Perceptions of Students (In-service Teachers) on OUM as an Open and Distance Learning Provider

Distance learning has become a recognized method of educational delivery in institutions of higher learning. There are, however varying degree of acceptance to distance learning by learners. This paper reports on a study to investigate the perceptions held by in-service teachers about distance learning offered by Open University Malaysia (OUM). In particular, the paper reports on the findings of the research conducted to investigate the gap between factors perceived as important by the in-service teachers and those that were provided by OUM. Six factors were identified for the study: (i) access to information and administrative support; (ii) the teaching and learning process; (iii) learning support; (iv) programme implementation; (v) outreach; and (vi) academic support. A questionnaire survey was conducted using a set of questionnaire comprising two sections. The first section is aimed at depicting demographic information from the respondents. The second section of the questionnaire consists of 37 items encompassing the six factors or dimensions to be investigated. Six hundred sets of questionnaire were then distributed to the in-service teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Teaching at twenty OUM’s learning centres throughout the country. There were a total of 178 male respondents and 402 female respondents, ranging from age 25 to 49. The results of the study indicate that teacher learners are highly satisfied with five out of the six factors investigated. A detailed analysis also reveals the services that are satisfying to teachers as well as services that have not met the expectation of the teacher learners. Information and findings gathered from this research helps OUM to identify its strengths and weaknesses, with the aim of improving its services as a leading provider in open and distance learning

Educational Portal for Web-Based Courses (EPIC) as a new hybridized communication solution for In-service OUM Student-Teachers: The Experience of EPIC Online Supervisor (EOS)

The emergence of web-based social media has made it possible for people to communicate freely with one ,another, regardless of time and place. This has resulted in a changing notion about teaching and learning. In particular, educators from all over the world are beginning to pay attention to the possible roles of web-based social media in enhancing learning. Traditional mode of teaching and learning is very much teacher centered with information transfer mainly in a one-way manner. Learning is bounded by time and space. The use of social media enables the creation of a hybrid learning environment that leverages on the strengths of both traditional learning and the more constructivist learner-centred learning. OUM adopts a blended approach where learning is enabled through multi mode strategies. Here, learners learn self-managed learning with print modules or webbased modules and learning materials, face-to-face interactions and learning via online forum discussion. This form of learning provides learners with the best of both worlds by giving learners the guidance that can be achieved in an actual classroom, as well as the flexibility and openness of self-paced learning through online and virtual learning methods which allow students to experience online learning through online forum discussions. To explore the possibility of implementing effective learning via a fully online learning environment, OUM has designed and developed a web-based learning system named as EPIC. As a first step towards implementing learning via hybridized communication environment, four fully online courses were conducted, supported by the EPIC learning environment. The four courses are namely: Co-Curriculum, Professional Practice, Professional Development and Inclusive Education. These courses are not only fully taught fully online, but the assignments were also designed in a scaffolding format. This paper will highlight how OUM students’ (in-service teachers) explore and perceive EPIC as a new hybridized communication media as perceived by the EPIC online supervisor (EOS)

Stakeholder Perceptions towards the Quality of Coursera MOOCs Blended Learning in Vietnam: A Qualitative Study

Coursera MOOCs blended learning (CMBL) has been implemented at a Vietnamese Higher Education Institute (HEI) since the Fall 2019 semester. Our case study, which shows how Coursera MOOCs and the traditional classroom may work together, is unique in the context of Vietnamese higher education. In this case, students must complete the courses and earn certifications through Coursera MOOCs to qualify for the HEI’s offline final examinations. Meanwhile, students also engage in offline mentoring sessions with their classmates and lecturers (mentors). By employing the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) and 3P models, the research was conducted to explore how key factors might influence the quality of CMBL. This research conducted semi-structured interviews and employed thematic analysis with thirty interview participants, including ten administrators, eleven lecturers, three curriculum developers, and six students across four campuses of the HEI. We found that assessment, learning outcomes, learning content, Coursera staff’s responsiveness, offline mentors’ responsiveness and assurance, interaction, and student satisfaction might have considerably significant relationships with the quality of CMBL. On the other hand, Coursera instructors and offline mentors’ reliability have insignificant relationships with the quality of CMBL. This study has both theoretical and practical implications for universities and academics. Regarding the theoretical implications, this qualitative study provides critical criteria to measure the quality of the CMBL. Regarding the practical implications, it provides implications for curriculum development, teaching and learning, and assessment to improve the quality of CMBL. However, the authors could not travel across Vietnam to conduct face-to-face interviews in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, twenty-eight online interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams and two email interviews. A downside of an online interview is that personal qualities that are critical to a study may be amended during the interview, forcing the researcher to rely on the participant’s words. Additionally, unlike a face-to-face interview, an email interview lacks simultaneous communication between the interviewer and the interviewee. Keywords: Higher Education Institution (HEI), blended MOOCs, Coursera MOOCs Blended Learning (CMBL), Coursera MOOCs, offline mentoring, sustainable developmen

