Teaching effectiveness: Basis for the development of assessment tool

Teachers have an important role to play in delivering quality education (SDG4). The quality of teaching that they deliver to students greatly affects them. This participatory action research (PAR) argues that there are gaps that need to be addressed in teaching effectiveness; (a) developing conceptual framework anchoring in common theory that served as a lens of the study, (b) measure it to ensure that students receive quality education and acquire the skills they need for national development, and (c) develop an assessment tool. This research designed a conceptual framework on teaching effectiveness based on the results of the focus group discussions with key informants (bottom-up evaluation) in selected mid-leveladministrators (coordinators), teachers, students, and alumni from selected sectarian higher education institutions. The researchers also developed indicators and identified items to assess teacher effectiveness through an assessment tool. Teaching effectiveness argues that key players i.e., Teacher's Pedagogy, Content, and Knowledge, Learner’s performance in school, and adaptation of institutions in Outcomes-Based education are important components in a learning organization. The results revealed that the teaching effectiveness is evident in teachers who exhibit pedagogy, content and knowledge, possess good qualities, humanistic and professional approach, adopt and use varied technologies and online applications to facilitate learning, employ life integration in their lessons, anchored on the school’s VMGO, program, course outcomes, and activities. It contributes to student learning. This research concludes that the indicators revealed on the PAR must be used for further research specifically in designing an assessment tool in measuring teaching effectiveness

Worldwide Disparities in Recovery of Cardiac Testing 1 Year Into COVID-19

BACKGROUND The extent to which health care systems have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide necessary cardiac diagnostic services is unknown.OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the pandemic on cardiac testing practices, volumes and types of diagnostic services, and perceived psychological stress to health care providers worldwide.METHODS The International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a worldwide survey assessing alterations from baseline in cardiovascular diagnostic care at the pandemic's onset and 1 year later. Multivariable regression was used to determine factors associated with procedure volume recovery.RESULTS Surveys were submitted from 669 centers in 107 countries. Worldwide reduction in cardiac procedure volumes of 64% from March 2019 to April 2020 recovered by April 2021 in high- and upper middle-income countries (recovery rates of 108% and 99%) but remained depressed in lower middle- and low-income countries (46% and 30% recovery). Although stress testing was used 12% less frequently in 2021 than in 2019, coronary computed tomographic angiography was used 14% more, a trend also seen for other advanced cardiac imaging modalities (positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance; 22%-25% increases). Pandemic-related psychological stress was estimated to have affected nearly 40% of staff, impacting patient care at 78% of sites. In multivariable regression, only lower-income status and physicians' psychological stress were significant in predicting recovery of cardiac testing.CONCLUSIONS Cardiac diagnostic testing has yet to recover to prepandemic levels in lower-income countries. Worldwide, the decrease in standard stress testing is offset by greater use of advanced cardiac imaging modalities. Pandemic-related psychological stress among providers is widespread and associated with poor recovery of cardiac testing. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation