مجله ایرانی آموزش در علوم پزشکی
سال دوازدهم شماره 10 (پیاپی 48، دی 1391)

Continuous evaluation of students’ educational status is necessary for improving of educational system. The aim of this study was to compare educational status of present dental students all around the country with previous graduated students from the viewpoint of Iranian dental faculty members. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in 2011. The information was collected by a valid and reliable questionnaire that was completed by 354 eligible faculty members employed in 18 dental schools. The questionnaire was designed to compare educational status of present dental students with that of the previous graduated students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics، independent t-test، ANOVA and Spearman correlation coefficient. More than 50% of the faculty members stated that the students’ tendency to participate in specialty exams and to embark on research activities is better to much better then before; but interest in didactic class attendance and to accomplish educational assignments is worse to much worse. Moreover، most participants believed that there was no difference between current students and graduates in other variables and totally، educational status of students has not changed. The participants believed that about 46% of dental graduates have enough clinical skills for independent practice. Spearman''s correlation coefficient did not show a significant correlation between years of services of faculty members and study’s variables. Although aspiration for participation in postgraduate entrance exams and research activities have increased، in general the educational status of Iranian dental students has not improved during the last years. According to the viewpoints of faculty members، dental students’ clinical skills necessary for independent practice is not satisfied.

Academic performance is not a univalent construct; hence planning for its promotion among university students necessitates vast educational emprises. This study addresses factors such as quality of life، the students'' use of internet، and their attitudes toward addiction and drugs which potentially play a role in academic performance of students، and represents a model. In a cross sectional study، consecutive sampling was performed on 106 students of Guilan University of Medical Science in 2010-2011 academic years. Every student answered a Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)، attitude measurement questionnaire toward addiction، and the time dedicated to internet weekly. The last attained average grade of students was considered as an index for their academic performance. Data was analyzed using independent t-test، Pearson correlation and point biserial coefficient and multiple regressions (with Enter method). Findings showed that these supposed factors totally explain 34% of shared variance of academic performance (P<0. 01). In final model، internet use variable was excluded whereas dimensions of quality of life including physical functioning (P= 0. 001)، physical role (P= 0. 002)، body pain (P= 0. 03)، general health (P= 0. 004)، physical health (P= 0. 001)، and also attitude toward addiction (P= 0. 001) could significantly predict the academic performance. Results indicated that some dimensions of students’ quality of life and also their negative attitudes toward addiction can affect the promotion of their academic success. Thus، it is necessary to plan health-oriented educational programs to enhance students’ academic performance.

Clinical assessment in nursing education is essential because of variety of objectives and complexity of clinical performance. Programmatic approach is an opportunity for comprehensive and multidimensional assessment. Opinions of stakeholders have an effect on application and effectiveness of a program. Thus، the aim of this study was evaluation of nursing students’ and faculties’ viewpoints about using programmatic approach in assessment. In this descriptive-analytic study، a census sample of 38 internship nursing students and 8 faculties in critical care rotation have participated. Clinical assessment of students was designed based on a programmatic approach and applied for one educational semester. Then، the viewpoints of faculties and students about this assessment method and its strengths and weaknesses were collected by a questionnaire. A visual analog scale in 0-10 measure was used to evaluate satisfaction of subjects. The data were analyzed using descriptive indices and t (paired and independent) tests. The mean score of faculties and students’ satisfaction with programmatic assessment was 8. 70±1. 82 and 7. 66±1. 50، respectively. Totally، 87. 5% of faculties and 97. 3% of students were agreed with this method for students’ clinical performance assessment. According to attitudes of both groups، the strengths of this method were objectivity، impartiality، feedback provision، accurate coverage of educational objectives and specificity. 87. 5% of faculties and 89. 47% of students believed programmatic approach in assessment has a positive educational impact. The findings showed the majority of nursing students and faculties are satisfied with clinical assessment using programmatic approach and that is acceptable because of its objectivity، feedback provision، specificity، complete coverage of educational objectives and positive educational impact. Therefore، extensive application of this method in other clinical settings can be considered.

Enhancing nursing students'' critical thinking is a challenge faced by nursing educators. This study is aimed at determining the effect of clinical concept mapping using nursing process on discipline based critical thinking of 4th year nursing students. In this quasi-experimental study، a convenient sample of 32 nursing students participated. They were randomly assigned to two groups. The control group was involved just in the usual clinical practice، while the experimental group participated in a one day workshop on clinical concept mapping using nursing process during their usual clinical practice. They were also asked to provide at least two clinical concept maps during their clinical practice. On the 10th week of their clinical practice a post-test was done using a specially designed package consisting of fourteen vignettes and three open response opportunity for measurement of seventeen dimensions of critical thinking in nursing (under two categories of cognitive critical thinking skills and mind habits). Students of both groups were required to write about how they would use a designated critical thinking habit or skill to act in a certain way. The students'' responses were evaluated by two raters based on identification of critical thinking، justification and quality (appropriateness of the responses with regard to their level of education) of the student''s response. The mean scores of both groups were compared by Mann-Whitney test. Result of the study revealed a significant difference (p<0. 001) between the two groups'' cognitive critical thinking scores: Experimental group mean score (20. 14±13. 62) vs the control group mean score (6. 41± 6. 52). The results also revealed a significant difference (p<0. 005) in the scores of mind habits: Experimental group mean score (23. 68±20. 58) vs the control group mean score (6. 30± 5. 51). Two groups of study were also significantly different from each other in 11 out of 17 dimensions of critical thinking (p<. 01). Teaching and application of clinical concept mapping leads to improvement of critical thinking abilities in nursing students. However، further studies are recommended to generalize this result to nursing students in their earlier stage of education.

