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Background: Simulation-based medical education has been used in medical training for decades. Rapid cycle deliberate practice (RCDP) is a novel simulation strategy that uses iterative practice and feedback to achieve skill mastery. To date, there has been minimal evaluation of RCDP vs standard immersive simulation (IS) for the teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to graduate medical education (GME) learners. Our primary objective was to compare the time to performance of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) actions between trainees who completed RCDP vs IS.Methods: This study was a prospective, randomized, controlled curriculum evaluation. A total of 55 postgraduate year-1 internal medicine and emergency medicine residents participated in the study. Residents were randomized to instruction by RCDP (28) or IS (27). Stress and ability were self-assessed before and after training using an anonymous survey that incorporated five-point Likert-type questions. We measured and compared times to initiate critical ACLS actions between the two groups during a subsequent IS.Results: Prior learner experience between RCDP and IS groups was similar. Times to completion of the first pulse check, chest compression initiation, backboard placement, pad placement, initial rhythm analysis, first defibrillation, epinephrine administration, and antiarrhythmic administration were similar between RCDP and IS groups. However, RCDP groups took less time to complete the pulse check between compression cycles (6.2 vs 14.2 seconds, P = 0.01). Following training, learners in the RCDP and IS groups scored their ability to lead and their levels of anticipated stress similarly (3.43 vs 3.30,(P = 0.77), 2.43 vs. 2.41, P = 0.98, respectively). However, RCDP groups rated their ability to participate in resuscitation more highly (4.50 vs 3.96, P = 0.01). The RCDP groups also reported their realized stress of participating in the event as lower than that of the IS groups (2.36 vs 2.85, P = 0.01).Conclusion: Rapid cycle deliberate practice learners demonstrated a shorter pulse check duration, reported lower stress levels associated with their experience, and rated their ability to participate in ACLS care more highly than their IS-trained peers. Our results support further investigation of RCDP in other simulation settings.

One concern that merits the attention of the educational research community is the growing trend toward shorter study abroad programs. Study abroad offerings in which students have traditionally enrolled for academic credit were primarily either a semester or a year in length. The recent Open Doors (2005) report reveals that the growth of study abroad can be attributed, in part, to the increase in programs involving sessions of eight weeks or less. Recent growth in participation in short-term study abroad programs warrants research on the effectiveness of these programs and raises important questions about the differences in student outcomes between short-term and semester-long study abroad participants. The purpose of this study is to help bolster existing study abroad research by comparing the global-mindedness of student participants at three private universities' study abroad programs. This study seeks to examine the differences between students who have participated in a short-term program, consisting of eight weeks or less and students who have participated in a semester-long program in one particular study abroad model known as an "island program." The study will also establish the baseline levels of global-mindedness of students who have applied and been accepted into a future study abroad program, but as yet have no study abroad experience. Recommendations generated from this study are geared primarily toward administrators of study abroad programs. (Contains 2 tables.)

Institutional review boards have a dual goal: first, to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects, and second, to support and facilitate the conduct of valuable research. In striving to achieve these goals, IRBs must often consider conflicting interests. In the discussion below, we characterize research oversight as having three elements: (i) research regulations, which establish a minimum acceptable standard for research conduct; (ii) ethical principles, which help us identify and define relevant ethical issues; and (iii) virtue ethics, which guides the prioritization of relevant issues. We describe specific ways in which the lessons of virtue ethics suggest revisions to the IRB structure and review process, the education and training of IRB members, and the appropriate limits of regulations in research ethics oversight.

Photoactivated Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization (RDRP) technologies have emerged very recently in the field of 3D printing systems especially at the macroscale in vat‐photopolymerization‐based processes such as digital light processing (DLP). Contrary to conventional free radical photopolymerization, photoRDRP in 3D printing leads to 3D objects with living character and thus confers them the unique ability to be post‐modified after fabrication. While 3D direct laser writing (3D DLW) by two photon polymerization has become a standard for fabrication of complex 3D micro‐objects, the use of RDRP and its associated benefits has so far been under‐investigated at that scale. Herein, a photoresist suitable for 3D DLW based on nitroxide mediated photopolymerization (NMP2) is developed. The photopolymerization efficiency for fabrication of micro‐structures and their subsequent post‐modification are investigated regarding the laser power and the wavelength of excitation. Moreover, highly tunable, precise, and successive surface patterning of 2D and 3D multi‐material microstructures are demonstrated thanks to the spatial and temporal control offered by the photo‐induced post‐modification. This work highlights new directions to be explored in order to accelerate the adoption of RDRP in 3D printing based on photopolymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-based social networking has become ubiquitous on college and university campuses. However, little is known about how this form of networking reflects social integration which is considered to be an integral component of student persistence. To address this topic, a random sample of 375 entering freshman were used to evaluate the differences between persisters and non-persisters in their use of "Facebook," currently the most popular social computing network. Findings indicated that persisters were more actively involved and more likely to use Facebook for university-based relationships than non-persisters. Activity on Facebook was also statistically significantly related to a measure of Tinto's concept of social integration. Facebook appears to be a behavioral measure of social integration and may be an important factor in facilitating the transition to college for students. (Contains 3 tables.)

To gain approval of a new master's degree in difficult financial times, the authors applied strategies that are applicable at other institutions. Using existing internal resources to build on the university's mission was key in developing a new M.Ed. in Higher Education--Student Affairs Emphasis at Abilene Christian University. Creativity and flexibility when it came to faculty and scholarships helped fashion a reasonable budget. Frequent communication among the developers and stakeholders as well as thorough market research made passage through the various committees smooth and successful. Developers now contemplate additions to the degree tracks even before the first students are admitted.

The primary purpose of this article is to elaborate on a psychological concept related to Tinto's construct of social integration. The concept introduced in this article is worldview fit, defined as the perceived ideological compatibility between the student and the institution (e.g., faculty, peers). This purpose was accomplished through three research objectives: (a) construction of a worldview fit measure and an assessment of its psychometric properties, (b) examination of worldview fit across demographic groups at a religiously affiliated campus that might show worldview fit differences, and (c) testing the ability of the worldview fit measure to predict fall-to-fall retention in first-year students at a religiously affiliated campus. Results of this current study suggest that worldview factors might contribute to student satisfaction and retention. (Contains 2 tables.)

Technology has been used to good effect for many years within educational settings and the personal development arena more broadly. Digital media, apps and virtual learning environments are now standard tools for many of us when developing new knowledge and skills. By comparison, the criminal justice sector has lagged behind in its use of technology to support people who choose to work towards positive life goals. Notwithstanding, the focus of government digital services on 'user needs, not government needs'1 provides an important direction for efforts to digitally-enable the desistance agenda. This article brings together two unique yet converging perspectives on how we can place service users at the heart of technology designed to promote desistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]