Assessment of Work-Integrated Learning: Comparison of the Usage of a Grading Rubric by Supervising Radiographers and Teachers

Introduction Professional work-integrated learning (WIL) that integrates the academic experience with off-campus professional experience placements is an integral part of many tertiary courses. Issues with the reliability and validity of assessment grades in these placements suggest that there is a need to strengthen the level of academic rigour of placements in these programmes. This study aims to compare the attitudes to the usage of assessment rubrics of radiographers supervising medical imaging students and teachers supervising pre-service teachers. Methods WIL placement assessment practices in two programmes, pre-service teacher training (Avondale College of Higher Education, NSW) and medical diagnostic radiography (Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW), were compared with a view to comparing assessment strategies across these two different educational domains. Educators (course coordinators) responsible for teaching professional development placements of teacher trainees and diagnostic radiography students developed a standards-based grading rubric designed to guide assessment of students’ work during WIL placement by assessors. After ~12 months of implementation of the rubrics, assessors’ reaction to the effectiveness and usefulness of the grading rubric was determined using a specially created survey form. Data were collected over the period from March to June 2011. Quantitative and qualitative data found that assessors in both programmes considered the grading rubric to be a vital tool in the assessment process, though teacher supervisors were more positive about the benefits of its use than the radiographer supervisors. Results Benefits of the grading rubric included accuracy and consistency of grading, ability to identify specific areas of desired development and facilitation of the provision of supervisor feedback. The use of assessment grading rubrics is of benefit to assessors in WIL placements from two very different teaching programmes. Conclusion Radiographers appear to need more training in the rubric\u27s use, whereas teachers are found to generally use it appropriately. There are implications drawn from this finding that are applicable to health science and medical education in general

New data on the age of an Upper Cretaceous sediments in Brežđe (NW Serbia)

Radiolarian assemblages of Late Cretaceous age were studied in a carbonate-clastic section from the Cretaceous sedimentary cover that unconformably overlies Triassic sediments of the Jadar Block. According to the identified radiolarian associations, the studied limestone is of Santonian age. Considering the fact that these sediments belong to a broadly defined Turonian-Senonian geologic mapped unit, the obtained data are important for further more detailed biostratigraphic assignment of Late Cretaceous rocks in Western Serbia. Moreover, the obtained data are very important for interregional correlations

Upper Cretaceous geosites on Golija Mountain - objects of geoheritage

The Upper Cretaceous rudist limestones are well-known from several localities in Serbia. Three of these localities (Svilanovo, Bele Vode and Kulizino Selo) are located in SW Serbia, on Golija Mt. These localities are crucial for understanding the development of the Upper Cretaceous shallow-water environments, thus this is an area of great scientific and educational value, particularly considering palaeontology, stratigraphy, palaeoecology and palaeogeography. One of the aims of this paper is to evaluate these geosites and their geotouristic potential, using Geosite Assessment Model (GAM), which is important for their geoconservation as well as for the sustainable development of the area.</p

Časopis Geološki anali balkanskoga poluostrva - trenutno stanje i perspektive

The journal Geološki Anali Balkanskoga Poluostrva was founded by geologists and enthusiasts led by Prof. Jovan Žujović in 1888, while the first issue was published a year later. The first issue had 160 pages, containing 20 figures and a geological sketch map of the Kingdom of Serbia created by .ujovi., printed in color at a scale of 1:500000. For the first six decades, the journal did not have a regular annual periodicity, but since 1949, it has been published regularly every year. From the very beginning, the journal published articles from all geological disciplines, but also from mining, which makes it the oldest scientific and professional geological journal in Serbia, as well as in the Balkans. The journal shared the fate of the state and the people, so it was not published during the First and Second World Wars, while the general periodicity of the journal before the First World War was much weaker than between the two wars (1918.1941). Since 2017, following the publishing standards of the 21st century ] the journal has been accepting only online submission of papers through the Open Journal System (OJS) platform, which also represents the Internet presentation of the journal. In addition to the OJS platform, a digital library of the journal was created. It contains metadata about all published papers from the first to the last issue, according to the Dublin core standard, while the full PDF versions of works from 2002 are downloadable free of charge in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribute 4.0 International (CC BY) license. The editorial board plans to publish two issues per year since 2018, which is a basic precondition for a journal to be included in the evaluation process for assigning impact factor and indexing in the SCIe list

