ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A central aspect of professional identity is occupational commitment, which has a significant relationship with motivation and positive mental states in healthcare environments. However, it is not clear how occupational commitment is related to teaching practices in universities. AIM: To apply the Occupational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) to university teachers and relate its results with the Teaching Practices Questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS: OCQ and Teaching Practices Questionnaire were answered by 319 university teachers from 13 Chilean regions, who were selected through a non-probabilistic volunteer sampling. Data collection was done after informed consent. An exploratory factor analysis was performed for OCQ. The internal consistency of each factor was calculated with Cronbach's Alpha. Spearman correlations were used to explore the relationship between the two questionnaires. RESULTS: Two factors were identified in OCQ, namely Teacher Commitment and Ethical-Professional Commitment. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.85 for both factors. A moderate direct relationship between teacher commitment, ethical-professional commitment, and the Teaching Practices Questionnaire was found. CONCLUSIONS: OCQ showed an adequate internal consistency, and it was directly related with teaching practices. Committed teachers had better teaching practices. This confirms the importance of teachers' values and perceptions on their professional performance.
Subject(s)
Faculty , Motivation , Delivery of Health Care , Humans , Surveys and Questionnaires , Teaching , UniversitiesABSTRACT
Background: A central aspect of professional identity is occupational commitment, which has a significant relationship with motivation and positive mental states in healthcare environments. However, it is not clear how occupational commitment is related to teaching practices in universities. Aim: To apply the Occupational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) to university teachers and relate its results with the Teaching Practices Questionnaire. Material and Methods: OCQ and Teaching Practices Questionnaire were answered by 319 university teachers from 13 Chilean regions, who were selected through a non-probabilistic volunteer sampling. Data collection was done after informed consent. An exploratory factor analysis was performed for OCQ. The internal consistency of each factor was calculated with Cronbach's Alpha. Spearman correlations were used to explore the relationship between the two questionnaires. Results: Two factors were identified in OCQ, namely Teacher Commitment and Ethical-Professional Commitment. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.85 for both factors. A moderate direct relationship between teacher commitment, ethical-professional commitment, and the Teaching Practices Questionnaire was found. Conclusions: OCQ showed an adequate internal consistency, and it was directly related with teaching practices. Committed teachers had better teaching practices. This confirms the importance of teachers' values and perceptions on their professional performance.
Subject(s)
Humans , Faculty , Motivation , Teaching , Universities , Surveys and Questionnaires , Delivery of Health CareABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Occupational identity is defined as the perception of occupational interests, abilities, goals, and values, and the structure of the meanings that link these self-perceptions to career role. We developed an occupational identity questionnaire suitable to be used with university teachers. AIM: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Occupational Identity Questionnaire (OIQ) and relate its results with those of the Teaching Practices questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The OIQ and Teaching Practices Questionnaire were answered by 311 university teachers along Chile, who were selected through a non-probabilistic volunteer sampling. An exploratory factor analysis was performed and the internal consistency of each factor was calculated with Cronbach's Alpha. Spearman correlations were used to explore the relationship between the two questionnaires. RESULTS: Two factors were identified in OIQ: Teaching Vocation and Sense of Competence. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.75 for teaching vocation and 0.82 for the sense of competence. There was a moderate direct relationship between teaching vocation, sense of competence and the results of the Teaching Practices Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: OIS has an adequate internal consistency, its factorial structure showed two different types of identities and it is directly related to the results of the Teaching Practices Questionnaire.
