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Introduction: The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education require resident skills in Evidence-Based Medicine and participation in research activities. Our first-year pediatric residents (PGY1s) were required to attend a novel, call-protected, 4-week Academic Skills and Knowledge (ASK) rotation to improve their skills as consumers of medical literature. Objectives of the study were to describe this curriculum and summarize its mixed-methods evaluation. Methods: After 14 months of curriculum development, three annual cohorts of PGY1s wrote identical pre- and post-ASK quizzes (2017-19). In 2018 and 2019, we assessed knowledge retention with PGY1s re-writing the quiz after 6 months. Mean test scores were compared using paired t-tests. In 2017, pre- and post-ASK focus groups assessed resident feelings about the rotation. Results: All eligible PGY1s (n=32) participated. Mean exam scores demonstrated increased knowledge (time0 mean plus/minus SD 52.6 plus/minus 11.0%; vs. time1 80.2 plus/minus 9.0%, p <0.001). Knowledge retention at 6 months was intermediate (time2 70.2 plus/minus12.0%; time0 vs time2 p<0.001). In the pre-rotation focus group, residents looked forward to ASK; goals centered around growing from learner to expert. Post-ASK, residents were very satisfied. Resident participation in our annual Research Institute poster competition increased linearly from 0% in 2014 to 8% in 2020 (r=0.74, p=0.01). Discussion: The ASK curriculum was successfully implemented, and increased knowledge persisted over time. Residents were satisfied with ASK and appreciated the structured curriculum building on core knowledge that they could immediately apply to their clinical work.

Recently, first-year mathematics instructors at universities across North America and around the globe have been noticing a decline in the mathematics skills and preparation of the incoming student body, and these students have been failing out of first-year mathematics courses at alarming rates . Though some universities have implemented placement or diagnostic tests to measure the preparedness of their incoming students, many still use high school grades as the only indicator of students' readiness for university mathematics. However, researchers have found mixed results in terms of the effectiveness of high school grades at predicting success in university mathematics courses Salim & Al-Zarooni, 2009) due to factors such as the miss-alignment of teaching methods, students' entering knowledge, and skills, the curricula in high school and university, and high school grade inflation. This dissertation includes two studies. The first study analyzed the relationship between grade 12 Pre-Calculus grades and first-year university Calculus grades at a large Canadian university over the period from 2001-2015. The results show that the disconnect between high school grades in mathematics and university grades in mathematics has been growing over time, and is significant for students who are not performing well in university Calculus. Recommendations include the implementation of placement examination, and increased communication and collaboration between K-12