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This study aims to introduce collaborative learning as a method in the Mental Health and Diseases Nursing course for actively enrolled fourth-year nursing students. The objective is to assess the impact of collaborative learning on critical thinking and clinical decision-making among nursing students. Collaborative learning involves the use of small groups to help students identify effective ways of working together to enhance their learning outcomes. A quantitative research methodology was employed in this study. To evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative learning program, a within-subject repeated-measures design was implemented. This study was conducted in the nursing department of a university in Turkey. The study included 96 female students (92.3 %) and 8 male students (7.7 %). Data collection involved the sociodemographic data form, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), and the Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing Scale (CDMNS). The students' pre-program CDMNS median score was 146.00 (117.00-177.00), and the post-program CDMNS median score was 147.50 (115.00-175.00). While there was an increase in the students' clinical decision-making scores after the program, this increase was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The pre-program median score for CCTDI was 223.26 (176.87-296.02), and the post-program median score was 227.88 (188.87-359.00). The students' critical thinking disposition scores showed a statistically significant increase after the program (p < 0.05). The study results revealed notable enhancements among students who participated in courses utilizing the collaborative learning method. These enhancements included heightened academic performance, elevated levels of critical thinking, increased self-confidence, and improved clinical decision-making abilities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: The aim of the research was to evaluate outdoor aerobic sport activities (OASA) in the physical education (PE) of university students using wearables and their potential to personalize the learning process and enhance motivation., Methods: In total, 368 university students participated. The OASA structure and the key points of application in PE were described. Descriptive statistics of the training units ( n  = 3,680) were processed. The students recorded their training data in the Strava app (10 sessions per semester), and the data were shared in the online sport community created on the Strava platform. Motivation was evaluated using a questionnaire. The focus was both on intrinsic motivation and extrinsic "ICT" motivation, based on Strava app features and tools., Results: The most preferred outdoor aerobic sport activities were running (58%), cycling (13%), and walking (16%). The results provided insight into motivation and performance analysis. Students' motivation to participate in OASA was mainly in health concerns, such as staying in shape (94%), staying healthy (90%), and psychological concerns, such as having fun (88%), improving state of mind (88%), or relieving stress (83%). In achievement concerns, the motivation was a personal challenge (72%), while competing with others was ranked lowest (32%). The Strava app was a motivating tool for students to record, monitor, and analyze their individual activities and feel "connectedness" to the online sport community. 70% of students were motivated by the non-competitive character of PE, which gave them a personalized opportunity to train without being compared to others., Discussion: The OASA management, with the use of blended learning methods and the Strava app, uses a motivational approach to create, support, and maintain students' healthy habits of physical activity through PE lessons. The need for students to be motivated to exercise can be confirmed in the analysis of the statistical descriptive parameters of running, cycling, and walking. There was a tendency for students to complete only the minimum required distance/time (not more). On the other hand, students enjoyed the training, and 99% of students confirmed that they would enroll again. That fact underlined the importance of motivating students with an effective learning strategy and giving support and guidance., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Hrušová, Chaloupský, Chaloupská and Hruša.)

