مجله ایرانی آموزش در علوم پزشکی
سال دهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 27، پاییز 1389)

The aim of staff-in service training is to improve employee's performance (functionality) in organizations. On the other hand, effective learning hinges in staff's satisfaction with educational courses. This study was designed and performed to assess employee's satisfaction with staff-in-service electronic training. This cross-sectional study was performed in year 2008 for population of those employees of Tehran University of Medical Sciences who attended staff-in-service electronic training (electronic satisfaction assessment). Using simple sampling method, 651 employees completed the questionnaire on 3 areas of satisfaction with content, instruction method, and electronic training program. During the conduction of primary study, questionnaire's content validity was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Data was analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using statistic tests of Pearson correlation, student’s T test, and one way ANOVA according to the variables. Employee's highest satisfaction related to the area of satisfaction with program (3.96 ± 0.9 out of maximum score of 5) and the lowest satisfaction was about educational program’s content (3.84±0.8). Thematic variables such as years in workforce, employment type, and educational level left no effect on employee's satisfaction with participation in electronic training courses. Employees enrolled in this study were significantly satisfied with the e-learning courses. Regarding the fact that the satisfaction was relatively low, content quality improvement seems necessary.

Teaching through group discussion is one of the student-oriented (centered) instructional methods. This study was performed to compare the effect of teaching through lecture and group discussion on nursing student's communication skills with patients in year 2008. This was a quasi experimental study performed on a population of 57 students of first (n=29) and third semester (n=28) of school of nursing and midwifery in year 2008. Students of each semester were divided into two groups of experiment and control. Two modules of medical surgical courses were taught to the students through lecture (for control group) and group discussion (experiment group). Student's skills of communication with patients in both groups were assessed once before instruction and once again after that. Data derived from two groups was compared and student's skills of communication were inscribed using a questionnaire containing 35 phrases in Likert's original 5-point scale. Mean scores of skill of communication with patients before and after instruction were as 85.1 and 85.56 respectively in lecture group which demonstrate no significant difference Mean scores of skill of communication with patients before and after instruction were as 84.7 and 91.33 respectively in group discussion cluster which revealed a significant improvement (p<0.05). The score of student's communication skills in two groups were similar before the instruction but student's communication skills were significantly higher in experiment group after the instruction. The results of this study showed that employing group discussion method helps to the development of nursing student's communication skills (areas of interactional skills and pursuing problems). Employing active educational methods and increasing student's involvement in discussions and contestations provides them with an opportunity to develop their communicational skills.

Detrimental nutritional habits along with inactive life style in children and adolescents are severe threats to the health of this age group at present and future which predispose the society to chronic diseases for the next two decades. The aim of this study was to assess different methods of healthy life style education to adolescents considering the feasibility and applicability in school environment from the viewpoints of stakeholders and program administrators using CIPP (Context, Input, Process, Product) model. This field evaluation study was performed using CIPP model. 600 male and female students of intermediate schools in Khomeinishahr were selected and randomly assigned into 4 intervention groups including direct education to students (Group A), education by parents (Group B), education by teachers (Group C), and control group (Group D). Education about healthy nutrition and appropriate physical activity was presented for a month using 3 different methods. The effectiveness of education was evaluated by interview with stakeholders and using questionnaire. Data related to evaluation of interventional program was gathered by a researcher made checklists adapted from CIPP checklist (Version 2007). The highest scores in the stages of "contractual agreements" and "program effectiveness" of CIPP checklist belonged to parents group (B) and direct education group (A), respectively. The results of stake holders’ viewpoints (students, parents, and teachers) about the program showed that the highest score belonged to group A. This study recognized "direct education to students " as the most effective and practical method for healthy life style education to adolescents

Emergency ward is of special importance in medical education, as students have the opportunity of getting experienced and skilled in crisis management. Hence, this study was performed to investigate interns’ viewpoints toward the present situation of education at the end of emergency ward. In this descriptive cross-sectional study performed during the academic year of 2007-2008, 120 interns of emergency ward were selected using census sampling method in educational hospital of Emam Reza affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of 4 parts (how interns’ time is spent, their satisfaction with learning patient management in special situations, clinical skills, and quality of emergency ward). Data was analyzed by SPSS software version 5 using descriptive statistics and t-test. Satisfaction of the majority of students with the manner of clinical skills education in the management of special urgent situation was in average to high level (except for the management of allergic emergencies which was reported to be low). Interns’ satisfaction with procedural skills education was reported to be mainly within the range of average to very high. Agreement of 64.2% of participants about extending the duration of emergency ward course was high or very high. The mean ranking score of the emergency ward rotation compared to other passed rotations by interns was almost 2 (1: the best situation, 10: the worst situation). Although students’ satisfaction with educational status showed an improvement compared to previous studies, but the current one is still far from ideal condition.

