The ultimate aim of faculty development programmes (FDPs) is to boost teachers’ competence in their journey of becoming a respectable educator. It takes place when a faculty member joins such activity with a hope of cultivating their knowledge and skills in desired areas such as pedagogy, research, motivation, and administration. However, to design the best practices of FDPs, it needs a great deal of consideration on numerous factors. This paper discusses principles of the best practice in FDPs, challenges and its solutions, its impacts on professional identity, and finally highlights the future trend of FDPs. Since it is beneficial in fostering professionalism of a faculty member, it is important for school administrators to address FDPs as a prominent agenda in seeking a professional medical teacher.
Introduction: The USM Pre-clinical medical students’ guidance and counselling needs questionnaire (USM-MS- GCN-Q) is an English-language guidance and counselling needs questionnaire which was developed specifically for pre-clinical medical students. The aim of this study is to highlight the construct validity of USM-MSGCN-Q among pre-clinical medical students. Methods: In June 2017, a cross-sectional study on 208 pre-clinical medical students was conducted in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). This self-administered USM-MSGNC-Q consisted of four constructs and 20 items with a 5-point Likert scale within each item. A confirmatory factor analysis was em- ployed to test the hypothesized measurement model. Results: The final measurement model fitted the data well. The four-factor model initially consisted of 20 items however, it was reduced to 18 items with the goodness of fit indices suggesting good model fit (RMSEA 0.89, GFI .915 and ChiSq/df 2.642). Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) was 0.879 for self-leadership skills, 0.929 for communication skills, 0.871 for learning skills, and 0.870 for psychological coping skills. The overall Cronbach’s value was 0.922. Respective composite reliability values were 0.879,0.952,0.879 and 0.835 while the Average Variance Extracted values were 0.729, 0.911, 0.595 and 0.630. Conclusion: This study has confirmed that self-leadership, communication, learning and psychological coping skills were the components of guidance and counselling needs which influences the effectiveness of guidance and coun- selling sessions with pre-clinical medical students.
INTRODUCTION: Stress is a particularly important issue in education because it has the potential to decline learning and performance. However, little empirical evidence about the influence of stress in nurse students’ clinical practices.
Methods: There are 346 totals of respondents for this study. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which have six domains of stressors and Brief COPE inventory, consisted of 28 items which measure 14 different coping styles was used. By using Likert scale in order to measure the degree of stress for each stressor. Higher mean score indicates higher degree of stress.
Results: In this study, stress from clinical assignments and workload was the most stressful having by nursing students (Mean = 3.19, SD = 1.09). Among the 14 types of coping strategies, religion was the most frequently used, religion (Mean = 3.30, SD = 0.71).
Conclusion: The results provided valuable information for nurse educators, clinical educators and clinical staff in identifying students’ needs, facilitating their learning in the clinical setting and developing effective interventions to reduce the stress. Therefore it is important, especially nursing students can handle the pressure because it will affect the level of achievement in academic and thereby affecting student skills in the field of clinical nursing. And this affects the care of patients.
The major component in nursing education is attachmnet at clinical practices to give the students experience,
responsibility and understanding in care of the patient. Nurse educators and the clinical nurse instructors are
responsible for coordinating the education of nursing students in clinical area. Currently practice using nursing
processes is more familiar to compare than concept mapping care plan among the nurses and nursing students.
Nursing care plan or nursing process has been utilized at the clinical setting to assess the actual and potential
health problems of the patients. However, the format of nursing care plans makes challenging to the students,
especially for new students in semester one to gather the information based on patients problems. In addition,
this nursing process evaluation is one of examination tools for them in running assessments. Therefore, the
development of concept mapping care plan at clinical practices was used to evalaute the students academic
achievement in clinical pratices. Concept mapping care plan was found to enhance the knowledge and
understanding of the nursing students and also improving the quality of clinical education. Nursing students
who have good skills will perform certain procedures better than students having fewer skills. This affects the
quality of work in the future as either a higher quality or of poor quality.
