Search

The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities and schools worldwide to switch from in-person to online learning. This article analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, particularly on the academic performance of undergraduate students in Brazil. The sudden shift from face-to-face to online learning, caused by government measures to contain the spread of the virus, provided an opportunity to investigate the effects of this change on academic outcomes. Using a difference-in-differences methodology and a unique and granular dataset, we find that the transition negatively affected students' academic performance, increasing the course failure rates. We also investigate the heterogeneous effects of the abrupt change across student subgroups and find that older students adapted more quickly than younger students, while the change disproportionately affected female students and those with lower academic skills. The study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to support groups that struggled more with the shift to ensure all students have an equal opportunity to succeed in the new online environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the treatment of PTSD in Brazil, a diverse country with limited research on the topic. It surveyed 208 psychologists and physicians who had treated PTSD cases, focusing on their approaches. The study found that 48.1% used screening instruments, with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) being the most commonly adopted theoretical model (49%). Over 20 different theoretical affiliations were mentioned, and 41.3% of clinicians adhered to multiple theories. Criteria like individual case analysis, scientific evidence, and treatment acceptance guided treatment selection. Surprisingly, widely accepted trauma-focused therapies were not extensively used. Lack of PTSD education in undergraduate programs (38.5%) was identified as a significant barrier. These findings can inform mental health policies and highlight the need for evidence-based therapy training in educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work discusses whether the concept of presence in an online environment is real for synchronous interactions between teachers and students, configuring more reality and proximity at the time of studies. The objective was to investigate whether the state of the art on the concept of presence in an online environment presents literature that points to the resizing of the concept of presence in undergraduate courses offered in the distance modality. The research, as a bibliographical, narrative, exploratory review, was carried out on four sites, using keywords, in the time frame from 2020.1 to 2023.1, on the concept of presence in an online environment, from which only Google Scholar returned results that were in line with the redefinition of online presence based on the strengthening of synchronous interaction in web conferences. It is concluded that, despite the significant increase in distance education undergraduate courses in Brazil in the last decade, there is a need for research that strengthens the concept of online presence and that can even reverberate in the updating of the normative set that deals with this educational modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avances en PsicologÍa Latinoamericana is the property of Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: To analyze the professional insertion process of Administration and Public Administration course graduates in Brazil, with ages ranging from 18 to 36, who graduated after 2011. Originality/value: As the main contribution of the study, it is possible to highlight the contingent of well-qualified professionals that are unemployed or in informal and often underoccupied jobs, indicating the expansion of non-qualifying job insertion. Thus, as a widespread problem which cuts across different ages, classes, genders, races, and ethnicities, this aggravating factor in the labor market falls mainly on individuals with higher education that are working jobs below their skill and education levels. Design/methodology/approach: This study has a quantitative, non-probabilistic, non-experimental, transversal, and descriptive approach. Data collection began in September 2018 and ended in November 2018. The sample consisted of 847 cases, divided by regions: 344 from Southeast, 244 from South, 163 from Northeast, 56 from Midwest, and 40 from North. Findings: It is worth noting that 73% of the respondents did not spend more than one year to professionally enter into the labor market, 20% of graduates are in positions with less than undergraduate education requirements, and 16.6% are not working. In addition, despite being well qualified, the investigated professionals share a structurally fragile occupational scenario, especially about the types of employment contracts practiced, regardless of their sociodemographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ciência & Trópico (03042685) is the property of Fundacao Joaquim Nabuco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Interdisciplinarity tends to present academic contexts of research and scientific production more accurately. The objective of this work was to analyze its application in higher education, from undergraduate to postgraduate. To answer the guiding question of this work, we first searched for the genesis and the concept of the word in question. Then, the historical context of its evolution in employability was verified in higher education institutions abroad and Brazil. After analyzing it was verified that there are still barriers that hinder the application of interdisciplinarity in the context of the higher education course because the concepts described lack more excellent discussions within the faculty and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) offers relevant theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches to the development of