Using Anthropomorphism and Fictional Story Development to Enhance Student Learning.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Brossard Stoos KA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5524482 | biostudies-literature | 2017
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Using Anthropomorphism and Fictional Story Development to Enhance Student Learning.
Brossard Stoos Kari A KA Haftel Madeline M
Journal of microbiology & biology education 20170421 1
Similar Datasets
Project description:IntroductionMedical students experience burnout, depersonalization, and decreases in empathy throughout medical training. My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a narrative medicine project that aims to combat these adverse outcomes by teaching students to interview patients about their life story, with the goal of improving patient-centered care competencies, such as empathy.MethodsThe MLMS project was started in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system and has since spread to dozens of VA sites. We adapted and integrated this project into the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University curriculum. As part of the required curriculum, first- and third-year medical students participated in a life story interview with a community-based volunteer or a patient in the inpatient hospital setting, transcribed the story, and reviewed the written story with the patient. We assessed student perceptions of the project, changes in empathy, and changes in burnout symptoms.ResultsA total of 240 students participated in this project. Students spent an average of 70.7 minutes interviewing patients. A majority of the students believed MLMS was a good use of time (77%), fostered connection with patients (79%), and was effective in recognizing patients' thoughts and feelings (69%).DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is one of the first life story interview interventions to be implemented into a required medical school curriculum and outside the VA setting. MLMS may assist students in improving clinical empathy skills and create a structure for medical trainees to better understand their patients.
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Project description:Social computing software and online tools are gaining credence in teaching and learning spaces, including higher education contexts. However, the adoption of social computing software does not automatically translate into effective teaching and learning if students' views and needs are not considered along with course learning outcomes. Thus, this study was conducted to explore students' perspectives and preferences for social computing software and online tools in a university elective course. We employed quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand students' shared and nuanced thoughts about social computing applications in the study. A questionnaire with quantitative and open-ended qualitative questions was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an inductive thematic analysis approach. Our findings indicated mixed students' viewpoints, with some tools reported as highly beneficial while others were less beneficial. For instance, students valued asynchronous sessions, assignment feedback, online discussion, videos, and gamification but reported less interest in phones, journals, icons, and blogs. Students' specializations also appeared to influence their choice of tools. Those from Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences expressed a slightly different preference than their comparts from Medicine and Health Sciences. Drawing on the findings, we discuss the implications for effective teaching and learning using social computing software, focusing on essential stakeholders. For instance, instructors must regularly conduct diagnostic feedback to determine appropriate tools that can effectively customize students' learning.
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Project description:We developed the Blooming Biology Tool (BBT), an assessment tool based on Bloom's Taxonomy, to assist science faculty in better aligning their assessments with their teaching activities and to help students enhance their study skills and metacognition. The work presented here shows how assessment tools, such as the BBT, can be used to guide and enhance teaching and student learning in a discipline-specific manner in postsecondary education. The BBT was first designed and extensively tested for a study in which we ranked almost 600 science questions from college life science exams and standardized tests. The BBT was then implemented in three different collegiate settings. Implementation of the BBT helped us to adjust our teaching to better enhance our students' current mastery of the material, design questions at higher cognitive skills levels, and assist students in studying for college-level exams and in writing study questions at higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. From this work we also created a suite of complementary tools that can assist biology faculty in creating classroom materials and exams at the appropriate level of Bloom's Taxonomy and students to successfully develop and answer questions that require higher-order cognitive skills.
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Project description:BackgroundTo realize the potential for mobile learning in clinical skills acquisition, medical students and their teachers should be able to evaluate the value of an app to support student learning of clinical skills. To our knowledge, there is currently no rubric for evaluation of quality or value that is specific for apps to support medical student learning. Such a rubric might assist students to be more confident in using apps to support their learning.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to develop an instrument that can be used by health professional educators to rate the value of a mobile app to support health professional student learning.MethodsUsing the literature, we developed a list of potential criteria for the evaluation of educational app value, which were then refined with a student group using a modified nominal group technique. The refined list was organized into themes, and the initial rubric, Mobile App Rubric for Learning (MARuL, version 1), was developed. iOS and Android app stores were searched for clinical skills apps that met our inclusion criteria. After the 2 reviewers were trained and the item descriptions were refined (version 2), a random sample of 10 included apps, 5 for each mobile operating system, was reviewed. Interitem and interrater analyses and discussions with the reviewers resulted in refinement of MARuL to version 3. The reviewers completed a review of 41 clinical skills mobile apps, and a second round of interitem and interrater reliability testing was performed, leading to version 4 of the MARuL.ResultsStudents identified 28 items (from an initial set of 144 possible items) during the nominal group phase, and these were then grouped into 4 themes: teaching and learning, user centered, professional, and usability. Testing and refinement with reviewers reduced the list to 26 items. Internal consistency for MARuL was excellent (α=.96), and the interrater reliability as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was good (ICC=0.66).ConclusionsMARuL offers a fast and user-friendly method for teachers to select valuable apps to enhance student learning.