Magnetic Resonance imaging based Electrical Properties Tomography (MR-EPT) is a non-invasive technique that measures the electrical properties (EPs) of biological tissues. In this work, we present and numerically investigate the performance of an unrolled, physics-assisted method for 2D MR-EPT reconstructions, where a cascade of Convolutional Neural Networks is used to compute the contrast update. Each network takes in input the EPs and the gradient descent direction (encoding the physics underlying the adopted scattering model) and returns as output the updated contrast function. The network is trained and tested in silico using 2D slices of realistic brain models at 128 MHz. Results show the capability of the proposed procedure to reconstruct EPs maps with quality comparable to that of the popular Contrast Source Inversion-EPT, while significantly reducing the computational time., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Pediatricians are often the first point of contact for children in Primary Care (PC), but still perceive gaps in their allergy knowledge. We investigated self-perceived knowledge gaps and educational needs in pediatricians across healthcare systems in Europe so that future educational initiatives may better support the delivery of allergy services in PC., Method: A multinational survey was circulated to pediatricians who care for children and adolescents with allergy problems in PC by the EAACI Allergy Educational Needs in Primary Care Pediatricians Task Force from February to March 2023. A 5-point Likert scale was used to assess the level of agreement with questionnaire statements. Thirty surveys per country were the cut-off for inclusion and statistical analysis., Results: In this study, 1991 respondents were obtained from 56 countries across Europe and 210 responses were from countries with a cut-off below 30 participants per country. Primary care pediatricians (PCPs) comprised 74.4% of the respondents. The majority (65.3%) were contracted to state or district health services. 61.7% had awareness of guidelines for onward allergy referral in their countries but only 22.3% were aware of the EAACI competencies document for allied health professionals for allergy. Total sample respondents versus PCPs showed 52% and 47% of them have access to allergy investigations in their PC facility (mainly specific IgE and skin prick tests); 67.6% and 58.9% have access to immunotherapy, respectively. The main barrier to referral to a specialist was a consideration that the patient's condition could be diagnosed and treated in this PC facility, (57.8% and 63.6% respectively). The main reasons for referral were the need for hospital assessment, and partial response to first-line treatment (55.4% and 59.2%, 47% and 50.7%, respectively). Learning and assessment methods preference was fairly equally divided between Traditional methods (45.7% and 50.1% respectively) and e-learning 45.5% and 44.9%, respectively. Generalist physicians (GPs) have the poorest access to allergy investigations (32.7%, p = .000). The majority of the total sample (91.9%) assess patients with allergic pathology. 868 (43.6%) and 1117 (46.1%), received allergy training as undergraduates and postgraduates respectively [these proportions in PCPs were higher (45% and 59%), respectively]. PCPs with a special interest in allergology experienced greater exposure to allergy teaching as postgraduates. GPs received the largest amount of allergy teaching as undergraduates. Identifying allergic disease based on clinical presentation, respondents felt most confident in the management of eczema/atopic dermatitis (87.4%) and rhinitis/asthma (86.2%), and least confident in allergen immunotherapy (36.9%) and latex allergy (30.8%)., Conclusion: This study exploring the confidence of PCPs to diagnose, manage, and refer patients with allergies, demonstrated knowledge gaps and educational needs for allergy clinical practice. It detects areas in need of urgent improvement especially in latex and allergen immunotherapy. It is important to ensure the dissemination of allergy guidelines and supporting EAACI documents since the majority of PCPs lack awareness of them. This survey has enabled us to identify what the educational priorities of PCPs are and how they would like to have them met., (© 2024 European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Interprofessional collaboration is seen as an indispensable prerequisite for high-quality health services and patient care, especially for complex diseases such as dementia. Thus, the current project aimed to extend interprofessional and competency-based education in the field of dementia care to the previously understudied therapy professions of nutrition, speech-language pathology, and physiotherapy., Methods: A three-day workshop was designed to provide specific learning objectives related to patient-centered dementia care, as well as competences for interprofessional collaboration. Teaching and learning approaches included case-based learning in simulated interprofessional case-conferences and peer-teaching. A total of 42 students ( n  = 20 nutrition therapy and counseling, n  = 8 speech-language pathology, n  = 14 physiotherapy), ranging from first to seventh semester, finished the whole workshop and were considered in data analysis. Changes in self-perceived attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and education were measured by the German version of the UWE-IP. An in-house questionnaire was developed to evaluate knowledge and skills in the field of dementia, dementia management and interprofessional collaboration., Results: Participation in the workshop led to significant improvements in the total scores of the UWE-IP-D and the in-house questionnaire, as well as their respective subscales. Moderate to large effect sizes were achieved. All professions improved significantly in both questionnaires with large effect sizes. Significant differences between professions were found in the UWE-IP-D total score between students of speech-language pathology and physiotherapy in the posttest. Students of nutrition therapy and counseling revealed a significant lower level of self-perceived knowledge and skills in the in-house questionnaire pre- and post-testing., Discussion: The pilot-study confirms the effectiveness of interprofessional education to promote generic and interprofessional dementia care competencies and to develop positive attitudes toward interprofessional learning and collaboration in the therapy professions, thus increasing professional diversity in interprofessional education research. Differences between professions were confounded by heterogenous semester numbers and participation conditions. To achieve a curricular implementation, interprofessional education should be expanded to include a larger group of participants belonging to different professions, start early in the study program, and be evaluated over the long term., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Dressel, Ablinger, Lauer, Grimm, Hartmann, Hermanns, Schwarz, Taddey and Grimm.)

Introduction: Nursing students should acquire competence in promoting self-care in older adults with chronic multimorbidity, but opportunities for clinical practice are limited. The implementation of a home visiting programme to community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity could contribute to nursing students' acquisition of this competence., Objective: The aim of our study was to understand the experience of nursing students participating in a home visiting programme to community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity., Design: Qualitative study based on Gadamer's hermeneutic phenomenology., Method: Twenty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with nursing students participating in a home visiting programme. Data were recorded, transcribed and analysed following the procedure developed by Fleming., Results: Three main themes were extracted in the data analysis process: (1) 'living the theory. Experience as a catalyst for learning', (2) 'the home visiting programme as a tool for promoting competence in caring for older adults', and (3) 'when learning sparks interest in working with older adults'., Conclusion: The home visiting programme to community-dwelling older adults has an important impact on the personal and professional development of nursing students. The experience of the home visiting programme leads to deep learning that sparks interest in caring for older adults. The implementation of a home visiting programme could be a beneficial strategy for the acquisition of competence to promote health and self-care., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Les difficultés cognitives consécutives aux troubles neurocognitifs majeurs (TNCM) engendrent des enjeux dans la réalisation d'activités de la vie quotidienne. Ce projet visait à identifier auprès des proches aidants et des intervenants des situations nécessitant des méthodes optimisant l'apprentissage pour faciliter l'engagement de personnes vivant avec un TNCM dans leurs activités de la vie quotidienne. Des entrevues individuelles semi-dirigées, d'une durée de 60 à 90 minutes, ont été menées auprès de proches aidants et d'intervenants. Les résultats montrent que les activités quotidiennes et domestiques sont notamment affectées par les difficultés à repérer ou à utiliser les objets, à garder en tête la tâche en cours, à mettre en séquences des étapes, à ne pas se laisser distraire par autre chose et à constater ses difficultés pour s'y adapter. Les proches aidants souhaitent du soutien dans l'application des méthodes optimisant l'apprentissage pour contribuer au maintien de l'autonomie des personnes vivant avec un TNCM.