effective teamwork competencies. Objective: To analyse an interprofessional experience of teaching-service-community integration carried out at a public university in the South of Brazil. Methods: A case study with a qualitative approach was carried out. The study's participants were thirty-eight undergraduate dental students who attended the IPE activity between 2012 and 2019. Data collection was developed in two sequential steps that included the application of an online instrument and semi-structured interviews. The textual material was interpreted by content analysis, considering Kirkpatrick's evaluation levels (reaction, learning and behaviour). Results: In the reaction level, students highlighted the contents provided by the National Curricular Guidelines regarding public health system and teamwork, as well as the pedagogical teaching proposal by tutoring groups, which stimulated students' autonomy. It was observed that the learning was geared towards the development of collaborative teamwork competencies and cultural competencies. In the behaviour level, students perceived positive changes in their attitudes and behaviours towards patients, focused on needs related to life conditions, realising that dentists may work within a team. The elective/optional nature of the experience allied with the absence of other IPE activities in the curricular grid showed to be challenging. Conclusion: IPE in undergraduate education presented positive results related to the reaction, learning and behaviour of dental students. We recommend the inclusion of interprofessional activities of teaching-service-community integration in Dentistry curricular structure to complement uniprofessional education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teaching of physiology plays a crucial role in the education of health care professionals. However, traditional approaches to physiology classes in undergraduate health courses in Brazil often result in passive student participation. Research has shown that active methodologies are more effective in the learning process. In this study, we introduce the game "Who Am I?-Cellular Signal Transduction Edition" as an educational tool. This game follows a popular format with well-known rules and aims to enhance understanding of basic concepts related to hormones, cell signaling, and the functioning of the endocrine system. Our findings demonstrate that the game improves student knowledge and fosters enthusiasm and active engagement among participants. Additionally, student feedback has indicated a high level of appreciation for the game. By incorporating active learning strategies and a gamified approach, "Who Am I?-Cellular Signal Transduction Edition" provides a practical and enjoyable way of teaching physiology. This innovative educational tool has the potential to revolutionize physiology instruction. Demonstrating significant improvement in students' understanding, the game underscores its efficacy in enhancing knowledge acquisition and comprehension of cellular signaling and endocrine physiology topics. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We developed "Who Am I?-Cellular Signal Transduction Edition" to assist students in comprehending concepts of cellular signal transduction. This simple and cost-effective tool is perfect for educational settings with limited resources, and it encourages active learning for both small and large groups. Pre- and posttests have shown that it effectively enhances knowledge of hormonal actions and cellular signaling. Positive feedback from students emphasizes its value in reinforcing understanding and improving classroom engagement, making it a promising educational tool.

This study presents a reflective analysis of the implementation of interprofessional education in undergraduate nursing courses, considering as an example the curricula of undergraduate nursing careers in Brazil. Despite investments to advance interprofessional education, its practice is not institutionalized in the curricula of undergraduate courses. These findings represent a limitation for the implementation of interprofessional education in nursing courses, and the case of Brazil allows to learn lessons for the education of nursing professionals in other countries of the Region of the Americas. Recommendations are provided for training, management and intersectoral articulation of health and education services, with emphasis on primary health care and the Sustainable Development Goals, aimed at educational institutions wishing to implement interprofessional education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: The objective of the present study was to evaluate a Service‐Learning activity in a dental education programme and the clinical decision‐making in the development of professional competence of undergraduate dental students. Methods: The study consisted of a single holistic case study that involved quantitative and qualitative analyses. A total of 246 last‐semester students from a School of Dentistry in southern Brazil, between the years of 2013 and 2016, answered an anonymous online questionnaire with open‐ and closed‐ended questions (5‐point Likert scale). Two thematic axes were analysed: structural and pedagogical evaluation of the internship experience and development of professional competences (theory of Ergology). The SPSS program (16.0) was used to obtain means and standard deviations for a descriptive analysis of the data. Content analysis was performed for the qualitative data. Results: The scores ranged from neutral to positive concerning pedagogical dynamics (mean scores between 3.08 and 3.82). The preceptors were evaluated with the best mean score (3.82). All the components used to assess professional competences obtained positive scores with the exception of teamwork (2.95). Adaptations to the clinical protocols learned in class were made by 44% of the students. Conclusions: The data showed that undergraduate dental students in the