Educational Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Dec 2022

COVID-19 pandemic has widely affected education, and different types of virtual education have been widely used.

This study aimed to investigate the challenges and opportunities of E-learning from the perspective of dentistry, students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on all dental students in clinical wards. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17, and descriptive statistical methods and Kruskal-Willi’s test were used.

A total of 167 students participated in this study, and 73% were satisfied with virtual education during the COVID-19 pandemic era. In addition, 76% of the students were confident with the quality of offline educational content. The students’ satisfaction rate with interacting with the professors in the virtual education system was 78%. Students mentioned that the most crucial advantage of offline virtual education was the possibility of studying several times and at any time, and the most significant drawback was the lack of eye contact with professors.

Based on the results, online education in dentistry could be helpful. A variety of E-learning methods encourage student-based education. Therefore, reducing the cognitive burden of educational content and increasing interactive activities are recommended to improve the quality of education.

Internal evaluations (IEs) are associated with various obstacles, including time consumption, high study costs, and extensive data analysis, requiring some educational groups (EG). Therefore, it is essential to provide a suitable solution to overcome these obstacles.

This study aimed to design and use Internal Evaluation Analysis Software for basic science educational groups (IESEG) at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS).

This study tried to implement all the procedures necessary to conduct the IE of Basic sciences EGs in a particular software format. For this purpose, the MATLAB programming environment and its graphical interface were used for implementation after preparing the necessary standard procedures. The evaluation of the designed software, IESEG, was performed based on the results of several EGs by traditional (manual) and new software approaches.

Internal Evaluation Analysis Software for basic science educational groups showed that the calculation errors were reduced to zero during the IE process with the software compared to the manual method. In addition, the designed software could draw graphs and related tables to display the evaluation results.

The use of designed software, IESEG, creates a systematic, uniform, and regular method of conducting IE. In addition, speeding up the IE and providing an accurate analysis are the benefits which increase the capabilities of the internal evaluation committees of EGs.

One of the basic steps in improving the quality of health programs is to evaluate it from the viewpoint of beneficiaries. SERVQUAL is a model that is very effective in evaluating the quality of services.

The aim of this study was to assess viewpoint of clinical teachers and medical students about the quality of educational services provided based on the SERVQUAL model in 2018.

This research was descriptive-analytical and 80 medical students and clinical teachers of Shahid Beheshti Teaching Hospital in Kashan participated in it. Data collection tool was SERVQUAL standard questionnaire including 22 items and a 7-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software and descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test) (P ≤ 0.05).

The expectations (optimal status) of the participants in the total score of service quality and all its dimensions were significantly higher than their perceptions (current status) (P < 0.001). In other words, from the viewpoint of individuals in all dimensions of quality and their total score, there is a gap that the most significant quality gap in the guarantee dimension (-2.91 ± 1.34), and the lowest in the empathy dimension (-1.54 ± 2.02). The mean gap between the total expectations and perceptions score and its dimensions from the viewpoint of women was higher than men but was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). There was also a significant relationship between the service quality gap and individuals' educational levels (P < 0.05).

In all aspects of the quality of educational services, there was a negative gap (failure to meet expectations) between expectations and their perception, and this gap was greater in dimension of confidence. The observed differences between the five dimensions of quality should be used as a guide for planning and resource allocation.

Online language learning has recently gained a reputation in educational research, holding specifically true in English for specific purposes (ESP) courses. However, ESP online learning has not been sufficiently examined in particular disciplines such as medicine.

This study investigated the effects of teaching English medical vocabulary through a virtual learning platform (Adobe Connect) on Iranian medical students’ learner factors, including their self-regulation and self-concept.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 60 female and male medical students learning English for Medicine at Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2021. An Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to ensure the sample’s homogeneity. Then, the participants were categorized into Adobe Connect (experimental) and conventional face-to-face (control) groups. Data were collected using the Academic Self-concept Questionnaire (ASCQ) and the Self-regulation Questionnaire (SRQ). An ANCOVA test was run to compare the possible role of the two instructional methods on medical students’ self-regulation and self-concept.

Adobe Connect, as the experimental group, had a higher median score than the control group regarding the self-regulation posttest (P = 0.000). Therefore, using Adobe Connect virtual platform significantly improved the self-regulation of ESP medical students. Additionally, the results revealed that the experimental participants outperformed the control group regarding their self-concept (P = 0.000).

Based on the results, the online platform positively affected self-regulation and self-concept among medical students.

Students’ understanding of the basic principles of attending the university, classrooms, and patient beds and acquiring the necessary skills to deal with the problems of student life, professors, other students, and patients are essential for their education and learning.

