ABSTRACT
Depression in university students can be considered as an indicator of mental health. Therefore, it is highly important to be concerned about their mental health. The present research was conducted for the purpose of investigating the depression level in paramedical students and the contributing factors. This research is a cross-sectional study. The examined population included the students of a paramedical faculty and the sampling was done through census, selecting all the available students in the current semester. The questionnaire contained demographic questions and the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], which were filled out by the students. Then, the depression level of students was determined with regard to the demographic questions and how each one associated with depression. For data analysis, an independent T-test, analysis of variance [ANOVA], and a correlation test were employed. In this research, the mean value and standard deviation score of students were 14.76 and 13.84 respectively. BS students scored 15.6, while MS and PhD students scored 7.7, which showed a significant difference between the two groups [p<0.001]. The findings indicated that 20.6% of the students suffered from mild to moderate depression, while 9.9% of the students suffered from moderate to severe depression. The depression scores had no significant correlation with living place, marital status, gender, employment status, religious practice, previous semester GPA, and whether parents were alive. However, it had significant correlation with age[p=0.048], number of family members[p=0.004], satisfaction with study field[p=0.005], religious beliefs[p=0.028], extracurricular activities[p<0.001],, future career prospects[p=0.002], financial problems[p<0.001], satisfaction with relationships between family members[p<0.001], satisfaction with relationships between friends and classmates[p=0.003], satisfaction with relationships between university and faculty authorities[p=0.003],, as well as professors[p=0.022].Although some of the factors contributing to depression including age, number of family members and unpleasant life events cannot be prevented, most other factors or its results significantly leading to depression in students including extracurricular activities, satisfaction with relationships between family members, friends, classmates, university and faculty authorities, professors, and future career prospects can be controlled
ABSTRACT
Because of its widespread needs in different scientific fields, Statistics and Probability theory have gained great importance and medical students as well as students of other medically related disciplines including nursing need to use them especially in their research projects in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate schools. This article deals with the question of finding the most effective way of teaching the necessary statistical skills to these students so that they can acquire more statistical knowledge and develop better problem solving and decision making strategies. This semi-experimental study has been carried out to compare the effect of teacher-centered and student-centered methods on nursing students' learning of Biostatistics. The sample includes all the undergraduates of nursing School at SBMU [2006-2007]. The sampling method used is convenience and includes 118 subjects. The teaching method is the dependent variable and the amount of material absorbed by the students, their age, marital status, type of housing, average of high school diploma, the grade average of the previous semester, number of family members and their prior experience are the independent variables. The grades of the students in the final exam, was taken as measure of amount of material absorbed by the students. The analysis was carried out using SPSS16 and the statistical tests used were t-test, ANOVA, and correlation test. The data revealed that the average of the students receiving student-based instruction was higher than the other students. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the control and the experimental group in terms of the amount of teaching material learnt. The data also indicate that marital status, employment status, type of housing and prior experience all have statistically significant effect on the final grade, but none of them along with the teaching method exhibits a significant interaction with the final grade. Also the amount of material learnt by each student is almost directly correlated with his/her average of the previous semester [r[p]=0.402, p<0.001] and inversely weakly correlated with his/her age [r[s]=-0.220, p=0.017]. Thus one can conclude that student-centered instruction is as effective as the teacher-centered instruction and other factors besides the method of instruction have a significant impact on the student's learning
ABSTRACT
Faculty members, as significant human resources, can play a crucial role in enhancing output in different social establishments, including universities and educational systems, if they are satisfied with their job condition. Nowadays nearly half the members belong to female employees in different organizations such as universities and educational settings. The attitude of this number of employees, including female faculty members, is of special significance if the quality of work is to be enhanced in universities or other educational establishments. Bearing in mind this significance, the current study investigated job satisfaction among female faculty members of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences [SBMU] in 2008, Tehran. The assumption was that the satisfaction level of faculty members from their job could significantly enhance the quality of education and clinical care at different colleges and teaching hospitals of the university. In line with this assumption, as a descriptive research, the study investigated job satisfaction among female faculty members at SBMU in 2008. Altogether a total of 116 subjects, selected randomly, were asked to complete the questionnaires. The Minnesota questionnaire and the Personal and Managerial questionnaire were used to measure the satisfaction level of the participants from their career. The researchers referred to different colleges and hospitals of SBMU to ask the participants to fill out the questionnaires. Then, following the data collection procedure and questionnaire analysis, the data were subjected to numerous statistical tests such as t-test, One- way ANOVA and Multiple comparisons tests. Job satisfaction among female faculty members at SBMU, according to the results, was low to some extent. The main factors accounting for a rather low satisfaction score were limited welfare facilities, low salaries and unpaid arrears, improper work environment and limited promotion opportunities