Service‐Learning programme acquire competencies for clinical decision‐making under unusual reality conditions. Adaptation of protocols was not related to less or greater knowledge of the protocols, which would be a negative condition, but to the students' ability to formulate connections between scientific knowledge and the clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro (Josué de Castro Nutrition Institute - INJC), at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ) was created in 1946 as an education and research institution in the field of nutrition. This work, presented in the Perspectives modality, describes the history of graduate education (GE) at INJC, in the year of INJC's 75th anniversary. This work is based on articles, books, documents, reports, minutes, and notes from UFRJ and INJC's Graduate Programs. GE at INJC began in the late 1970s, with the offer of specialization courses. In 1985, the Master's Degree Program in Human Nutrition was implemented. Currently, INJC is the only institution in the field of Nutrition in Brazil that hosts academic master's and doctoral programs, the Graduate Program in Nutrition, and a professional master's program, the Graduate Program in Clinical Nutrition. The institution also offers six specialization courses and integrates four multi-professional internship programs within UFRJ. Consistent favorable indicators express the success of the coordinated efforts of faculty and students of GE Programs in initiatives that prioritize attraction of funding, the implementation of intra- and inter-institutional interdisciplinary projects, and qualified academic production. Graduate education at INJC is linked to undergraduate education and to university outreach programs, contributing to high-quality education and training of human resources in the field of food and nutrition. After 75 years, INJC, through graduate education, reaffirms the social and academic role of Brazilian public universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generalist training planned by Brazilian National Curriculum Guidelines for Dentistry undergraduate courses should provide actions for the development of health promotion in the field of public health, as well as disease prevention, diagnosis, planning, and dental treatment in the clinical field. Considering this complexity, the aim of the present study was to validate dimensions and sub-dimensions in dentistry training, allowing the identification of the main necessary competences and clinical skills for the generalist practice. For this, an evaluation study was carried out through the Delph's Method with the participation of 19 professors of Dentistry courses in Brazil working in the clinical area, considered "experts" in this theme. It was possible to identify clinical competences and skills in four dimensions and respective sub-dimensions: Transversal skills (biosafety, patient-team communication, humanization, ethical principles, dental documentation); Diagnosis and planning (diagnosis of dental caries, pulp and periapical changes, and periodontal diseases, clinical and imaging exam, and single treatment planning); Preventive activities (oral hygiene guidance and oral cancer prevention); and Dental care (anesthesia, basic oral surgery, drug prescription, subgingival scaling and root planing, dental restoration, minimally and non-invasive restoration treatment, and dental urgencies). The developed model represents a differentiated alternative for the construction of an innovative curriculum in Dentistry, aimed at the training of general practitioners to provide humanized, highly effective, and resolving care. The importance of clinical tutoring by professors on the essential clinical skills and abilities is highlighted in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, the development of neoliberalism has been observed in Brazil, which has led to the progressive weakening of public policies (including those of education) and the population's impoverishment. In the field of education, there was an increase in the privatization of higher education, inadequate to the requirements of national development, characterizing it more as a commodity than as a right. This article aims to discuss some challenges, risks, and possible strategies to face the impact of the COVID19 pandemic in undergraduate dental education. This pandemic had an immediate and dramatic impact on dental education in more than 130 countries, prompting teachers and students to adopt remote teaching activities. In Brazil, theoretical classes were offered remotely, mainly in private institutions where there was an intensification of academic work for both teachers and students. This process requires support in technological and pedagogical aspects, including tools, resources, and training courses. In the resumption of clinical education, changes in biosafety actions are being proposed to preserve the health of the actors involved. The application of these measures will imply a great mobilization of students, teachers, and technicians and extra attention so that the constitutive dimensions of the teaching-learning process in health are not minimized or forgotten. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Psicologia. Organizacoes e Trabalho is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia Organizacional e do Trabalho and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: According to the Latin America Association for palliative care, Brazil offers only 0.48 palliative care services per 1 million inhabitants. In 2012, no accredited physicians were working in palliative care, while only 1.1% of medical schools included palliative care education in their undergraduate curricula. As a reflection of the current scenario, little research about end-of-life care has been published so that studies addressing this subject in the Brazilian setting are crucial. Methods: A cross-sectional study study conducted with students applying for the medical residency of the Federal University of São Paulo were invited to voluntarily participate in an anonymous and self-administered questionnaire survey. The latter included demographic information, attitudes, prior training in end-of-life care, prior end-of-life care experience, the 20-item Palliative Care Knowledge Test (PCKT) and a consent term. Results: Of the 3086 subjects applying for residency, 2349 (76%) answered the survey, 2225 were eligible for analysis while 124 were excluded due to incomplete data. Although the majority (99,2%) thought it was important to have palliative care education in the medical curriculum, less than half of them (46,2%) reported having received no education on palliative care. The overall performance in the PCKT was poor, with a mean score of 10,79 (± 3). While philosophical questions were correctly answered (81,8% of correct answers), most participants lacked knowledge in symptom control (50,7% for pain, 57,3% for dyspnea, 52,2% for psychiatric problems and 43,4% for gastrointestinal problems). Doctors that had already concluded a prior residency program and the ones that had prior experience with terminal patients performed better in the PCKT (p < 0,001). The high-performance group (more than 50% of correct answers) had received more training in end-of-life care, showed more interest in learning more about the subject, had a better sense of preparedness, as well as a higher percentage of experience in caring for terminal patients (p < 0,001). Conclusions: Our study showed that Brazilian physicians lack not only the knowledge, but also training in end-of-life medicine. Important factors to better knowledge in end-of-life care were prior training, previous contact with dying patients and prior medical residency. Corroborating the literature, for this group, training showed to be a key factor in overall in this area of knowledge. Therefore, Brazilian medical schools and residency programs should focus on improving palliative training, especially those involving contact with dying patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative Learning (CL) is a teaching and learning methodology that aims to overcome the traditional through cooperative activities; still little adopted in higher education, presupposes the formation of heterogeneous groups. This manuscript aims to report the experience lived in the discipline “Teaching Practice in Early Childhood Education” of a Pedagogy undergraduate class using the CL methodology. 35 students from São Paulo State University - UNESP, Bauru/SP/Brazil enrolled in the 2nd year participated. The procedures required: CL alignment; training and self-appointment of work teams; blog and logo creation; routine definition of classes; formative assessment. Each work team was provided with a notebook. The activities developed through the CL promoted: a) teacher education as recommended in the National Curriculum Guidelines for initial higher education (Resolution No. 02/2015); b) use of technological innovations; c) articulation with the coordinators so that all Bachelor Degrees offered at UNESP complied with the Complementary Curriculum Guidelines for the Training of Teachers for Basic Education in the Undergraduate Pedagogy, Normal and Undergraduate Courses (CEE Deliberation No. 154/2017). It is considered that the CL contributed to the formation of all actors involved through participatory, collaborative and supportive pedagogical actions - inclusive perspective -, preparing them for the challenges presented in the educational field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Turismo is the property of Associacao Nacional de Pesquisa e Pos-Graduacao em Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: In the face of the medical workforce shortage, several countries have promoted the opening of medical schools and the expansion of undergraduate and specialization education in medicine. Few studies have compared the characteristics and effects of expanding the supply of general practitioners and specialist physicians between countries. Brazil and Spain, two countries with distinct historical processes and socioeconomic scenarios, yet both with universal public health systems and common aspects in training and medical work, have registered a significant increase in the number of physicians and can be used to understand the challenges of strategic planning for the medical workforce.Methods: This study provides a descriptive approach using longitudinal data from official databases in Brazil and Spain from 1998 to 2017. Among the comparable indicators, the absolute numbers of physicians, the population size, and the physician's ratio by inhabitants were used. The number of medical schools and undergraduate places in public and private institutions, the supply of residency training posts, and the number of medical specialists and medical residents per 100 000 inhabitants were also used to compare both countries. Seventeen medical specialties with the highest number of specialists and comparability between the two countries were selected for further comparison.Results: Due to the opening of medical schools, the density of physicians per 1 000 inhabitants grew by 28% in Spain and 51% in Brazil between 1998 and 2017. In that period, Spain and Brazil increased the supply of annual undergraduate places by 60% and 137%, respectively. There is a predominance of private institutions providing available undergraduate places, and the supply of medical residency posts is smaller than the contingent of medical graduates/general practitioners each year.Conclusion: Both countries have similar specialist densities in cardiology, dermatology, and neurosurgery specialties. However, family medicine and community in Spain has 91.27 specialists per 100 000 inhabitants, while in Brazil, the density is only 2.64. The comparative study indicated the complexity of the countries' decisions on increasing the medical supply of general practitioners and specialist