Public health experts play an important role in implementation of health centers’ programs. The comments and suggestions of graduate employees of this field about the level of functionality of the curriculum to professional requirements needed by graduates could help determine the shortcomings. This study aimed to investigate the level of coordination of curriculum and syllabus of public health BS with job requirements and health systems’ expectations of this field from the viewpoints of graduates employed in district health centers. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 95 graduates of public health employed in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The sample was selected using multistage sampling. Data collection instruments was a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire، including questions about applicability of educational contents of basic، specialty، and major courses of this discipline in their job responsibilities. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the application of courses and lessons in public health discipline was in an average level (40%-59. 9%) and basic courses had the lowermost application in job activities (lower than 20%). The existing curriculum had different application level based on the job definition. It was most applicable for “disease control staff”، while to be very low applicable for “network development experts”. The content of 71. 79% of courses was represented just in cognitive area. In conclusion، the graduates of this discipline had a relative and average satisfaction with contents of their academic experience. The study showed that the educational content of public health discipline is not fully coordinated with job requirements of this field. Therefore it is highly recommended to modify this curriculum in order to improve its applicability for future employees.

Critical thinking is considered as an ultimate goal for education، and a criteria for academic accreditation. So، organizations such as World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) emphasize its importance. This study aimed to assess critical thinking dispositions among medical students’ at two medical school stages (basic medical science and pre-internship) in two medical universities in year 2010. performance on at the two different levels of on all the students at two universities of medical sciences. This descriptive cross-sectional study run in Tehran (TUMS) and Mashhad Universities of medical sciences (MUMS). A census sample of medical students (n=635) studying in basic medical sciences or pre-internship stages received California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCDI) and demographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive indices and t-test. The total mean score on CCDI according to the completed (n=442) questionnaires، was 291. 08±30. 51. It was 291. 38±31. 98 for the basic science students and 290. 70±28. 6 at the pre-internship level. While the performance of the students at the two levels of basic science and pre-internship showed no significant differences، on the three subscales of inquisitiveness (p=0. 012)، self-confidence (p=0. 011) and truth-seeking (p=0. 012)، we observed significant differences. The total mean score on CCDI was 290. 68±30. 9 for Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and 291. 67±29. 97 for MUMS. The total scores for the two universities was not significantly different (p>0. 7); however، the performance of the students at TUMS on the subtest for systematicity was found to be significantly better (p=0. 023). Only two top deciles of the students had strongly positive critical thinking dispositions. Students’ critical thinking dispositions were intermediate and positive. It seems that our educational system requires to be revised in order to improve students’ critical thinking dispositions. This study could be the first step to doing research to find better ways to intervening curriculum in order to promote critical thinking dimensions.

Emphasis on active learning in training leads to the development of new educational strategies for teaching theoretical and clinical courses in medical sciences. Active involvement in the teaching-learning process improves learning. The purpose of the present study is to compare two methods of lecturing and puzzle in Medical Emergency Course، regarding students’ learning & viewpoints. In this quasi-experimental study with pre-and post-test design، 60 Anesthesiology students enrolled in medical emergency course in Paramedics College of Mashhad Islamic Azad University، participated. By census sampling، students were non-randomly assigned to two groups of 30. In one، participants were trained through lecturing and in the other through puzzle. Each session began with a pre-test، and after teaching، post-test was taken. At the end of the program، students’ viewpoints on the teaching method were surveyed using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS using statistical tests of paired t-test، independent t-test، and chi square. Mean of student pre-test scores (out of 10) in the puzzle group was 4. 1±1. 35 & in the lecture group was 4. 4±1. 25، which were not significantly different. Mean of students’ post-test scores in the puzzle & lecture groups were 7±1. 47 & 8. 5±1. 1 respectively، which were significantly different. In the puzzle group، learning improved more than the lecture group. Also the survey showed more satisfaction in the puzzle group، according to more student participation، motivating them about lesson topics، fostering effective peer relationships، and deep learning. Considering the favorable effects of the puzzle method on learning and satisfaction of students، it is suggested that this teaching method be applied for teaching courses of medical sciences.

The lack of communication skills among employees could result in less organizational citizenship behavior. Hence improving communication skills is of high necessity. The aim of this research is to determine the effect of communication skills training on the organizational citizenship behavior of nurses. In this quasi-experimental research، the statistical population included all the nurses employed by Isfahan’s Kashani hospital in 2009 (158 male and female nurses in 12 wards). By applying the random stratified sampling، 20 participants were assigned to the experimental group and another 20 to the control group. The experimental group received an 8-session training course on communication skills. To measure and evaluate the organizational citizenship behavior of each group before and after training، Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire was used (Cronbach’s Alpha=0. 74). Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics (average and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation coefficient and co-variance analysis). After adjusting the effect of pre-test scores، the mean score for organizational citizenship behavior in the experimental group a month after the intervention (66. 45±3. 57) showed a statistically significant difference (p<0. 01) compared to its previous value (62. 85±4. 34). According to ANCOVA، main effect of organizational citizenship behavior of nurses، before training was 0. 364; whereas a month after the intervention، this increased to 0. 607، (p<0. 01). Communication skills training increased the nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior in the experiment group and the effect sustained a month after the intervention. Running standard communication skills training programs، with the help of specialized lecturers، is recommended in various nursing feilds such as education، research، management، and clinical nursing.