Using the Jigsaw Method to Teach Abdominal Anatomy

This study evaluates a cooperative learning approach for teaching anatomy to health science students incorporating small group and peer instruction based on the jigsaw method first described in the 1970's. Fifty-three volunteers participated in abdominal anatomy workshops. Students were given time to become an “expert” in one of four segments of the topic (sub-topics) by allocating groups to work-stations with learning resources: axial computerized tomography (CT) of abdominal structures, axial CT of abdominal blood vessels, angiograms and venograms of abdominal blood vessels and structures located within abdominal quadrants. In the second part of workshop, students were redistributed into “jigsaw” learning groups with at least one “expert” at each workstation. The “jigsaw” learning groups then circulated between workstations learning all sub-topics with the “expert” teaching others in their group. To assess abdominal anatomy knowledge, students completed a quiz pre- and post- workshop. Students increased their knowledge with significant improvements in quiz scores irrespective of prior exposure to lectures or practical classes related to the workshop topic. The evidence for long-term retention of knowledge, assessed by comparing end-semester examination performance of workshop participants with workshop nonparticipants, was less convincing. Workshop participants rated the jigsaw workshop highly for both educational value and enjoyment and felt the teaching approach would improve their course performance. The jigsaw method improved anatomy knowledge in the short-term by engaging students in group work and peer-led learning, with minimal supervision required. Reported outcomes suggest that cooperative learning approaches can lead to gains in student performance and motivation to learn. Anat Sci Educ 00: 000–000. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

School Library Services for SEN Students: Hong Kong Perspectives

There has been an increasing concern on supporting the teaching and learning needs for SEN students in recent years. This paper firstly introduces the government policy on special education and the support services to the SEN students in Hong Kong. The authors further discuss the roles of school library and teacher-librarian in enhancing the learning activities of SEN students from the perspectives of space design, collection development, library services and programs.     

A Survey Study on the Adoption and Implementation of Automation Projects in Federal University Libraries in the South-West of Nigeria

This article reports on a survey study on the adoption and implementation of automation projects in federal university libraries in the south-west of Nigeria (SWN). The objectives are to ascertain the implementation status of automation projects, discuss the accruable benefits, investigate the library management system software being used, determine the modules already activated and fully implemented and their web presence, highlight the challenges encountered, draw conclusions and recommendations on enhancing successful implementation of library automation projects in Nigeria. The method used for gathering data for the study is questionnaire-based survey, using google form template. The findings of the study are that all the six federal university libraries in the SWN have adopted and implemented automation; two out of them are using open source integrated library automation software (Koha), one library uses in-house built integrated library system (ILS), while the remaining three use different proprietary software for their automation projects; and all the ILSs being used for automation projects are interoperable. The conclusion from the study is that the effective performance of libraries lies in the ability to access research materials and other relevant information contents with remarkable ease. This becomes achievable when libraries adopt and implement automation in their respective domains.     

Quantitative insights into televised birth: a content analysis of One Born Every Minute

This article explores birth representations through a content analysis of two seasons of the U.K. program, One Born Every Minute (OBEM) (Channel 4, 2010–). Reality television (RTV) has been a fertile ground for the mediation of birth, but has also stoked controversy among feminist critics and the birth community about how birth is represented and the impacts this might have for women and society. International research has explored problematic over-representation of white, heterosexual couples, as well as noting a predominance of medicalized birth experiences. However, this research is formed largely of qualitative studies that are necessarily based on small samples of episodes. To contribute to this literature, we apply a quantitative and interdisciplinary lens through a content analysis of two seasons of the U.K. version of OBEM. Paying attention to the geographical and temporal context of OBEM, this article confirms over-representation of white, heterosexual couples and medicalized birth on RTV birth shows while also providing novel insights into the ambiguous representation of birthplace and lead caregivers, the medicalization of birth through the routinization of supposedly minor birth interventions, and the absence of the representation of women’s choice over such interventions.     

Opportunities for a democratic pedagogy: a comparative study of South African and Swedish teachers' attitudes to inclusive education

This paper is based upon the collaboration between two research groups from Stockholm University and the University of South Africa. The main objective is to compare attitudes between South African (SA) and Swedish teachers regarding inclusive education (IE). IE in this paper is examined as a distinct part of the Swedish welfare system. The method used can be characterised as a combined, quantitative and qualitative research design with a purposive sampling. A similar adapted questionnaire was distributed in the two countries. The Swedish teachers in our data are more pro‐inclusion and more hesitating to accommodate learners with barriers in special schools. However, both the Swedish and the SA teachers in the study are hesitating towards the feasibility to implement IE practically. A team approach is concluded to be an adequate pedagogy for supporting IE both in South Africa and Sweden.     