physicians. Research and planning policies on the medical workforce must be aligned with the actual health needs of populations and health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of REUNIR: Revista de Administração, Contabilidade e Sustentabilidade is the property of REUNIR - Revista de Administracao, Contabilidade e Sustentabilidade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Núcleo de Estudos em Microbiologia Agrícola (NEMA) is an academic-scientific group created by graduate students in the Post Graduate in Agricultural Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology at Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil. NEMA's purposes include promoting and sharing research and knowledge on microbiology in different fields of application. Here, we will comment on our experience in organizing the Summer School on Microbiology and teaching microbiology to undergraduate students during the program. NEMA offers this annual event to disseminate and stimulate knowledge about microbiology for undergraduate students in a participatory, collaborative and interactive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy / Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional is the property of Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional da UFSCar and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Investigacion & Educacion en Enfermeria is the property of Universidad de Antioquia, Facultad de Enfermeria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Discrete-trial instruction ( DTI) is a behavioral method of teaching young children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD) that has received a significant amount of research support. Because of a lack of qualified trainers in many areas of the world, researchers have recently begun to investigate alternative methods of training professionals to implement behavioral teaching procedures. One promising training method is interactive computer training, in which slides with recorded narration, video modeling, and embedded evaluation of content knowledge are used to teach a skill. In the present study, the effectiveness of interactive computer training developed by Pollard, Higbee, Akers, and Brodhead (2014), translated into Brazilian Portuguese, was evaluated with 4 university students (Study 1) and 4 special education teachers (Study 2). We evaluated the effectiveness of training on DTI skills during role-plays with research assistants (Study 1) and during DTI sessions with young children with ASD (Studies 1 and 2) using a multiple baseline design. All participants acquired DTI skills after interactive computer training, although 5 of 8 participants required some form of feedback to reach proficiency. Responding generalized to untaught teaching programs for all participants. We evaluated maintenance with the teachers in Study 2, and DTI skills were maintained with 3 of 4 participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of undergraduate education in public administration in Brazil is told by a set of books/ authors since the installation of this course at EBAP-FGV in March 1952. However, few words were written about the early history of this academic training in Brazil; its history need systematization. This article aims to review the origins of that education to understand its introducing in national higher education system. This kind of work is important because it contributes for the construction of a memory of public administration knowledge area in Brazil, and particularly of its teaching (and research). Based on an extensive literature review and document analysis, the article reveals three clear, related and successive moments between the II Empire and the end of Estado Novo, which preceded the institutionalization of this higher education course in the decade of 1950. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Saúde e Sociedade is the property of Universidade de Sao Paulo, Faculdade de Saude Publica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Questionnaires were applied in six different Brazilian undergraduate courses (Biology, Medicine, Dentistry, Psychology, Nutrition and Phonology) to analyze students' comprehension of basic genetic concepts. All sampled students together were not able to answer 30% of the questions, while a significant percentage did not adequately answer more than 60% of the questions. The differences in performance between first-year and last-year students of an undergraduate Biology course were evaluated. Interestingly, first year university students, without any formation in genetics at the university level, performed frequently better when compared with their last-year colleagues. Results of the present study revealed that future teachers and other health professionals share distorted understanding of elementary genetics. This finding is of particular interest, reflecting a relationship between acquisition of the genetic knowledge and professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cadernos de Pesquisa is the property of Fundacao Carlos Chagas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Caderno Virtual de Turismo is the property of Caderno Virtual de Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• We analyze the effect of latent features on the Brazilian undergraduates 'ability. • A Structural Equation Modelling into two periods of university growth is applied. • Inclusion of low-income students and university settings improve the student skill. • Household income and parental education also increase student performance. • As in developing countries, the marginal effects on skill in Brazil are increasing. The higher education system has been a recurring concern of policymakers around the globe. Many researches have analyzed the additional effects on students' academic performance from an economic, social, and institutional perspective, which includes the provision, facilities and quality of universities. Nevertheless, the