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the learning of medical ethics courses based on the role of active teaching methods in better and practical learning of medical ethics and ethics courses.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the lecturers of relevant courses and medical students of Kermanshah Medical School in 2018-2019 on 201 people using a convenient sampling method. The data collection tool was a 22-question researcher-made questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from no effect (1) to very much (5), whose validity and reliability were confirmed (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.8). The collected data were imported to SPSS software version 21 and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics.

From the students’ point of view, influential factors in learning these courses were clinical memories, professors’ experience (80.6%), professor’s intimacy with students, scientific mastery (76.6%), professor’s clear and expressive expression (76.6%), acquaintance with leading professors and ethical model in university (66%), physical space, classroom facilities, audio-visual facilities (65.8%), review of key points and summaries in the classroom, using animation (55%), educational images and infographics, applications and cyberspace in the classes of medical etiquette and ethics. The opinion of the professors was in line with the students (53.5%).

Many factors affecting the learning of medical etiquette and ethics courses were similar to other courses, but there were differences in some cases. The teachers shared the opinions of the students and professors about the importance and priority of the factors affecting the learning of these courses.

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are the most common questions in clinical tests. Content validity and appropriate structure of the questions are always outstanding issues for each education system. This study aimed to evaluate the role of providing quantitative and qualitative feedback on the quality of faculty members’ MCQs.

This analytical study was conducted on Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences faculty members using the total MCQs test at least two times from 2018 to 2021. The quantitative data, including the validity of the tests, difficulty, and discrimination indices, were collected using a computer algorithm by experts.

The second analysis revealed that 14 (27.5%) faculty members had credit scores below 0.4, which was within the acceptable range for the overall validity of the test. The results showed a higher difficulty index in the second feedback than the first (0.46 ± 0.21 vs 0.55 ± 0.21, P = 0.30). No significant difference was found in the discrimination index (0.24 ± 0.1.25 vs 0.24 ± 0.10, P = 0.006). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in terms of taxonomy I (61.29 ± 20.84 vs 59.32 ± 22.11, P = 0.54), II (29.71 ± 17.84 vs 32.76 ± 18.82 P = 0.39), and III (8.50 ± 16.60 vs 7.36 ± 14.48, P = 0 .44) before and after feedback.

Based on the results, the questions were not ideal regarding Bloom’s taxonomy standards and the difficulty and discrimination indexes. Furthermore, providing feedback alone is not enough, and proper planning by the educational and medical development centers’ authorities is required to empower the faculty members in this area.

The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the structures and orders of societies, especially in the nursing profession.

This study was conducted to determine the challenges experienced by internship nursing students during clinical training in Iran.

This study was conducted using a qualitative and conventional content analysis approach. A total of 13 nursing students in their final year of study centers in Kermanshah, Iran, were selected using purposive sampling from August to September 2022. Individual face-to-face and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Interviews continued until data saturation was reached. The data were analyzed following Graneheim and Lundman’s approach. Statistical methods were not used in this study.

The data analysis led to 334 primary codes, ten subcategories, and three categories. The three categories were: (1) The future challenges of professional nurses; (2) education planning challenges; (3) and trainees related to challenges.

The study revealed that nursing students experienced personal, professional, and official challenges during their clinical training in the COVID-19 disaster. Nursing schools should proactively plan and prepare themselves to resolve expected challenges and better educational management appropriately.

Education research, due to its capacity to produce knowledge and information about educational subjects, is an influencing factor in guiding the educational strategies of institutions. Therefore, education research is the basis of educational institutions' development and improvement activities.

This descriptive qualitative study was conducted on all the key people and experts in education who submitted the proposed research topics of their subcategory with a goal-based method through several stages of correspondence using the Delphi method (classic Delphi). A total of 105 research titles were received, and four criteria (non-repetition, feasibility, compliance with unit needs, and effectiveness in improving the quality level of medical education) were determined. The data were analyzed by calculating the score of each section using descriptive statistics methods (percentage, frequency, and mean) scores given in each section. In the end, the titles were selected based on the final score in descending order and 16 absolute priorities.

Among the 105 initially proposed titles, 30 items with a higher average score were selected after removing duplicates and similar items. Finally, 16 articles were determined as the most critical research challenges in university education. These priorities were in six fields, including learning (five titles), educational management (four titles), lesson planning (three titles), educational evaluation (two titles), professional ethics (one title), and empowerment (one title).

The opinions of educational experts have made the research priorities in the education of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences comprehensive. Many educational problems and issues have been clarified and introduced for researchers.