Joe F. Donaldson

Contextual tensions of the clinical environment and their influence on teaching and learning

Background  Academic medical centres face major challenges, and finding creative, effective strategies to support patient care and teaching are critical for survival. At the centre of these challenges is clinical teaching.

Higher Education Journals' Discourse about Adult Undergraduate Students

The authors analyzed articles appearing in seven U.S. higher education journals from 1990 to 2003 to explore how adult undergraduates were portrayed. Based on the articles that were found, the authors developed a classification of discourse about adult students that provides an analytic foundation to guide future research.

Adult Students' Academic and Intellectual Development in College

The ACT College Outcomes Survey was used with a national sample of approximately 28,000 undergraduate students to evaluate the effects of the college environment on academic and intellectual development and to contrast the outcomes for adult learners with those of younger students. Adult and younger students were also compared regarding their involvement and participation in the college environment and a factor analysis was used to identify broad outcome themes deemed important by the adults. The findings show adults were much less involved than younger students in campus activities and much more involved in caring for their families. Despite this lower level of involvement in the college environment, adults reported slightly higher levels of growth than did younger students on most academic and intellectual items. The factor analysis of index scores resulted in five broad intellectual and academic themes including: broadening ones intellectual interests, critical thinking skills, enhancing study skills, career development, and understanding and applying science and technology.

The Dynamics of Group Learning in a Cohort: From Nonlearning to Transformative Learning.

The instructional cohort is a popular delivery format in educational administration programs. This case study delves into the “black box” of cohort learning by critically examining the relationship between group dynamics and the types of learning that took place among a set of group members within a cohort. This study shows how group dynamics— including group climate, norms, roles, and communication—can foster or impede learning. The study raises concerns about whether a focus on high-performing cohorts or groups necessarily results in meaningful learning for students. With the performance-learning tension in mind, implications and recommendations for instruction and future research are also presented.

Marginal or Monumental? Visibility of Community Colleges in Selected Higher-Education Journals

Academic journals shape a field by including certain topics and excluding others. The purpose of this study was to explore in 5 higher-education journals published during 1990–2003 the visibility and the use of community colleges as research sites. Findings indicated an extremely limited visibility of community colleges, with use of community colleges as research sites varying from essential to opportunistic.

What criteria do faculty use when rating students as potential house officers

Third-year medical students’ grades are a combination of faculty observations, National Board of Medical Examiners examinations, and other departmental specific course requirements. Faculty evaluations include assessment of students’ clinical skills, and a global rating for potential as house officer. We wished to better understand the ‘potential as house officer’ and to understand if these competencies were shared across the third year or unique to a given discipline. We then examined the relationship between house officer potential and performance on traditional measures of success. We analyzed the narrative comments from faculty evaluations of third-year students who faculty rated as ‘Outstanding’ in the house officer potential category. The low correlations found between house officer potential and traditional measures of academic success indicate that items beyond the stated learning objectives are influencing faculty evaluation of clinical students. Our data suggest that the awarding of ‘potential for house officer’ reflects the students ability to work as part of a health care team. Although there appear to be common elements among the house officer comments, we also observed discipline specific differences. Given the importance placed on house officer potential, more conversation is needed to develop a common language across the third-year courses.

Role of Spatial Ability as a Probable Ability Determinant in Skill Acquisition for Sonographic Scanning

Spatial ability refers to an individuals capacity to visualize and mentally manipulate 3‐dimensional objects. Because sonographers manually manipulate 2‐ and 3‐dimensional sonographic images to generate renderings of anatomic structures, it can be assumed that spatial ability is an ability determinant for understanding and producing these medical images. Using the theory of ability determinants of skilled performance as a conceptual framework, this study explored the relationship of spatial ability and learning sonographic scanning.

An Exploratory Study of Spatial Ability and Student Achievement in Sonography

Spatial ability refers to an individual’s capacity to visualize and mentally manipulate 3D objects. Since sonographers manually manipulate 2D and 3D sonographic images to generate multi-viewed logical, sequential renderings of an anatomical structure, it can be assumed that spatial ability is central to the perception and interpretation of these medical images. However, little is known about the relation between spatial ability and performance of sonographers. This study explores this possible relationship. Seventeen first-year sonography students were administered a spatial abilities test prior to their initial scanning lab coursework. The students’ spatial ability scores were compared with their scanning competency performance scores after the first 30 hours and after two semesters of instruction. A significant relationship between the students’ spatial ability scores and their scanning performance scores was found. This study suggests that the use of spatial ability tests for admission to sonography programs may improve student selection as well as assist programs in adjusting instruction and curriculum for students who demonstrate low spatial ability.

Through patient eyes: Can third-year medical students deliver the care patients expect?

Abstract Introduction: Patient-centered approaches have a positive impact on adherence to treatment, self-management of chronic disease, and patient satisfaction. We seek to graduate physicians who provide effective Patient-Centered Care (PCC). The aims of this research were to (a) include the patients’ perspectives in describing behaviors essential to effective PCC, (b) create an authentic, credible tool to assess these behaviors in third-year medical students, and (c) validate the assessment tool through the eyes of our patients. Methods: To develop and validate PCC behaviors we (a) developed PCC descriptors that included patient perspectives, (b) developed scenarios for students to demonstrate PCC, (c) administered the PCC-Objective Structured Clinical Exam, and (d) used the patient perspective to validate results. Results: Faculty and students found the PCC-OSCE to be an authentic experience. Students received abundant individualized feedback and demonstrated strong performance in communicating effectively, avoiding medical jargon, listening actively, demonstrating empathy, and leading critical conversations. Patient critiques of exemplary performances confirmed that the PCC-OSCE assesses elements the patients viewed as essential to PCC. Conclusion: Incorporating the patients’ perspective aids in better understanding professional competencies and legitimizes the assessment.

A Profile of University Continuing Educators in Canada.

As the field of adult and continuing education matures, it is useful to more fully understand both the nature of practice and the characteristics of practitioners. Although some attention has been devoted to these topics in the literature, this article focuses on those practitioners who work in a university setting. and reports the results of a national study of university continuing educators. The data, which was gathered on a Canada-wide basis, has allowed us to both describe the characteristics and job responsibilities of those working in the field and develop job responsibility profiles. In addition, the study considers questions of gender, academic rank, age, educational levels, and length of experience in university continuing education as important elements in understanding who continuing educators are, and the kind of work they do.