Objective To assess the relationship between education and severe maternal outcomes among women delivering in healthcare facilities.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Twenty-nine countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.Population Pregnant women admitted to 359 facilities during a period of 2-4 months of data collection between 2010 and 2011.Methods Data were obtained from hospital records. Stratification was based on the Human Development Index (HDI) values of the participating countries. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between maternal morbidity and education, categorised in quartiles based on the years of formal education by country. Coverage of key interventions was assessed.Main outcome measures Severe maternal outcomes (near misses and death).Results A significant association between low education and severe maternal outcomes (adjusted odds ratio, aOR, 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.46-2.95), maternal near miss (aOR 1.80; 95% CI 1.25-2.57), and maternal death (aOR 5.62; 95% CI 3.45-9.16) was observed. This relationship persisted in countries with medium HDIs (aOR 2.36; 95% CI 1.33-4.17) and low HDIs (aOR 2.65; 95% CI 1.54-2.57). Less educated women also had increased odds of presenting to the hospital in a severe condition (i.e. with organ dysfunction on arrival or within 24 hours: aOR 2.06; 95% CI 1.36-3.10). The probability that a woman received magnesium sulphate for eclampsia or had a caesarean section significantly increased as education level increased (P < 0.05).Conclusions Women with lower levels of education are at greater risk for severe maternal outcomes, even after adjustment for key confounding factors. This is particularly true for women in countries that have poorer markers of social and economic development.
International specialized literature focused on research in biology education is sadly scarce, especially regarding biochemical and molecular aspects. In this light, researchers from this Centre for Structural Molecular Biotechnology developed and evaluated a three-dimensional educational model named "Building Life Molecules DNA and RNA." The development of the model and its evaluation as a potential tool in the teaching-learning process were based on a pilot study involving 226 learners and teachers. Questionnaires were elaborated, containing simple and objective questions, similar to those used in research on science teaching, to orient the evaluation process. Our results show that the model has high educational potential, aiding participants in their conceptual understanding of these molecular structures and their functions, DNA semiconservative replication, and RNA transcription. In addition, it was observed that this model leads students to critical associations of these concepts with actual scientific themes of molecular biology and biotechnology, such as cloning, transgenic organisms, and the genome.
Studies demonstrate that a good strategy in education is the use of games in the school atmosphere, intensifying the teaching and learning process. The game as educational tool motivates the students in an emotional, motor, social and cognitive way, helping them to create mental outlines, to develop the reasoning and in the construction of the knowledge. In this context, the dissemination team of the Centre for Structural Molecular Biotechnology (CBME), in partnership with the Centre for Scientific and Cultural Dissemination (CDCC-USP), developed a board game entitled Synthesizing Proteins, in order to help the learning and the comprehension of the transcription and translation processes, and of the synthesis of proteins, using examples of human proteins. The game was applied and evaluated in a systematic way, in order to validate it as an educational tool of teaching-learning as well as to correctly disseminate it.The CBME dissemination team planned activities like workshops, where the game was applied for high school students of public and private schools of São Carlos city (SP). As evaluation tool a questionnaire was elaborated containing questions regarding the concepts involved in the proteins synthesis process. This questionnaire was applied before (pre-test) and two weeks after the end of the activity (post-test), in order to check the previous and the acquired knowledge of the students after the manipulation of the educational material.Analyzing the results of these pre-and post-tests, it was observed that, although most of the students has presented difficulties regarding the nomenclature and the details of the biochemical processes, these students were able to understand satisfactorily the following aspects: DNA is located in the nucleus of animal cells; the proteins are constituted of amino acids; the dynamics of the molecules of DNA, RNA and proteins during the interactions demonstrated by the game, and the structural difference among these molecules. The most of the students improved their knowledge after playing the game, which validates the game as an useful educational tool in the teaching of protein synthesis.
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