Yoxas/statistical_literacy huggingface dataset:
The UN SDGs presented a vision for sustainability and the reduction of inequality within a country. The Taiwanese government uses many external resources to develop rural education. This study was conducted in a small public junior high school in a remote indigenous community in central Taiwan. Due to the economic downturn, the population in the indigenous community is outflowing, and the number of students is decreasing. With external resources, such as the Project of Female Science and Technology Talent Development from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan and other plans, this study introduces a full-time researcher as a teacher to promote science education in the research school. Implementing the projects improves students' academic performance and encourages students to participate in science competitions and achieve success. This study explores first the impact of the school's implementation of the Ministry of Science and Technology program on the development of the school; second, the results of the development of the school-based curriculum; and finally, it quantifies the statistics of the students' changes in the National High School Entrance Examination results. The impact of external resources on school development is determined by analyzing the performance of the participating students. This study finds that the Ministry of Science and Technology program plays an essential role in the development of the school, providing a key platform for teachers' growth, enriching school funding, developing featured courses, and encouraging students' performance. External resources have significantly improved students' results on the National Examination and facilitated students' motivation to learn science.
The uncritical application of western psychiatric concepts in non-western societies resulting in culturally invalid psychiatric syndromes, have been extensively documented. Such instances are considered 'category errors'. In contrast, 'reverse category errors' although theoretically postulated, have never been empirically demonstrated. Diagnostic criteria of an established South Asian culture specific neurosis, Dhāt syndrome, were deployed by a psychiatrist of South Asian origin, amongst 47 white Britons in London, UK, presenting for the first time with a clinic diagnosis of ICD-9 Depressive Neurosis (Dysthymic Disroder, ICD-11). The proceedure yielded a new disorder, Semen Retention Syndrome. Based on narrative accounts and quantitative scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the evidence suggests that a significant subset of white British subjects diagnosed with Dysthymic Disorder, may in fact be expressing a psychological variation of a previously unknown local White British somatisation phenomena labelled Semen Retention Syndrome. Anxiety and depressive symptoms presented by this subset of subjects were primarily attributed to a core irrational belief and a cognitive error centered around misunderstood concepts of semen physiology. Consequently, the undue focus on mood idioms by both white British patients and their health professionals, leads to a mistaken diagnosis of Mood Disorder, and results in incorrect treatment. The implications of this ethnocentric mode of reasoning raises concerns about existing concepts in psychiatric phenomenology and for official international diagnostic classificatory systems. The paper concludes by arguing that category errors in both directions are instances of cultural iatrogenesis, and underscore the importance of a culturally valid psychiatry.
The under representation of women in STEM fields is a persistent issue worldwide. In China, although women have made significant progress in pursuing STEM degrees in recent years, they continue to face challenges in the workforce. Given the importance of the self-perceived employability (SPE) of female STEM students in China, the research questions are: How do curriculum experience, extracurricular experience, and faculty supportive activities affect the SPE of female STEM students in Chinese universities? To what extent does university stratification affect the relationship between college experience and female STEM students' SPE? We analyzed the 2018 data of the Chinese College Student Survey (CCSS) consisting of a sample of 59,066 students, and six focus group interviews. The findings suggest that curriculum experience, extracurricular experience and faculty supportive activities have a positive impact on the SPE of female students, but the gender gap in SPE is still valid as reflected by the fact that women have lower SPE than men in each tier of universities and that men benefit more in terms of the increase in SPE from most types of college activities and support except academic ones. This study reveals that the different tiers of universities in China affect female students' SPE in different ways, and provides valuable evidence for academic as well as university administrators and policymakers regarding how college experience affect women and how university stratification can affect female students' college experience and their career expectations and paths.