(1) Background: There are considerable challenges and concerns related to learning medical and bioscience subjects (MBS) in nursing education and integrating this knowledge into nursing. The aim of this study was to explore what learning methods nursing students prefer when studying MBS, and how this learning may be enhanced to facilitate the integration of these subjects into nursing. (2) Methods: Individual interviews with 10 nursing students. Transcripts from the interviews were analysed by systematic text condensation and the COREQ checklist for qualitative studies was completed. (3) Results: Students prefer varied and active learning methods in MBS. The participants in the study highlighted both organised tutorials in groups and working with fellow students outside of organised teaching. All participants used educational videos. Learning MBS by drawing was appreciated both during lectures and in student-initiated colloquia. Strategies that favour in-depth learning were appreciated, and it was found that lectures did not have to cover the entire curriculum. Teachers' attitudes toward students also were seen to have a considerable impact on students' motivation for learning. (4) Conclusion: Applying active learning methods and focusing on the most relevant topics in MBS appears to improve students' ability to integrate this knowledge into nursing; teachers should also be aware of their role as a motivator.

This research aims to explore the online English learning effects among preschoolers with different cognitive characteristics influenced by different learning methods and the interaction between cognitive characteristics and learning methods. Data are collected by using two 3 × 3 between-subject experiments. Wherein, 248 participants based on Embedded Figure Test are divided into Field Independence (FID), Field Mixed (FM), and Field Dependence (FM) in Study 1, while 247 participants based on the Go-No-Go task are divided into Higher self-control (HSC), Middle self-control (MSC), Lower self-control (LSC) in Study 2. Then, through random assignment, all participants enter three learning method groups, restudy (RS), restudy plus test (RST), and restudy plus test plus feedback (RSTF). In addition, all children were allowed to learn online on the iPad to test their learning outcomes by word recognition, picture-word matching, and picture book recognition tests. As seen from the results, FID children performed better than FM and FD children, but their learning outcomes were not affected by the learning methods. FM and FD children performed better when adopting the RSTF learning method. However, for children with different levels of self-control, no differences are found despite their learning methods. Given the above, the "fit/match" between children's cognitive style and online learning methods are effective in maximizing learning effects for preschoolers., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

The study aimed to investigate the effects of kinesthetic experiences on balance ability (using exercise balls for gymnastics) and on interpersonal relationships by comparing two different learning methods. Participants learning gymnastics during physical education classes at university were randomly allocated to a kinesthetic-experiential learning (KEL) group ( n  = 20) or a model-mastery learning (MML) group ( n  = 22). Both groups practiced a balancing exercise on an exercise ball. In the KEL group, participants were asked to pay attention to the sensations of their body on the ball in a variety of movements, whereas the MML group was asked to reproduce the instructions of the ideal model provided by an instructor. The results showed that the participants in the KEL group had longer balancing time on the exercise ball, higher self-evaluation scores, and higher interpersonal relationship scores than those in the MML group, although the objective evaluations of postural stability were better in the MML group than in the KEL group. These findings suggest that methods that provide learners with versatile kinesthetic experiences through a variety of movements are more effective for enhancing balance ability and interpersonal relationships.

Background: The sequential waves of epidemic spread of COVID-19 in Thailand have caused periodic closures of schools, and exposed students to different learning methods that require multiple adjustment strategies. This study aimed to examine how different learning methods may correlate with anxiety and health behavior (e.g., physical activity, active play, screen time, sleep) of primary and secondary school students in Thailand., Methods: Thailand Report Card (TRC) Data (2021) was employed. The sample of the TRC was drawn by multi-stages random sampling stratified by region, district, urban/rural, school size, sex, and age to ensure national representativeness. A total of 6,078 Thai primary (64%) and secondary (36%) school students were included in the analysis., Results: About two-thirds (66.4%) of the sample experienced a shift from traditional classroom to fully online learning, 6.9% experienced partial online instruction, 23.6% received handouts or written assignments, and 3.1% resumed traditional classroom learning. Compared to fully online learning, students who experienced traditional classroom (onsite) teaching were 37.8% less likely to report moderate-to severe anxiety (OR 0.6; p -value 0.021). There was no significant correlation between school closure-induced anxiety with overall physical activity (PA) and active play, but anxiety was significantly associated with screen time and sleep duration. Receiving handouts/written assignments only as the learning method was significantly correlated with PA, but two methods (handouts and onsite/traditional classroom) was significantly correlated with active play. Students who experienced classroom learning were also more likely to comply with recommended durations of screen time and sleep., Conclusion: Although online learning was probably the most convenient choice during COVID-19 containment measures in Thailand, this method did not provide sufficient opportunity for PA and play. Online learning also encouraged an excessive use of screen media, and disrupted sleeping patterns. Online learning also pressured Thai students to make various adjustments in their daily routines that may have further aggravated anxiety., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Widyastari, Kesaro, Rasri, Saonuam and Katewongsa.)

