EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES
Year:2016 | Volume:8 | Issue:6 |Papers Count:9

Aims: Showing a meta-cognitive aspect, creativity is related to higher mental processes such as thinking, intelligence, imagination, and information process. There are many studies on the physiological bases of creativity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of creative thinking on the heart rate signal.Materials & Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 52 medical engineering, electrical, and control students of Sahand University were studied in 2012. The subjects were selected via accessible sampling method. To assess the level of the students’ creative thinking, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (B form; figural) was used. Before and during creative thinking test, heart signal in the rest position was recorded by 1000Hz sampling frequency.Data was analyzed using Wilcoxon non-parametric test.Findings: There was an increase in the mean heart power amplitude during creative thinking than the rest position. However, passing time and conducting the last sessions of the creativity test, it showed a reduction. There was an increase in the heart rate in persons with high creativity than those with low creativity. In addition, based on the test scores, there was a higher creativity level in females and three-lingual persons than males and bilingual persons, respectively. There was an increase in the heart rate in females than males (p=0.0398). Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between three-lingual and bilingual persons (p>0.05).Conclusion: Creative thinking results in an increase in the heart rate in persons with high creativity than persons with low creativity. Therefore, the creativity level can be detected via heart signal.

Aims: The students’ academic achievements are noticed by the managers of academic centers. One of the major factors in the academic achievements is academic enthusiasm. The aim of this study was to predict the academic enthusiasm based on spiritual intelligence and psychological tenacity in the students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences.Instrument & Methods: In the correlational cross-section study, 165 students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences were studied in 2015-16 academic year. The subjects were selected based on Morgan table and via stratified random sampling method. Data was collected using spiritual intelligence, Ahvaz psychological tenacity, and academic enthusiasm scales. Data was analyzed by SPSS 22 software using Pearson correlational coefficient, synchronic regression, and independent T test.Findings: There were positive and significant correlations between academic enthusiasm and spiritual intelligence (r=0.10) and psychological tenacity (r=0.21; p<0.01).0.16 of academic enthusiasm variance were predicted by spiritual intelligence and psychological tenacity, mutually.Of the components of spiritual intelligence, existential critical thinking and transcendental consciousness could predict academic enthusiasm, only.Conclusion: Academic enthusiasm can be predicted based on spiritual intelligence and psychological tenacity.

Aims: Understanding the goals of achievement and educational self-efficacy of the students might lead to their more engagement and then, higher learning and academic scheivement. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of academic engagement in a relation to the achievement goals with academic self-efficacy.Instrument & Methods: In the correlational study, 360 female and meale medical, nursing, midwifery, and paramedical students of Kerman Shahid Bahonar University of Medical Sciences were studied in 2015. The subjects were selected via cluster random sampling. Data was collected using acheivemnet goals, academic self-efficacy, and academic engagement questionnaires.To investigate the causal model of caheivement goals, academic engagement, and salf-efficacy, correlative descarptive (by SPSS 20 and Amos 22 softwares) and path analysis (based on structural equations modeling) methods were used.Findings: There were significant effects between mastery approach and mastery avoidance approach and academic engagement and academic self-efficacy (p<0.05). There was a correlation between the goal of positively mastery approach and motivational, cognitive, and behavioral engagements.The higher the motivational and cognitive engagements were, the higher the academic self-efficacy was. In addition, based on the model fitness indices, fitness of the model was favorable.Conclusion: motivational and cognitive engagements play a complete mediator role between mastery approach goals and academic self-efficacy.

Aims: Different education methods play crucial roles to improve education quality and students’ satisfaction. In the recent years, medical education highly changes through new education methods. The aim of this study was to compare medical students’ satisfaction in traditional and integrated methods of teaching physiology course.Instrument & Methods: In the descriptive analysis study, fifty 4th semester medical students of Bojnourd University of Medical Sciences were studied in 2015. The subjects were randomly selected based on availability. Data was collected by two researcher-made questionnaires; their validity and reliability were confirmed. Questionnaure 1 was completed by the students after presenting renal and endocrinology topics via traditional and integrated methods. Questionnaire 2 was only completed by the students after presenting the course via integrated method. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software using dependent T test.Findings: Mean score of the students’ satisfaction in traditional method (24.80±3.48) was higher than integrated method (22.30±4.03; p<0.0001). In the integrated method, most of the students were agreed and completely agreed on telling stories from daily life (76%), sitting mode in the classroom (48%), an attribution of cell roles to the students (60%), showing movies and animations (76%), using models (84%), and using real animal parts (72%) during teaching, as well as expressing clinical items to enhance learning motivations (76%).Conclusion: Favorable satisfaction of the students in traditional lecture method to understand the issues, as well as their acceptance of new and active methods of learning, show effectiveness and efficiency of traditional method and the requirement of its enhancement by the integrated methods.