Cytotoxic Interactive Effects of Dentin Bonding Components on Mouse Fibroblasts

Previous studies have shown a wide range of pulpal reactions to dentin bonding systems and a poor correlation between in vitro and in vivo toxicity of dentin bonding agents. Because dentin bonding agents are composed of multiple components which may diffuse through dentin, we hypothesized that these components may cause cytotoxicity through interactive (synergistic) effects. We investigated the cytotoxicities of four dentin bonding components-HEMA, Bis-GMA, TEGDMA, and UDMA-and interactive effects for three binary combinations of the dentin bonding components-HEMA and Bis-GMA, Bis-GMA and TEGDMA, and TEGDMA and UDMA. Cytotoxicities to Balb/c 3T3 mouse fibroblasts were measured by the MTT assay. Concentrations which caused 50% toxicity compared with controls (TC50 values) were compared, and the interactive effects were determined by evaluation of the differences between observed and expected MTT activities of the cells. The ranks of toxicity of the dentin bonding components in terms of TC50 values were as follows: Bis-GMA > UDMA > TEGDMA >>> HEMA (least toxic) after 24- and 72-hour exposures. As binary combinations, the three combinations of dentin bonding components interacted in three ways—synergism, additivism, and antagonism-which were influenced by the concentrations of both components. The longer period of exposure resulted in a significant increase in the cytotoxicity of the dentin bonding components and combinations. The findings indicate that both exposure time and the interactions between the dentin bonding components may be important parameters in determining the cytotoxicity of dentin bonding agents in vivo.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66489/2/10.1177_00220345950740091601.pd

Cytotoxicity of one-step dentin-bonding agents toward dental pulp and odontoblast-like cells

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73497/1/j.1365-2842.2008.01885.x.pd

Structural and geochronological constraints from the Drina-Ivanjica thrust sheet (Western Serbia): implications for the Cretaceous–Paleogene tectonics of the Internal Dinarides

We have investigated successive episodes of ocean-continent and continent–continent convergence in Western Serbia (Drina-Ivanjica thrust sheet). The coupled application of structural and petrological analyses with Illite Crystallinity measurements and K/Ar dating has revealed the timing and structural characteristics of multiple regional deformation phases, and allowed us to revise the origin of the different Triassic units outcropping in the study area. D1 tectonic burial was characterized by anchizonal metamorphism, dominantly WNW-verging isoclinal folding (F1), and related axial planar cleavage (S1) formation in the Paleozoic basement and the stratigraphic cover of the Drina-Ivanjica thrust sheet exposed along the northern rim of this thrust sheet. The timing of D1 deformation is constrained by K/Ar ages suggesting 135–150 Ma tectonic burial for the Drina-Ivanjica thrust sheet. D1 deformation and metamorphism is correlated with the closure of the Vardar ocean by top-W to NW ophiolite obduction and the underthrusting of the Adriatic distal passive margin below the oceanic upper plate. Since D1 structures are lacking in the southern occurrences of Triassic rocks within the study area it is proposed that this Triassic is may not be the original sedimentary cover of the Drina-Ivanjica Paleozoic basement. We propose that this southern Triassic originated from a more external Dinaridic thrust sheet and was transported to its present-day position by a top-NE backthrust presumably during late Early Cretaceous–Paleogene times. Mapscale, NW–SE striking D2 thrust faults and abundant NW–SE trending F2 folds observed in all units correspond to the general trend of the Dinaridic orogen and are attributed to the latest Cretaceous–Paleogene collision between Adria and Europe. Regional Latest Cretaceous–Paleogene shortening was followed by strike-slip tectonics (N–S shortening and perpendicular extension) and subsequent Miocene normal faulting in both orogen-parallel and orogen-perpendicular directions driven by slab rollback processes of the Carpathian-Dinaridic realm

Problem-based learning in dental education: what's the evidence for and against... and is it worth the effort?

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.All Australian dental schools have introduced problem-based learning (PBL) approaches to their programmes over the past decade, although the nature of the innovations has varied from school to school. Before one can ask whether PBL is better than the conventional style of education, one needs to consider three key issues. Firstly, we need to agree on what is meant by the term PBL; secondly, we need to decide what “better” means when comparing educational approaches; and thirdly, we must look carefully at how PBL is implemented in given situations. It is argued that PBL fulfils, at least in theory, some important principles relating to the development of new knowledge. It also represents a change in focus from teachers and teaching in conventional programmes to learners and learning. Generally, students enjoy PBL programmes more than conventional programmes and feel they are more nurturing. There is also some evidence of an improvement in clinical and diagnostic reasoning ability associated with PBL curricula. The main negative points raised about PBL are the costs involved and mixed reports of insufficient grounding of students in the basic sciences. Financial restraints will probably preclude the introduction of pure or fully integrated PBL programmes in Australian dental schools. However, our research and experience, as well as other published literature, indicate that well-planned hybrid PBL programmes, with matching methods of assessment, can foster development of the types of knowledge, skills and attributes that oral health professionals will need in the future.T Winning and G Townsen