Teachers\u27 Interfaculty Mentorship Efforts: T.I.M.E. A study evaluating the effects of a formal mentoring program on first-year at-risk students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a unique formal mentoring program at a midsized comprehensive university in Ontario. The retention rates, grade point averages (GPA) and number of courses completed by the students who participated (experimental group) were higher than the retention rates, grade point averages, and number of courses completed by the control group consisting of an equal number of first-time, full-time, credit-seeking students with programs of study and similar exiting secondary school averages (i.e., \u3c75%). Results from surveys conducted to measure self-concept and satisfaction were not found to be significantly related to mentoring. However, the results of mentor effectiveness and evaluation suggested program satisfaction and effectiveness. Interviews were also conducted and analyzed using qualitative research methods to enrich the empirical findings. Using an explanatory approach the qualitative analysis linked the program to the theoretical foundations of the study. Findings from this study illustrate the importance of institutions investing in human capital (e.g., at risk students) through a mutually beneficial mentoring program like T.I.M.E., a practicum course designed for preservice teachers to prepare them as mentors for their students. There was clear empirical evidence that this formal mentoring program is effective with respect to achievement (GPA), failure rates and retention. Also, the qualitative data provided an enriched understanding of the effectiveness of the program to both mentee and mentor. Finally, these data clearly showed that the program could be linked to various configurations of Social Capital Theory as the executive control mechanism tying together the Theory of Involvement, the Theory of Departure and the Theory of Social Learning, with the Theory of Involvement taking the lead as the most compelling link to the success of mentoring. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-07, Section: A, page: 2522. Adviser: Larry Morton. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2004

Situational awareness within objective structured clinical examination stations in undergraduate medical training - a literature search

Background: Medical students may not be able to identify the essential elements of situational awareness (SA) necessary for clinical reasoning. Recent studies suggest that students have little insight into cognitive processing and SA in clinical scenarios. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) could be used to assess certain elements of situational awareness. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with a view to identifying whether levels of SA based on Endsley's model can be assessed utilising OSCEs during undergraduate medical training. Methods: A systematic search was performed pertaining to SA and OSCEs, to identify studies published between January 1975 (first paper describing an OSCE) and February 2017, in peer reviewed international journals published in English. PUBMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO Ovid and SCOPUS were searched for papers that described the assessment of SA using OSCEs among undergraduate medical students. Key search terms included "objective structured clinical examination", "objective structured clinical assessment" or "OSCE" and "non-technical skills", "sense-making", "clinical reasoning", "perception", "comprehension", "projection", "situation awareness", "situational awareness" and "situation assessment". Boolean operators (AND, OR) were used as conjunctions to narrow the search strategy, resulting in the limitation of papers relevant to the research interest. Areas of interest were elements of SA that can be assessed by these examinations. Results: The initial search of the literature retrieved 1127 publications. Upon removal of duplicates and papers relating to nursing, paramedical disciplines, pharmacy and veterinary education by title, abstract or full text, 11 articles were eligible for inclusion as related to the assessment of elements of SA in undergraduate medical students. Discussion: Review of the literature suggests that whole-task OSCEs enable the evaluation of SA associated with clinical reasoning skills. If they address the levels of SA, these OSCEs can provide supportive feedback and strengthen educational measures associated with higher diagnostic accuracy and reasoning abilities. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the early exposure of medical students to SA is recommended, utilising OSCEs to evaluate and facilitate SA in dynamic environment