Background: Scientific education aims to be inclusive and to improve students learning achievements, through appropriate teaching and learning. Problem Based Learning (PBL) system, a student centered method, started in the second half of the previous century and is expanding progressively, organizes learning around problems and students learn about a subject through the experience of solving these problems.Objectives:To assess the opinions of undergraduate medical students regarding learning outcomes of PBL in small group teaching and to explore their views about the role of tutors and methods of evaluation. Type of the study: A cross-sectional study.Methods: This study was conducted in Kerbala Medical Colleges among second year students. A self-administered questionnaire was prepared to evaluate the newly applied teaching system. The study analysis included simple descriptive analysis and determining association through t-test, chi square test and regression analysis and using structural equation models to determine simultaneous association between different students’ demographic characteristics and potential predictors using SPSS-20 and Amos software at a significance level of < 0.05.Results:A total of 131 undergraduate medical students participated in the study with a response rate of 94%. The majority (93%) have indicated that PBL strategy contributed effectively to their knowledge development with a similar majority (92%) considering PBL successful new teaching method. About 86% reported that would choose PBL rather than conventional method and also 86% would advise PBL for others. Similarly, high majority indicated that various PBL activities are essential. Regarding the tutors’ role in PBL, the majority (92%) indicated that this role was positive and fundamental. According to two thirds (68%) of participants PBL application in Kerbala Medical college was very good application while a higher majority described various PBL sessions as successful and positive and fundamental role of tutors was stressed by most students.Conclusions: This study highlighted the benefits of soliciting student impressions of effective small group teaching. The students’ emphasized group atmosphere and facilitation skills of tutor in learning.Key words: Problem Based Learning, Medical Education, Small Group Teaching, Team Based Learning, Kerbala Medical College
Companies compete greatly with each other today, so they need to focus on innovation to develop their products and make them competitive. Lean product development is the ideal way to develop product, foster innovation, maximize value, and reduce time. Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE) is an approved lean product improvement mechanism that builds on the creation of a number of alternative designs at the subsystem level. These designs are simultaneously improved and tested, and the weaker choices are removed gradually until the optimum solution is reached finally. SBCE implementations have been extensively performed in the automotive industry and there are a few case studies in the aerospace industry. This research describe the use o
... Show MoreThis paper describes the digital chaotic signal with ship map design. The robust digital implementation eliminates the variation tolerance and electronics noise problems common in analog chaotic circuits. Generation of good non-repeatable and nonpredictable random sequences is of increasing importance in security applications. The use of 1-D chaotic signal to mask useful information and to mask it unrecognizable by the receiver is a field of research in full expansion. The piece-wise 1-D map such as ship map is used for this paper. The main advantages of chaos are the increased security of the transmission and ease of generation of a great number of distinct sequences. As consequence, the number of users in the systems can be increased. Rec
... Show MoreThis paper proposes a new approach, of Clustering Ultrasound images using the Hybrid Filter (CUHF) to determine the gender of the fetus in the early stages. The possible advantage of CUHF, a better result can be achieved when fuzzy c-mean FCM returns incorrect clusters. The proposed approach is conducted in two steps. Firstly, a preprocessing step to decrease the noise presented in ultrasound images by applying the filters: Local Binary Pattern (LBP), median, median and discrete wavelet (DWT),(median, DWT & LBP) and (median & Laplacian) ML. Secondly, implementing Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) for clustering the resulted images from the first step. Amongst those filters, Median & Laplace has recorded a better accuracy. Our experimental evaluation on re
... Show MoreThis paper is focused on orthogonal function approximation technique FAT-based adaptive backstepping control of a geared DC motor coupled with a rotational mechanical component. It is assumed that all parameters of the actuator are unknown including the torque-current constant (i.e., unknown input coefficient) and hence a control system with three motor control modes is proposed: 1) motor torque control mode, 2) motor current control mode, and 3) motor voltage control mode. The proposed control algorithm is a powerful tool to control a dynamic system with an unknown input coefficient. Each uncertain parameter/term is represented by a linear combination of weighting and orthogonal basis function vectors. Chebyshev polynomial is used
... Show MoreMaintaining and breeding fish in a pond are a crucial task for a large fish breeder. The main issues for fish breeders are pond management such as the production of food for fishes and to maintain the pond water quality. The dynamic or technological system for breeders has been invented and becomes important to get maximum profit return for aquaponic breeders in maintaining fishes. This research presents a developed prototype of a dynamic fish feeder based on fish existence. The dynamic fish feeder is programmed to feed where sensors detected the fish's existence. A microcontroller board NodeMCU ESP8266 is programmed for the developed h
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