Future of Medical Education Journal
Volume:3 Issue: 3, Sep 2013

the inappropriate use of handouts and notes is a common academic problem among students. Student's notes are too brief and incomplete in compare with references; hence they may not cover the required content for the courses. The aim of this paper is to analyze student's attitude toward reading handouts and notes instead of references. In this analytical and descriptive study a representative sample of 201participants, including medical, paramedical, nursing and midwifery students of Golestan University of Medical Sciences, has been drawn. The data derived from this research has been collected by a valid and reliable questionnaire. There have been 39 questions in the questionnaire ranging from 1 to 5, based on Likert scale; five represents that students are proponent of reading notes. The sum of scores was 20; the 16th version of SPSS, T-test, one-way and two-way variance analysis at significance level p<0.05 were used in analyzing the data. 66.7% of participants were female. ANOVA test showed that there were significant differences among the mean of attitudes of medical students (18.15±1.37), nursing (17.15±1.46), and paramedical (17.67±1.35) (P=0.008). The overall results revealed that the huge amount of content of references is the main factor for student's tendency to use notes instead of references. the final result was that students have got positive attitude to note-taking during courses and use their notes as their direct reference material, while the class notes are not reasonably efficient, particularly when used as the main learning strategy.

Achieving a desirable clinical education requires continuous assessment of the current situations in clinical education and identifying the strengths and weaknesses. This study aimed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the clinical education fields. This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study in which the strengths and weaknesses of clinical education settings were investigated from the viewpoints of all students and educators of Tabriz faculty of nursing and midwifery in 2010. Data collecting tool was based on Weldner and Laurent questionnaire. Research sample, equal to research community, was 156 midwifery students and 13 midwifery educators selected through census method. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive and analytic (Chi square) statistics through SPSS (ver.13) software. The major weaknesses of clinical education settings were inaccessibility to necessary information prior to clinical education, lack of study rooms and conference spaces for students, and opportunities to interact with some faculty and university headquarters. The major strengths were considering students’ educational needs, providing adequate clinical wards and equipment, and various cases. There were significant difference between views of students in various educational sections toward evaluation of clinical education in half of items (p<0.05). Providing necessary information prior to clinical education, introducing written learning objectives, revising the method of student's assessment and removing physical deficiencies in clinical settings can be an effective step towards improving the quality of clinical training.

Cooperative and Collaborative Learning approach with online programs is useful in response to rising demand for university educational system. This study evaluates the use of internet and computer in collaborative teaching and learning process for post graduate nursing students. This is a correlation descriptive study. The population in the study is based on census sampling of graduate nursing students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences (n =57). The data was collected through questionnaires once, and then it was analyzed by Pearson correlation, i.e. t-test.. The content validity of the questionnaire was determined. The reliability of these tests Cranach’s alpha was calculated for active and Collaborative Learning (ACL) (r = 0.84), as well as electronic communication (r = 0.91). The results indicated a mean score of Collaborative Learning at (76.2±13.3). Between needed and used electronic resources, there was a statistically significant correlation (P <0.001). Students in Collaborative Learning, experience a wide range of information and training skills in various aspects; therefore, it is recommended for dynamic and driven students to develop Electronic Communications and cooperation through regular planning, coordination and preparation.

Medial education's models should train physicians with competencies and commitment to meet health needs in the community. This social accountability in medical education is not a new concept but provides equity, quality, relevance and cost-effectiveness in health care system. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of faculty members towards the situation and activities in this topic. 133 university faculty members participated in this research from seven schools (Medical, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Paramedical, Health and Complementary Traditional Schools) at Medical Sciences of Mashhad University (MUMS) in Iran during 2012-2013. A questionnaire was distributed to faculties that asked about their knowledge about social accountability in medical education and its position at this university. The mean knowledge about social accountability was 3.80 ± 0.423 in clinical and 3.81 ± 0.368 in basic science faculty members (p>0.05). The mean knowledge in Professors, associates and assistant professors were 3.79 ± 0.11, 3.79 ± 0.08 and 3.90 ± 0.09, respectively (p>0.05). The faculties at Pharmaceutics School got the lowest level in this research. The level of knowledge among faculties at MUMS on educational accountability is limited, and is lowest at Pharmaceutics School. There is a need for informing the necessity, development of position and concepts about this method among faculties, especially at Pharmaceutics School, to improve health services.