Aims: Nowadays, the community oriented medicine education model has been mainly noticed. The aim of this study was to survey the interns about achievement to the educational goals confirmed by Health Ministry in health internship and community medicine courses.Instrument & Methods: In the descriptive cross-sectional study, 56 health internship and community medicine students of one of the military universities of medical sciences in Tehran were studied in 2014 and 2015. The subjects were selected via available sampling method. Data was collected by a questionnaire based on the educational goals confirmed by Health Ministry.Data was analyzed by SPSS 19 software using descriptive indices and step-by-step regression test.Findings: 70, 68, and 60% of the students agreed to knowledge earning, achieving an attitude, and new skill earning, respectively. The highest knowledge earning levels were in health care factors (72%) and the method to monitor and assess the state health program (72%) and the lowest was in overall support (56%). The highest level of achieving an attitude was in family physician functioning (76%) and the lowest levels were in overall support (44%) and social factors effective on health (44%). There were significant correlations between knowledge earning (p=0.016) and achieving an attitude (p=0.032) and the scored given to the theoretical issues. In addition, there was a significant correlation between skill earning and the score given to the personal exercises (p=0.015).Conclusion: The levels of knowledge earning, achieving an attitude, and skill earning in health internship and community medicine courses were unfavorable, especially in some goals.

Aims: The requirements for revising the traditional education methods and utilization of new and active student-oriented learning methods have come into the scope of the educational systems long ago. Therefore, the new methods are being popular in different sciences including medical sciences. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of teaching through three methods (group guided discovery, questions and answers, and lecture methods) on the learning level and information durability in the nursing students.Instrument & Methods: In the semi-experimental study, 62 forth-semester nursing students of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, who were passing the infectious course for the first time at the first semester of the academic year 2015-16, were studied.The subjects were selected via census method and randomly divided into three groups including group guided discovery, questions and answers, and lecture groups. The test was conducted before, immediately after, and one month after the conduction of the training program using a researcher made questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS 19 software using Chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, ANOVA with repeated observations, and LSD post-hoc test.Findings: The mean score of the test conducted immediately after the training program in the lecture group was significantly lesser than guided discovery and question and answer groups (p<0.001).In addition, the mean score of the test conducted one month after the training program in guided discovery group was significantly higher than both question and answer (p=0.004) and lecture (p=0.001) groups.Conclusion: Active educational methods lead to a higher level of the students’ participation in the educational issues and provided a background to enhance learning and for better information durability.

Aims: Clinical trial plays an important role in the enhancement of practical skills of the medical students. Then, to be sure about the effectiveness of clinical trial on learning, it is required to assess the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the educational environment based on DREEM model from the viewpoints of speech therapy interns in neurology and ENT wards of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital of Iran University of Medical Sciences.Instrument & Methods: In the cross-sectional descriptive study, 59 BS speech therapy interns (final semesters) were studied in neurology and ENT wards of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital in the first and second semesters of academic year 2013-14. The subjects were selected via census method. Data was collected using 44-question standard DREEM questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 software using independent T test.Findings: Mean scores of five educational domains were 125.7 of 176, showing favorable educational quality (71.44%). Intern’s comprehension of the teacher’s learning capability was assessed very favorable, while other four domains were assessed favorable. There was no significant difference between the viewpoints about the educational environment based on gender (males and females), marital status (single and married), and semesters (seven and eight; p>0.05).Conclusion: Based on the DREEM model, the educational environment of neurology and ENT wards of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital of Iran University of Medical Sciences is assessed favorable by speech therapy interns.

Aims: Due to the studentship stressful factors and challenging clinical conditions and internship, the nursing students undergo emotional exhaustion and academic burnout. The outcomes might, also, negatively affect their academic engagement and functions. The aim of this study was to explain the academic motivation of the nursing students based on the social welfare and vitality.Instrument & Methods: In the correlational study, the nursing students of Arak University of Medical Sciences were studied in the academic year 2014-15.210 students were selected via available sampling. Data was collected using academic motivation, Kees social welfare, and academic vitality questionnaires. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 software using Pearson correlation and multivariate regression tests.Findings: The total mean scores of social welfare, academic motivation, and academic vitality were 98.68±13.21, 40.55±5.98, and 18.58±7.58, respectively. There were significant and positive correlations between social welfare and academic motivation (r=0.183; p<0.001) and the subscales including emotional motivation (r=0.103; p<0.048) and cognitive motivation (r=0.154; p<0.003). Due to the lack of any correlation between academic vitality and academic motivation and its sub-scales, the academic vitality could not predict the academic motivation. Nevertheless, the social welfare could predict 33% of the variance of academic motivation.Conclusion: The social welfare plays an important role to determine the academic motivation of nursing students. Nevertheless, academic vitality plays no role.