Future of Medical Education Journal
Year:2014 | Volume:4 | Issue:2|Papers Count:6

Dear Editor: The rising importance of emotional intelligence gives a clear idea of the significant differences between men and women, since men and women are emotionally intelligent in different ways. Understanding and appreciating such differences leads to the improvement of the existing relationships and to the establishment of new relationships in a satisfying manner.One of the principal reasons for the above-mentioned differences is attributed to the different kinds of brain functions of men compared with woman. As emotional intelligence is acquisitive and of social origin, parents and children, thus, expose their emotions in an expressive way to one another, either consciously or unconsciously in their interactions. Another explanation of this difference would be a distinction in educational level of boys compared with the education received by girls. A suitable education ensures a high level of emotional intelligence, which contributes to the success in all life areas.

Background: oral and maxillofacial pathology is one of the major courses in basic sciences relating dentistry to medicine and is the basis of learning many clinical sciences. Since the periodic evaluation is important in identifying issues and solving them, in this study, students' opinions were used to gather useful information for better planning in this course. The purpose of this study is to investigate students' opinions about oral and maxillofacial pathology course in Mashhad School of Dentistry.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Mashhad School of Dentistry in 2009-2010 academic year. All students attending their third years of study or more, who had taken oral and maxillofacial pathology course and were willing to answer the questions participated the study. The study was done on 250 students, field method was used for data gathering and the data gathering tool was a researcher made questionnaire, and census was used for sampling. After collecting data, they were coded and analyzed by SPSS 13.Results: According to the results of this study, 63.2% of students had complete to relative satisfaction with the theoretical pathology course, and 81.6% had complete to relative satisfaction with the practical pathology course. Students mentioned the diagnosis of oral diseases as the main application of this course.Conclusion: By using students' opinions about Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course in this study, in addition to improving students’ satisfaction by increasing participation and minor modifications in examination methods, we can hope an improvement in teaching quality.

Background: Determining satisfaction level helps the development and improvement of universities. This study was designed to investigate satisfaction level and prioritize factors affecting students' satisfaction with educational quality in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study. The data gathering tool was a researcher made questionnaire consisted of 54 questions covering different fields regarding students' satisfaction. Subjects were 400 intern students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was performed by stratified random method. Significance level was 0.05.Results: Students' satisfaction with classroom physical conditions and educational aids was moderate to good (3.11±1.71), while laboratory and practice rooms was moderate to low (2.91±1.07). Also, satisfaction with the educational services was moderate (3.02±1.11), with field training and internship, was moderate to low (2.94±1.21), and with teaching methods it was moderate to low (3.12±1.11). According to the results of this study, the first priority is library resources and internet access. Results showed that there is a significant difference in most criteria (p<0.05), but no significant difference was observed in satisfaction level with internship among different degrees. Also, there was no significant difference between females and males regarding satisfaction level with classroom physical conditions, internship and library resources. Also, results showed that there is a significant difference in satisfaction level between students of different faculties (p=0.001) and different degrees (p=0.001).Conclusion: To improve students' satisfaction level, more emphasis must be put on library resources and internet, laboratory and practice rooms, field training and internship, educational services, classroom physical conditions and educational aids, and teaching methods, respectively.

Background: The method of evaluation in students' learning affects their studying mode. The aim of this study was to compare nursing students' scores in essay and multiple-choice questions in Mother and Child Health examination in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences.Methods: In this study, the final scores of 121 of nursing students in a multiple-choice questionnaire consisting of 40 questions, during four semesters were compared with the scores obtained from an essay questionnaire composed of 40 questions. Difficulty and Discrimination Index of questions were similar in both kinds of questions. Data was analyzed employing paired t-test and Pearson correlation test and P<0.05 was considered significant.Results: Mean and standard deviation of students' scores were reported 14.72±3.7 in essay questions and 16.53±2.4 in multiple-choice questions and showed a significant difference (P<0.001). A positive correlation was reported between the essay and multiple-choice questions (r=0.93). Students' scores were higher in multiple-choice questionnaire compared to the essay one.Using multiple-choice questionnaire on its own may lead to the success of those students who do not have the ability of perceive, resolve and apply.

Background: One of the essential and inevitable principles in improving the education quality, particularly in universities, is the continuous assessment of students' educational progress at different education levels. The role of advisors and consulting tutors at universities are considered as one of the important interventions of the Ministry of Health for the purpose of guiding students' studying affairs. This article studied the design, implementation and evaluation of the software used in aiding the advising professors of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical one. This investigation was done in pursuit of designing and implementing software procedures, helping the advising professors to instruct students to evaluate their results through its implementation. The researchers considered the software through analyzing the average grades of students and the circumstances before and after implementing the software (i.e. intervention). The statistical population included all of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students between 2009 and 2011, being the total of 11813 persons. Student workbook records were included in the study. The data was analyzed by the software SPSS 16, descriptive statistics and proper statistical tests.Results: The process evaluation showed both conditional probation situations (0.12 percent) and decreasing the average grades (0.11 percent) decreased as compared to the past, whereas students' GPA (grade Point Avarage) increased significantly after the intervention (P<0.05) Conclusion: Implementing the instructional software for the advising professors, regarding the education of the students on the verge of academic failures in 2009, has significantly increased their capability in supervision and educational instructions, and reduced the number of students at risk of academic failures.

Background: It is important to learn how to study for different examinations. The objective of the current study is to explore whether the assessment method selection would significantly affect the studying and learning approaches of students.Methods: This descriptive-analytical research consisted of 191 firstyear undergraduate nursing students from three nursing schools and was conducted during two interval semesters. All of students were given examinations with half of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and half of short-answer questions (SAQs) in mid and final term examinations. A structured 12-item questionnaire was designed based on a modified 5-point Likert scale in outline of visual analogue scale. The questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha of at 0.814 sought information on student's studying and learning approaches.Results: The students significantly rated agreement with queries of short-answer assessment part of questionnaire higher than in multiple-choice assessment part. Female students performed significantly better in the learning outcomes in SAQ and MCQ examinations grades and total grade of both examinations than male students who participated in the study (p=0.001, 0.001 and 0.030, respectively). Neither lower-quartile nor higher-quartile of education promotion exposed significance difference on total score of studying and learning approaches questionnaires. Responses frequency to studying and learning approaches questionnaire revealed that most students selected short-answer assessment method.Conclusion: Therefore, the findings revealed that assessment method may shape and improve students' studying and learning approaches. Short answer question is hypothesized to enhance the development of deep learning.