Recognition of the factors affecting the medical students' academic success is one of the most important challenges and concerns in medical schools. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of metacognitive learning strategies and learning-related emotions in the relationship between academic self-efficacy with academic performance in medical students. Methods: The present study was carried out on 279 students of medicine studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The students filled out three questionnaires: academic emotions (AEQ), metacognitive learning strategies, and academic self-efficacy questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS3. Results: The results of structural equation modeling revealed that the students' self-efficacy has an impact on their learning-related emotions and metacognitive learning strategies, and these, in turn, affect the students' academic performance. Moreover, learning-related emotions influence the metacognitive learning strategies, which in turn mediate the effect of emotions on academic performance. Discussion: The results of this study revealed that metacognitive strategies and learning-related emotions could play a mediating role in the relationship between students' self-efficacy and academic performance.

Introduction Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many higher education and health centers have faced challenges. Educational leaders have tried to manage the new situation, but the human infrastructure was not ready for such an event. This study aims to explain the challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic for medical education. Method This qualitative study used conventional content analysis to collect data from face-to-face and semi-structured interviews. The interviews continued until data saturation was reached. The participants were 12 students and 14 faculty members at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. To ensure data rigor, we used member checks, peer checks and an external observer. Results Three main categories and 15 subcategories were extracted. The findings showed that four subcategories, e.g. perception on feasibility of e-learning, standardizing of e-learning, dedicated teaching, and networking and interdisciplinary collaborations, affected the development of medical e-learning. The main opportunities from the COVID-19 pandemic for medical education were classified into five subcategories: attitudes to e-learning and adaptability, preventing students’ separation from the educational environment, documentation and monitoring education, take control of own learning, and increasing perceived usefulness. The main challenges were divided into four subcategories, e.g. noncompliance with virtual classroom etiquette, inadequate interactions, time limitations, and infrastructure defects and problems. Finally, participants believed that methods of evaluation in e-learning were more suitable for diagnosis and formative evaluations. Generally, two subcategories were extracted, e.g. formative and summative. Conclusion Medical schools have necessarily moved towards e-learning to compensate for the interruption in classroom education, such that traditional classes have been replaced with e-learning. These rapid, extensive changes in teaching and learning approaches have consequences for medical schools.

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Objectives This study is designed to evaluate the effect of a workshop about new teaching and learning methods on the response, knowledge, and behavior of healthcare staff working a large city healthcare center. Results Kirkpatrick’s program evaluation model showed that the workshop on new teaching and learning methods significantly improved the healthcare staff’s satisfaction about the teaching environment of workshops, their knowledge about new teaching and learning methods and their behavior in performing workshops for teaching people. It is recommended that this teaching and learning methods workshop should be considered in educational programs for healthcare staff. Trial registration Trial registration number: IRCT20180619040150N1 approved by Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials at 2018-07-27 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-019-4421-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundThere is a need to change the focus of nursing education from traditional teacher-centered training programs to student-centered active methods. The integration of the two active learning techniques will improve the effectiveness of training programs. The objective of this study is to compare the effects of the integrated training (simulation and critical thinking strategies) and simulation-based training on the performance level and critical thinking ability of nursing students.MethodsThe present quasi-experimental study was performed in 2014 on 40 students who were studying practical nursing principles and skills course in the first half of the academic year in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Students were randomly divided into control (n = 20) and experimental (n = 20) groups.After training students through simulation and integrated education (simulation and critical thinking strategies), the students' critical thinking ability and performance were evaluated via the use of California Critical Thinking Ability Questionnaire B (CCTST) and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) comprising 10 stations, respectively. The external reliability of the California Critical Thinking questionnaire was reported by Case B.to be between 0.78 and 0.80 and the validity of OSCE was approved by 5 members of the faculty. Furthermore, by using Split Half method (the correlation between odd and even stations), the reliability of the test was approved with correlation coefficient of 0.66. Data were analyzed using t-test and Mann–Whitney test. A significance level of 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.ResultsThe mean scores of the experimental group performance level were higher than the mean score of the control group performance level. This difference was statistically significant and students in the experimental group in OSCE stations had significantly higher performance than the control group (P <0.001). However, the mean scores obtained for the critical thinking did not increase before and after the intervention.ConclusionThe results showed that, the students’ performance level was increased by the application of integrated training (simulation and critical thinking strategies).