Subject(s)
Faculty/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Universities , Adult , Aged , Chile , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Professional Competence , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Schools, Health OccupationsABSTRACT
Background: Occupational identity is defined as the perception of occupational interests, abilities, goals, and values, and the structure of the meanings that link these self-perceptions to career role. We developed an occupational identity questionnaire suitable to be used with university teachers. Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Occupational Identity Questionnaire (OIQ) and relate its results with those of the Teaching Practices questionnaire. Material and Methods. The OIQ and Teaching Practices Questionnaire were answered by 311 university teachers along Chile, who were selected through a non-probabilistic volunteer sampling. An exploratory factor analysis was performed and the internal consistency of each factor was calculated with Cronbach's Alpha. Spearman correlations were used to explore the relationship between the two questionnaires. Results: Two factors were identified in OIQ: Teaching Vocation and Sense of Competence. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.75 for teaching vocation and 0.82 for the sense of competence. There was a moderate direct relationship between teaching vocation, sense of competence and the results of the Teaching Practices Questionnaire. Conclusions: OIS has an adequate internal consistency, its factorial structure showed two different types of identities and it is directly related to the results of the Teaching Practices Questionnaire.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Universities , Surveys and Questionnaires , Faculty/psychology , Professional Competence , Psychometrics , Schools, Health Occupations , Chile , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The widespread growth of higher education is increasing the heterogeneity of university students in terms of socioeconomic characteristics, academic story and cultural background. Medical schools are not an exception of this phenomenon. AIM: To compare the academic background and self-directed learning behavior of students who entered to a public medial school between 2010 and 2014. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A non-probabilistic sample of 527 medical students aged between 17 and 29 years (60% men), was studied. Their academic information was collected from the University data base; they answered the Self-directed learning readiness scale of Fisher. RESULTS: Students from the 2014 cohort had higher high school grades than their counterparts. The scores in mathematics of the Scholarship Aptitude Test (SAT) were higher in the cohorts of 2010 and 2011. Those of the sciences test were superior in the 2013 cohort. The 2014 cohort had the lower general score of self-directed learning behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The lower SAT and self-directed learning scores of the students entering medical school in 2014, indicate the progressive increase in the heterogeneity of Medical students.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Educational Measurement , Schools, Medical , Self-Directed Learning as Topic , Students, Medical/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Adult , Chile , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Young AdultABSTRACT
Background: Training of innovative health professionals is necessary for the development of an effective health system in a limited resources context. However, the professionals underestimate their innovative role and receive sparse training in this issue. Meanwhile, industrial designers are trained to innovate but have a weak knowledge about health issues. Aim: To describe the outcomes of a study based on Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) where health and industrial design students learned about product development aimed to solve health problems. Material and Methods: Twenty industrial design students, seven health care students and nine teachers of both disciplines participated in a User Centered Design workshop. Using the CBL method, they were challenged to develop products to tackle a health problem. At the end of the challenge, teachers and students evaluated the products using a semantic differential method and answered a questionnaire assessing the activity. Results: In the semantic differential method, all participants evaluated usefulness, functionality and organization of the product rather than its originality. The greatest discrepancies in evaluation were found between design and health teachers. Students positively evaluated the challenge, although the weakest point was its coordination. Conclusions: CBL and interdisciplinary work are adequate tools for the development of innovative competences, as well as understanding the central elements of innovation.
Subject(s)
Humans , Students, Health Occupations/psychology , Teaching/education , Equipment Design/methods , Interdisciplinary Placement/methods , Perception , Semantic Differential , Surveys and Questionnaires , Mental CompetencyABSTRACT
Background: The widespread growth of higher education is increasing the heterogeneity of university students in terms of socioeconomic characteristics, academic story and cultural background. Medical schools are not an exception of this phenomenon. Aim: To compare the academic background and self-directed learning behavior of students who entered to a public medial school between 2010 and 2014. Material and Methods: A non-probabilistic sample of 527 medical students aged between 17 and 29 years (60% men), was studied. Their academic information was collected from the University data base; they answered the Self-directed learning readiness scale of Fisher. Results: Students from the 2014 cohort had higher high school grades than their counterparts. The scores in mathematics of the Scholarship Aptitude Test (SAT) were higher in the cohorts of 2010 and 2011. Those of the sciences test were superior in the 2013 cohort. The 2014 cohort had the lower general score of self-directed learning behaviors. Conclusions: The lower SAT and self-directed learning scores of the students entering medical school in 2014, indicate the progressive increase in the heterogeneity of Medical students.