The undergraduate bioethics curriculum introduced in a private medical college in Pakistan in 1988 and revised in 2009 has evolved over time to incorporate globally relevant innovations, including integration of bioethics spirally within an existing problem-based learning curricular framework. The present evaluation study shares the results of this integrated bioethics curriculum delivered for 10 years across the five-year undergraduate medical curriculum. The study assessed the effectiveness of the curriculum in terms of student achievement, appropriateness of course contents and efficiency of instructional methods. The study utilized a mixed method sequential explanatory design. The quantitative method was used in the first phase to gather data by utilizing a structured online questionnaire. This was followed by the second phase of qualitative methods to explain the findings of the first phase and enrich the data gathered. This phase was based on focus group discussions and document review. Student and faculty responses showed the curriculum contents to be relevant, informative, and appropriate as per learning objectives and student achievement. Multi-modal instructional methods used were stated to be effective and engaging; small group teaching and shorter sessions suggested to be preferable for fostering discussion and maintaining student engagement and attention. Large class formats were stated to be less effective. Students affirmed the contribution of bioethics education to their personal and professional development and ethical positioning. The majority of students agreed that the curriculum contributed to their knowledge acquisition (60.3-71.2%), skill development (59.41-60.30%) and demonstration of ethical/professional behavior (62.54-67.65%). The ranges indicate agreement with related sets of questions. Participants suggested that the curriculum could be further strengthened by better integration in clinical years, role modelling and providing opportunities for application in clinical health care settings. Moreover, topics like ethical issues related to the use of social media, public health ethics and ethics and law were suggested as additions to the existing curriculum. These findings have regional and global relevance for the development and assessment of effective bioethics curricula. An effective bioethics curriculum for undergraduate medical education should run longitudinally across the 5 year curriculum and be integrated in the modules and clerkships. Basic acquisition of knowledge and skills takes place in Years 1 & 2 with reinforcement and application in Years 3-5. Learning embedded in an integrated curriculum can help students recognize, critically analyze and address ethical dilemmas. Involvement and commitment of the clinical faculty is essential for reinforcing the ethical principles and concepts learnt in the earlier years.
The undergraduate curriculum in Indonesia generally requires students to take a research methods course as a prerequisite course for the preparation of scientific reports. The objective of this course is to teach students how to present research results both orally and in writing using the styles and forms of each university. However, this course is not popular among students because the material is complex and technical. As a result, there is a gap between learning outcomes and their application when students prepare scientific reports. Improving pedagogy and teaching interventions through student-developed research projects is important in complementing lectures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of students' ability in writing scientific reports through research method courses using problem based learning (PBL). This research was a case study to report the integration of scientific report writing in research methods courses through PBL at the Universitas Islam Bandung in Indonesia. PBL was implemented by involving students in research-related tasks with the following stages: writing research questions, determining the research design, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting research results. The research results showed that there was an increase in scientific writing skills in the good category. Normalized gain for indicators of increasing accuracy using research report formats, suitability for using literature and research methods is 0.064 and 0.209, including the low category, and the plagiarism level is 0.509, including the medium category. This finding implies that assigning students to write scientific reports using PBL in the research method classroom is useful for improving learning outcomes, presentation, reasoning, communication, ambiguous problem-solving, and reducing plagiarism. The findings of this study strengthen the findings of previous researchers, namely increase students' abilities in using formatting to prepare scientific reports, using appropriate literature, mastering research materials as well as reducing the level of plagiarism.
The underrepresentation of Black doctors is a significant issue in the US that led to the perpetuation of health disparities in the African American community. Racial and ethnic minorities in the US have been shown to have higher rates of chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as well as higher rates of obesity and premature death compared to White people. While Blacks make up more than 13% of the US population, they comprise only 4% of US doctors and less than 7% of medical students. It is believed that this problem requires more deliberate efforts by policymakers and the educational establishment, not only at the undergraduate and medical school level, but earlier in the educational "pipeline"-the K-12 school system. While the medical field is rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), we have launched a new initiative that will provide year-round STEM development activities for K-12 education in Connecticut in Hartford and Waterbury districts, especially among populations with health disparities.
