31 research outputs found
Secondary implementation of interactive engagement teaching techniques: Choices and challenges in a Gulf Arab context
We report on a "Collaborative Workshop Physics" instructional strategy to
deliver the first IE calculus-based physics course at Khalifa University, UAE.
To these authors' knowledge, this is the first such course on the Arabian
Peninsula using PER-based instruction. A brief history of general university
and STEM teaching in the UAE is given. We present this secondary implementation
(SI) as a case study of a novel context and use it to determine if PER-based
instruction can be successfully implemented far from the cultural context of
the primary developer and, if so, how might such SIs differ from SIs within the
US. With these questions in view, a pre-reform baseline of MPEX, FCI, course
exam and English language proficiency data are used to design a hybrid
implementation of Cooperative Group Problem Solving. We find that for students
with high English proficiency, normalized gain on FCI improves from =
0.16+/-0.10 pre- to = 0.47+/-0.08 post-reform, indicating successful SI. We
also find that is strongly modulated by language proficiency and discuss
likely causes. Regardless of language skill, problem-solving skill is also
improved and course DFW rates drop from 50% to 24%. In particular, we find
evidence in post-reform student interviews that prior classroom experiences,
and not broader cultural expectations about education, are the more significant
cause of expectations at odds with the classroom norms of well-functioning
PER-based instruction. This result is evidence that PER-based innovations can
be implemented across great changes in cultural context, provided that the
method is thoughtfully adapted in anticipation of context and culture-specific
student expectations. This case study should be valuable for future reforms at
other institutions, both in the Gulf Region and developing world, facing
similar challenges involving SI of PER-based instruction outside the US.Comment: v1: 28 pages, 9 figures. v2: 19 pages, 6 figures, includes major
reorganization and revisions based on anonymous peer review. v3: 19 pages, 6
figures, minor revisions based on anonymous peer revie
International criteria for acute kidney injury: advantages and remaining challenges
• Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is defined using widely accepted international criteria that are based on changes in serum creatinine concentration and degree of oliguria.
• AKI, when defined in this way, has a strong association with poor patient outcomes, including high mortality rates and longer hospital admissions with increased resource utilisation and subsequent chronic kidney disease.
• The detection of AKI using current criteria can assist with AKI diagnosis and stratification of individual patient risk.
• The diagnosis of AKI requires clinical judgement to integrate the definition of AKI with the clinical situation, to determine underlying cause of AKI, and to take account of factors that may affect performance of current definitions