Searching for randomised controlled trials and clinical controlled trials in Thai online bibliographical biomedical databases

Background: Thailand is a poor but highly literate country in South‐East Asia with over 60 million people. A lot of biomedical research is undertaken but dissemination is limited. Objectives: To identify relevant Thai bibliographic databases and investigate accessibility, functionality and content, particularly in relation to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs). Methods: A systematic search for institutions productive of research and the databases in their libraries. Search each accessible database in both Thai and English, recording the functionality and content. Assess accessibility of the retrieved RCTs or CCTs by comparing to Pub Med holdings. Results: We found 32 different databases (29 accessible in UK) of various sizes, coverage and functionality but many with unique records of RCTs and CCTs (total, n = 781). Two hundred and nine of 781 trials were accessible on Pub Med (27%). However, 641 of the 781 trial records contain text in both English and Thai (82%) and 112 records were solely English (14%). Conclusions: Those undertaking comprehensive searches for RCTs/CCTs should, in addition to a Pub Med , search the Thai Medical Index and Thai Index Medicus databases, and the Khon Kaen University Library Catalogue.     

The story of Samantha: the teaching performances and inauthenticities of an early career human geography lecturer

ABSTRACT

This paper offers an autoethnographic account of my first academic year as a Human Geography lecturer at a ‘new’ public university in the North West of England. This research is timely and much needed, since teaching at universities in England has recently come under increasing scrutiny. The Teaching Excellence Framework is a new scheme, which aims to recognise and reward excellence in teaching, learning, and outcomes, and helps to inform student choice. This paper is theoretically framed by drawing on notions of theatrical performance, and performativity. This paper offers insight into the coping strategies, in respect of teaching, that I deployed as a new university lecturer. Findings are discussed around the themes of: performing teaching identities, and inauthenticity. With regard to performing teaching identities, this paper discusses the need for identity to be multiple and shifting, and how, as a young female, I undertook identity work, in order to perform competence. I also bring to the fore feelings of inauthenticity; that is, how I did not feel as if I was a genuine academic, and how I fabricated / falsified aspects of my academic identity in order to ‘fit in’ with the expectations of both students and staff. As the voice of a new lecturer in her first year of teaching, this paper makes a useful contribution to the scholarship on early career academics and teaching development. This paper concludes with recommendations for change in practice-based settings, in order to assist new lecturers to settle into the job role, and enhance and enrich teaching practice.     

Liana’s learning in a democratized classroom

In usual understandings of learning, youths’ development in classrooms is portrayed as a move from being a novice to an expert. However, findings of the present anthropologically framed study support us to argue that learning, rather, can be characterized as youths’ simultaneous occupation of novice and expert roles. We refer to this simultaneous occupation as “mutual reliance”. We make this assertion within the context of a multilingual, transnational classroom, where the presence of heightened diversity led teachers to put in place a structure (“autonomous learning groups”) that supported youth to rely on one another to learn. In a video-based case study that tracks one group of students over 33 hours and engages micro-ethnographic analysis of a student named Liana, we found that autonomous learning groups created a democratization of the learning space – everyone contributed from his or her knowledge base because no single person, including the teachers, could ever be an expert.     

Physical activity patterns of ethnic children from low socio-economic environments within the UK

Many children fail to meet physical activity (PA) guidelines for health benefits. PA behaviours are complex and depend on numerous interrelated factors. The study aims to develop current understanding of how children from low Socio-economic environments within the UK use their surrounding built environments for PA by using advanced technology. The environment was assessed in 96 school children (7–9 years) using global positioning system (GPS) monitoring (Garmin Forerunner, 305). In a subsample of 46 children, the environment and PA were assessed using an integrated GPS and heart rate monitor. The percentage of time spent indoor, outdoor, in green and non-green environments along with time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in indoor and outdoor environments were assessed. A 2-by-2 repeated measures analysis of covariance, controlling for body mass index, BF%, assessed the environmental differences. The findings show that 42% of children from deprived wards of Coventry fail to meet PA guidelines, of which 43% was accumulated during school. Children engaged in more MVPA outdoor than indoor environments (P < 0.01) and a greater amount of time was spent in non-green environments (P < 0.01). Increased time outdoors was negatively associated with BF%. In conclusion, outdoor environments are important for health-enhancing PA and reducing fatness in deprived and ethnic children.     

A Community of Practice Model for Introducing Mobile Tablets to University Faculty

We examined the effectiveness of a community of practice (CoP) model for introducing tablets to 139 faculty members at a higher education institution. Using a CoP within a systems model, we used large- and small-group mentorship to foster collaboration among faculty members. Most faculty members agreed that the project was well organized and activities were useful. In terms of measurable outcomes, many participants had developed plans for or completed scholarly activities related to tablets. Our findings support the use of CoP models to integrate technology within higher education. Additionally, they support such integrations as proof of concept for large, whole-campus technology integrations.     

The NYU Survey Service: Promoting Value in Undergraduate Education

New York University's (NYU) Data Service Studio has recently launched the NYU Survey Service, whose ultimate aim is to support the development and administration of surveys of all types. For the Web-based component, the service utilizes a product called Qualtrics, which allows university affiliates to develop and administer Web-based surveys. This article describes the process by which NYU came to offer the service during a time when concerns abound about the ability of libraries to support and expand offerings while still meeting institutional imperatives such as robust data services. While many considerations went into the evaluation and ultimate conclusion to pilot the service, this article considers those most related to library collaborations, undergraduate instruction, data and information literacy, learning and research, and application administration and support.     

An Examination of Coursera as an Information Environment: Does Coursera Fulfill its Mission to Provide Open Education to All?

In terms of international education, the concept of online education seems to be a growing trend. Edxonline.org, Minervaproject.com, and Udacity.com are all new massive online open courses (MOOCs)—education websites similar to Coursera offering students the ability to receive the best education from elite universities entirely online. The most tantalizing promise of a company like Coursera is the role it might play in improving education for the world's have-nots: high school dropouts, the global poor, and those less able to self-teach.