Engagement and higher order skill proficiency of students completing a medical physiology course in three diverse learning environments

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether levels of student engagement, higher order skill proficiency, and knowledge acquisition demonstrated by medical students would differ when completing the same course in three diverse learning environments. Following Institutional Review Board approval, 56 first-year medical students, registered at the same medical school but attending class at three different campus centers, were enrolled in the study. All participants were completing a medical physiology course that utilized the same learning objectives but relied on different faculty incorporating diverse methodologies (percentage of class devoted to active learning strategies), course format (6-wk block vs. 17-wk semester), and student attendance. Students completed a validated survey of student engagement (SSE), a proctored online problem-based assessment of higher order skill proficiency [Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+); http://cae.org ], and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Physiology subject exam. In this limited sample, results indicate no significant differences between campus sites for any of the variables assessed. Levels of engagement were lower than expected compared with published values for graduate students. Higher order skill proficiency assessed by CLA+ was significantly higher than values reported for college seniors nationally. Surprisingly, SSE offered no prediction of performance on CLA+ or NBME, as there were no significant correlations between variables. These data indicate that, although first-year medical students may not perceive themselves as highly engaged, they are adept in using higher order skills and excel in meeting course learning objectives, regardless of learning environment.

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Determining Impact of Learning Environment on Student Engagement, Bloom's Higher Order Skill Proficiency, and Exam Performance of First Year Medical Students

The FASEB Journal ◽

10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.773.12 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (S1) ◽

Author(s):

Mari K. Hopper ◽

Alexis K. Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Student Engagement ◽

Medical Students ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Higher Order ◽

Exam Performance ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Medical Students

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Student engagement and higher order skill proficiency: a comparison of traditional didactic and renewed integrated active learning curricula

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00149.2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 685-692 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mari K. Hopper ◽

Daniela A. Brake

Keyword(s):

Student Engagement ◽

Medical Students ◽

Active Learning ◽

Medical School ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

Higher Order ◽

Poor Correlation ◽

First Year ◽

Cohort Groups ◽

The Impact

A large, multicampus, public medical school underwent curricular renewal, emphasizing a student-centered approach with 50% of all course contact time devoted to active learning. Determining the impact of active learning on student engagement and higher order skill (HOS) proficiency was the primary aim of this study. Following Institutional Review Board approval, two cohort groups of first-year medical students were enrolled. The first cohort ( n = 54) included students before curriculum reform in the legacy curriculum (LC). The second cohort ( n = 73) included students completing studies in the renewed curriculum (RC). Near the end of the first year of medical school, both cohorts completed a validated survey of student engagement, and a proctored problem-based assessment of HOS proficiency [Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+)]. Results indicated RC students perceived greater levels of engagement than LC (39.5+5.8 vs. 33.3+5.6), and greater reliance on HOS, including analysis, synthesis, and application. However, there were no significant differences between cohorts in proficiency of HOS when assessed by the CLA+ (LC = 1,878 ± 161 vs. RC = 1,900 ± 157). Additionally, poor correlation between engagement and HOS for both LC and RC indicated more engaged students do not necessarily possess greater HOS proficiency. Ceiling effect may explain results as medical students enter medical school as highly skilled learners with potentially little room for improvement. It will be informative to continue to track engagement and HOS of both cohort groups as they continue their medical studies.

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Higher satisfaction with ethnographic edutainment using YouTube among medical students in Thailand

Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions ◽

10.3352/jeehp.2014.11.13 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

pp. 13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thira Woratanarat

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Transformative Learning ◽

Real Life ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Short Film ◽

First Year ◽

Motivating Factors ◽

Group Project ◽

Changing Patterns ◽

First Year Medical Students

Purpose: At present, transformative learning is one of the most important issues in medical education, since a conventional learning environment is prone to failure due to changing patterns among students. Ethnographic edutainment is a concept that consists of reward, competition, and motivation strategies that be used to effectively engage with learners. Methods: A total 321 first-year medical students took part in ethnographic edutainment sessions in 2011. We defined four preset learning objectives and assigned a term group project using clouding technologies. Participatory evaluation was conducted to assess the delivery of and attitudes towards this method. Results: Career lifestyles in the general population and expected real-life utilization of the final product were used as motivating factors, with competition and rewards provided through a short film contest. Nineteen out of twenty groups (95%) achieved all learning objectives. Females were more satisfied with this activity than males (P<0.001). We found statistically significant differences between lecture-based sessions and field visit sessions, as well as ethnographic edutainment activity sessions and other instructional approaches (P<0.01). The results were consistent in male and female groups. Conclusion: Ethnographic edutainment is well accepted, with higher satisfaction rates than other types of teaching. The concepts of health promotion and the social determinants of health can be learned through ethnographic edutainment activities, which might help train more humanized health professionals.

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Perception of the learning strategies and the learning styles among first year medical students: a cross sectional survey

South-East Asian Journal of Medical Education ◽

10.4038/seajme.v7i1.145 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 14

Author(s):

Vipula Rasanga Bataduwaarachchi ◽

Muditha Madhuwanthi Dissanayake ◽

Sharmila Thillainathan ◽

Rohan Wass Jayasekara

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Learning Styles ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

First Year ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

First Year Medical Students

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The Learning Styles and the Preferred Teaching–Learning Strategies of First Year Medical Students

JOURNAL FOR CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH ◽

10.7860/jcdr/2013/5809.3090 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Poonam Kharb

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Learning Styles ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

First Year ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

First Year Medical Students

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Higher‐Order Assessment in Gross Anatomy: A Comparison of Performance on Higher‐ Versus Lower‐Order Anatomy Questions between Undergraduate and First‐Year Medical Students

Anatomical Sciences Education ◽

10.1002/ase.2028 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew R. Thompson ◽

Bruce F. Giffin

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Lower Order ◽

Gross Anatomy ◽

Higher Order ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Medical Students

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Intrinsic motivation of preclinical medical students participating in high-fidelity mannequin simulation

BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning ◽

10.1136/bmjstel-2015-000019 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 19-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Brent Thoma ◽

Emily M Hayden ◽

Nelson Wong ◽

Jason L Sanders ◽

Greg Malin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Intrinsic Motivation ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Measurement Tool ◽

First Year ◽

High Fidelity ◽

Signed Rank ◽

Directed Learning ◽

Good Internal Consistency ◽

First Year Medical Students

IntroductionWhile medical schools strive to foster students’ lifelong learning, motivational theories have not played an explicit role in curricular design. Self-determination Theory is a prominent motivational theory. It posits that perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness foster intrinsic motivation. This study explores the effects of autonomy on intrinsic motivation in medical students participating in high-fidelity mannequin simulation.MethodsA non-randomised crossover trial compared first-year medical students participating in (1) required simulation sessions with predetermined learning objectives and (2) extracurricular simulation sessions with student-directed learning objectives. An adapted Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) was used to assess intrinsic motivation, perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness. Each participant completed the IMI survey after each type of session. Variables were compared with signed-rank tests.ResultsAll 22 participants completed the IMI after both types of session. Perceived autonomy was significantly higher during extracurricular simulation (p<0.001), but intrinsic motivation, competence and relatedness were not. Intrinsic motivation correlated with autonomy (RS=0.57 and extracurricular simulation, ES=0.52), competence (RS=0.46 and ES=0.15) and relatedness (RS=0.51 and ES=0.64). The IMI subscales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.84, 0.90, 0.90 and 0.76 for intrinsic motivation, autonomy, competence and relatedness, respectively).ConclusionsExtracurricular sessions increased students’ perceived autonomy, but they were highly intrinsically motivated in both settings. Further study is needed to understand the relationship between perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation in medical education learning activities. The IMI shows promise as a measurement tool for this work.

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