| S-EPMC7428912 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Students in an interdisciplinary undergraduate introductory course were required to complete a group video project focused on nutrition and healthy eating. A mixed-methods approach to data collection involved observing and rating video footage of group work sessions and individual and focus group interviews. These data were analyzed and used to evaluate the effectiveness of the assignment in light of two student learning outcomes and two student development outcomes at the University of Minnesota. Positive results support the continued inclusion of the project within the course, and recommend the assignment to other programs as a viable means of promoting both content learning and affective behavioral objectives.
| S-EPMC3292068 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
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Project description:Following professional development (PD), implementation of contemporary topics into high school biology requires teachers to make critical decisions regarding integration of novel content into existing course scope and sequence. Often exciting topics, such as neuroscience, do not perfectly align with standards. Despite commitment to enacting what was learned in the PD, teachers must adapt novel content to their perceptions of good teaching, local context, prior knowledge of their students, and state and district expectations. How teachers decide to integrate curricula encountered from PD programs may affect student outcomes. This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between curricular application strategies following an inquiry-based neuroscience PD and student learning. Post-PD curricular implementation was measured qualitatively through analysis of teacher action plans and classroom observations and quantitatively using hierarchical linear modeling to determine the impact of implementation on student performance. Participation in neuroscience PD predicted improved student learning compared with control teachers. Of the two distinct curricular implementation strategies, enacting a full unit produced significantly greater student learning than integrating neuroscience activities into existing biology units. Insights from this analysis should inform teacher implementation of new curricula after PD on other contemporary biology topics.
| S-EPMC8715783 | biostudies-literature
Project description:First-year students often become discouraged during introductory biology courses when repeated attempts to understand concepts nevertheless result in poor test scores. This challenge is exacerbated by traditional course structures that impose premature judgments on students' achievements. Repeated testing has been shown to benefit student ability to recognize and recall information, but an effective means to similarly facilitate skill with higher-order problems in introductory courses is needed. Here, we show that an innovative format that uses a creative grading scheme together with weekly formative midterm exams produced significant gains in student success with difficult items requiring analysis and interpretation. This format is designed to promote tenacity and avoid discouragement by providing multiple opportunities to attempt demanding problems on exams, detailed immediate feedback, and strong incentives to retain hope and improve. Analysis of individual performance trajectories with heat maps reveals the diversity of learning patterns and provides rational means for advising students.
| S-EPMC5332045 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPharmacology is a cornerstone of medical education as it underlies safe prescribing practices. However, medical students have reported unease regarding their perceived proficiency in medical pharmacology. Despite the significant impetus to improve student outcomes, there is little analysis available of the techniques used by medical students to learn, retain and apply medical pharmacology knowledge.MethodsA mixed-methods, student-focused approach was conducted to design and evaluate specific resources developed to address gaps in pharmacology education. This methodology comprised an anonymised scoping survey, followed by semi-structured focus group interviews. We then developed a flashcard resource as an intervention to support long-term revision for academic and clinical success. This resource was released to a cohort of 100 graduate entry preclinical medical students who were invited at the end of year to evaluate the intervention via a subsequent anonymous survey.ResultsThe scoping survey received 103 complete responses. Surveys and focus group interviews revealed that only 50% of students engage in ongoing revision. Amongst our cohort, we identified that the evidence-based technique of spaced-repetition was particularly well regarded. Hence, we developed and evaluated a bespoke resource utilising Anki™, an open-source, spaced-repetition flashcard program. A total of 1208 flashcards spanning 156 distinct classes of drugs with supplementary summary tables, diagrams and explanatory video and summary guides were created. Designed as a strategic revision tool to reinforce learning, evaluation showed students greatly appreciated the "comprehensive" and "well formatted" Anki™ resource that supported existing teaching modalities, with a global rating of 3.8 out of 5.ConclusionsStrategic and personalised resources for medical pharmacology education that assist with in-semester revision and long-term retention are highly valued amongst students for examination preparation and preparedness for practice. Collectively, these results reflect a novel approach to identifying and addressing weaknesses in existing learning resources in a manner that is inclusive of, and acceptable to, medical students.
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Project description:Student evaluations after non-lecture, active learning sessions at Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, have yielded bipartite responses with one group responding favorably and the other group negatively. The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics, motivation, and learning strategies of medical students that find value in, appreciate, and perceive active learning sessions to be beneficial and those of students that do not. We generated a survey, based on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), that included questions regarding overall student motivations for learning, learning strategies that students employed throughout medical school, and their perceptions of active learning. Following an active learning session on hyperammonemia, we administered the modified MSLQ survey. Using the results of this survey, we validated the modified MSLQ and identified correlations between student characteristics and their perception of the active learning session. We found that, in general, students with high task value, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, and control of learning beliefs felt more positively about their experience in the active learning session. Understanding the characteristics, motivations, and learning strategies that help students find value in active learning sessions will help medical educators develop future curricular material so that these exercises will better engage and be more effective with a greater number of learners.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01550-9.
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