Whose participation is it anyway? Examining the context of pupil participation in the UK

Helen May recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Leeds. Her EdD thesis, written with the benefit of extensive experience of practice, focused on the engagement of children with learning difficulties in interactions in primary classrooms. In this article, Helen May draws on her familiarity with the literature to explore the topic of pupil participation. This issue has attracted considerable attention in recent years, especially since it is on the Government's agenda for education in the UK. Here, Helen May examines the political, research and pedagogical contexts in which pupil participation is currently being addressed. She notes that the adult role in bringing about pupil participation is currently emphasised in each of these contexts and expresses concern that pupil participation is therefore being portrayed as requiring professional intervention. By calling for greater exploration of pupil participation from the perspectives of pupils themselves, Helen May makes a persuasive case for seeking a more balanced recognition of the active roles that pupils and professionals can play in this area.     

Shifting goal posts: the impact of academic workforce reshaping and the introduction of teaching academic roles on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

This qualitative study reports on findings from interviews with ten academics in an Australian university six to twelve months following academic workforce reshaping and the widespread introduction of teaching academic roles. The research aimed to determine how the workforce reshaping impacted on the capacity of academics with teaching responsibilities to engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Findings indicate that whilst academics were willing to undertake SoTL, participants’ capacity to engage was hampered by the workload model, middle academic leaders’ capacity to define and lead SoTL, and a perceived lack of SoTL value. A major concern for participants was that shifting goal posts (in relation to roles and expectations) would make it difficult to successfully apply for future academic work. The research indicates the need for the sector to consider the selection criteria for middle leadership roles, as well as ongoing academic leadership development to support adaptability and change agility.     

Habituation as a function of similarity and temporal location of target and distractor stimuli

Three experiments examined the habituation of rats’ neophobia to novel flavors, and the disruption of that habituation by presentation of a distractor flavor either immediately before or immediately after the target flavor. Habituation of neophobia to lemon solution was more seriously disrupted by presentation of saline as a distractor than by presentation of coffee as a distractor, and this was true whether the distractor was presented before or after the target on each habituation trial. Two further experiments established that the relative ineffectiveness of coffee as a distractor could not be attributed to its lack of salience, and was probably related to its greater similarity to the target lemon flavor. These results do not fully accord with those reported by Robertson and Garrud (1983), but are readily explained in terms of generalization of habituation between distractor and target flavors.     

Role of comprehension on performance at higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy: Findings from assessments of healthcare professional students

The first four levels of Bloom's taxonomy were used to create quiz questions designed to assess student learning of the gross anatomy, histology, and physiology of the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Information on GI histology and physiology was presented to separate samples of medical, dental, and podiatry students in computer based tutorials where the information from the two disciplines was presented either separately or in an integrated fashion. All students were taught GI gross anatomy prior to this study by course faculty as part of the required curriculum of their respective program. Student responses to the quiz questions were analyzed to assess both the validity of Bloom's cumulative hierarchy and the effectiveness of an integrated curriculum. No statistically significant differences were found between quiz scores from students who received the integrated tutorial and from those who received the separate tutorials. Multiple regression analyses provided partial support for a cumulative hierarchy where scores on the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy predicted scores on higher levels. Notably, in the majority of regression analyses, the comprehension score was the key foundational predictor for application and analysis scores. This study supports the suggestion that educators increase the number of comprehension level questions, even at the expense of knowledge level questions, in course assessments both to evaluate lower order cognitive skills and also as a predictor of success on questions requiring application and analysis levels of the higher order cognitive skills of Bloom's taxonomy. Anat Sci Educ 11: 433–444. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Scenariation: Scenario generation for online teaching in nursing and health sciences

There are increased opportunities for online delivery innovation within the education sector because of rapid advances in Internet technology. This paper describes a unique and efficient approach to simulation called ‘scenariation’. The scenariation project aimed to establish efficient processes for the development of scenariation content and evaluate the use of a specific scenariation nurse education module. Students were presented with video simulating the workplace and then prompted to make clinical decisions such as selecting treatment options. The scenariation approach was implemented with a group of 380 1st‐year nursing students and evaluated using multifaceted online evaluation. The results of this qualitative evaluation highlight not just the potential of scenariation but also some of the difficulties associated with online delivery to large and diverse student groups. Students valued the relevance to practice and interactive nature of scenariation, but some reported technical difficulties. The paper concludes by extending the discussion of scenariation to the areas of inter‐professional learning and the integration of scenariation with face‐to‐face high fidelity simulation.