Background: Triage practices in the Emergency Department (ED) need to be modified during a mass casualty incident (MCI) to accommodate the influx of patients. A triage protocol known as Rapid Assessment Triage for Emergency Department/Urgent Care (RATE) was developed specifically for use in EDs during MCIs., Methods: Phase 1: validation of the RATE protocol by triage experts. Phase 2: a pretest/ post-test quasi-experiment comparing a RATE infographic with a RATE e-learning module in a convenience sample of 64 triage Registered Nurses from two EDs., Results: Phase 1: the five experts reached 100% consensus for 20 patient vignettes. Phase 2: there were no statistically significant differences on pre-test and post-test scores within and between RN groups controlling for age, years as an RN, years as an ED RN, and years as a triage RN (all p values > 0.05). There was no group by time interaction (p = 0.49)., Conclusion: The RATE protocol was validated. As there were no statistically significant differences between the groups using the RATE infographic or the elearning module, either method can be used for training purposes. The infographic is cost effective and may be preferred in resource poor environments or when just-in-time training is required., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

During recent years there has been a growing interest in stochastic dynamic neural fields employed for modeling and predictions in biomedical and technical systems. In this paper, given some incomplete noisy data available from sensors, we propose and explore a state estimation method for fast restorations of membrane potential in the cortex based on such measurements and the Amari equation used for simulations of neural population activity in a stochastic setting. Our novel technique relies upon a Galerkin-type spectral approximation utilized within the conventional state-space approach. Translating a stochastic system into its state-space form creates a straightforward and fruitful way to the data-driven parameter estimation, filtering, prediction and smoothing. The present study is particularly focused on establishing a nonlinear stochastic Galerkin-spectral-approximation-induced system of large size, which is further estimated by the traditional extended Kalman filter (EKF). The efficiency of calculations is the main purpose of our research. That is why the fast filtering solution devised is based on processing the incoming data incrementally, that is, by processing measurements one at a time, rather than handling them as a unified high-dimensional vector. Such sequential filters suit well for dealing with large data sets as well as with real-time on-line computations. Also, their derivation and substantiation is of great interest in the context of neural network training because of large stochastic systems arisen there. In comparison to the batch filtering, our novel algorithm reduces the computational cost of membrane potential reconstructions in terms of the amount of grid nodes N accepted in the underlying spacial discretization, significantly. Apart from its computation efficiency, this sequential method is more robust to round-off errors committed within a computer-based finite precision arithmetics than the classical EKF because of the (N × N)-matrix inversion elimination from such membrane potential calculations. The superior performance of our technique is examined and confirmed in comparison to the batch one on two known scenarios in the dynamic neural field modeling., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this survey was to explore the specific educational needs of a cohort of European GPs with regards to allergy training so that future educational initiatives may better support the delivery of allergy services in primary care., Method: This study took the form of a cross-sectional observational study in which a structured electronic questionnaire was distributed to primary care providers, in eight languages, across 8 European countries between September 2019 and November 2019. Data associated with demographic parameters, professional qualifications, type of employment, level of confidence regarding competencies for diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases, referral of patients to allergist and preferred method of learning and assessment were collected. A 5-point Likert scale was used to assess level of confidence. Exploratory analysis was carried out., Results: A total of 687 responses were available for analysis, with 99.3% of responders working within Europe. 70.1% of participants were female; and 48.0% and 48.0% of participants respectively had received some undergraduate and/or postgraduate allergy education. Confidence in dealing with different aspect of allergy management differed between countries. The main reason for specialist referral was a perceived need for tertiary assessment (54.3%), and the main barrier for referral was the consideration that the patient's condition could be appropriately diagnosed and treated in a primary care facility. Up to 44.7% and 55.3% of participants reported that they preferred e-Learning over traditional learning., Conclusions: This study identified the specific areas of skills training and educational needs of GPs in managing allergic conditions in primary care, and provided insights into possible strategies for more feasible and cost-effective approaches., (© 2021 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.)

