Outcomes and satisfaction of two optional cadaveric dissection courses: A 3‐year prospective study

Teaching time dedicated to anatomy education has been reduced at many medical schools around the world, including Nova Medical School in Lisbon, Portugal. In order to minimize the effects of this reduction, the authors introduced two optional, semester‐long cadaveric dissection courses for the first two years of the medical school curriculum. These courses were named Regional Anatomy I (RAI) and Regional Anatomy II (RAII). In RAI, students focus on dissecting the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and perineum. In RAII, the focus shifts to the head, neck, back, and upper and lower limbs. This study prospectively analyzes students' academic achievement and perceptions within the context of these two, newly‐introduced, cadaveric dissection courses. Students' satisfaction was assessed anonymously through a questionnaire that included items regarding students' perception of the usefulness of the courses for undergraduate teaching, as well as with regards to future professional activity. For each of the three academic years studied, the final score (1 to 20) in General Anatomy (GA), RAI, and RAII was on average 14.26 ± 1.89; 16.94 ± 1.02; 17.49 ± 1.01, respectively. The mean results were lower in GA than RAI or RAII (P < 0.001). Furthermore, students who undertook these courses ranked them highly with regards to consolidating their knowledge of anatomy, preparing for other undergraduate courses, and training for future clinical practice. These survey data, combined with data on participating students' academic achievement, lend strong support to the adoption of similar courses as complementary and compulsory disciplines in a modern medical curriculum. Anat Sci Educ 10: 127–136. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

The European ideal of a university: Portugal's views from the 1950s and 1960s

This study stems from research on the ‘Standing Conferences of Rectors and Vice-Chancellors of the European Universities' (1948–), an experimental initiative for co-operation among European universities, emphasising the reformative ideal that appeared in international circles in the years following the Second World War. These conceptions were gradually received in the sphere of Portuguese national education, enabling an internal and already on-going debate on the role of the university in Portugal to proceed and possibly providing a base for a ‘last-minute’ and delayed attempt to reform higher education in Portugal during the 1970s – just before the outbreak of the Revolution in 1974. Based on a historiographical methodology, this article attempts to understand how and in what shape recommendations from international circles (mainly from these European University Conferences) were assimilated by the thought and philosophical insights of the Portuguese elite, mainly concerning the gauge of National Education and the concept of the university. Thus, an effort is made to understand the official view of the Portuguese ‘New State’ regarding the ‘aims of the university’, contextualising the Portuguese higher education problem in the 1950s and 1960s, and in its relation to Portuguese national science policy rationales.     

University entrepreneurial performance: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

As key players in innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) assume a position as catalysts in creating and disseminating knowledge with repercussions in the societal, economic, political and innovation environments. In this scenario, HEI are facing the need to balance the performance of their traditional missions—teaching and research—with the pursuit of entrepreneurial performance. This brings awareness of the need to pay particular attention to HEI entrepreneurial performance (HEIEP) and how to measure it. Based on HEInnovate, a self-assessment tool resulting from a joint effort of the European Community and the OECD, this study aims to explore the benefits of university entrepreneurial metrics, analysing HEIEP as a discriminant function of the HEInnovate dimensions complemented with a qualitative approach using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The analysis provides valuable details, presenting recipes based on the HEInnovate dimensions or combinations of dimensions to achieve a mission legitimation. This research brings awareness to the use of the HEInnovate scale, where it is possible to highlight the importance of the digital transformation and capability dimension to entrepreneurial performance (EP) and university mission legitimation.     

Teacher and school determinants of perceived classroom discipline: a multilevel analysis of TALIS 2013

Learning Environments Research - Classroom discipline is a significant concern in most educational systems and a critical element of an effective learning environment. In this article, we present a...     

构建远程开放教育学习支持服务模式的探讨

文章分析了英国开放大学对学习者支持服务的范式和我国部分地区远程开放教育学生对学习支持服务的要求,通过借鉴并结合实际,探讨构建以九项活动和五项要求为主要内容的远程开放教育学习支持服务模式,并对其实施进行了讨论.     

团队型阅读教育服务组织结构的构建与实践

以管理学中的扁平化理论为基础,构建基于"团队"的阅读教育服务组织结构,希望能够用自我指导管理和工作团队代替传统的职能部门管理。通过实行上下互动的管理过程,通过合作、协商和伙伴关系确认共同的目标,减少实施阅读教育对策过程中的种种知识结构屏障,提升高校图书馆阅读教育的服务水平,促进大学生阅读教育的持续发展。     

Implementation of a project-based engineering school: increasing student motivation and relevant learning

The School of Engineering at Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) implemented, starting in the 2012–2013 period, a unified academic model based on project-based learning as the methodology used throughout the entire School. This model expects that every year, in each grade, all the students should participate in a capstone project integrating the contents and competencies of several courses. This paper presents the academic context under which this experience has been implemented, and a summary of the work done to design and implement the Project-Based Engineering School at the UEM. The steps followed, the structure used, some sample projects, as well as the difficulties and benefits of implementing the programme are discussed in this paper. The results are encouraging as students are more motivated and the initial set objectives were accomplished.     

Historical Dramas,Current Political Choices: Analyzing Partisan Selective Exposure With a Docudrama

This study investigates the docudrama hypothesis—the idea that fiction based on real stories can influence audience members’ perception of political reality—in the context of current debates on partisan selective exposure and reinforcement effects. It does so by analyzing the influence of an Oscar-nominated docudrama on viewers’ attitudes and behavioral intention using propensity score matching. By means of a representative survey, we find strong evidence of partisan selective exposure and avoidance. Furthermore, among respondents with a similar likelihood of film attendance, actual attendance has a strong association with positive retrospective evaluations of the political coalition glorified in the movie, and an indirect relationship—via retrospective evaluations—with voting intentions. Discussion of the findings shed light into potential real-world political effects of partisan selective exposure using content other than news.     

Disclosing biology teachers’ beliefs about biotechnology and biotechnology education

Teachers have been shown to frequently avoid addressing biotechnology topics. Aiming to understand the extent to which teachers’ scarce engagement in biotechnology teaching is influenced by their beliefs and/or by extrinsic constraints, such as practical limitations, this study evaluates biology teachers’ beliefs about biotechnology and biotechnology teaching. The findings of a survey administered to 93 secondary school teachers reveal that, in spite of holding positive beliefs about biotechnology, teachers overestimate the obstacles presented at biotechnology teaching, particularly concerning material and resource limitations. Implications of these findings for teacher training program design are discussed.