In today’s challenging and highly complex health care settings nurses must be able to think critically.
With the current traditional and rote methods of learning, the critical thinking skills among the
students are seen to diminish. As nurse educators must find a different method in their teaching on
how to encourage students to engage in analytical thinking and how to make the analytical thinking
process part of their daily practice due to increase safety of the patients. This will give challenge for
the nurse educators to reshape education by adopting instructional strategies to equip students with
foundational knowledge in critical thinking, creative problem solving and collaboration. Through
concept mapping, students should be able to transfer applied didactic objectives from the classroom
to the clinical practice, where critical thinking and problem solving skills are needed for success. It also
provide nurse educators with the ability to help students learn how to organise data, prioritise patient
needs and can relate patient medical illness and nursing intervention.
The Delphi technique is a widely used and accepted method for gathering data from participantswithin domain of expertise. The objective of this study is to discuss the process of the three roundsDelphi technique in seeking a consensus of concept mapping structure and Multiple Choice Questions(MCQ) in Diabetic Mellitus subject. In the first, round, participants were given a structuredquestionnaire regarding item of concept mapping structure and MCQ in Diabetic Mellitus subject.The second were added mean and median value of round one. In the third round were add meanand median value of round two were added. Participants were asked to rate the categorised responsesfrom Round 1 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Very irrelevant” and 5 being “Very relevant”. Thistechnique does not require participants to meet face-to-face, thereby making it useful to conductsurveys with qualified people over a wide geographic area. The feedback process allows and encouragesthe selected Delphi participants to reassess their initial judgements about the information providedin previous iterations. Data is then analysed to check for consistency of experts’ responses betweenrounds. Instrument developed from the Delphi technique research findings is also examined forvalidation from experts in educational medical health sciences on content and constructs validity.Analysis on the consensus of data from experts was based on median, inter quartile range and quartiledeviation on Round 1, 2 and 3 data. Therefore, the Delphi technique is an appropriate method foridentifying significant issues related with academic.
Introduction: In Malaysian nursing education, concept mapping is not widely practiced among nurse
educators and students. Therefore, the researcher aims to develop and evaluate the impact of the
Rusnani Concept Mapping (RCM) protocol on academic achievement and clinical practices among
diploma nursing students. RCM is one of the teaching learning methods that specifies guidelines for
nurse educators to harmonise classroom and clinical setting methods. Method: RCM is a concept
mapping protocol guideline developed by the researcher and is validated with content and face validity
and the Delphi technique. The study design is quasi-experimental with two groups. The experimental
and control groups received education using RCM and the lecture method, respectively. Data were
analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics using paired t-tests. P values less than 0.05 were
interpreted as significant. Results: In the pre-test, the students taught using RCM had a mean
achievement score of 11.23 with and SD = 2.59, while at post-test, the mean achievement score was
13.19 with and SD = 1.71 and a mean gain score of 1.96. In contrast, students taught using lecture
method had a mean achievement score of 10.71 and SD = 2.23 in the pre-test and a mean score of
12.60, SD = 1.64 in post-test achievement with a mean gain score of 1.89. The post-test scores of the
experimental and control group were significantly different (t = 2.53, p < 0.05). The mean concept
mapping care plan score was 59.33 and 65.23, respectively, for the control group and experimental
group. The paired t-test revealed that there was a significant difference between experimental and
control groups, p value < 0.05. The result of students’ perceptions regarding concept mapping in the
experimental group showed as positive moderate with a mean score of 3.44. Conclusion: This study
provides additional evidence that RCM is instructionally valuable as a learning method and is an active
learning strategy for meaningful learning and motivating superior achievement in students.
