really good stuff Echo360 software. Once edited, the recordings were released as mp3 files through the virtual learning environment and uploaded into iTunes, which enabled their download via the RSS feed. A questionnaire was used to obtain quantitative data about student usage. A response rate of 50.0% was achieved. What lessons were learned? The lecture audio files of basic science modules represent a popular learning resource and provide an additional method for student engagement. Data from the questionnaire revealed a high level of student use, with 64.6% and 51.5% of CBS and N&E students, respectively, accessing the audio files. Surprisingly, although high numbers of students have access to mobile devices,1 the vast majority of students accessed the audio files via their home PC (76.7%) and only a minority of students used campus PCs (18.0%) or smartphones (5.3%). Further analysis revealed that students accessed the audio files for several reasons, including: to write up or amend lecture notes (68.4%); to review difficult lectures (70.4%); to catch up on missed lectures (50.5%), and to aid revision (62.5%). Although the level of engagement is welcome and reveals clear enthusiasm for the additional resources, the high proportion of students accessing the resources via their home desktop PC provides important information regarding the usage and future development of learning resources. The audio files generated in this study are often likened to podcasts; however, a podcast is a self-contained package that can be listened to without requirements for additional material. As these audio files are recorded during live lectures, they should be used in conjunction with the lecture slides if students are to gain maximal benefit. Thus there is a clear distinction between podcasts and the audio files provided in the present context. By using the audio files alongside the lecture slides, students can follow the audio and add or amend notes as they listen to the recording. This explanation of usage explains why few students access the material via mobile devices. Furthermore, it provides important guidance for the production of learning resources that promote flexible learning. For students to engage in flexible learning, resources that do not rely on additional material should be developed. Overall, 70.4% of respondents found the lecture audio to be useful in supporting their learning and 68.7% would like such a resource made available for other modules. Because of its simple technical requirements, high uptake and positive outcomes, it is envisaged that this development will be rolled out across more MBChB modules in the future.
REFERENCE 1 UCAS. Eight out of ten freshers have smartphones. http://www.ucasmedia.com/news/2013/ eight-out-of-ten-freshers-have-smartphones. [Accessed 3 September 2013.] Correspondence: James D Pickering, Section of Pathology, Anatomy and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology, School of Medicine, Worsley Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1133 434340; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12442
Enabling students’ self-regulation and teachers’ feedback in concept mapping Annie Carrier & Chantal Morin What problems were addressed? Producing concept maps is often considered troublesome for students. Their self-regulating strategies are limited and the feedback provided by teachers is not always tailored accordingly. As they are associated with deeper learning and knowledge organisation, self-directed regulation and student-centred feedback are important.1 Despite this relevance, few specific tools to enable self-regulation and feedback in concept mapping are described in the literature. This innovation aimed to explore the usefulness of a short reflective tool designed to enable students’ self-regulation and optimise teachers’ student-centred feedback in a concept mapping activity. What was tried? Self-regulation implies thinking about one’s difficulties and implementing strategies to improve learning. Therefore, the short written reflective tool we developed included two questions: ‘What was the hardest aspect of producing your concept map?’ and ‘How do you plan to remediate this difficulty in producing your next concept map?’ First piloted with eight students, the tool was then used unchanged with 98 first-year rehabilitation students in a problem-based course immediately following completion of the concept map. The completed tool and the student’s concept map were given to his or her teacher. Teachers (n = 12) used the students’ answers to structure their written (about the map itself), verbal (about the difficulty and remedial strategy) and group (about common difficulties and possible remedial strategies) feedback. Then teachers completed a self-administered questionnaire containing six open-ended questions about the usefulness of the tool in optimising their three different types of feedback and the time allotted to the task.