Mobile learning affects learners through motivation, cooperation, information sharing, and availability. It provides opportunities for learners, learning providers and universities. This study aimed to examine the role of mobile learning on theacademic achievement and self-regulation of paramedical sciences in Birjand University of Medical Sciences. This survey is a quasi-experimental study. The research population included operating room technology students in Ghaen and Ferdows faculties as satellite faculties. Samples included 43 persons. Initially a relevant microbiology mobile book was installed on students’ mobile phones in test group (22 students). In this group, during the semester, the microbiology contents delivered through the mobile books and SMS, inaddition to face-to-face teaching. The control group received only conventional face-to-face training. The data collection tool included Pintrich’s self-regulation questionnaire and a teachermade microbiology quiz. The results showed that using this method has quite significant impact on both student's academic achievement and their self-regulation learning (p<0.05). With regards to positive effect of mobile learning onacademic achievement and self-regulation, it is necessary for curriculum planners to design and implement appropriate mobile learning methods to enhance learning, self-learning and selfregulation.

Post partum hemorrhage is one of the common causes in maternal morbidity and mortality and its outcome depends on accurate estimation of blood loss which needs acquiring skills. In this study, we decided to evaluate the effect of education on visual blood volume estimation by using simulation. This prospective study was done in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and 40 obstetrics and gynecology residents who had inclusion criteria and signed consent forms participated in it. The study was designed to include three stages; namely, pre-test, education-based simulation, and post-test. At first, six stations were simulated, along with, Post partum hemorrhage in different volumes (500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 cc). Then, participants were requested to fill their personal details in forms and view different simulated stations and estimate correct blood volume as pre-test. In the following stage, the researcher educated participants about correct volume in each station. In the final stage, six stations with the same volumes were simulated and the post-test was performed like the pretest. After data collection, it was statistically analyzed by SPSS software (version 11.5) and Chi-Square and McNemar Tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Participants were 40 people of obstetrics and gynecology residents. The comparison between the results of pre- and post- tests, illustrated that the accuracy visual estimation in different blood volumes (500, 1000,1500,2000,2500, and 3000cc) had significantly differed (P= 0.008, P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.001, P<0.021, P=0.001, respectively). Education via simulation had a significant effect on the accuracy of visual estimation of blood volume.

Academic failure of students is one of the basic problems in higher education centers in Iran that, not only causes to waste time and current charges in educational centers, but also leads to psychical, mental, familial and social problems for students. Therefore, this study has been done in order to determine the value of academic success of students of Zahedan medical university and its effective factors. The analytical and descriptive study was performed on Zahedan medical students who passed at least one term at university (399 participants), who were studied through random sampling; data were collected by using questionnaires of individual characteristics, their satisfaction of academic major and factors being effective on academic achievement. After collecting information based on class average and terms of failing, students were divided into 2 groups, namely successful and unsuccessful. The effective factors on their academic achievement or lack of achievement were examined in each group and compared with the other. Findings of this examination showed that 33.8% of students were unsuccessful at the university. There was a significant difference regarding sex, father's job, Diploma average and household economic status between groups (P<0.05), while a significant relation was not observed between variables of age, academic major, parental education and mother's job between groups (P>0.05). In this research, the most important, effective factors on academic achievement were study method, study time, interest in major and attention and concentration during studying. Among these demographic factors, gender was effective on academic achievement of students, and females were more successful than males. Based on the results of this study, holding educational workshops for curriculum, study and learning methods can be suitable for the educational success of students.

Teachers are evaluated in different ways. However, the most prevalent and controversial method is teacher evaluation by students. The present study was targeted at the examination of students’ view on the teachers’ evaluation criteria. The population of this descriptive cross-sectional study was 107 students of Paramedical Faculty of Urmia University of Medical Sciences that two of them were excluded from the study since their questionnaires were damaged. The collected data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS software. The current investigation revealed that the majority of students (79%) considered “Respectful treatment of teacher with the students” as the most important criterion of teacher evaluation. The criteria of “Teacher’s mastery of scientific concepts and materials” and “The teacher’s ability to present and convey the course materials” composed, respectively, 77.1% and 73.3% of students’ next preferences. “Paying attention to the class duration by the teacher” was the last criterion that attracted the least amount of students’ attention (24.8%) to itself.Discussion and According to students’ viewpoint, the criterion of “Respectful treatment of teacher with the students” has a fairly high importance which emphasizes teachers’ responsibility for paying attention to appropriate behavior. The results of this study can be used to achieve educational goals and improve quality of education.