Implementation of genomics in medical practice to deliver precision medicine for an Asian population

Whilst the underlying principles of precision medicine are comparable across the globe, genomic references, health practices, costs and discrimination policies differ in Asian settings compared to the reported initiatives involving European-derived populations. We have addressed these variables by developing an evolving reference base of genomic and phenotypic data and a framework to return medically significant variants to consenting research participants applicable for the Asian context. Targeting 10,000 participants, over 2000 Singaporeans, with no known pre-existing health conditions, have consented to an extensive clinical health screen, family health history collection, genome sequencing and ongoing follow-up. Genomic variants in a subset of genes associated with Mendelian disorders and drug responses are analysed using an in-house bioinformatics pipeline. A multidisciplinary team reviews the classification of variants and a research report is generated. Medically significant variants are returned to consenting participants through a bespoke return-of-result genomics clinic. Variant validation and subsequent clinical referral are advised as appropriate. The design and implementation of this flexible learning framework enables a cohort of detailed phenotyping and genotyping of healthy Singaporeans to be established and the frequency of disease-causing variants in this population to be determined. Our findings will contribute to international precision medicine initiatives, bridging gaps with ethnic-specific data and insights from this understudied population

Kajian keratan rentas mengenai pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan terhadap pencegahan demam denggi di Kampung Belawai, Sarikei dari 20 Jun hingga 5 Ogos 2000

A cross-sectional study was carried out in Kampung Belawai, Sarikei to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the villagers towards the prevention of Dengue Fever. The study was conducted from 20 July 2000 to 5 August 2000 by fourth year medical students from Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). A total of 232 respondents were selected based on systematic random sampling method and were interviewed by using a set of pre-tested questionnaire. A presumptive survey on Aedes larvae infestation rate was also carried out together with the interview. The majority of the respondents were female (61.3%). The results showed that the mean score for knowledge, attitude and practice of the general population was 53.5%, 69.7% and 45.7%, respectively. There was also significant association between knowledge, attitude and practice with sociodemographic factors such as age, education level and the household income. The Aedes larvae survey showed that the Breteau Index was 54.7, House Index was 33.6 and Container Index was found to be 14.4%. Pottery was the commonest container found to be infested with Aedes larvae. After the survey, an intervention program by the theme of `Hapuskan Denggi, Bekrwai Boleh! ' was carried out on 22nd and 23`d July 2000 at Kampung Belawai to raise the knowledge, attitude and practice of dengue prevention among the target population. The intervention program was also aimed to reduce the Aedes larvae infestation rate. It is recommended that continuous health education in small groups to be implemented among the target population to improve their knowledge, attitude and practice towards the prevention of Dengue Fever

Radiological Decision Aid to determine suitability for medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: development and preliminary validation

Aims: An evidence-based radiographic Decision Aid for meniscal-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has been developed and this study investigates its performance at an independent centre. Patients: and Methods Pre-operative radiographs, including stress views, from a consecutive cohort of 550 knees undergoing arthroplasty (UKA or total knee arthroplasty; TKA) by a single-surgeon were assessed. Suitability for UKA was determined using the Decision Aid, with the assessor blinded to treatment received, and compared with actual treatment received, which was determined by an experienced UKA surgeon based on history, examination, radiographic assessment including stress radiographs, and intra-operative assessment in line with the recommended indications as described in the literature. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the Decision Aid was 92% and 88%, respectively. Excluding knees where a clear pre-operative plan was made to perform TKA, i.e. patient request, the sensitivity was 93% and specificity 96%. The false-positive rate was low (2.4%) with all affected patients readily identifiable during joint inspection at surgery. In patients meeting Decision Aid criteria and receiving UKA, the five-year survival was 99% (95% confidence intervals (CI) 97 to 100). The false negatives (3.5%), who received UKA but did not meet the criteria, had significantly worse functional outcomes (flexion p < 0.001, American Knee Society Score - Functional p < 0.001, University of California Los Angeles score p = 0.04), and lower implant survival of 93.1% (95% CI 77.6 to 100). Conclusion: The radiographic Decision Aid safely and reliably identifies appropriate patients for meniscal-bearing UKA and achieves good results in this population. The widespread use of the Decision Aid should improve the results of UKA