Learning and studying are considered among the most basic processes of every educational system. One of the most essential factor in determining learning behaviours, is metacognitive awareness and perception. This study was performed to determine the relationship between students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and their academic status. In a descriptive correlational study, 191 students were selected through stratified random sampling out of total students of schools of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2008-2009 academic years. Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) was distributed among study sample. Academic status of students was defined based on their grand point average. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 10 software using Pearson correlation, independent t, and variance analysis tests. The mean and standard deviation of metacognitive awareness score of students was 66.62 ± 14.8. The mean score of metacognitive awareness showed a significant correlation with students’ score of academic status meaning that students with average score higher that 17, had a significantly higher metacognitive awareness. Metacognitive awareness showed no significant relationship with variables of age, gender, and residence place. But, there was a significant relationship with academic level, so as MS students had higher metacognition score compared to that of PhD students. Metacognitive awareness and knowledge may lead to a more effective learning and studying in different courses. Considering the fact that metacognitive awareness and knowledge could be learnt both in family or educational settings in all levels of learners, it is recommended that educational and cultural institutions develop a comprehensive and detailed plan in this regard.

Faculty member's needs to information and their awareness towards these needs, is of special importance. So that, this study was performed to determine the priority of faculty member's informational needs and their method of access to information in order to improve the efficacy and the procedures of supply, collection, and organization of information in informatics centers and libraries of the university. In a descriptive cross sectional study in the year 2007, all faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (616 faculty members in 60 educational departments) were studied. Data was gathered using a valid and reliable researcher made questionnaire. Then, the data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficient. According to the findings, the majority and the most important priorities of information resources included: print books, print journals, and specialized databases. The most familiarity with and the most applicable methods of access to information were electronic mail, workplace library, home page of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, search engines, and free on line medical databases. There was a correlation between easy access to information in workplace’s library, the coverage of needed information resources, and population’s satisfaction with the coverage of needed information resources in school libraries and their usage. Considering the limited usage of libraries’ electronic and new resources by faculty members, it is recommended to plan for faculty member's education which may lead to the more use of new information resources.

Self-efficacy has an important role in applying scientific and professional knowledge and skills. Teaching methods can develop different skills such as decision making capability. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of teaching method of lecture in comparison with lecture and problem based learning on nursing student's self-efficacy in Najafabad Islamic Azad University during 2008-2009. In this quasi-experimental study, 44 nursing students who had been admitted to the university in 2006, were selected through random sampling method. Then, they were assigned in to two experiment and control groups, randomly. The data gathering tool was the Iranian edition of Generalized Self Efficacy questionnaire (GSE10). The data were analyzed by version 15 of SPSS software using mean, standard deviation and independent t-test and paired t-test. The self-efficacy score increased significantly in both lecture (p<.004) and PBL (P<.001) groups. Although the mean score of post-test was higher in PBL group compared to the lecture group, no significant difference was observed comparing the mean of the difference between pre and post-tests in the two groups. According to this study, effective education can promote student's self-efficacy in order to carry out the related performance. Considering the higher mean score of the PBL group, it is recommended to pay more attention to this educational method in higher education curriculum.

Instructional tools are among effective factors in learning. Learning about student's viewpoints towards these tools could help teachers in choosing the most appropriate one. This study was performed to investigate and compare student's views towards three routine instructional tools including PowerPoint, overhead, and whiteboard. In this descriptive study in the year 2007, 68 nursing students in Saveh Nursing School were investigated. The sampling was done by convenient sampling method and data were gathered using a 36 item questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were verified using content validity and internal consistency of data, respectively. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive (mean, standard deviation, and frequency) and inferential (paired t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient) statistics. The mean scores of positive responses (from 0 to 100) regarding PowerPoint, whiteboard and overhead were 53.65±28.8, 53.65±27.6, and 21.93±25.5, respectively. 57.9% of students preferred PowerPoint, 38.6% chose whiteboard as their most favorable tool, and 3.5% had the preference for overhead. A difference was observed between scores of PowerPoint and overhead (t = 7.26, p < 0.005) as well as scores of whiteboard and overhead (t = 8.16, p < 0.005). Since, there are variations in student's preferences for instructional tools, it is recommended that teachers use a combination of different instructional instruments in order to be more effective in promoting students’ motivation and satisfaction in the classroom.