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   2016| October-December  | Volume 2 | Issue 4  
    Online since September 2, 2016

 
 
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ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Item analysis of multiple choice questions: Assessing an assessment tool in medical students
Chandrika Rao, HL Kishan Prasad, K Sajitha, Harish Permi, Jayaprakash Shetty
October-December 2016, 2(4):201-204
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189670  
Aim: Assessment is a very important component of the medical course curriculum. Item analysis is the process of collecting, summarizing, and using information from student's responses to assess the quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Difficulty index (P) and discrimination index (D) are the parameters used to evaluate the standard of MCQs. The aim of the study was to assess quality of MCQs. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology. One hundred and twenty, 2nd year MBBS students took the MCQs test comprising 40 questions. There was no negative marking and evaluation was done out of 40 marks, and 50% score was the passing mark. Postvalidation of the paper was done by item analysis. Each item was analyzed for difficulty index, discrimination index, and distractor effectiveness. The relationship between them for each item was determined by Pearson correlation analysis using SPSS 20.0. Results: Difficulty index of 34 (85%) items was in the acceptable range (P = 30–70%), 2 (5%) item was too easy (P >70%), and 4 (10%) items were too difficult (P <30%). Discrimination index of 24 (60%) items was excellent (D >0.4), 4 (10%) items were good (D =0.3–0.39), 6 (15%) items were acceptable (D =0.2–0.29), and 6 (15%) items were poor (D < 0–0.19). A total 40 items had 120 distractors. Amongst these, 6 (5%) were nonfunctional distracters, 114 (95%) were functional distracters. The discrimination index exhibited positive correlation with difficulty index (r = 0.563, P = 0.010, significant at 0.01 level [two-tailed]). The maximum discrimination (D = 0.5–0.6) was observed in acceptable range (P = 30–70%). Conclusion: In this study, the majority of items fulfilled the criteria of acceptable difficulty and good discrimination. Moderately easy/difficult had the maximal discriminative ability. Very difficult item displayed poor discrimination, but the very easy item had high discrimination index, indicating a faulty item, or incorrect keys. The results of this study would initiate a change in the way MCQ test items are selected for any examination, and there should be proper assessment strategy as part of the curriculum development.
  43,125 5,600 9
The effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy on reducing depression in women
Mojtaba Habibi, Kobra Ghaderi, Samaneh Abedini, Nina Jamshidnejad
October-December 2016, 2(4):244-249
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189671  
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) on reducing depression in head-of-family women under the protection of the State Welfare Organization of Iran. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 30 women who were randomly selected based on acquiring scores upper than median on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale, and were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. With a pretest and posttest control group design, subjects in the experimental group underwent 8 weekly sessions of SFBT. Both groups were evaluated using BDI-II scale in pretest and posttest, and data were analyzed using ANCOVA. Results: Findings showed no significant difference between the two groups in the pretest, while SFBT, significantly decreased depression scores in the intervention group. Conclusion: SFBT could be used as an intervention program in target groups and the general population of women with depression.
  23,898 2,184 1
The effect of teacher talk style on student achievement
Firooz Mahmoodi
October-December 2016, 2(4):205-212
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189668  
Aim: This study examines the effect of teacher talk and interaction on students' achievement in Tabriz high schools. Methods: This research was a descriptive and correlation study. Sixty teachers and 800 students by multistage random sampling are selected for study. For gathering data, the observation method based on Flanders interaction analysis categories was used. The validity of the instrument was approved by Flanders and other researchers. The reliability of the Flanders interaction analysis was measured by inter-observer agreement ranged from 0.85 to 1.00. Result: The results showed an independent t-test revealed no significant difference between male and female talk and teaching style. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference in praises or encouragements in teaching mathematics, empirical sciences, and humanities. Conclusion: Humanities teachers encouraged students more than those of mathematics and empirical sciences. In addition, the direct teaching is negatively correlated with students' achievement.