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines play an increasingly important role in the current socio-economic context. Higher education systems are working to equip students with the appropriate skills and competencies to cope with current demands and, in particular, to join a labour market strongly informed by STEM disciplines. Many such skills are non-disciplinary and are known as transversal or soft skills. Soft skills, including interpersonal and socio-emotional skills, are highly sought after in the labour market. These skills not only reflect personal abilities but also draw on concepts, such as social responsibility, creativity, ethics, and emotional intelligence. The European University on Responsible Consumption and Production (EURECA-PRO) seeks to foster soft skills development in our activities and curricula., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Introduction: The goal of dental education is to prepare competent ethical professionals with critical thinking, reasoning and analyzing skills along with ability of application of clinical skills and judgement in treating a patient. The present study was designed with the objective to elicit the preferences of dental students regarding the utility of the prevailing teaching and learning methods and teaching aids., Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate dental students. Study population consisted of 382 dental students. A self-designed close-ended questionnaire written in English was constructed specifically for the study. The questionnaire was divided into two sections. Information regarding various teaching and learning methods both in theory and practical/clinical classes was obtained from the students. Results were calculated using numbers and percentages only., Results: The mean age of the students was 20.49 + 2.4 years. Problem based learning (PBL) was rated very useful by 76% (290) and useful by 24% (92) of subjects. Performing clinical/practical procedure individually rather than in group was rated very useful by 31% (118) of subjects. Use of power-point along with the blackboard was rated as the most useful method by 95% (363) of subjects. Majority of subjects (61%, 233) felt that 40 minutes duration of lecture was more useful as compared to 30 minutes., Conclusions: Our study concludes that dental students prefer active teaching learning methodologies and combination of audiovisual aids. Hence it is suggested that collaboration of different active teaching methods and aids should be adopted by the teachers in order to enhance the student learning process., (© National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute.)

Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are often used to assess the clinical competence of students in preprofessional osteopathy training. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the final year OSCE in the RMIT University osteopathy program was redeveloped leveraging online technologies within COVID-19 guidelines such as hygiene and occupancy limitations. Final year osteopathy students were assessed using a hybrid ten station OSCE, comprising both online and face-to-face components. The examination was led by a pre-recorded narrated PowerPoint video. The video contained instructions, case information for five cases and prompts for the practical stations. A student model stepped into the room as needed for practical stations. The examiner assessed students from another room via video streaming, with limited interaction with students. The hybrid OSCE was conducted safely during Stage 4 restrictions adhering to COVID Safe guidelines, allowing robust competency assessment of final year students, enabling timely graduation and transition to practice. Institutional support, technology infrastructure, clear communication and stakeholder collaboration are key to successful implementation. The hybrid OSCE format offers a potential solution for institutions delivering high-stakes assessment in the continuing challenges of clinical assessment in the post COVID landscape. Adopting hybrid assessment formats may facilitate remote assessment of students in clinical placements., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This experiment was designed to investigate conceptual links directly through a word-picture matching task in children. Participants were asked to indicate between two pictures the one depicting the same concept as the newly learned L2 word (target). One of the two pictures was the target, while the other was either semantically related to it or was unrelated. To investigate whether learning methods modulate L2 word processing, two learning methods were compared: an L2-photograph method and an L1-L2 method. Results showed a semantic interference effect only with the L2-photograph method: Children responded more slowly in the related condition than in the unrelated one. The learning method modulated L2 word processing and L2 word meaning was not necessarily accessed through L1 mediation in the first steps of learning. The method used paves the way for the direct investigation of conceptual links., (© 2021 The British Psychological Society.)

This study suggests a new control system for frequency regulation in AC microgrids. Unlike to the most studies, challenging conditions such as variation of wind speed, multiple load disturbance, unknown dynamics and variable solar radiation are taken to account. To cope with uncertainties, a novel dynamic general type-2 (GT2) fuzzy logic system (FLS) by an optimized secondary membership is suggested. The secondary membership and rule parameters of dynamic GT2-FLS are online tuned through the adaptive optimization rules. The optimization rules are determined such that the robustness and stability to be guaranteed. Also, a new compensator is presented to tackle with estimation error and perturbations. The simulations verify that schemed controller outperforms than conventional methods., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

HIGHLIGHTS Demonstrations and one-on-one training were the most preferred learning methods. The most-used learning methods were electronic methods. Printed materials were preferred and perceived as effective by Baby Boomers. ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences among generational cohorts in the agricultural workforce in learning methods, including frequency of use, perceived effectiveness, and preference. A total of 211 participants representing the agricultural workforce completed either a paper-based or online questionnaire. Generational cohorts were determined using participants' birth years. The results show that regardless of the generational cohort, demonstrations and one-on-one training were the most preferred learning methods and were also perceived as the most effective methods. Participants indicated that they mostly use electronic methods to learn about agricultural safety and health. Generational differences were found for some learning methods. Printed materials were found to be preferred and perceived as effective by Baby Boomers more so than the other cohorts. Electronic methods were mostly used by Gen X and Millennial participants. For learning about agricultural safety, demonstrations are the most preferred and most effective methods but are not used as frequently as the other learning methods. Agricultural safety education should continue delivering safety demonstrations., (Copyright© by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.)

