on-one meetings and evaluations with the mentor gave each student the chance for individually tailored teaching. After completion of the program each student evaluated their experience. Results The mentoring program was well received by participating students and acquisition or improvement of clinical practical skills was achieved by most students. A varying practical skill level and interest in the field of surgery was seen. Conclusions A neurosurgical one-on-one mentoring program is well received by final year medical students and allows for individually tailored learning of clinical practical skills.

Timetable Generation

Evidence based on ongoing published research shows that timetabling has been a challenge for over two decades. There is a growing need in higher education for a learner-centered solution focused on individual preferences. In the authors' earlier published work, students' group assessment information was mined to determine individualized achievements and predict future performance. In this paper, they extend the work to present a solution that uses students' individualized achievements, expected future performance, and historical registration records to discover students' registration timing patterns, as well as the most appropriate courses for registration. Such information is then processed to build the most suitable timetable for each student in the following semester. Faculty members' time preferences are also predicted based on historical teaching time patterns and course teaching preferences. The authors propose a modified frequent pattern (FP)-tree algorithm to process the predicted information. This results in clustering students to solve the timetable problem based on the predicted courses for registration. Then, it divides the timetable problem into subproblems for resolution. This ensures that time will not conflict within the generated timetables while satisfying both the hard and soft constraints. Both students' and faculty members timetabling preferences are met (88.8% and 85%).

Cross-sectional questionnaire study to gather the teaching preferences and expectations of UK undergraduate medical students for culinary medicine learning

AimTo determine undergraduate medical students’ teaching preferences and expectations for Culinary Medicine (CM) learning with a view to informing development of a CM course at a UK medical school.SettingA single, urban UK medical school.Participants180 undergraduate medical students.Study designA cross-sectional questionnaire study collecting quantitative and qualitative (free-text) data.Methods and outcome measuresAn online questionnaire consisting of 16 questions of various styles (Likert-type, multiple choice and free-text). Quantitative analysis of multiple choice and Likert-type scale questions was conducted. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse the free-text responses and identify themes.ResultsThree core themes related to students’ understanding of CM were identified: (1) ‘CM Learning’: students’ perceived relevance of CM knowledge, perceived relevance of CM to healthcare and their expectations for teaching; (2) ‘The Relationship between Food and Health’: links between diet, social factors and health; and (3) ‘Evidence-based Medicine’: students’ perceptions about scientific principles underlying CM. Quantitative analysis revealed that, although 83% of students felt that learning CM is important for their future clinical practice, 56% felt unable to take a dietary history. 73% of students were dissatisfied with the quality, and 78% were dissatisfied with the quantity, of existing medical school teaching understood to be relevant to CM. Topics that students would like to be taught on a CM course included weight management and portion control. Students felt that problem-based style learning would be the most appropriate method for delivering CM teaching.ConclusionsThis study revealed that medical students felt their dietary counsulting skills could be improved with further clinically relevant teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Students’ preferences for CM learning have been taken into consideration in the development of a CM course for fifth-year undergraduate students at a UK medical school, which is delivered during their General Practice placement.

The Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Personality and Their Teaching Preference

The present study sought to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ personality types and their teaching preferences. Besides, it attempted to take the notion of gender into account. The participants included 100 EFL teachers and university instructors from seven English language institutes in Shiraz, and two universities in Fars Province. Availability sampling was used for this aim. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) questionnaire and Teaching Activities Preference (TAP) questionnaire were used to collect the data. The design of the study was survey method; so, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Based on the analyses undertaken, the following results were obtained: 1) there was a significant relationship between the personality and teaching preference, 2) Male and female EFL teachers’ (from Shiraz English language institutes) teaching preferences were statistically the same. The results could be used by teachers, university instructors, syllabus designers and, in general, all groups involved in education.

Listening in Older Second Language Learners: The Teachers’ Perspective

There are various theories, strategies and techniques regarding teaching different language skills. At the same time, as practice shows listening remains the most challenging skill for the educators to teach effectively and for the learners to master. Moreover, both the learners and their teachers have their own, not infrequently rather disparate, subjective theories, as well as learning and teaching preferences. Older adult learners are a peculiar case as they are a very diverse group, aware of their needs and cognitive abilities. At the same time, their teachers are unfortunately often unaware of these needs and do not adapt the materials to suit their students. The aim of this paper is, thus, to present the opinions of the teachers of older adult students and to provide basis for future research.