  8,533 2,317 1
Preprimary stress questionnaire: A tool to assess stress in preprimary school students
Sunil Kumar Jena, Biswabhusan Mohanty
October-December 2016, 2(4):250-254
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189674  
Aim: Students of preprimary age group are facing stress in school because of life events such as curricular and social factors. Prolonged stress of those children may lead to different types of health hazards in future life. Thus, the aim of this study was to construct a questionnaire which may be used to find out severity of stress among preprimary students. Methods: It was a descriptive study based on teacher report. Five hundred and five students were selected by random sampling for this study by questionnaire method, and the report was given by teachers. The questionnaire used for this study was preprimary stress questionnaire. After collection of data, the questionnaires were analyzed for Cronbach's alpha (α) coefficient for reliability and content validity index (CVI) for validity of questionnaire. Result: Corrected item-total correlation of all items was more than 0.3, so all items were included in questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of questionnaire was found to be 0.925 and it lied between 0.87 and 1. Conclusion: After data analysis it was found that the Cronbach's alpha coefficient value was excellent and CVI was acceptable. Thus, this questionnaire was a reliable and valid instrument for assessment of severity of stress in preprimary school students, so that the future health hazards of children are prevented.
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Effects of cannabis use on cognitive function and clinical features of bipolar disorder
Ajay Halder, Sikha Mukhopadhyay, Partha Sarathy Biswas, Abhinanda Biswas
October-December 2016, 2(4):213-218
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189677  
Aims: This study aims to compare the cognitive function of patients having dual diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder and cannabis dependence with those having either diagnosis alone and with healthy controls. Settings and Design: Hospital-based study. Subjects and Methods: Study subjects were selected from patients attending psychiatry outpatient department in the presence of two senior consultant psychiatrists. Among the pool of the patients, only those who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected for the study. Then the selected patients were administered the semi-structured sociodemographic data sheet, Young Mania Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, General Health Questionnaire-12, Trail Making Test Part A and Part B, verbal fluency tests, Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test, clock drawing test. Statistical analysis was done by using appropriate statistical methods. Statistical analysis was done with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science-20 (SPSS-20, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)). Results: The results of our study showed there was significant impairment of cognitive function of the patients of bipolar with cannabis dependence than the patients of bipolar disorder or cannabis dependence alone. It had been also found that with an increase in age of onset of bipolar disorder, there was decrease in no of episode, decrease current duration, and inter-episodic recovery was better. Conclusions: The significant cognitive function impairment exists in bipolar with cannabis dependence and the severity of bipolar outcome correlate with the extent of cannabis use also. In spite of certain limitations such as small sample size, short follow-up time, absence of Indian version of neuropsychological tests, and referral bias inherent in hospital-based studies; present study provides valuable empirical insight into complex relationship between cannabis dependence, bipolar disorder, and cognitive dysfunction.
  5,641 440 -
The quality of mother-child relationship and borderline personality: The role of mediator object relations
Mohsen Tamaddonfard, Nader Monirpoor
October-December 2016, 2(4):238-243
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189665  
Aim: Borderline personality characterized by the instability of interpersonal relationships, self-concept and mood swings is one the most common disorders in clinical settings. Scholars theorizing on object relations, as pioneers of borderline personality, consider borderline personality as a result of childhood trauma, and associated with initial objects. The present paper aims to explain the structural model of borderline personality based upon the quality of mother-child relationships through the mediator role of object relations. Methods: A total of 402 students (184 males and 218 females) at Islamic Azad University of Qom and University of Qom in the first semester of 2013–2014 were selected by stratified random sampling. They completed Borderline Personality Inventory, Bell Object Relations Inventory, and Parent-Child Relationship Scale–Mother. The data were analyzed using SPSS, LISREL, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results: The quality of the mother-child relationship directly explains 1.44% and through mediating object relations 14.31%, and a total of 15.75% of the variance of borderline personality. Conclusion: Based on these results, the quality of object relations plays a crucial role in mediating mother-child relationship and borderline personality.