The underrepresentation of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in the medical field, particularly in ophthalmology, poses a critical challenge to achieving diversity and equity. While URMs constitute 19% of medical school attendees, their presence is markedly lower in ophthalmology residency programs and among practicing ophthalmologists. This study seeks to investigate the prevalence of diversity statements on ophthalmology residency program websites and their role in the underrepresentation of URMs within the field. This observational, cross-sectional study analyzed the websites of 126 ophthalmology residency programs listed on the San Francisco (SF) Match website. Diversity statements were categorized based on their inclusion of specific underrepresented groups (race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability) and analyzed for correlation with program characteristics. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared tests were utilized to assess the prevalence of diversity statements and their association with program size, ranking, geographical location, and institutional nature. Of the 126 programs analyzed, 21 (16.7%) had diversity statements specific to the ophthalmology residency program, and 115 (91.3%) featured institutional-level diversity statements. Race or ethnicity was the most commonly addressed category in diversity statements (75.3%), followed by gender (65.9%), sexual orientation (61.1%), and disability (53.2%). Statistical analyses revealed no significant correlation between program size and the presence of diversity statements. However, higher-ranked programs were more likely to mention sexual orientation and disability. Significant differences were observed at the institutional level, with public institutions more likely to include specific diversity categories. The study highlights a significant disparity in the presence and focus of diversity statements across ophthalmology residency programs. Despite a high prevalence of institutional-level diversity statements, program-specific initiatives are lacking, particularly in addressing disability inclusion. The findings suggest a need for a more comprehensive and targeted effort to address underrepresentation in ophthalmology.
The underrepresentation of women at the top of math-intensive fields is controversial, with competing claims of biological and sociocultural causation. The authors develop a framework to delineate possible causal pathways and evaluate evidence for each. Biological evidence is contradictory and inconclusive. Although cross-cultural and cross-cohort differences suggest a powerful effect of sociocultural context, evidence for specific factors is inconsistent and contradictory. Factors unique to underrepresentation in math-intensive fields include the following: (a) Math-proficient women disproportionately prefer careers in non-math-intensive fields and are more likely to leave math-intensive careers as they advance; (b) more men than women score in the extreme math-proficient range on gatekeeper tests, such as the SAT Mathematics and the Graduate Record Examinations Quantitative Reasoning sections; (c) women with high math competence are disproportionately more likely to have high verbal competence, allowing greater choice of professions; and (d) in some math-intensive fields, women with children are penalized in promotion rates. The evidence indicates that women's preferences, potentially representing both free and constrained choices, constitute the most powerful explanatory factor; a secondary factor is performance on gatekeeper tests, most likely resulting from sociocultural rather than biological causes.
The unique characteristics of the training needed for today's biomedical engineers can represent a challenge in curriculum design. Practical experiential learning for biomedical engineering undergraduates is important to prevent under-developed professional skills. In this teaching tips article, we provide an example of how to incorporate experiential learning into the biomedical engineering curriculum to address the need for undergraduates to gain the desired skillsets to serve as the next generation of leaders in engineering, medicine, and business all through the lens of civic engagement. Here we outline our implementation of a recently developed service-learning course for our sophomore students that allows introduction of biomedical engineering discipline-specific design process early on in their undergraduate studies. Student teams work to design, build, and test novel devices to solve the unmet need of community partners, and in doing so, the course prepares students in developing technologies that not only address public health needs but that are also embraced by the community. This course in team-based design can help train students in analyzing real world problems for needs-based biomedical engineering through projects identified by interaction with community partners. Providing specifics of how this course was implemented as well as our reflection on student learning, we offer an analysis of the areas of success, a discussion of how interactions with community partners benefits the student professional skills development, and considerations regarding implementation. Here we highlight the ability of this course to exercise students' social awareness in the design of technologies to improve society by addressing the genuine needs of community partners.