The Delphi technique is a widely used and accepted method to obtain consensus among the
experts. This technique uses a judgement to prove the accuracy of the content item when evaluating
instrument. The objective of this study is to discuss the process of the three rounds Delphi technique
to obtain consensus of concept mapping care plan and multiple choice questions (MCQ) in Diabetic
Mellitus subject. In the first round, participants were given a structured questionnaire regarding item
of concept mapping care plan and MCQ in Diabetic Mellitus subject. In the second round, the mean
and median values of round one were added. In the third round, the mean and median values of round
two were added. Participants were asked to rate the categorised responses from Round 1 on a scale of
1 to 5, with 1 being “Very Irrelevant” and 5 being “Very Relevant”. This technique does not require
that participants be collocated or meet face-to-face, thereby making it useful to conduct surveys
with qualified people over a wide geographic area. The feedback process allows and encourages the
selected Delphi participants to reassess their initial judgements about the information provided in
previous iterations. The analysis of consensus data of the experts was done based on median, inter
quartile range and quartile deviation on round one, two and three data. The median score was used to
analyse the level of consensus of experts and result shows that in all three rounds Delphi the medium
result more than 4. It reported that level of importance of the statements were high. As a conclusion,
the concept mapping care plan and MCQ have meets the consensus by using three rounds of Delphi
techniques. Therefore, the Delphi technique is the best method to obtain consensus in health care
education research.
Objective: This paper describes the patterns of professional identity development (PID) among
medical graduates of a SPICES (i.e., Student-centred/teacher-centred; Problem-based/information
gathering; Integrated/discipline-based; Community based; Elective/uniform; and Systematic/
apprenticeship-based) curriculum implemented by the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM). Methods: The phenomenological study design evaluated 50 medical graduates of
USM who underwent housemanship at government hospitals in the Peninsular of Malaysia. Focus
group interviews (FGI) were conducted to explore and capture the experience of the participants
in relation to PID during medical training. Eight FGI sessions were conducted at a specific place
as agreed by both researchers and participants. A thematic analysis technique assisted by Atlas.ti
software was used to analyse the qualitative data. Results: The thematic analysis revealed that there
were two themes: self-development and professional development. The self-development theme was
represented by four categories: self-confidence, internal and external motivation, communication skills,
and problem solving. The professional development theme was represented by five categories: social
adjustment, leadership skills and management, team work, hands-on skills, and creativity. Conclusion:
The formation of professional identity among USM medical graduates was related to self-development
and professional development. This suggests that the USM medical curriculum is vital in shaping
professionalism attributes among its medical graduates that are balanced among knowledge, skills,
behaviours and values. Producing balanced medical graduates will ensure the highest quality of
healthcare sevices provided to the country. The implications of this study and recommendations are
discussed.
Introduction: Concept mapping is an innovative teaching learning strategy for students who have
the ability to develop concept maps. A planned and well-developed concept mapping protocol is
needed, so that nursing educators have a teaching guideline, enabling them to improve their teaching
techniques through concept mapping. Therefore, the researcher seeks to develop and validate the
impact of the Rusnani Concept Mapping (RCM) protocol guideline for application among nursing
students. Objectives: To develop, validate, and test the reliability of the RCM protocol guideline.
Methods: The development of RCM based on Mohd Afifi Learning model (MoAFF), ADDIE model
and integrating with Kemp model. This model protocol has five phases: analysis, design, development,
implementation and evaluation. The validity of the protocol was determined based on content and
face validity and the Delphi technique. The content validity of this lesson plan was established through
expert review, involving seven expert panels. Results: After obtaining feedback from the expert panel,
the researcher analysed content validity, using a formula based on percentages. This formula suggested
that good content validity is indicated by a percentage of content validity achievement greater than
70%, whereas if the percentage of content validity is below 70%, it is advisable to recheck the content,
according to the study objective. Conclusion: The reliability of the protocol was 0.816, showing that
the RCM protocol has high reliability and validity. RCM is thus a positive and innovative teaching
method that could be helpful in improving the academic performance of nursing students.
