Abstract: In undergraduate clinical courses, students are often dispersed over several teaching sites. Traditional curricula do not have mechanisms that allow monitoring of an individual student's educational progress or that of a small group of students at a teaching site relative to that of the whole group. To address these issues, we have developed a web-based formative assessment system that consists of knowledge tests based on multiple true-false questions. During the test, in addition to marking true or false against each question, students indicate their level of confidence (doubt or certainty) about each answer. The feedback consists of whether the answer is correct or incorrect and the confidence with which the student had responded. Feedback to students assesses their own performance in relation to that of their peers. Feedback to tutors provides anonymized information about the level of achievement of students at their teaching site relative to that of students at other sites. This systems has the tools that students can use to direct their learning and tutors can use to tailor their teaching in the light of the instantaneously available comparative feedback.
Abstract: This paper is an assessment of the use of CancerHelp UK, a Web site developed as a resource for people living with cancer. Attitudes to the use of the site were examined through interviews with 23 patients and relatives in a two-phase pilot study. The analysis of the data was conducted within a framework derived from activity theory which focused on individual perspectives, purposes and outcomes and the processes involved in use. Our findings show that the process of using the site and the characteristics of the medium were regarded as beneficial, although some inexperienced computer users needed some help. There were positive cognitive and affective outcomes for those who had independently chosen to use the site. However, there were differences in process and outcome between independent users and participants who had been invited to use the resource for evaluation purposes. The study raises questions about the use and evaluation of the World Wide Web for teaching and learning through an informal learning activity. The response of participants to the use of CancerHelp UK indicates that the resource is both useful and usable. The authors suggest that the availability of the Web as a means for learning about cancer may challenge the traditional transmission-based practice of the medical consultation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Abstract: A wide range of cancer information resources is available to patients and their relatives, who are increasingly acting as independent learners. In order to examine preferences for different types of information and to establish the appropriateness of providing a Web-based cancer information resource (CancerHelp UK) a questionnaire survey was undertaken. Of 258 questionnaires distributed to patients attending for oncology outpatient or general practice appointments, 205 (80%) were suitable for analysis. 74% (95% confidence interval 68% to 80%) of participants wanted as much information as possible. All participants cited people most frequently as a future source of cancer information. All participants frequently cited television as a source of both general and cancer-specific information. Despite a lack of computer experience patients were significantly more likely than other groups to say that they would like to use the Web-based resource. It is suggested that such resources are likely to be increasingly well used, particularly by cancer patients, given the growth in health information on the Web and developments in delivery of digital information into the home via television.
Abstract: Outcome-led curricula are increasingly relevant to medical education as Universities seek means to make explicit the criteria against which the success of both the course and the students should be judged. This paper outlines some of the main factors which led the University of Birmingham School of Medicine to develop an outcome-led curriculum for the new undergraduate medical course. Having set the general context, it then describes how the specific structure used by the school for organising integrative learning outcomes both influenced and was influenced by the parallel decision to develop an ' electronic curriculum' database. The advantages of the electronic curriculum database developed by the School are discussed and examples are given to demonstrate the flexibility with which information can be accessed by students, clinicians and other teachers.
Abstract: Adrenocorticotropic hormone 4-10 (ACTH 4-10), in concentrations of 50 nM and 1 microM, increased both the frequency of miniature endplate potentials and the amplitude of the endplate potentials in addition to decreasing the number of failures following stimulation of the phrenic nerve in the mouse in vitro. There was no effect of the peptide on either the amplitude of the miniature endplate potentials or the resting membrane potential of the muscle fibres. These results indicate that the action of ACTH 4-10 was to increase the quantal content of the endplate potential via a presynaptic action.
