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Learning in the laboratory is different from learning in other contexts because students have to engage with various aspects of the practice of science. They have to use many skills and knowledge in parallel--not only to understand the concepts of physics but also to use the tools and analyse the data. The question arises, how to best guide students' learning in the laboratory. This study is about creating and using questions with a specifically designed framework to aid learning in the laboratory. The concepts, tools and techniques questioning (CTTQ) method was initially designed and used at Mahidol University, Thailand, and was subsequently extended to laboratory pre-work at the University of Sydney. The CTTQ method was implemented in Sydney with 190 first-year students. Three pre-work exercises on a series of electrical experiments were created based on the CTTQ method. The pre-works were completed individually and submitted before the experiment started. Analysed pre-work, surveys and interviews were used to evaluate the pre-work questions in this study. The results indicated that the CTTQ method was successful and the flow in the experiments was better than that in the previous year. At the same time students had difficulty with the last experiment in the sequence and with techniques. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

It has been established that the incorporation of active learning experiences in the context of university lectures increases overall student learning. This study contributes to the literature by examining iterations of incorporating interactivity where the 'intensity', in terms of the content, structure and time spent on different in-class activities is varied. The study described in this paper deals in some depth with the use of worksheets during lectures on the topic of circular motion. The study was done with a total of 1405 students studying first-year physics over five years at Mahidol University, Thailand. Over these years, the style of the worksheets as well as the in-class activities were modified. In the first year, the worksheet contained a subsection for note taking as well as problem-solving practice; in the second year, a problem-solving strategy was introduced; in the third year, a lecture demonstration with associated free-body diagrams was included; in the final two years, these diagrams were modified. There was a statistically significant difference between student performance on an examination question of circular motion between the first-year cohort and the cohorts of later years. However, the results for later years indicate a saturation of mean scores. This saturation level needs to be further investigated under different topics, with different cohorts and with different types of active learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Sharma M, Ortendahl J, van der Ham E, Sy S, Kim J. Cost-effectiveness of human papillomavirus vaccination and cervical cancer screening in Thailand. BJOG 2012;119:166-176. Objective To assess the health and economic outcomes of various screening and vaccination strategies for cervical cancer prevention. Design Cost-effectiveness analysis from a societal perspective. Setting Thailand. Population Females aged 9 years and older. Methods Using a mathematical model of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer, calibrated to epidemiological data from Thailand, we estimated the cost-effectiveness of pre-adolescent HPV vaccination, screening [visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), HPV DNA testing, and cytology] between one and five times per lifetime in adulthood, and combined pre-adolescent vaccination and screening. Vaccine efficacy, coverage, cost, and screening frequency were varied in sensitivity analyses. Main outcome measures Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, expressed as cost per year of life saved (YLS). Results Assuming lifelong efficacy and 80% coverage, pre-adolescent HPV vaccination alone was projected to reduce the lifetime risk of cervical cancer by 55%, which was greater than any strategy of screening alone. When cost per vaccinated girl was I$10 (approximately $2 per dose) or less, HPV vaccination alone was cost saving. Pre-adolescent vaccination and HPV DNA testing five times per lifetime, starting at age 35 years, reduced the lifetime cervical cancer risk by 70%, and had a cost-effectiveness ratio less than Thailand's GDP per capita (I$8100), provided the cost per vaccinated girl was I$200 or less. Conclusions Low cost pre-adolescent HPV vaccination followed by HPV screening five times per lifetime is an efficient strategy for Thailand. Costs may need to be lower, however, for this strategy to be affordable. If vaccination is not feasible, HPV DNA testing five times per lifetime is efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue, a vector-borne disease, is a global threat to public health with incidence increased from 0.5 to 5.2 million cases between 2010 and 2019. Data collected over ∼57 months of the phase-3 DEN-301 trial of the candidate vaccine (TAK-003) demonstrated long-term efficacy against symptomatic and hospitalized dengue. The