Students Cognitive Development in Basic Level Schools in Nepal: Provisions and Practices

Disaster education allows community members to initiate pre-disaster measures at the individual level. The National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) has initiated a school safety program in selected government schools in Nepal, one of the most disaster prone countries. This study outlines the current condition of disaster education in Nepal, identifies teachers’ levels of awareness and evaluates the effect of NSET's work. A survey of 130 teachers was conducted in over 40 schools in which it was found that while a level of disaster education in Nepal is widespread, it has not been implemented systematically but depends on the awareness of individual teachers. More teachers in NSET project schools provided disaster education than in the typical government and private schools that were observed. However, the quality of education provided was found to be the same. The teaching focused particularly on the effects of disasters in which the teachers had personal experience. These topics were often covered even if they were not included in the textbooks. The majority of teachers surveyed reported a need for curriculum development in this area. However, considering the results listed above, it can be considered that teacher training is the most important step to improve disaster education in Nepal.

English is a widely used language in international communication. It is a storehouse of knowledge that most of the books, and journal articles have been published in English, and it is the dominant language in the Internet. Realizing this fact, the government of Nepal has made English one of the core components of school education curricula. However, teaching and learning of English in the schools in Nepal has been influenced by several problems. Using systematic literature review as the methods, this article makes an attempt to highlight the major problems that exist in teaching and learning of English in school education in Nepal, and points out some principles for enriching English in the learners. This study has been expected to add at least some insights to those who are interested in enhancing English education in Nepal.

Benjamin Bloom published his Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in 1956 [1] to help educators develop learning objectives for teaching. Since then, several modifications have been made to adapt Bloom's taxonomy to various uses and disciplines [2-4]. Introduction of the idea: As social constructivist educators, the authors of this article felt the need to adjust Bloom's taxonomy to match the unique characteristics of team-based learning (TBL) in physiology courses. Outcomes: Here, we are introducing the use of TBL for teaching physiology in undergraduate physiology courses that could be easily translated into other disciplines. Additionally, we are introducing the Diamond Framework for TBL, a modified Bloom's taxonomy to guide the writing of measurable learning outcomes and create assignments to help students apply their new knowledge and skills.

This article describes a model for supervisors of group counselors to use to promote cognitive complexity in their supervisees. Counselor cognitive complexity has been linked to many positive counseling skills, including greater flexibility, empathy, confidence, and client conceptualization. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a mechanism to help supervisors encourage the growth of cognitive complexity in their supervisees. Applied to supervisees learning group work, this model can help guide supervisors to use interventions that match the cognitive developmental level of the supervisee and push the supervisee toward higher levels of thinking. Examples for interventions that match trainee cognitive complexity and stage of group are included.

Assessments and student expectations can drive learning: students selectively study and learn the content and skills they believe critical to passing an exam in a given subject. Evaluating the nature of assessments in undergraduate science education can, therefore, provide substantial insight into student learning. We characterized and compared the cognitive skills routinely assessed by introductory biology and calculus-based physics sequences, using the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Our results indicate that both introductory sequences overwhelmingly assess lower-order cognitive skills (e.g., knowledge recall, algorithmic problem solving), but the distribution of items across cognitive skill levels differs between introductory biology and physics, which reflects and may even reinforce student perceptions typical of those courses: biology is memorization, and physics is solving problems. We also probed the relationship between level of difficulty of exam questions, as measured by student performance and cognitive skill level as measured by Bloom's taxonomy. Our analyses of both disciplines do not indicate the presence of a strong relationship. Thus, regardless of discipline, more cognitively demanding tasks do not necessarily equate to increased difficulty. We recognize the limitations associated with this approach; however, we believe this research underscores the utility of evaluating the nature of our assessments.

Values education aims to cultivate learners' values, discipline them according to established rules, and positively transform their characters by contributing to their moral development. This education, encompassing both cognitive and affective dimensions of teaching, represents one of the most significant goals of education systems. The objective of this section is to analyze research trends related to values education in Türkiye and the outcomes of these studies at the basic education level, alongside a systematic examination of doctoral dissertations. To achieve this, doctoral dissertations registered and available in the Thesis Center of the Turkish Council of Higher Education were reviewed using keywords such as value/values education, character education, moral education, and citizenship education. This study examines 102 doctoral dissertations, categorizing them based on the subject of values education, exploring how values education is defined within the dissertations, examining the research methods, and evaluating the findings at the basic education level.