Excellence in academic and practical skills is the main goal of most nursing educators. It is a tool to measure the level of success of the nurse educators. Concept mapping care plan is related to the expectation that today's nursing students must master a constantly expanding body of knowledge and apply complex skills in rapidly changing environment. Concept mapping care plan was developed by researcher and validated by ten expert panels using three rounds of Delphi technique. It was used to evaluate academic performance of nursing students at clinical practice. Concept mapping care plan is a good assessment tool to nursing educators to prepare nursing students for better critical thinking and expected to function effectively after graduation. The goal of concept mapping care plan as a teaching strategy during the clinical practices, help the students to integrate the knowledge from theory and implementing this knowledge in the clinical setting. Researcher believes that concept mapping care plan can be as a replacement of nursing process that have been practiced before in the clinical setting. In addition, through concept mapping care plan provides an opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge and become more creative.
Introduction: The teacher centered approach is a teaching and learning strategy has been practiced
traditionally for long in the classroom. Through this strategy the teacher plays an important role, while the
students only act as spectators, the interaction between students and teachers is only one way. In this study, the
concept mapping notes was added in teaching and learning methods during classroom teaching. Concept
mapping is one method of teaching that encourages students to becomes independent learner, critical thinking
and competent in their work.
Methodology: This study was carried out in Kolej Kejururawatan Kubang Kerian (Kelantan), and Kolej
Kejururawatan Pulau Pinang. The respondents were selected using simple random sampling. There were 109
respondents. The respondents were given 40 minutes to develop the concept mapping notes.
Results: The activity of the students in the teaching is certainly a positive sign towards achieving their
learning. The example of variety concept maps construct done by the students are highly creative and
innovative.
Conclusion: Students should take responsibility for their own learning. However, that is a role of a educator
to choose the best teaching method to makes the learning become meaningful and effective toward the student
cognitive structure that will help them to understand the topic those were taught.
One of the challenges in mentoring relationships is to understand the real issues faced by the mentees. A mechanism has been established to offer a credible mentoring inventory. The aim of the study was to determine the construct validity and reliability index of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Mentoring Inventory (USM-MT-i) among early phase medical students in a Malaysian public medical school. A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2017 among 208 early phase of the medical students of School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. USM-MT-i is a self-administered inventory and was established based on the information gained from the mentors and mentees. The prevalidated inventory entailed 44 primary items. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis were utilised to determine the construct validity and reliability of such inventory. The result revealed three potential constructs with 39 items extracted from the USMMT- i; academic leadership (19 items), communication skills (12 items) and examination competence (8 items) with factor loading ranges from 0.50–0.77, 0.51–0.80 and 0.65–0.87, respectively. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for each domain were 0.95, 0.93 and 0.92, respectively. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.96. The present study promoted that the three factors with 39 items of the USM-MT-i has a good validity and reliability value to survey for mentoring needs among medical students in their early phase.
Lecturers are expected to teach effectively and evaluating their teaching effectiveness are essential to
ensure students get the best learning experience. A systematic evaluation of teaching behaviours with a
proper feedback mechanism will help to improve their teaching effectiveness. Improvement of teaching
effectiveness will result in better students’ learning experience, and thus attaining the intended
educational outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate teaching effectiveness among lecturers by
assessing their teaching behaviours during lectures. A cross-sectional study was conducted on lecturers
in a Malaysian public medical school. Their teaching behaviours were rated by 30 trained pre-clinical
medical students using Teacher Behaviour Inventory (TBI) on seven aspects – organisation, speechpacing,
clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, rapport, and disclosure. A total of 55 lecturers were rated
by the medical students. The organisation and speech-pacing aspects were highly rated as the mean
scores were 4.02 and 4.15, respectively. The clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, and rapport aspects
attained satisfactory level as the mean scores ranged from 3.10 to 3.59. The disclosure aspect was
poorly rated as the mean score was 2.20. Eventhough all lecturers in this school are considered expert
in their area, findings from this study suggest that some teaching behaviour need some improvement.
Findings from this study also provide useful data for the medical school to chart direction of faculty
development activities to improve their lecturers’ teaching effectiveness during lectures.