Research on the acquisition of spatial knowledge not only enriches our understanding of the theory of spatial knowledge representation but also creates practical value for the application of spatial knowledge. The aim of this study is to understand the impact of different learning methods on the acquisition of spatial knowledge, including the role of 2D maps, the difference between physical interaction and virtual interaction, and whether passive learning can replace active learning in virtual environments. One experiment was conducted, in which landmark knowledge and configurational knowledge were measured. Results indicate that 2D maps play a supporting role in acquiring both landmark knowledge and configurational knowledge. In addition, physical learning was associated with better spatial knowledge representation compared with virtual learning. An analysis of observational data in the third comparison found no significant difference between passive learning and active learning using virtual street view maps. However, with high-quality learning materials, passive learning can contribute to the acquisition of spatial knowledge more efficiently than active learning., (Copyright © 2020 Qiu, Wen, Wu, Yang, Wang, Li and Wang.)

With increasing needs for evidence-based practice, the well-designed EBP education is necessary to enhance the critical thinking and decision-making skills of nursing undergraduates. This study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an evidence-based practice education program with blended learning on undergraduate nursing students. In this preliminary experimental study, 45 senior nursing undergraduates were recruited from a university in Seoul, Korea. Self-selection was used to create two groups: an intervention group and a control group consisting of 21 and 24 students, respectively. The intensive 30-hours evidence-based practice education program was provided to the intervention group. Evidence-based practice knowledge, self-efficacy, and evidence utilization were evaluated as outcome variables at baseline and two months after the intervention. There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups on the background characteristics and outcome variables (p > .05). There were significant increases in evidence-based practice knowledge (Z = -5.28), self-efficacy (t = -6.42), resource utilization (Z = -2.60), and databases utilization (t = -2.98) in the intervention group, when compared with the control group (p < .01). Further studies are recommended to develop the evidence-based practice train-the-trainer program for nursing educators and to maximize the effectiveness of utilizing blended learning in evidence-based practice education., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Self-explanation without feedback has been shown to improve medical students' diagnostic reasoning. While feedback is generally seen as beneficial for learning, available evidence of the value of its combination with self-explanation is conflicting. This study investigated the effect on medical students' diagnostic performance of adding immediate or delayed content-feedback to self-explanation while solving cases., Methods: Ninety-four 3rd-year students from a Canadian medical school were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (immediate-feedback, delayed-feedback, control). In the learning phase, all students solved four clinical cases by giving i) the most likely diagnosis, ii) two main arguments supporting this diagnosis, and iii) two plausible alternative diagnoses, while using self-explanation. The immediate-feedback group was given the correct diagnosis after each case; delayed-feedback group received the correct diagnoses only after the four cases; control group received no feedback. One week later, all students solved four near-transfer (i.e., same final diagnosis as the learning cases but different scenarios) and four far-transfer cases (i.e., different final diagnosis from the learning cases and different scenarios) by answering the same three questions. Students' diagnostic accuracy (score for the response to the first question only) and diagnostic performance (combined score of responses to the three questions) scores were assessed in each phase. Four one-way ANOVAs were performed on each of the two scores for near and far-transfer cases., Results: There was a significant effect of experimental condition on diagnostic accuracy on near-transfer cases (p < .05). The immediate-feedback and delayed-feedback groups performed equally well, both better than control (respectively, mean = 90.73, standard deviation =10.69; mean = 89.92, standard deviation = 13.85; mean = 82.03, standard deviation = 17.66). The experimental conditions did not significantly differ on far-transfer cases., Conclusions: Providing feedback to students in the form of the correct diagnosis after using self-explanation with clinical cases is potentially beneficial to improve their diagnostic accuracy but this effect is limited to similar cases. Further studies should explore how more elaborated feedback combined with self-explanation may impact students' diagnostic performance on different cases.

The authors investigated children's use of cultural status (i.e., foreign vs. American) and learning method to evaluate informants' expertise in novel cultural practices. Ninety-six 6- to 9-year-olds heard about a foreign informant (i.e., member of an unfamiliar out-group) and an American informant (i.e., member of the participant's in-group) who each learned about a novel cultural practice differently (i.e., from a person vs. from a book). Participants decided which informant executed the cultural practice better, which informant they would prefer to learn from, and which learning method they would want to use themselves (i.e., learning method preference). Overall, participants endorsed foreign informants over American informants and foreign informants who learned from a person were generally viewed as the preferred option for imparting information in this context. These findings suggest that during the transition to middle childhood, learning context is an important influence on children's evaluations of cultural identity and learning methods.

