The Impact of High-Fidelity Simulation on Nursing Students’ Flexible and Reflective Thinking in Higher Education

This study evaluated the effect of high-fidelity simulation with both mannequins and live actors on flexible and reflective thinking of nursing students. Students enrolled in an undergraduate nursing program were recruited to participate in this study. Ninety students, all female, completed both pre- and post-surveys. The researchers conducted a paired samples t-test to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in students’ level of flexible thinking before and after they experienced the high-fidelity simulation. Moreover, we conducted multivariate correlational analysis to examine the relationships between flexible thinking and reflective thinking. In general, statistical results in this study provide empirical support for the values of clinical simulation and debriefing on nursing students’ flexible and reflective thinking. High-fidelity simulation can expose students to controlled and dynamic clinical environments, allowing them to attempt the transfer of theory to practice, learn from collaborative and active learning tasks, and be open-minded to multiple perspectives and in diverse situations. We conclude that critical reflection is an important piece of development in flexible thinking and reflective learning. During the time of post-simulation interactions, students are encouraged to reflect objectively on their performance in each scenario. The input from peers and instructors provides students with the opportunity to assess their personal ability to transfer theory to practice and evaluate if the theory design of the course is providing them with the needed information to care for the clients presented in the clinical simulation scenarios

A Lifelong Connection

To build new bridges between Titan alumni and students, Elly Jones ’91 takes inspiration from her own college experience

Mystery Class Sites: Adapted from Journey North Mystery Class

Students will know how sunrise and sunset times can be used to discover exact locations

Racial Differences in the Genetics of Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE), characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation, affects 5-8% of pregnancies worldwide. Although preeclampsia is a significant cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity, its etiology remains to be elucidated. Racial differences have been observed for preeclampsia, with U.S. Blacks having higher rates and more severe disease, compared to U.S. Whites and Hispanics. One potential source of racial differences in preeclampsia is genetic variation between populations. Genetic susceptibility to preeclampsia is well established, but the specific contributions of maternal vs. fetal genes, and how these vary among racial groups is poorly understood. This dissertation addressed racial differences in the genetics of preeclampsia in Chileans, U.S. Blacks, and U.S. Whites through candidate gene studies and variance components modeling. First, we determined whether three genes, which are relevant to the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2 (ERAP2), were associated with the risk for preeclampsia in Chilean and U.S. Black mothers and fetuses. We found that the maternal COMT and an interaction between the fetal COMT and MTHFR were associated with the risk for preeclampsia in Chileans. We also found that the fetal ERAP2 was associated with the risk for preeclampsia in U.S. Blacks. We next used structural equation modeling of a unique Children of Twins (COT), supplemented with full and half-siblings, study design to investigate the fetal genetic, maternal genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental contributions to preeclampsia in U.S. Whites and Blacks. Through this modeling we uncovered a unique source of racial differences in preeclampsia. We found that U.S. Whites and Blacks showed a similar prevalence of preeclampsia in first births, but across the next three births, the prevalence in Whites declined to a greater degree than in Blacks. In conclusion we have identified specific maternal and fetal genes that contribute to the risk for preeclampsia. Furthermore, we have identified sources of racial differences in preeclampsia, which include differences in associations between COMT, MTHFR, and ERAP2 and the risk for preeclampsia among populations and differences in the prevalence of preeclampsia across subsequent births between U.S. Whites and U.S. Blacks

Mentoring Relationships

The purpose of this module is to establish a framework for successful mentoring practices in order to enhance the teaching and learning process. The module addresses the importance of the Four Pillars as a framework for building successful mentor/mentee relationships. The framework pillars are identified as pedagogical competencies,relationship building, reflection, and administrative support. Each pillar is defined with research provided to support the importance of each as a foundational element of successful mentor/mentee relationships. Additionally the module provides reflection activities and additional resources for consideration and site-level implementation. The learning module is intended for use by all educators. Visit professional learning module.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/improve/1005/thumbnail.jp

Analysis and monitoring of equitable access and full participation in education in South Africa: the challenge of data quality

