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Pharmacy students’ perceptions and attitudes toward face-to-face vs. virtual team-based learning (TBL) in the didactic curriculum: A mixed-methods study
Get PDFIntroduction
Virtual TBL is an online adaptation of the team-based learning (TBL) instructional strategy, emphasizing collaborative learning and problem-solving. The emergency shift to virtual TBL during the COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges. This study aims to 1) compare overall pharmacy students’ perceptions and attitudes toward face-to-face (FTF) TBL vs. virtual TBL in the didactic curriculum and stratify their perceptions and attitudes by various students’ characteristics; 2) evaluate students’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of virtual TBL.
Methods
This mixed-methods, pre-post, cross-sectional study utilized an anonymous survey to collect the data. Pharmacy students completed a survey to compare their perceptions and attitudes toward learning, class experience, learning outcomes achieved, and satisfaction with FTF TBL vs. virtual TBL using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Additionally, the survey included two open-ended questions to gather students’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of virtual TBL. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank exact test, while qualitative survey data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results
A total of 117 students (response rate of 59.4%) completed the study survey. Pharmacy students perceived FTF TBL to be superior to virtual TBL in their attitudes toward learning, class experience, learning outcomes achieved, and overall satisfaction across various students’ characteristics. While the students identified some unique strengths of using virtual TBL, they also highlighted several weaknesses of using this learning modality compared to FTF TBL.
Conclusions
Pharmacy students perceived FTF TBL to be superior to virtual TBL across various students’ characteristics. These findings can be helpful to pharmacy programs considering the implementation of virtual TBL in their didactic curricula. Future research should explore whether a purposefully designed virtual TBL environment, as opposed to the pandemic-driven emergency TBL planning, can influence students’ perceptions and attitudes toward virtual TBL
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS’ COMPETENCIES AND CAREER SUCCESS IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY: A QUALITATIVE STUDY
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to explore HRD professionals’ competencies leading to career success through an examination of their lived experiences of working in the service industry and to provide implications for HRD research and practice. Two research questions guiding this inquiry included: How do HRD professionals in the service industry experience career success? And how do HRD professionals in the service industry define and experience competencies leading to career success? To answer the two research questions, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 HRD professionals in the service industry. I then transcribed and coded the interview data and identified six themes including: (1) defining and experiencing career success through affect; (2) defining and experiencing career success as contribution to others; (3) defining and experiencing competency as KSAs and other attributes (e.g., capabilities, attitudes, values); (4) using the competency of relationship-building through trust and effective communication to define and experience career success; (5) implementing the competency of agility to define and experience career success; and (6) creating a unique competency mix by developing expert knowledge to define and experience career success. The study findings emphasize the need for HRD practitioners to become exemplars in their field, build credibility, be full organizational members who are credible, and develop unique competencies distinctive to their role. Future research should be conducted on HRD professionals’ perceptions of career success in the service industry. Further, given how emotional the topic of career success was to participants, scholars should explore the emotional well-being of HRD professionals. This study is limited to online interviews that were conducted because of interview participants’ busy schedule. Future research is called on to conduct in-person interviews, with the benefit of bodily presence, to collect richer data. For the sake of triangulation, I suggest adding multiple data collection methods such as observation, document review, and survey
MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF POULTRY WASTE ON FISHES AND MACROINVERTEBRATES IN THE SABINE RIVER
Get PDFFreshwater is a vital resource that provides life and sustainability for almost all organisms on Earth. It is important to maintain its health and protect it from emerging pollutants that pose a threat to the organisms that use it. Pollution continues to threaten the well-being of the environment’s freshwater sources all around the world that could lead to damaging effects in the future. The Sabine River is a major freshwater resource in the east Texas and western Louisiana areas that provides a habitat for thousands of organisms as well as other domestic uses for humans. In 2019, a waste discharge pipe was placed underwater by Sanderson Farms chicken factory dispels minimally treated chicken remains into the Sabine River near Hawkins, TX (Smith Co). A study was conducted by collecting fish and macroinvertebrate species at various dates and at upstream and downstream locations from the pipe to determine if the placement of the pipe was influencing the biodiversity of the organisms inhabiting the river as well as the health of the organisms over time. Many statistical analyses were performed including an IBI, B-IBI, habitat quality index, Shannon’s diversity index, Hilsenhoff biotic index, EPT index, and NMDS Plot where it was found that there was a significant difference in samples over time but not by site. There are many factors that could have accounted for this change such as drought patterns, geological differences in the substrate, and hydrological data over the years, so it is inconclusive whether the difference can be attributed to the placement of the pipe or some other factor. More data will be collected in later studies to examine any potential changes in health or diversity in the Sabine River near Hawkins, TX
Pain in the Dying Patient
Get PDFThis benchmark aims to educate nurses, doctors, and families on the importance of proper pain management in dying patients. The evidence in this benchmark will be appraised to improve practice, improve outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs (Melnyk, 2018). Feelings of being overwhelmed, fatigue, confusion, and guilt can occur in healthcare professionals without the proper knowledge of pain in the dying patient. Health professionals are responsible for ensuring proper care of patients is taken during the most difficult time of their lives to ensure they have the best quality of life through the end of their lives. The question to be answered is, In the dying patient, how does managed pain compared to unmanaged pain affect the quality of life during the end of life?