objective of the present study was to assess the disease impact and cost-effectiveness of vaccination with two doses of TAK-003 in Thailand. A deterministic compartmental dynamic model of dengue transmission was developed to explicitly model host and vector populations, seasonality, and up to four serotype-specific infections. It was fitted to the dengue incidence observed in Thailand accounting for under-reporting. The disease impact and cost-effectiveness of vaccination were assessed over a 20- year time horizon. Vaccination strategies included routine vaccination of 11-year- olds, and routine with catch-up campaigns of 5, 10 or 20 age cohorts, respectively. Vaccine efficacy was derived and extrapolated from the TAK-003 phase-3 pivotal efficacy DEN-301 trial. Routine vaccination at age 11 with TAK-003 prevented 41% of symptomatic cases and 50% of hospitalized cases in Thailand, which translated to 138,783 DALYs averted. Routine with catch-up campaigns of 5, 10 and 20 age- cohorts resulted in a reduction of symptomatic cases by 46%, 49% and 55%, respectively, and hospitalized cases by 57%, 62% and 69%, respectively. All vaccination strategies were cost-saving compared to no vaccination and could lead to cost-savings of US$1.9 million - $1.6 billion (across a price range of 25$-60$/dose) over 20 years from the societal perspective where both medical costs and patients' out-of-pocket costs and productivity loss were considered. Routine vaccination with TAK-003 could lead to significant reductions of symptomatic and hospitalized dengue along with considerable societal and healthcare cost-savings in Thailand. The impact could be even larger when catch-up campaigns of broader age cohorts were considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a tool for priority setting, has emerged as a means of ensuring the sustainability of a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) system. However, setting up an effective HTA system poses multiple challenges and knowledge exchange can play a crucial role in helping countries achieve their UHC targets. This article reports the results of the discussion during a preconference session at the 2019 HTAsiaLink Conference, an annual gathering of HTA agencies in Asia, which supports knowledge transfer and exchange among HTA practitioners. As part of this discourse, 3 main HTA challenges were identified based on experiences of selected countries in Asia and Africa, namely Bhutan, Kenya, Thailand, and Zambia: availability of funding, building technical capacity, and achieving buy-in among stakeholders for successful translation of HTA research into UHC policy. The potential solutions identified through this South-South engagement included establishing a legal mandate for HTA, building local technical capacity through partnerships and enhancing strategic communication with stakeholders to increase awareness, among others. South-South Knowledge Exchange can therefore be instrumental in sharing lessons learned from common challenges and offer potential solutions to address capacity building initiatives for HTA in LMICs., (Copyright © 2021 ISPOR--The professional society for health economics and outcomes research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and institutionalizing healthcare priority setting through health technology assessment (HTA) in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region varies considerably across countries because of differences in healthcare expenditure, political support, access to health information and technology infrastructure. To explore the status and capacity of HTA in the region, the ASEAN Secretariat requested for member countries to be surveyed to identify existing gaps and to propose solutions to help countries develop and streamline their priority-setting processes for improved healthcare decision-making., Methods: A mixed survey questionnaire with open- and closed-ended questions relating to HTA governance, HTA infrastructure, supply and demand of HTA and global HTA networking opportunities in each country was administered electronically to representatives of HTA nodal agencies of all ASEAN members. In-person meetings or email correspondence were used to clarify or validate any unclear responses. Results were collated and presented quantitatively., Results: Responses from eight out of ten member countries were analysed. The results illustrate that countries in the ASEAN region are at different stages of HTA institutionalization. While Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have well-established processes and methods for priority setting through HTA, other countries, such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam, have begun to develop HTA systems in their countries by establishing nodal agencies or conducting ad-hoc activities., Discussion and Conclusion: The study provides a general overview of the HTA landscape in ASEAN countries. Systematic efforts to mitigate the gaps between the demand and supply of HTA in each country are required while ensuring adequate participation from stakeholders so that decisions for resource allocation are made in a fair, legitimate and transparent manner and are relevant to each local context.