#thadleister

For my second journal review post, I found an interesting international article written about dental students in Saudi Arabia.  What I found useful was the assessment of learning styles in professional school settings.  The results can be compared to learning styles seen in professional schools in the US and other countries.  Results were obtained by surveying 345 dental students at two universities in the country.

Data was analyzed to determine learning style preferences.  Gender differences were noted.  Key attributes measured were lecture format, lecture length, time of day, handouts, and applied demonstrations.  Understanding what learning style Saudi Arabian students prefer was the desired outcome of this student.  Results showed time of day preferences, lecture style and length preference, and differences among genders.

The application of this study is useful for research on Saudi Arabian learning styles in this setting.  I found the parameters that the article studied to be limited in learning styles compared to the Western context.  I found the gender difference to be perhaps indicative of gender equity in the country.  Beyond learning styles, I found the article helpful in understanding instructional methods used in the dental schools.  This is a great comparative point to other professional schools across the world.

For my journal review post, I found a great international article written about Kazakhstan and an evaluation of distance learning as a solution to some of its educational problems. Kazakhstan is a very large country and the article points out that educational institutions are not distributed throughout the country proportionally with the population.  This leads to areas that do not receive equitable benefits from the education system.

The authors propose using distance learning as one solution to this issue.  They feel like using distance education will reduce the country’s cost per student and greatly improve access to education.  The article then goes on to analyze the factors that ensure quality of distance learning including: strong instruction, wide range of tasks to satisfy learning styles, and frequent student teacher interaction

The article then looks at Kazakhstan’s infrastructure and shares that satellite delivery of information is the widest spread and reliable.  This is of course different than the US where cable has largely penetrated society.

This is a very interesting article and talks about distance learning in a country less developed than the US.  I found the authors to be very detailed in their analysis of effective distance learning.  One could use this article to compare distance learning styles among countries with different infrastructures and quality of educational systems.