[Midwifery students' experience of role-playing as a teaching strategy: a qualitative study]

The impact of clinical education in midwifery students' skill development and preparation has long been recognized. The students' experiences of these fields, especially the students who are employed in the new strategies, are very important and should be considered. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the midwifery students' experiences role-playing as a teaching strategy in learning group counseling and training of the clients. This study was conducted via qualitative content analysis. All midwifery students [n=16] using role playing were enrolled in the study after a purposive sampling. Data collected via 16 semi-structured individual interviews, four focus group interviews, observations and field notes. The average duration of the individual and focus group interviews were respectively 25.3[ +/- 8.7] and 48.7[12.2 +/- ] minutes. The conventional content analysis was simultaneously done with data gathering. Mean ages of the students were 21.3[ +/- .81] years. All of them were at fifth semester course of midwifery and had no prior work experience. Qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts, observations and field notes, brought about three themes "play the role", "execution the role" and "transition from the student to professional person". The first theme had three categories: "role taking", "theory using opportunity" and "role significance". The second consisted of the "primary nervousness", "mastery" and "fulfillment" categories. The latter had "qualified practice" and "proficient future". By using role playing as a teaching strategy, students can "play the imaginary role", "implement the real role" and "transform from student to a professional person"

Performance evaluation of nursing faculty members: a qualitative study

Performance evaluation [PE] of nurse faculty members is complicated and difficult but seems necessary. Deans of the faculties, their educational assistants, and faculty member nurses are responsible for planning, performing, and revising evaluation. Finding their common views in developing PE is of special importance. The aim of this study was to elucidate and describe PE of nurse faculty members. In this qualitative study, the required data was gathered through two methods of semi-structured interview with experts and examining the existing policies, procedures, and evaluation documents. Totally, the contents of 22 individual interviews and 26 series of subject materials went under qualitative content analysis using arbitrary approach. Purposive sampling and census methods were used for selecting the interviewees and evaluation documents, respectively. Participants had a wide-ranging perspective toward the PE of faculty member nurses. Having the analysis done, these perspectives and the content of the existing documents were placed in three major themes: individual qualifications of faculty member, performance process, and practice outcome. The items which were not in the concept of PE but had an effect on it were categorized as organizational factors. Findings of the current study confirms the suggestions of the experts, who agree a combination of individual attributes, behavior, and result-based systems for PE. But, it considers the qualifications of faculty members which are improvable and modifiable instead of individual attributes. Besides, paying attention to some organizational factors which affect PE is a matter of importance

Performance evaluation of the faculty in some universities of the world

Faculty members are the most significant personnel of a university. Evaluation of their performance is an important factor in the organization and the main task of managers in professional development and promotion. Performance evaluation of nursing faculty members is more complex than others, but it is necessary because one of the primary ways to assure mission accomplishment and goal achievement in medical universities is to indicate the role of faculty members in promoting the quality of health system. The purpose of this study was to review evaluation systems of faculty members at some of the major universities and schools around the world. By using available resources, some of the advantages and strengths of the evaluation systems were specifically extracted to be applied for evaluation improvement at Iranian universities. This study showed that in spite of extensive areas of performance, most colleges/universities evaluate three major domains, namely, education, research and services. The quality and quantity of these areas are evaluated by using multiple sources. The effective evaluation is flexible and allows a person to choose their activities in the defined framework. By choosing and weighing criteria along with the missions and strategic goals of universities/colleges, the level of faculty efforts and contributions in accomplishing them is recognized. Using mentoring system for outcome evaluation is an important factor for the promotion of faculty members. The evaluation process can be more feasible if evaluation committee consists of the same disciplinary members

[Using time deiries in research]

Biographers and historians have long considered diary documents as of major importance for telling history. More recently, sociologists have taken seriously the idea of using personal documents to construct pictures of social reality from people. They have used time diary as a tool for recording behavior. Time diary is a method of self-report that can be designed as structured or semi structured. In this article, the importance of time dairy as a method of collecting data is assessed. Then, the methods of designing, recording and analyzing are discussed