Aim of the Study: To investigate whether pure self-learning without instructor support, resulted in the same BLS-competencies as facilitator-led learning, when using the same commercially available video BLS teaching kit., Methods: First-year medical students were randomised to either BLS self-learning without supervision or facilitator-led BLS-teaching. Both groups used the MiniAnne kit (Laerdal Medical, Stavanger, Norway) in the students' local language. Directly after the teaching and three months later, all participants were tested on their BLS-competencies in a simulated scenario, using the Resusci Anne SkillReporter™ (Laerdal Medical, Stavanger, Norway). The primary outcome was percentage of correct cardiac compressions three months after the teaching. Secondary outcomes were all other BLS parameters recorded by the SkillReporter and parameters from a BLS-competence rating form., Results: 240 students were assessed at baseline and 152 students participated in the 3-month follow-up. For our primary outcome, the percentage of correct compressions, we found a median of 48% (interquartile range (IQR) 10-83) for facilitator-led learning vs. 42% (IQR 14-81) for self-learning (p = 0.770) directly after the teaching. In the 3-month follow-up, the rate of correct compressions dropped to 28% (IQR 6-59) for facilitator-led learning (p = 0.043) and did not change significantly in the self-learning group (47% (IQR 12-78), p = 0.729)., Conclusions: Self-learning is not inferior to facilitator-led learning in the short term. Self-learning resulted in a better retention of BLS-skills three months after training compared to facilitator-led training., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The present study aimed to identify the learning preferences of dental students and to characterize their relationship with academic performance at a dental school in Isfahan, Iran., Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included 200 undergraduate dental students from October to November 2016. Data were collected using a 2-part questionnaire. The first part included demographic data, and the second part was a Persian-language version of the visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted with the chi-square test, 1-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression., Results: The response rate was 86.6%. Approximately half of the students (51.5%) had multimodal learning preferences. Among the unimodal group (48.5%), the most common mode was aural (24.0%), followed by kinesthetic (15.5%), reading-writing (8.0%), and visual (1.0%). There was a significant association between academic performance and the reading/writing learning style preference (P< 0.01)., Conclusion: Multimodal learning styles were the most preferred. Among single-mode learning styles, the aural style was most common, followed by the kinesthetic style. Students with a reading/writing preference had better academic performance. The results of this study provide useful information for preparing a more problem-based curriculum with active learning strategies.

Background: The most important responsibilities of an education system are to create self-directed learning opportunities and develop the required skills for taking the responsibility for change. The present study aimed at determining the impact of a learning contract on self-directed learning and satisfaction of nursing students. Methods: A total of 59 nursing students participated in this experimental study. They were divided into six 10-member groups. To control the communications among the groups, the first 3 groups were trained using conventional learning methods and the second 3 groups using learning contract method. In the first session, a pretest was performed based on educational objectives. At the end of the training, the students in each group completed the questionnaires of self-directed learning and satisfaction. The results of descriptive and inferential statistical methods (dependent and independent t tests) were presented using SPSS. Results: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in gender, grade point average of previous years, and interest toward nursing. However, the results revealed a significant difference between the 2 groups in the total score of self-directed learning (p= 0.019). Although the mean satisfaction score was higher in the intervention group, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study suggested that the use of learning contract method in clinical settings enhances self-directed learning among nursing students. Because this model focuses on individual differences, the researcher highly recommends the application of this new method to educators.

It is well recognized that knowledge of allergic conditions is suboptimal in primary care. The Primary Care Interest Group of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology undertook an educational needs survey to better understand what they were and how best to meet them, in the primary care environment. An electronic questionnaire was devised and distributed as widely as possible. A total of 2226 people from 63 countries opened the e-questionnaire of which 692 provided evaluable responses. In total, 81% were medical doctors with 299 possessing additional qualifications. Self-declared gaps in knowledge were expressed for most manifestations of allergy with a correspondingly high self-expressed educational need. The preferred learning modalities were online guidelines (69.6%) and courses (68.8%) followed closely by workshops (68%), structured online modules (63.9%) and small local working groups (59.75%). Podcasts and webinars scored poorly with only 25% expressing these as preferred learning modes although there was an age gradient. The preferred electronic platform was the personal computer (82.6%). A better understanding of the needs of primary care should help guide the design of educational initiatives to meet those needs., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The present study examined whether sequence learning led to more accurate and shorter performance time if people who are learning a sequence start over from the beginning when they make an error (i.e., practice the whole sequence) or only from the point of error (i.e., practice a part of the sequence). We used a visuomotor sequence learning paradigm with a trial-and-error procedure. In Experiment 1, we found fewer errors, and shorter performance time for those who restarted their performance from the beginning of the sequence as compared to those who restarted from the point at which an error occurred, indicating better learning of spatial and motor representations of the sequence. This might be because the learned elements were repeated when the next performance started over from the beginning. In subsequent experiments, we increased the occasions for the repetitions of learned elements by modulating the number of fresh start points in the sequence after errors. The results showed that fewer fresh start points were likely to lead to fewer errors and shorter performance time, indicating that the repetitions of learned elements enabled participants to develop stronger spatial and motor representations of the sequence. Thus, a single or two fresh start points in the sequence (i.e., starting over only from the beginning or from the beginning or midpoint of the sequence after errors) is likely to lead to more accurate and faster performance., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Analyze some of the characteristics of the publications focused on commercial cinema as a learning tool for university students engaged in health sciences degrees., Design and Methods: The review was based on the search of information in three electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL and ERIC., Findings: 54 papers were selected and analyzed., Conclusion: Cinema is a commonly used resource; however there is still a lack of studies demonstrating its usefulness and validity. This review is limited on its analysis by the fact that a large number of experiences are described as having a loose design., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Extensive research demonstrated that firms may pursue several advantages in hiring individuals with the set of emotional, social, and cognitive (ESC) competencies that are most critical for business success. Therefore, the role of education for competency development is becoming paramount. Prior studies have questioned the traditional methods, grounded in the lecture format, as a way to effectively develop ESC competencies. Alternatively, they propose experiential learning techniques that involve participants in dedicated courses or activities. Despite the insights provided by these studies, they do not take into account a comprehensive set of learning methods and their combined effect on the individual's competency portfolio within educational programs that aim to transfer primarily professional skills. Our study aims to fill these gaps by investigating the impact of the interplay between different learning methods on ESC competencies through a sample of students enrolled in the first year of a master's degree program. After providing a classification of three learning methods [traditional learning (TL), individual experiential learning (IEL), and social experiential learning (SEL)], the study delves into their combined influence on ESC competencies, adopting the Artificial Neural Network. Contrary to prior studies, our results provide counterintuitive evidence, suggesting that TL needs to be implemented together, on the one hand, with IEL to achieve a significant effect on emotional competencies and, on the other hand, with SEL to have an impact on social competencies. Moreover, IEL plays a prominent role in stimulating cognitive competencies. Our research contributes to educational literature by providing new insights on the effective combination of learning methods that can be adopted into programs that transfer technical knowledge and skills to promote behavioral competencies.