Many factors determine the quality of student learning at the basic education level. Several factors have been studied, but several still need to be studied specifically, resulting in theoretical gaps. This study aims to analyze the influence of teacher creativity, parental guidance, learning methods, and interest in learning on students' learning quality at the basic education level. This research was conducted with a quantitative approach. Informants in this study were 50 parents of students. This research instrument uses a closed questionnaire sheet. Instrument testing is carried out by testing the validity and reliability tests. The data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis with the t-test and F-test. The results showed that the variables of teacher creativity, learning methods, and learning interest partially did not significantly affect students' learning quality. Only parental guidance has a significant influence on the quality of student learning. However, when viewed simultaneously, all the independent variables, starting from teacher creativity, parental guidance, learning methods, and interest in learning, significantly affect the quality of learning.

The definitions of the term are almost as varied as the people who employ the word. Though researchers in the sciences seldom worry over definitions of scientific concepts, psychologists appear to be preoccupied with definitions. In the literature dealing with science teaching the terms scheme, theme, organizational thread, major generalization, major concept, fundamental idea, and major principle are used almost synonymously. The literature on concept formation indicates there is little agreement on the definition of the term although there is a tendency to limit its use to relatively simple aggregations of experience. In our view it would be better to accept the widely diverse use of the term and to construct a of conceptual analogous to Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956). At the lowest levels in this taxonomy (level 1.01, for example) would be as the term is used by experimental psychologists working with nonsense symbols or aggregates of nonsense syllables. At the highest levels (6.60, for instance) would be as the term is used by chemists speaking of molecular kinetics or biologists speaking of evolution. From a historical perspective, higher-order concepts derive from aggregation and modification of earlier, simpler concepts. Therefore, both the history of concept development in a discipline and the ontogeny of concept learning by individuals may support a natural taxonomy of concept levels.

A prototype computer-mediated communication system was assessed for its capability to stimulate intellectual activity through mandating peer comments in graduate and undergraduate computer science classes. Measured against Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, about half the total comments in two classes exhibited no evidence of classifiable intellectual activity. Of the remaining half, a positive correlation was found between number of characters and level of cognition exhibited by a comment, though exceptions were found at every level. A significant but weak relationship was also shown between cognitive level of comments and level of classes. The results suggest modifications to the computer-mediated communication system so that students more effectively engage in peer–peer assessment.

University students often find physics challenging due to physical and mathematical obstacles, poor mathematical skills, and inadequate problem-solving abilities. This perception affects their interest and performance in the subject. High school students also struggle with numerical problems and understand curricular topics that lack concrete examples and require mathematical manipulations or visualization. Analyzing physics problems is crucial for guiding curriculum development, contributing to physics education, identifying students' difficulties in understanding and solving problems, and improving the process of physics education at all educational levels. Taxonomies are hierarchical frameworks used in education to classify educational learning goals or objectives according to their complexity. Bloom's Taxonomy, Anderson and Krathwohl's revised taxonomy, Lee Shulman's learning grid, Marzano's New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (NTEO), and the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP) are all essential tools for understanding and improving educational learning outcomes. The study adapted the TIPP taxonomy into Turkish and analyzed 7 physics questions in the 2023 BPT. Results showed 3 questions were at recall, 1 at comprehension, and 3 at analysis, with no question at using knowledge. The study demonstrates that TIPP is a useful taxonomy for teachers to plan, apply, and evaluate knowledge and algorithms in solving physics problems, identifying students' needs. This taxonomy allows educators to create questions that engage students at all cognitive levels, promoting cognitive engagement. Researchers can analyze physics questions in the TYT and AYT in earlier years.

Three experiments from each of ten lab manual were examined for evidence of higher-order cognitive activities. Analysis was based upon the six major cognitive categories of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The results of this study show that the overwhelming majority of general chemistry laboratory manuals provide tasks that require the use of only the lower-order cognitive skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application.

