Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Year Groups (year + groups)
Selected AbstractsSurvival with Rett syndrome: comparing Rett's original sample with data from the Australian Rett Syndrome DatabaseDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 10 2010MICHAEL FREILINGER Aim, Rett syndrome is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder that typically affects females. Little is known about the natural history and survival time of these females. Method, We compared the survival of all Austrian female participants from Rett's historical cohort (1966) with that of affected females registered in the Australian Rett Syndrome Database. The analysis included both Kaplan,Meier analysis and a log-rank test for equality of survivor functions. Results, Of females in the original Austrian group, three are still alive. The median age at death was 13 years 4.8 months. The probability of survival up to the age of 25 years was 21%, compared with 71% in the Australian cohort (p<0.001). We found no practical or statistically significant differences in survival between the various birth year groups within the Australian cohort. Interpretation, Our data indicate that survival of females with Rett syndrome has improved since the late 1960s but that there has been shown no change in survival over the last 30 years, possibly because the follow-up time has been too short. [source] Mathematics anxiety in secondary students in EnglandDYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2009Steve Chinn Abstract Whatever the changes that are made to the mathematics curriculum in England, there will always remain a problem with mathematics anxiety. Maths anxiety is rarely facilitative. This study examined aspects of mathematics in secondary schools and how students rated them as sources of anxiety. Over 2000 students in independent and mainstream schools in England completed a 20-item questionnaire designed to investigate maths anxiety levels. The same questionnaire was given to over 440 dyslexic males in specialist schools within the same age range. The results showed that examinations and tests create high levels of anxiety in approximately 4% of students. The results suggest that certain aspects and topics in the maths curriculum, such as long division, cause similar levels of anxiety for students in all year groups in secondary schools. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Reasoning versus knowledge retention and ascertainment throughout a problem-based learning curriculumMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 9 2009Anne Collard Context, Since 2000, problem-based learning (PBL) seminars have been introduced into the curriculum of medical studies at the University of Liège. We aimed to carry out a cross-sectional investigation of the maturational increase in biomedical reasoning capacity in comparison with factual knowledge retention throughout the curriculum. Methods, We administered a factual knowledge test (i.e. a true/false test with ascertainment degree) and a biomedical reasoning test (i.e. an adapted script concordance test [SCT]) to 104 students (Years 3,6) and a reference panel. The selected topic was endocrinology. Results, On the SCT, the students obtained higher scores in Years 5 and 6 than in Years 3 and 4. In Year 3, the scores obtained on SCT questions in a new context indicated transfer of reasoning skills. On the true/false test, the scores of Year 3 students were significantly higher than those of students in the other three year groups. A positive correlation between SCT scores and true/false test scores was observed only for students in Years 3 and 4. In each group, the ascertainment degree scores were higher for correct than for incorrect responses and the difference was calculated as an index of self-estimation of core knowledge. This index was found to be positively correlated to SCT scores in the four year groups studied. Conclusions, Biomedical reasoning skills are evidenced early in a curriculum involving PBL and further increase during training. This is accompanied by a decrease in factual knowledge retention. The self-estimation of core knowledge appears to be related to reasoning capacity, which suggests there is a link between the two processes. [source] Content specificity: is it the full story?MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2008Statistical modelling of a clinical skills examination Objective, This study sought to determine the relative contributions made by transferable skills and content-specific skills to Year 2 medical student performance in a clinical skills examination. Methods, Correlated trait-correlated method models were constructed to describe the performance of 2 year groups of students in examinations held in the summers of 2004 and 2005 at Peninsula Medical School in the UK. The transferable skills components of the models were then removed to indicate the contribution made to the fit of the models to the data. Results, Although content-specific skills made the greater contribution to the 2 models of student performance (accounting for averages of 54% and 43% of the variance, respectively), transferable skills did make an important but smaller contribution (averages of 13% and 16%, respectively). When the transferable skills components of the models were removed, the fit was not as good. Conclusions, Both content-specific skills and transferable skills contributed to performance in the clinical skills examination. This challenges current thinking and has important implications, not just for those involved in clinical skills examinations, but for all medical educators. [source] Approaches to learning on placement: the students' perspectivePHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2009Clare Kell Abstract Background and Purpose.,With Continuing Professional Development activity, a requirement of Allied Health Professional registration in the UK and said to be most effectively supported by practitioners who adopt a deep approach to learning, a UK university has been exploring how its pre-registration curriculum influences learner development. This paper investigates the possible influences of the clinical placement component of the curriculum that is structured as four 4-week blocks during both Years 2 and 3 of the 3-year BSc (Hons) programme. A range of placement models are used within this structure including the traditional 1:1 educator,:,student ratio and those that have a higher ratio of student(s),:,educator(s).,Methods.,This phase of the larger project used a case study design framed about students from two academic year groups on one UK undergraduate, pre-registration physiotherapy programme. Three questionnaires comprising a learning approaches inventory, a demographic questionnaire and a placement self-assessment form were posted to Year 2 and 3 students during one clinical placement. The students were invited to complete the questionnaires halfway through their placement, but in advance of the first, formal placement education feedback meeting. The need for students' self-assessment prevented follow-up data collection.,Results.,Analysis of the data from the learning approaches inventory against the demographic variables and placement assessment scores suggest that students' learning strategies depend upon the number of students, educators and assessors involved in their placement. The paper explores the possible links between placement experience, learning strategy and academic outcome. The authors question assumptions about the perceived benefits of some placement education models.,Conclusion.,Increasing the ratio of student,:,educator or educator,:,student may have a detrimental effect on students' learning development when placements are of 4-week duration. If such placement models are adopted, then students and placement educators must be adequately prepared and supported so that students' learning development towards the deep-learning autonomous professionals of tomorrow can continue through placement education. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Dentine hypersensitivity in subjects recruited for clinical trials: clinical evaluation, prevalence and intra-oral distributionJOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 3 2002D. G. Gillam Relatively few studies have reported on the frequency, distribution and severity of dentine hypersensitivity (DH) in subjects recruited for clinical trials of desensitizing agents. Potential subjects (n= 48 M, 81 F, mean age 35·1 years) for inclusion into such a study were screened to determine the extent of the problem. 117 subjects (41 M, 76 F) mean age 24·9 years were clinically examined. Evaluation by questionnaire indicated that the prevalence of DH was proportionately higher in the 20,29·9 years (34·9%), and 30,39·9 years groups (33·3%), respectively. Sensitivity to cold was the main presenting symptom. Tactile (probe) and cold air (dental air syringe) stimuli were used to clinically evaluate DH. Of the teeth eligible for evaluation 1561/3136 (49·8%) responded to either one or both of the test stimuli; 274/3136 (8·7%) responded to tactile only stimulation, 779/3136 (24·8%) to thermal only stimulation and 508/3136 (16·2%) to both tactile and thermal stimulation. Of those teeth responding to the stimuli, 477 (30·6%) were premolars, 437 (28%) incisors, 415 (26·8%) molars and 232 (14·9%) canines. The results agree with those of previously reported studies in that DH is most frequently observed on premolars and that proportionately more teeth are sensitive to evaporative than to tactile stimulation. Furthermore it would appear from the results of the study that tactile is less effective than thermal/evaporative stimulation in the evaluation of DH. [source] | ||||||||||