Background: As preclinical medical students start and/or enter the course, they go through the anatomy curriculum, which involves interaction with cadavers and cadaveric material. The objective of this study was to determine the reactions of preclinical medical students from year two and year three to the dissecting room., Methods: Questionnaire was distributed to all second and third year medical students. The questionnaire was designed with the objective of identifying specific patterns of attitudes held and problems faced by the students in their first exposure to the human cadaver. The results are analyzed statistically using the SPSS 16.0 software and P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: The commonest symptoms experienced were loss of appetite (43.29% year 2 and 34.86 % third year students). The commonest cause of their symptoms was studied and the result shows that it was the smell of the dissection room, as reported by 67.01% of year two students; and 54.12% for year 3 students., Conclusion: The present study findings show that smell of the dissection room, touch and fear of cadaver were the commonest cause of their symptoms experienced while study in dissection room for the majority of students. Thus, instructors are should give awareness raising education before the commencement of the dissection session to the students both mentally and emotionally ready to do their work enthusiastically and confidently. Moreover, it is necessary to make the laboratory tidy for the students so that they develop a love for the dissection room.

Background. Little is known about the characteristics of internet distractions that students may engage in during lecture. The objective of this pilot study is to identify some of the internet-based distractions students engage in during in-person lectures. The findings will help identify what activities most commonly cause students to be distracted from the lecture and if these activities impact student learning. Methods. This study is a quasi-experimental pilot study of 26 students from a single institution. In the current study, one class of third-year students were surveyed after a lecture on special needs dentistry. The survey identified self-reported utilization patterns of "smart" devices during the lecture. Additionally, twelve quiz-type questions were given to assess the students' recall of important points in the lecture material that had just been covered. Results. The sample was comprised of 26 students. Of these, 17 were distracted in some form (either checking email, sending email, checking Facebook, or sending texts). The overall mean score on the test was 9.85 (9.53 for distracted students and 10.44 for non-distracted students). There were no significant differences in test scores between distracted and non-distracted students (p = 0.652). Gender and types of distractions were not significantly associated with test scores (p > 0.05). All students believed that they understood all the important points from the lecture. Conclusions. Every class member felt that they acquired the important learning points during the lecture. Those who were distracted by electronic devices during the lecture performed similarly to those who were not. However, results should be interpreted with caution as this study was a small quasi-experimental design and further research should examine the influence of different types of distraction on different types of learning.

Rapid changes in medical knowledge are forcing continuous adaptation of the basic science courses in medical schools. This article discusses a three-year experience developing a new Computed Tomography (CT)-based anatomy curriculum at the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, including describing the motivations and reasoning for the new curriculum, the CT-based learning system itself, practical examples of visual dissections, and student assessments of the new curriculum. At the heart of this new curriculum is the emphasis on studying anatomy by navigating inside the bodies of various living individuals utilizing a CT viewer. To assess the students' experience with the new CT-based learning method, an anonymous questionnaire was administered at the end of the course for three consecutive academic years: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011. Based upon the results, modifications were made to the curriculum in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Results showed that: (1) during these three years the number of students extensively using the CT system quadrupled (from 11% to 46%); (2) students' satisfaction from radiologists involvement increased by 150%; and (3) student appreciation of the CT-based learning method significantly increased (from 13% to 68%). It was concluded that discouraging results (mainly negative feedback from students) during the first years and a priori opposition from the teaching staff should not weaken efforts to develop new teaching methods in the field of anatomy. Incorporating a new curriculum requires time and patience. Student and staff satisfaction, along with utilization of the new system, will increase with the improvement of impeding factors., (Copyright © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.)