Indicators to measure educational access serve the useful purpose of facilitating theevaluation and analysis of progress made towards achieving stated educational accessobjectives. In South Africa, data from the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Net EnrolmentRatio (NER) are commonly used to report on progress made towards universal educationalaccess. The critique in the use of these data is threefold; first, that they are computed frominaccurate school data and second, that their conceptual basis stems from a structuralapproach to educational access that gives primacy to the onset or final phases of theschooling process (primary or secondary) rather than also to what not only happens duringschool but also in classrooms. Subsumed and arising from the first two, the third critiquerelates to the nature of indicators used to measure educational access. Put differently,conceptualisations premised on a structural approach have not only had consequences forthe source of data and indicators used to measure educational access but also for its analysisand interpretation.Established therefore, is that conceptions of educational access not onlyinfluence the choice of indicators that are regarded to be effective and suitable to describeeducational access (Fataar, 1997; Lewin, 2007; Hill, Baxen, Craig and Namakula, 2012) butthey also impact the nature of data generated for this purpose.Through a review of conceptualisations of educational access and through the use of datadrawn from a study of two Eastern Cape secondary schools, this paper argues that a shift indiscourses on education access is necessary for this country to fully understand and respondto the discontinuities that persist to characterise the education system. It calls for a shiftfrom a structural discourse to one that intersects equity and full participation concerns. Thepaper highlights how such a shift in conceptualisation not only has implications for thenature of data gathered but importantly for indicators produced and applied to describe andmeasure educational access

The Characterization of Cell Line Crl-2335 as a Basal-Like Breast Carcinoma Model

Basal-like breast cancer has been reported to be the most aggressive and deadly carcinoma sub-type. Patients diagnosed with this subtype have a less than 50% five-year survival. In addition, many studies have reported that this sub-type is more prevalent in specific ethnic groups and is believed to be a key factor that drives certain ethnic disparities in mortality. In order to effectively study this sub-type and determine unique gene expression and biochemical pathways which sustain this cancer’s growth, we sought to identify human breast cancer cell lines that represent a model for the basal-like subtype. Here, we report our findings which indicate the African American cell line CRL-2335 is a true representative of basal-like breast carcinoma

Building Blocks: Project Based Learning in Human Development Research

Collaborative human development (HD) research projects can provide numerous benefits for students and faculty mentors. HD research opportunities for students are often limited to existing funded projects that may not meet individual student interests. Creating HD research projects that incorporate both student and faculty interests is mutually beneficial but poses unique challenges. HD research often requires complex observational methods, specific content knowledge, and interpersonal skills to work with families and children. Project-based learning (PBL) can provide a low-cost framework for students and faculty to align interests while helping students develop proficiency in human development research. PBL structures learning through the process of finding solutions to complicated questions (Jones, Rasmussen, & Moffitt, 1997). PBL is often used in engineering, business, and teacher training, but rarely in educating developmental researchers. This experience provides an active, \u27first hand feel\u27 to project development and illustrates the effectiveness of the PBL model in developing human development research. This apprenticeship model case study offers two rounds of qualitative, descriptive data to illustrate the experiences of an undergraduate student, several graduate students, and faculty involvement in a group-based PBL research project. Students and the faculty mentor answered questions regarding the challenges and benefits of participating in a PBL research project and the use of a PBL project for mentoring graduate students. Results from this case study indicate that PBL participation can be a beneficial academic experience. Specifically, students learned about the logistics and details of planning a research project from the beginning while learning to collaborate with and mentor each other. Results suggest that students and faculty within the HD field can collaborate in meaningful ways that provide mutual benefit and bring diverse strengths to a project that meets multiple learning, teaching, research, and service goals

Novel computational analysis of protein binding array data identifies direct targets of Nkx2.2 in the pancreas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The creation of a complete genome-wide map of transcription factor binding sites is essential for understanding gene regulatory networks <it>in vivo</it>. However, current prediction methods generally rely on statistical models that imperfectly model transcription factor binding. Generation of new prediction methods that are based on protein binding data, but do not rely on these models may improve prediction sensitivity and specificity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We propose a method for predicting transcription factor binding sites in the genome by directly mapping data generated from protein binding microarrays (PBM) to the genome and calculating a moving average of several overlapping octamers. Using this unique algorithm, we predicted binding sites for the essential pancreatic islet transcription factor <it>Nkx2.2 </it>in the mouse genome and confirmed >90% of the tested sites by EMSA and ChIP. Scores generated from this method more accurately predicted relative binding affinity than PWM based methods. We have also identified an alternative core sequence recognized by the <it>Nkx2.2 </it>homeodomain. Furthermore, we have shown that this method correctly identified binding sites in the promoters of two critical pancreatic islet β-cell genes, <it>NeuroD1 </it>and <it>insulin2</it>, that were not predicted by traditional methods. Finally, we show evidence that the algorithm can also be applied to predict binding sites for the nuclear receptor <it>Hnf4α</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PBM-mapping is an accurate method for predicting Nkx2.2 binding sites and may be widely applicable for the creation of genome-wide maps of transcription factor binding sites.</p