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
This article presents the simultaneous adsorption of bimetal Cu2+ and Zn2+ from an aqueous solution using activated carbon synthesized from a plum seed precursor by sulfuric acid and microwave activation: plum seeds chemically activated by 45% (w/w) sulfuric acid with 2:1 ratio for 4 h, then carbonized for 2 h at 700 °C and the product obtained activated in a microwave oven for 20 min at 700 W for final of activation. Plum seeds and activated carbon produced were characterized in terms of their physical and chemical composition using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements, field emission scanning electr
The effect of different Ti additions on the microstructure of Al-Ti alloy prepared by powder metallurgy was investigated. A certain amount of Ti (10wt%, 15wt%, and 20wt%) were added to aluminium and the tests like microhardness, density, scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscope (OM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were conducted to determine the influence of different Ti additives on the Al-Ti alloy properties and microstructure. The results show that the grains of α-Al changed from large grains to roughly spherical and then to small rounded grains with increasing Ti content, the micro-hardness of the alloy increases with increasing Ti, and XRD results confirm the formation of TiAl3 intermetallic co
... Show MoreBearing capacity of soil is an important factor in designing shallow foundations. It is directly related to foundation dimensions and consequently its performance. The calculations for obtaining the bearing capacity of a soil needs many varying parameters, for example soil type, depth of foundation, unit weight of soil, etc. which makes these calculation very variable–parameter dependent. This paper presents the results of comparison between the theoretical equation stated by Terzaghi and the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of the strip shallow footing on sandy soils. The results show a very good agreement between the theoretical solution and the ANN technique. Results revealed that us
... Show MoreNowadays nanoparticles are used in many fields of life all over the world, and there are numerous ways to obtain them: chemical, physical and biological processes. In recent times, the biological method for the synthesis of nanoparticles associated with using plant extract is widely spread. Optimal conditions for synthesis of silver nanoparticles using aqueous seeds extract of Myristica fragrance were highlighted in this research, such as type of plant extract, weight of extracted plant material, volume ratio of plant extract to AgNO3 and temperature of reaction. The study proved that the optimal status for AgNPs synthesis by using 10 g of M. fragrance seeds powder were added to 100 mL boiled distilled water, then homogenized and filt
... Show MoreBackground: Bone density is a major factor that affect mini implant primarily stability; no Iraqi studies have evaluated bone density related to mini-implant placement for orthodontic anchorage at age 13 -15 years. The present research aims to evaluate gender, side and site differences in the bone density at various orthodontic implant sites for the maxillary alveolar bone. Materials and methods: Twenty nine individuals (16 males and 13 females) had subjected to clinical examination, then 64-multislice computed tomography scan data were evaluated and bone density was measured in Hounsfield unit at 21 points (9 points for each side and 3 points between the right and left central incisors) . Results: The results obtained showed that there ar
... Show MoreThis study is conducted to determine the activity of plant Vica faba and two isolated from arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (A,B) in bioremediation of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north and south of Baghdad city. The results showed that the average of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north of Baghdad was less than the average of soil pollution in the south of Baghdad which recorded 29.0,9.0PPm and 42.0, 25.0PPm respectively. The results show that the isolate A from the polluted soil is more active from isolate B which isolate from unpolluted soil for bioremediation. Vica faba recorded more in accumulate the Lead element in shoot system which was 19.65PPm and in root system was 27.2PPm and for Nickel element 24.65
... Show MoreAn optimization calculation is made to find the optimum properties of combined quadrupole lens which consists of electrostatic and magnetic lens. Both chromatic and spherical aberration coefficients are reduced to minimum values and the achromatic aberration is found for many cases. These calculations are achieved with the aid of transfer matrices method and using rectangular model of field distribution, where the path of charged-particles beam traversing the field has been determined by solving the trajectory equation of motion and then the optical properties for lens have been computed with the aid of the beam trajectory along the lens axis. The computations have been concentrated on determining the chromatic and spher
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