Business science and evidence-based decision making

PurposeThe purpose of this systematic review was to explore the benefits and challenges in the implementation of simulation-based education (SBE) in the classroom and clinical settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The objectives of this systematic review were to identify the benefits of utilising SBE in the classroom and clinical practice in sub-Saharan Africa and to assess the challenges in the implementation of SBE in the classroom and clinical practice in sub-Saharan Africa.Design/methodology/approachFive databases were searched for existing English literature (Medline, CINAHL and Science Direct), including grey literature on the subject. Out of 26 eligible studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa between 2014 and 2021, six studies that used mixed-methods design were included. Hawker et al.’s framework was used to assess the quality of the studies. Quantitative data were presented using descriptive and inferential statistics in the form of means and standard deviations while qualitative data were analysed and presented thematically.FindingsQuantitative findings showed that participants rated SBE highly in terms of teaching (93.2%), learning (91.4%) and skill acquisition (88.6%). SBE improved the clinical skill competency from 30% at baseline to 75% at the end. On the other hand, qualitative findings yielded themes namely: improved confidence and competence; knowledge acquisition and critical thinking; motivation and supervision; independent, self-paced learning; simulation equipment and work schedules; and planning and delivery of simulation activity. Pedagogical skills, competence and confidence are some of the elements that determine the feasibility of implementing SBE in the classroom and clinical settings.Practical implicationsSBE could help to bridge the gap between theory and practice and improve the quality of care provided by nurses. Simulation-based training is effective in improving the clinical skills of midwives and increasing their confidence in providing care. However, SBE trainees require motivation and close supervision in classroom settings if simulation is to be successfully implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, careful planning of scenarios, students briefing and reading of content prior to implementation facilitate effective simulation.Originality/valueWhile there may be a lack of literature on the use of SBE for training nurses and midwives in the developing world, there is growing evidence that it can be an effective way to improve clinical skills and quality of care. However, there are also significant challenges to implementing simulation-based training in resource-limited settings, and more research is needed to understand how best to address these challenges. This study fills this gap in the literature.

Can anonymous written feedback collected during classroom assessment activities be used to assess students' cognitive development levels? After library instruction in a first-year engineering design class, students submitted minute papers that included answers to "what they are left wondering." Responses were coded into low, medium and high categories correlated to cognitive stages following a codebook that was developed based largely on Perry's model and on two semesters' worth of prior student feedback. Preliminary analysis suggests that subjects exhibit characteristics in keeping with the range of cognitive levels identified by previous research at this institution, but that they tend to be weighted toward the lower end of the spectrum. While this study does not reveal cognitive development levels as reliably as the work of previous researchers, it does propose an easy method for identifying general cognitive development levels of student cohorts and offers recommendations for using this knowledge to improve instructional effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTBackground: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a public health problem affecting millions of Americans. Despite their prevalence, there are few health care resources allocated for SUDs treatment. Relatively few health care professionals are exposed to SUDs education in their respective programs, which may be one reason for this resource insufficiency. In hopes of rectifying this gap, the authors developed a SUDs course for health professions students combining classroom learning with practical application to patient care. Methods: The authors used Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains as an educational framework to create numerous opportunities for students to deepen their knowledge, assess their attitudes, and develop their motivational interviewing skills. The primary outcome of the study was a comparison of students' scores on the Substance Abuse Attitude Scale (SAAS) pre- and post-course completion. Secondary outcome was to compare students' self-assessment scores of their patient counseling with residents' assessments of them on the Liverpool Communication Skills Assessment Scale (LCSAS). Results: One hundred twelve students participated in the authors' SUDs course over a 9-month period. Ninety-five students completed both the pre- and post-course SAAS surveys. The total SAAS survey score and individual domain scores for nonmoralizing, treatment optimism, and treatment intervention demonstrated significant improvement post-course. Eighty-nine students completed a motivational interview with a patient. Eighty students had a LCSAS self-assessment paired with a residents' assessment. Mean scores for individual items on the LCSAS for both groups' assessment were approximately 3.5, indicating that students' communication was assessed as “acceptable” to “good.” Conclusions: This study demonstrates that Bloom's taxonomy was a useful educational framework to ensure a systematic development of the authors' SUDs course. Through participation in our course, students touched each of the 3 domains in Bloom's taxonomy. The authors believe their course design may serve as a framework for future SUDs courses.