Changing Their Idea of “Studying ” into Our Idea of “Learning ” - The Efficacy of Interactive Online Programs

One of the most frustrating aspects of college teaching is facing a lecture hall full of students who sit in class trying to figure out the easiest ways to pass rather than the best way to actually learn. New online platforms provided by publishers are an effective way to beat these passive learners at their own game. Picture the joy of walking into your class knowing that students have read the text before your lecture. Imagine how you can teach if you do not have to assume you start with one big tabula rasa. Building assignments into course requirements will change their modi operandi due to the fact that their grades hinge on the completion of these assignments. The most important reward is seeing how this helps students who enter college without adequate study skills learn what they can do to master course content and succeed

Searching for the lost sheep (Matthew 18: 10-14) : Do sensing types and intuitive types find different things?

Drawing on psychological type theory and a reader-perspective approach to biblical hermeneutics, this study examines how sensing types and intuitive types read the Matthean reference to the lost sheep in different ways. Data drawn from a workshop involving 22 Anglican clergy (first year curates and training incumbents) illustrate how sensing types focus on important details in the passage, while intuitive types allow the passage to spark multiple ideas. While looking for the same lost sheep, sensing types and intuitive types are inclined to find different things and to preach different messages

Towards a formative assessment of classroom competencies (FACCs) for postgraduate medical trainees

Background An assumption of clinical competency is no longer acceptable or feasible in routine clinical practice. We sought to determine the feasibility, practicability and efficacy of undertaking a formal assessment of clinical competency for all postgraduate medical trainees in a large NHS foundation trust. Methods FY1 doctors were asked to complete a questionnaire to determine prior experience and self reported confidence in performing the GMC core competencies. From this a consensus panel of key partners considered and developed an 8 station Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) circuit to assess clinical competencies in all training grade medical staff... The OSCE was then administered to all training grade doctors as part of their NHS trust induction process. Results 106 (87.6% of all trainees) participated in the assessment during the first 14 days of appointment. Candidates achieved high median raw percentage scores for the majority of stations however analysis of pre defined critical errors and omissions identified important areas for concern. Performance of newly qualified FY1 doctor was significantly better than other grades for the arterial blood gas estimation and nasogastric tube insertion stations. Discussion Delivering a formal classroom assessment of clinical competencies to all trainees as part of the induction process was both feasible and useful. The assessment identified areas of concern for future training and also served to reassure as to the proficiency of trainees in undertaking the majority of core competencies

Is God really good to the upright? Theological educators exploring Psalm 73 through the Jungian lenses of sensing, intuition, feeling and thinking

Psalm 73 is a challenging Psalm in which the Psalmist draws on rich imagery to juxtapose doctrine and experience, and to juxtapose the goodness of God with divine retribution. Drawing on data provided by 15 theological educators within the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, this study tests the thesis that the imagery of Psalm 73 will be perceived differently by sensing types and by intuitive types, and that the issue ‘Is God really good to the upright?’ will be judged differently by feeling types and by thinking types. The findings from this study are consistent with the broader hermeneutical theory that the psychological type profile of the reader, in terms of perceiving preference and judging preference, plays a formative part in shaping the interpretation of biblical material

Common aquatic pollutants modify hemocyte immune responses in Biomphalaria glabrata.

Funding The studentship supporting this research was awarded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Acknowledgments We are grateful to Dr. David Rollinson (Natural History Museum) for providing B. glabrata snails and to Drs. Nuha Mansour and Quentin Bickle (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) for providing parasite material. We thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for funding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Nuclear Receptors of Biomphalaria glabrata and Lottia gigantea : Implications for Developing New Model Organisms

Funding: This work was funded by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, Grant Ref:G0900802 to CSJ, LRN, SJ & EJR [www.nc3rs.org.uk]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The complete mitochondrial genome of the blue skate Dipturus batis

Acknowledgements: We thank Michelle Frost for genetic identification of the species, and Irina Smolina and Joanna Babiak for assistance in the lab. Funding: This work was supported by Nord University.Peer reviewedPublisher PD