Reproductive abnormalities in mice expressing omega-3 fatty acid desaturase in their mammary glands

The Caenorhabditis elegans n-3 fatty acid desaturase (Fat-1) acts on a range of 18- and 20-carbon n-6 fatty acid substrates. Transgenic female mice expressing the Fat-1 gene under transcriptional control of the goat β-casein promoter produce milk phospholipids having elevated levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). However, females from this line were also observed to have impaired reproductive performance characterized by a smaller litter size (2.7 ± 0.6 vs. 7.2 ± 0.7; P < 0.05) than wildtype controls. While there is a close association between PUFA metabolism, prostaglandin biosynthesis, and fertility; reproductive problems in these mice were unanticipated given that the Fat-1 transgene is primarily expressed in the lactating mammary gland. Using multiple approaches it was found that Fat-1 mice have normal ovulation and fertilization rates; however fewer embryos were present in the uterus prior to implantation. Small litter size was also found to be partly attributable to a high incidence of post-implantation fetal resorptions. Embryo transfer experiments revealed that embryos developing from oocytes derived from transgenic ovaries had an increased rate of post-implantation resorption, regardless of the uterine genotype. Ovary transplantation between Fat-1 and C57BL/6 wildtype females revealed that non-ovarian factors also contributed to the smaller litter size phenotype. Finally, surgical removal of the mammary glands from juvenile Fat-1 mice increased the subsequent number of implantation sites per female, but did not lessen the high rate of post-implantation resorptions. In conclusion, we herein report on a system where an exogenous transgene expressed predominately in the mammary gland detrimentally affects female reproduction, suggesting that in certain circumstances the mammary gland may function as an endocrine regulator of reproductive performance

Ezrin interacts with the SARS coronavirus spike protein and restrains infection at the entry stage

© 2012 Millet et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and its envelope fusion with host cell membrane are controlled by a series of complex molecular mechanisms, largely dependent on the viral envelope glycoprotein Spike (S). There are still many unknowns on the implication of cellular factors that regulate the entry process. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using as bait the carboxy-terminal endodomain of S, which faces the cytosol during and after opening of the fusion pore at early stages of the virus life cycle. Here we show that the ezrin membrane-actin linker interacts with S endodomain through the F1 lobe of its FERM domain and that both the eight carboxy-terminal amino-acids and a membrane-proximal cysteine cluster of S endodomain are important for this interaction in vitro. Interestingly, we found that ezrin is present at the site of entry of S-pseudotyped lentiviral particles in Vero E6 cells. Targeting ezrin function by small interfering RNA increased S-mediated entry of pseudotyped particles in epithelial cells. Furthermore, deletion of the eight carboxy-terminal amino acids of S enhanced S-pseudotyped particles infection. Expression of the ezrin dominant negative FERM domain enhanced cell susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV and S pseudotyped particles and potentiated S-dependent membrane fusion. Conclusions/Significance: Ezrin interacts with SARS-CoV S endodomain and limits virus entry and fusion. Our data present a novel mechanism involving a cellular factor in the regulation of S-dependent early events of infection.This work was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (RGC#760208)and the RESPARI project of the International Network of Pasteur Institutes

Experimentally manipulated self-affirmation promotes reduced alcohol consumption in response to narrative information

Background: Health-risk information is increasingly being conveyed through accounts of personal experiences or narrative information. However, whether self-affirmation can enhance the ability of such messages to promote behavior change has yet to be established. Purpose: This study aims to test whether self-affirmation (a) promotes behavior change following exposure to narrative information about the risks of excessive alcohol consumption and (b) boosts message acceptance by increasing narrative engagement. Methods: In an experimental design, female drinkers (N = 142) reported their baseline alcohol consumption and were randomly allocated to condition (Self-Affirmation, Control). All participants next watched an extract of a genuine narrative piece in which the central character discussed her liver disease and its link with her previous alcohol consumption. Then, participants completed measures assessing engagement with the narrative and message acceptance. The primary outcome was alcohol consumption, assessed at 7-day follow-up. Results: Self-affirmed participants reported consuming significantly less alcohol at follow-up compared to baseline (mean 7-day decrease = 5.43 units); there was no change in alcohol consumption for the control group. Immediately post-manipulation, self-affirmed participants (vs. control) showed more message acceptance and reported greater engagement with the information. The impact of self-affirmation on message acceptance was mediated by narrative engagement. Conclusions: Self-affirmation can promote behavior change following exposure to health information, even when presented in narrative form