A proposal to be implemented is a benchmark detailing the use of continuous subcutaneous infusions and oral opioids once a patient is actively dying. This benchmark details how pain is unmanaged at the end of life and why change is necessary. Opioids have been shown to improve pain and shortness of breath during death. Since opioids have been shown to be effective, this should be implemented for hospice patients in the hospital setting to ensure symptom management with medication schedules. Data to prove why a change is necessary is the prevalence of patients in pain daily during the last thirty days of life, reports from caregivers or family members detailing symptoms the last week of life, the family\u27s perception of quality at the end of life, data detailing patient’s place of death if pain medication was used, what route the medication was administered, and data determining if an end of life conversation occurred prior to death
Visiting the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas
Get PDFIn this issue of the Hibbs Brief, we share some details about our visit to the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Anderson County
Multispectral Image Analysis using Convolution Neural Networks
Get PDFMachine learning (ML) techniques are used often to classify pixels in multispectral images. Recently, there is growing interest in using Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) for classifying multispectral images. CNNs are preferred because of high performance, advances in hardware such as graphical processing units (GPUs), and availability of several CNN architectures. In CNN, units in the first hidden layer view only a small image window and learn low level features. Deeper layers learn more expressive features by combining low level features. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to classify pixels in a multispectral image using deep convolution neural networks (DCNNs). In our approach, each feature vector is mapped to an image. We used the proposed framework to classify two Landsat scenes that are obtained from New Orleans and Juneau, Alaska areas. The suggested approach is compared with the commonly used classifiers such as the Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest (RF). The proposed approach has shown the state-of-the-art results
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED STRESS AND ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY TO THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS
Get PDFWhen nursing students fail and are required to repeat a course in a pre-licensure nursing program, they are at risk for attrition. While nursing student attrition is a problem with recognized consequences to the student, school, and profession, the incidence of students who fail a required course and need to repeat it has had little attention. Despite research addressing students\u27 experiences with course failure, little describes strategies and interventions to support the retention and success of these students. The first manuscript, Student Repeaters in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs: A Concept Analysis, provided a foundation that enhanced the conceptual understanding of nursing students repeating a course. A review of the literature discovered minimal information documenting the frequency of student repeaters and measures to ensure their success after failure; therefore, the second manuscript, Course Repetition in Pre-licensure Nursing Students: A Scoping Review, provides a critique and synthesis of available literature on course repetition in pre-licensure nursing students. The third manuscript, The Relationship between Perceived Stress and Academic Self-Efficacy to the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Nursing Students, presents the primary research study. A descriptive, correlational design was used to examine the relationships between perceived stress and academic self-efficacy to undergraduate nursing students\u27 academic performance. Quantitative data was collected from demographic surveys, the student nurse stress index (SNSI), and the academic self-efficacy scale (ASES). Data were analyzed using t-tests and logistic regression analyses. Statistically significant associations between perceived stress, academic self-efficacy, and select demographic characteristics collectively predicted the academic performance of undergraduate nursing students
Quantifying the Impact of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement on the Skid Resistance of Surface Mixtures
Get PDFPavement skid resistance is critical for public safety, especially in wet-weather conditions. In Texas, as the population grows and the likelihood of wet-surface crashes and fatalities increases, the use of Surface Aggregate Classification A (SAC-A) aggregate has significantly increased each year to improve pavement skid resistance. Texas Department of Transportation specifications allow for the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) to conserve natural resources and save costs. However, the impact of RAP on the skid resistance of the surface mixture was unknown or not quantitatively studied. Currently, all RAPs are categorized as Surface Aggregate Classification B aggregate in Texas. This study proposed a method of quantitatively evaluating the skid resistance of RAP aggregate using a dynamic friction tester (DFT). The DFT test results (friction numbers) for RAP and raw aggregate were combined according to their gradations and stockpile percentages in the mixture design, called “blended-DFT,” to predict the skid resistance of the surface mixture. Twenty asphalt mixtures with different RAP types and percentages were designed and tested to study the impact of RAP on mixtures’ skid resistance. The researchers found that adding high skid-resistant RAP increases the mixture slab DFT values, while low skid-resistant RAP decreases the slab DFT values. This confirms the potential of using high skid-resistant RAP to conserve SAC-A raw aggregate resources. A preliminary DFT threshold for RAP to be rated as SAC-A aggregate was proposed in this study
The Ideal Review Process Is a Three-Way Street
Get PDFIn response to the increasing difficulty of obtaining high quality peer reviews, our invited paper describes the concept of review avoidance and why this phenomenon occurs. In reaffirming the professional responsibilities and potential benefits of reviewing, we also emphasize the interdependent nature of the ideal peer review process. We suggest that the review process is a three-way street where the respective roles and responsibilities of authors, editors and editorial teams, and reviewers are inextricably linked. We present thematic illustrations of undesirable reviewer comments, and a brief synthesis of broad themes in the literature on high-quality reviewing. The synthesis is complemented by a master reviewer’s fine-grained perspective on crafting high quality reviews. A final Appendix presents additional sources that may be informative for prospective reviewers, submitting authors, and those mentors and colleagues who may wish to provide guidance and training to them
Utilizing Mock Code Simulation to Enhance Nurses’ Confidence A Benchmark Project
Get PDFEach year, about 292,000 adult patients in the United States have an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), with substantial variance in their rate of survival (Merchant et al., 2020). Graduate nurses must be knowledgeable and prepared to respond to codes. Mock Codes or simulation-based teaching will allow nurses to practice skills, expand their knowledge, and gain self-confidence in a secure and controlled setting with no risk to patients, reducing nurses\u27 anxiety. CPR certification is currently updated every two years, and research has shown that learned skills begin to deteriorate after three months. As a result, if simulated codes are introduced skills may be maintained, and nurses will be more competent and prepared to respond to code blues.
Implementing mock code simulation is important because nurses are often the first responders to a code. Reduction of delays requires prompt action, particularly by nurses while awaiting the arrival of the code response team. It is important for nurses to recognize deterioration in a patient because it enables clinicians to prioritize interventions that will often prove lifesaving. If resuscitation is delayed due to a lack of knowledge, skill, and competency this can result in poor patient outcomes, higher readmission rates, increase in hospital resources, and cost overall