  5,326 495 -
Effect of yoga module on low back pain in information technology professionals
Parimala Sunil, Sony Kumari
October-December 2016, 2(4):234-237
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189663  
Introduction: The prevalence of back pain is on the rise. “ Throughout the medical profession, we are finding a shocking increase in both the frequency and severity of back problems,” writes Alfred O. Bonati, MD, Director of Orthopedic Center Institute and Shirley Linde, Ph.D., in their No more back pain (Pharos, 1991). A modern computer professional is a typical example of back pain. He has all three problems such as sedentary life, wrong posture and the pressure of targets. All these lead to chronic back pain. Design: Two group pre-post design is used. On first day, before giving the yoga module, Pre STAI(X1), Pre STAI(X2) and Pre BDI is measured. After giving yoga module for 10 days, Post STAI(X1), X2 and BDI is measured. Result: The data was not normally distributed hence we are using non parametric test Wilcoxon test within group and Mann Whitney test between groups. The results show that there was significant change in STAI(X1) and BDI variables between groups and no significant change in STAI(X2). Conclusion: The present study has shown significant result in STAI(X1) and BDI when compared with previous studies. There was 80% decrease in backpain using RMDI based on collective feedback report. With this, we can conclude that yoga module was effective in reducing chronic low back pain, anxiety and depression levels.
  5,230 423 1
Modeling the ethical leadership and the organizational trust with the organizational learning in the work environment
Elham Anbari, Mohammad Hosein Yarmohammadian, Azade Alavi
October-December 2016, 2(4):260-266
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189666  
Introduction: Ethical leadership is one of the approaches that has seriously come to the literature of leadership and management in the late 20th century. The change of the organizational knowledge and the allocation of knowledge which are the goals of the organizational learning are not possible without the organizational trust. Leadership's behaviors and the leaders have an important role in the organizational learning. Hence, the current research aims at investigating, for the first time, the relationship among the ethical leadership's variables, organizational trust, and the organizational learning in the job environment. Methods: The current research was descriptive-correlational. The statistic community of the research includes all the staffs at the Isfahan University of Medicine faculties (831 people). After conducting pilot and confirming reliability and validity, the sample was calculated on the basis of the accidental-classified method, using the volume identifying formula and 202-person Cochran formula. To analyze the data with SPSS Inc. Released 2007 (SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, SPSS Inc.), two methods of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used. In the inferential statistics section, these tests were used: Independent T, binomial, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple and linear regression. Results: The evidence coming from the data analysis revealed that there is a significant and positive relationship among the ethical leadership, organizational learning, and organizational trust as well as between the organizational trust and organizational learning (P < 0.01). In addition to it, the results of the regression analysis showed that the ethical leadership and organizational trust have the ability to significantly predict the organizational learning (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Environment with the ethical in modern organizations, all the leadership styles have critical values; however, the role of the ethical leadership is very prominent. Especially at universities that aim at promoting the culture of the organizational learning and organizational trust, the ethical leadership must be paid attention to. The existence of the ethical leadership style will result in developing values because this ethic-based characteristic in the leaders will gradually be conveyed to the staffs. Finally, in such an environment, automatically, the organizational trust, and the organizational learning will increase as the dominant ethical values suggest such concepts as trust and learning.
  4,799 460 -
Psycho-socio-moral development of the youth in Iran and Germany: A cross-cultural research
Seyed Hossein Modjtahedi, Gerhard Vagt, Paul Probst
October-December 2016, 2(4):255-259
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189667  
Objectives: The aim of this cross-cultural research is to study and compare the psycho-socio-moral development of the youth in Iran and Germany in the Eastern and Western society considering different components of both societies. Materials and Methods: The statistical universe of this research is 16–20-year-old high school students in Hamburg and Tehran. Three hundred students (150 females and 150 males) were randomly chosen through multi-stage sampling from the Northern, Central, and Southern parts of each of these two cities. A test similar to Kohlberg's moral measurement was made to assess the level of moral development. This test was compiled regarding cultural variables (Iranian, German, mythic, and modern) and new conflict triggering issues that were not considered in Kohlberg's moral measurement and it was standardized in two languages and cultures simultaneously. Back-translation cross-cultural methodology was used to assess the equivalence of the two tests in two languages and two cultures. Result: To compare the moral development of Iranian and German youths, a test of mean for independent groups was carried out with the hypothesis that cultural and time components will significantly influence the results. According to the final results, moral development is significantly higher in German youths than in Iranian youths. Although the mentioned measure had reflected other conflicts in the different cultural atmosphere, it was not influential except in the case of the fourth story. Conclusion: This finding implies the need for revising the moral training procedures based on developmental psychology.
