Developing lifelong learners: A novel online problem‐based ultrasonography subject

Online learning environments have a major role in providing lifelong learning opportunities. Lifelong learning is critical for successful participation in today's competitive work environment. This paper describes an online problem‐based learning approach to the creation of a student‐centred learning environment for the study of the biological sciences subject in the Graduate Diploma of Applied Science (Medical Ultrasonography) course at the University of Sydney. The environment is interactive and collaborative, with all communication taking place online. Students work in groups to study clinically relevant problems. A Web‐database system provides learner control in the process of knowledge acquisition, access to reference materials on the Internet and communication with the tutor and with peers through synchronous chat and asynchronous threaded discussion forums. Other online features include a protocol for problem‐solving, self‐assessment and feedback opportunities, detailed help, streaming audio and video and pre‐course, ongoing and post‐course questionnaires. This technology may be adapted to a range of disciplines and can also be utilized in on‐campus teaching

Word Order Rules: Parsing Sentences in a “Free” Word Order Language

In fixed word order languages like English, word order is highly predictive of a noun\u27s thematic and grammatical role, and a large body of research has shown that speakers of fixed word order languages tend to rely on word order when they parse and interpret sentences. In flexible word order languages like Turkish, word order is less predictive of nouns\u27 thematic and grammatical roles, and less is known about the types of cues adult speakers use to determine the meaning of sentences. How do speakers of free word order languages determine the grammatical role of nouns? To answer this question, we presented 28 adult speakers of Turkish 48 stimuli sentences where the word order was varied between SOV and OVS. The cues to aid the grammatical roles were word order, casemarking on the object noun, and when a casemarker was not present an indefinite determiner. The results suggest that, of the three morphosyntactic cues (word order, overt-casemarking, and determiner), word order is the primary cue that Turkish speakers use to assign grammatical and thematic roles, overt object casemarking is a strong secondary cue, and the indefinite determiner is a weaker tertiary cue

A novel, online, interactive, problem-based approach to learning oncology

Higher education is undergoing major changes in the development and delivery of courses. An example is the introduction of online approaches to teaching and learning in the form of WebCT, The University of Sydney’s official delivery tool. This paper describes implementation of pedagogy designed to enhance learning in Oncology, a second year subject in the Bachelor of Applied Science (Medical Radiation Sciences), created by the amalgamation of two cross-disciplinary units of study, Tumour Pathology and Principles of Oncology. Four instructional strategies are described: a) domain specific educational instruction, e.g., explanatory notes (text/audio hints), self tests in the form of diagnostic exam and evaluation of subject, b) student-centred, problem-based learning dependent on group work to study and solve six clinically oriented cases (developed by cross disciplinary team), c) interactive online discussion to support collaboration and communication among students, academic as well as oncologist facilitators and d) a case Proforma which summarises the step-by-step clinical reasoning process to engage the students in the learning process. Implementation of the instructional design is enabled by the selective use of WebCT course management software. An account of the infrastructure used to enhance interactive problem-based learning at undergraduate level is provided. Feedback from students has been extremely positive

An interactive, self-instructional, online respiratory control practical: design and development

The current University environment places substantial limitations on the funding of personnel to continue running practicals face-to-face. Pedagogically however, health science students require physiology that has a functional basis, which by its very nature needs to be dynamic and interactive. Most existing online resources refer almost exclusively to structural anatomy and present an obvious need for animal-based practicals in systemic physiology. To solve this problem, we used our expertise in this area (Jayachandran, Lee and Batmanian 1998) to design and develop a novel interactive practical, which allows students to question and understand the roles of various chemical, mechanical and nervous factors important in the regulation of ventilation

HIV Types, Groups, Subtypes and Recombinant Forms: Errors in Replication, Selection Pressure and Quasispecies

HIV-1 is a chimpanzee virus which was transmitted to humans by several zoonotic events resulting in infection with HIV-1 groups M P, and in parallel transmission events from sooty mangabey monkey viruses leading to infections with HIV-2 groups A H. Both viruses have circulated in the human population for about 80 years. In the infected patient, HIV mutates, and by elimination of some of the viruses by the action of the immune system individual quasispecies are formed. Along with the selection of the fittest viruses, mutation and recombination after superinfection with HIV from different groups or subtypes have resulted in the diversity of their patterns of geographic distribution. Despite the high variability observed, some essential parts of the HIV genome are highly conserved. Viral diversity is further facilitated in some parts of the HIV genome by drug selection pressure and may also be enhanced by different genetic factors, including HLA in patients from different regions of the world. Viral and human genetic factors influence pathogenesis. Viral genetic factors are proteins such as Tat, Vif and Rev. Human genetic factors associated with a better clinical outcome are proteins such as APOBEC, langerin, tetherin and chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) and HLA B27, B57, DRB1{*}1303, KIR and PARD3B. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base