The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals both underscore the critical need to reduce the under-five mortality rate globally. China has made remarkable progress in decreasing the mortality rate of children under five. This study aims to examine the trends in child mortality rates from 2002 to 2022 and the causes of deaths among neonates, infants, and children under 5 years of age from 2013 to 2022 in Huangshi. The data resource was supported and provided by the Huangshi Health Commission, Huangshi Maternal and Child Health Hospital, and the Huangshi Statistics Bureau. Figures were drawn using Origin 2021. The mortality rate among children under 5 years old significantly decreased, from 21.38 per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 3.53 per 1,000 live births in 2022. The infant mortality rate also saw a significant decline, to 15.06 per 1,000 live births. Among the 1,929 recorded child deaths from 2013 to 2022, the top three causes were: F2 (Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight), accounting for 17.26% (333 deaths); I1 (Accidental drowning and submersion), for 14.83% (286 deaths); and I3 (Other accidental threats to breathing), for 12.29% (237 deaths). Of the 1,929 deaths, 1,117 were male children, representing 57.91%. The gender disparity in the Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) was calculated to be 1.38 (boys to girls). The leading causes of death under the age of five shifted from F2 (Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight) to I1 (Accidental drowning and submersion) as children aged, highlighting the need for policymakers and parents to intensify care and vigilance for children. Huangshi has achieved significant progress in lowering child mortality rates over the past two decades. The study calls for policymakers to enact more effective measures to further reduce the mortality rate among children under 5 years of age in Huangshi. Furthermore, it advises parents to dedicate more time and effort to supervising and nurturing their children, promoting a safer and healthier development.
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly acknowledge inclusive and equitable quality education as the primary goal of any global initiatives for early childhood development for children under 5 years with developmental delays and disabilities. Primary education provides the foundation for lifelong learning, vocational attainment, and economically independent living. Globally, the majority (over 90%) of children with developmental disabilities reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These children are significantly less likely to have foundational reading and numeracy skills, more likely to have never attended school and more likely to be out of primary school, compared to children without disabilities. Concerted and well-coordinated efforts to prepare these children in early childhood for inclusive education constitute a moral and ethical priority for all countries. This paper sets out to examine the concept and dimensions of school readiness for children under 5 years from an extensive narrative review of the literature. It identifies the barriers and challenges for school readiness for children with disabilities and the limitations of the available tools for evaluating school readiness. It concludes by emphasizing the critical role of inter-disciplinary engagement among pediatric caregivers in promoting school readiness in partnership with the families and community where the children reside. Overall, the paper highlights the need for appropriate policy initiatives at the global and national levels to promote school readiness specifically for children under 5 years with developmental disabilities in LMICs, if the aspirational goal of inclusive education by 2030 under the SDGs is to be realized.
The United States Food &amp; Drug Administration's emergency authorized use, in December 2020, of over-the-counter (OTC) rapid antigen COVID-19 tests was a pandemic control milestone. To assess health literacy-related characteristics of OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 test materials. Between September-December 2021, we identified eleven (n = 11) OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 tests available for purchase in the US. We assessed readability (Flesch Reading Ease and Fernández-Huerta), formatting and layout features of English- and Spanish-language step-by-step OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 test package insert instructions. Video-based step-by-step OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 test instructions were evaluated for understandability and actionability (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials [PEMAT-A/V]), overall quality (Global Quality Scale [GQS]) and cultural diversity and inclusiveness. Descriptive analyses were performed using IBM® Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Nine (81.8%) OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 tests included English-language (≈8th-9th reading grade level) step-by-step instructions, while 4 included Spanish-language (≈10th-12th reading grade level) instructions. On average, instructions were printed on a tabloid sized piece of paper, with text size ranging from 4 to 12 point and including nearly 20 illustrations. English-language step-by-step OTC rapid antigen COVID-19 test video-based instructions (n = 6) ranged from 1:04 to 5:41 min with PEMAT-A/V scores ranging from 80% to 100%. As indicated by GQS scores, English-language videos were of high quality (5 videos scored 5/5; 1 video scored 4/5). One COVID-19 test product manufacturing website included Spanish-language video-based instructions (time = 4:59 min; PEMAT-A/V = 100%; GQS = 5). OTC COVID-19 test step-by-step instructions-both package inserts and video-based-included features shown to foster patient understanding and facilitate proper use. Moving forward, greater attention needs to be placed on expanding both Spanish-language and video-based OTC COVID-19 test material availability to improve accessibility across diverse populations.