  4,738 326 -
A comparative study of status of family functioning and mental health in male offenders who convicted of premeditated murder and normal individuals in province of Isfahan
Arash Jahanzad, Mojtaba Khalili, Ruhollah Khazaee
October-December 2016, 2(4):229-233
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189664  
Aim: Considering structural role of family functioning and mental health in shaping the character of children and its importance in the prevention of crime, the study aimed to compare the status of family functioning and mental health in male offenders who convicted of premeditated murder and normal individuals in province of Isfahan in 2012. Methods: This study was causal-comparative. Research statistical population was all male offenders who were sentenced to death and ordinary individuals in Isfahan province. Thus, 313 individuals were selected. Of this number 150 male offenders convicted of premeditated murder in the central prison of Isfahan were randomly selected and 163 cases of teachers were selected by cluster sampling method as the normal group in Isfahan. Family functioning assesses the scale and mental health questionnaire was administered to them, and data from this research using descriptive and inferential statistic t-test for independent groups were analyzed. Results: It was shown that difference was significant between the two groups in dimensions of communication, problem-solving, affective responsiveness, behavior control, and overall performance (P < 0/001) but difference was not significant in dimensions of affective involvement and role playing (P > 0/05). Also, it was shown that there is no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the dimensions of the mental health (P > 0/05). Conclusions: Therefore concluded to check the factors causing crime such as premeditated murder must be looking for interactive and communication behavior patterns of people with others to pursue personality characteristics and individual of people.
  4,038 328 -
A comparative study on authorship trends in four Persian and English Journals in the field of Medical Education
Alireza Yousefy, Mohammad Fakhari
October-December 2016, 2(4):224-228
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189673  
Context: The authorship issue is a major ethical challenge for professional researchers. Authorship trend is an indirect indicator of professional manner regarding the Medical Education researchers. Aims: This study is conducted to compare the trends of authorship in four high impact journals in the field of Medical Education. Materials and Methods: The authorship trends of two high impact English Journals in Medical Education: The Medical Teacher and the Medical Education versus the two high impact Persian Journals in Medical Education: The Strides in Development of Medical Education Journal and the Iranian Journal of Medical Education (IJME) are compared in this study. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 19, Minitab version 17 and Excel add-in Megastat version 10.1 software. Results: The authorship trends of 6699 articles in the four journals of concern are analyzed. Over the past 12 years, the mean number of authors has increased in both the Persian and one of the English Journals. The trend lines of single authored articles in the English Journals and the IJME decreased in a significant manner. However, in the Persian Journals, the percentage of single-author articles is obviously lower than the English Journals. Conclusion: The increasing number of authors per article could be considered as a sign of increased collaborative research or authorship misconducts in this field. Further research is recommended to study the causes and contributing factors in the increasing trend of authorship in the Persian Journals.
  3,939 344 -
Consideration of influence of elementary teacher's personality behavior in creativity and innovation for the students of elementary schools in Semnan City
Seyedeh Elnaz Mostashiri, Neda Mostashiri
October-December 2016, 2(4):219-223
DOI:10.4103/2395-2296.189672  
Aim: The aim of this research is to survey the private publications of elementary teachers in creating creativity and innovation for the students of elementary schools is Semnan Towns. Method of Research: The research utilized a descriptive – survey method, and to collect information from the survey methodology used cluster and probable method of sampling model is probability for teachers' and theirs student, in research used creativity model Torrance and five model personality factors Robert Mc Care and Paul Costain this research. Results: For data collection, a self-made scale was utilized it has been designed according to Likert scale. These questionnaires traditions confirmed by experts and the permanency are approved by Cronbach's alpha test 0.91 and 0.88 than The Pearson correlation test was used. The factor “neuroticism,” the teachers has the most connection with in students' flexibility extraversion and openness factors operating experience is more fluid relationship. Acclimation the most dutiful relationship with or are new initiatives. Conclusion: According to the results is recommended from increase creativity students on Teachers' Personality, on trainer's personality in the way of flexibility, innovation, freshness, and fluid have more accuracy.
  3,860 355 -