joint association among these dimensions were briefly explored for higher education in Brazil, especially in a period of expansion of public university operations with inclusion policies of lower social students. This paper is aimed at contributing to this gap of the literature by examining the effect of university settings, socioeconomic features and student financing and quota policies on the ability of Brazilian undergraduates between 2013 and 2017. To accomplish this task, our analysis was conducted by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with three confirmatory factors. The main findings revealed that the quality and size of university operations stand out increasingly to improve the academic performance of students, especially for those who attend a public university. The originality and value of the current manuscript highlights the stability of the effect of social transformation arising from the quota and financing policies, which expands access to higher education from 2013 onwards, by promoting the inclusion of poorer students in quality higher education courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual microscopy (VM) is a widely used teaching method in Medical Education in many developed countries. In Brazil, however, this is not the case for most medical schools, considering Brazilian social inequality and uneven access to technology. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has also challenged Universities to seek and make a transition toward more effective methods of full-time online education. Thus, the main goal of this work was to verify student's perception and academic performance, assessed upon VM implementation in a Brazilian Medical School. Ribeirao Preto Medical School students answered a 26-question survey with regards to optical microscopy (OM) and VM. Academic performance was compared between participants that were (year of 2019) or were not (year of 2015) exposed to VM. Taken the results together, subjective impressions such as handling, suitability, learning effectiveness, and pleasure using the tools, have shown a higher score for virtual microscopy (median = 29), when compared to optical microscopy (median = 24) with a P-value < 0.001 by Wilcoxon rank test, upon measurement using an ordinal scale. Regarding academic performance, no statistically significant differences were found between groups (P-value = 0.38, Cohen's d = 0.19). Therefore, VM proved to be adequate to the Brazilian medical education in light of Brazilian social contexts and Covid-19 pandemic., (© 2021 American Association for Anatomy.)

Activities related to body donation programs, such as donor memorial ceremonies, provide the opportunity to complement student training, especially with regard to the ethical and humanistic elements involved in medical training. This study sought to assess the impact of a ceremony in honor of the body donors has on ethical and humanistic attitudes in medical students. Medical students were surveyed about their perceptions of changes in themselves, respect for donors and donor families, and their relationship with patients. The effect of the students' contact with the family of the donor was analyzed in students who had contact with the cadaver in the dissection room and had either participated or not participated in the donor memorial ceremony. A total of 370 questionnaires were answered by first-, second-, and third-year medical students at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre in 2017. The students who participated in the ceremony presented more positive responses in relation to commitment to their studies, reflection on death, and positive development of empathy when compared to those who did not attend the ceremony. Most of the students that attended the ceremony suggested the event led to an improvement in the doctor-patient relationship. These results suggest that cadaver dissection with accompanied memorial ceremony involving contact with donor families is an effective means of fostering ethical and humanistic attitudes among medical students from the beginning of the course., (© 2019 American Association of Anatomists.)

Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0-100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists., (© 2018 American Association of Anatomists.)

The Federal University of São Paulo, Baixada Santista Campus was founded in 2006 with five degree-granting programs in physical education, physiotherapy, nutrition, psychology, and occupational therapy. The guiding principle behind the programs' educational mission was centered on the development of health care professionals capable of working in interdisciplinary teams with an emphasis on holistic patient care. This pedagogical structure required peer-mentoring programs in order to integrate different areas of knowledge and to improve learning strategies among new generations of students. The authors' objective in the present report is to discuss the strategies and activities of the peer-mentoring program in histophysiology and gross anatomy in an interdisciplinary and interprofessional curriculum. Evaluations by students, mentors and professors are presented, along with a statistical analysis of variance comparing student performance in the module assessments according to their participation in the peer-mentoring activities. The results demonstrated that students who participated in peer-mentoring activities enjoyed a higher rate of academic success than those who did not participate. In addition, student and mentor evaluations of the peer mentoring program were highly positive. The program enabled mentors to gain a deeper knowledge of the subjects addressed in the learning modules, as well as to develop intrinsic teaching skills during their time as mentors. In short, the authors believe that the peer-mentoring program has been validated for its effectiveness in raising student academic performance., (© 2015 American Association of Anatomists.)