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 522–548
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really good stuff What lessons were learned? Firstly, by making explicit the students’ difficulties and their remedial strategies, use of the reflective tool in concept mapping was helpful to the teachers. Students’ input allowed them to structure their individual written and verbal feedback in a targeted, student-centred way. Students’ common difficulties were addressed during a group discussion, which was also used to exchange remedial strategies. Targeted feedback and peer sharing are recognised as supportive of self-regulation.1 Secondly, the reflective tool increased students’ awareness of their difficulties and prompted them to think about remedial strategies. However, because the actual implementation of the chosen strategy and the remediation of difficulties after the teacher’s feedback were not formally verified, it is difficult to conclude that use of the tool enhanced students’ self-regulation effectively. Furthermore, the reflective tool was teacher-initiated and did not encourage students to be proactive in seeking feedback. Therefore, ways to increase the proactiveness of students, which is considered indispensable for success, should be included in future projects. Follow-up of feedback and strategies with students should also be included because feedback is most effective when it is acted upon.1 As it fits easily into a problem-based course design without increasing students’ and teachers’ workload and time allotted to tasks, and because of its potential support of self-regulation and student-centred feedback in concept mapping, we think this reflective tool, with the proposed modifications, is a helpful addition worthy of educators’ consideration. REFERENCE 1 Ambrose SA, Bridges MW, DiPietro M, Lovett MC, Norman MK. How Learning Works. Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons 2010. Correspondence: Annie Carrier, Ecole de readaptation,Facult e de m edecine et des sciences de la sante, Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec J1H 5N4, Canada. Tel: 00 1 819-820-6868 ext. 12917; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12444
A novel device for teaching fundoscopy Christopher Schulz What problems were addressed? Medical students lack confidence in their fundoscopy skills.1 This finding is not isolated to a single institution or even
524
a single country. One of the fundamental difficulties in both teaching and assessing direct ophthalmoscopy is the inability to enable a student and tutor to simultaneously observe the same image of the fundus. Teaching mirrors and cameras have been successfully incorporated into slit-lamp biomicroscopy and microsurgery, but have not yet been used as teaching aids with the hand-held direct ophthalmoscope. What was tried? A semi-reflective piece of glass was held at 45 degrees within an enclosure attached to the viewing hole of a traditional hand-held ophthalmoscope. This enclosure has holes in three sides so that the light from the patient’s fundus enters the device and is split into two perpendicular pathways. One beam continues along its original path and exits the device to be observed by the student in the conventional manner. The other beam is directed toward a miniature video camera. This camera is connected to a laptop computer on which the live image can be simultaneously visualised by a third person. A simple pilot study was conducted to gain qualitative feedback on this device in two separate settings. In the first setting, in which the device was tested as an aid to teaching fundoscopy, eight participants observed a live demonstration given by a tutor. Participants were then able to practise with the device, which allowed the tutor to simultaneously observe the image viewed by the participant and to provide directed constructive feedback. In the second setting the device was tested as an assessment tool during an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) station. The same participants were asked to examine a patient’s eye as part of a scenario. Again, the examiner observed the patient’s fundus simultaneously with the participant. What lessons were learned? Promising feedback was received from all participants during this pilot study. Students considered that ‘being able to watch the tutor’s approach on screen was very helpful’ and appreciated the ‘more personalised feedback’ it enabled. The tutor felt more empowered to provide constructive feedback and to problem-solve when participants were struggling. It was noted that the use of this device in an OSCE setting might enable the assessor to provide a more structured and objective assessment of the student’s approach to examining the fundus. It is believed that this teaching ophthalmoscope may represent a more systematic, objective and robust tool for assessing the competence of candidates. During this pilot study, an important drawback of this device was encountered. Because the light must
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 522–548
REFERENCE 1 UCAS. Eight out of ten freshers have smartphones. http://www.ucasmedia.com/news/2013/ eight-out-of-ten-freshers-have-smartphones. [Accessed 3 September 2013.] Correspondence: James D Pickering, Section of Pathology, Anatomy and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology, School of Medicine, Worsley Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1133 434340; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12442
Enabling students’ self-regulation and teachers’ feedback in concept mapping Annie Carrier & Chantal Morin What problems were addressed? Producing concept maps is often considered troublesome for students. Their self-regulating strategies are limited and the feedback provided by teachers is not always tailored accordingly. As they are associated with deeper learning and knowledge organisation, self-directed regulation and student-centred feedback are important.1 Despite this relevance, few specific tools to enable self-regulation and feedback in concept mapping are described in the literature. This innovation aimed to explore the usefulness of a short reflective tool designed to enable students’ self-regulation and optimise teachers’ student-centred feedback in a concept mapping activity. What was tried? Self-regulation implies thinking about one’s difficulties and implementing strategies to improve learning. Therefore, the short written reflective tool we developed included two questions: ‘What was the hardest aspect of producing your concept map?’ and ‘How do you plan to remediate this difficulty in producing your next concept map?’ First piloted with eight students, the tool was then used unchanged with 98 first-year rehabilitation students in a problem-based course immediately following completion of the concept map. The completed tool and the student’s concept map were given to his or her teacher. Teachers (n = 12) used the students’ answers to structure their written (about the map itself), verbal (about the difficulty and remedial strategy) and group (about common difficulties and possible remedial strategies) feedback. Then teachers completed a self-administered questionnaire containing six open-ended questions about the usefulness of the tool in optimising their three different types of feedback and the time allotted to the task.
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 522–548
523
really good stuff What lessons were learned? Firstly, by making explicit the students’ difficulties and their remedial strategies, use of the reflective tool in concept mapping was helpful to the teachers. Students’ input allowed them to structure their individual written and verbal feedback in a targeted, student-centred way. Students’ common difficulties were addressed during a group discussion, which was also used to exchange remedial strategies. Targeted feedback and peer sharing are recognised as supportive of self-regulation.1 Secondly, the reflective tool increased students’ awareness of their difficulties and prompted them to think about remedial strategies. However, because the actual implementation of the chosen strategy and the remediation of difficulties after the teacher’s feedback were not formally verified, it is difficult to conclude that use of the tool enhanced students’ self-regulation effectively. Furthermore, the reflective tool was teacher-initiated and did not encourage students to be proactive in seeking feedback. Therefore, ways to increase the proactiveness of students, which is considered indispensable for success, should be included in future projects. Follow-up of feedback and strategies with students should also be included because feedback is most effective when it is acted upon.1 As it fits easily into a problem-based course design without increasing students’ and teachers’ workload and time allotted to tasks, and because of its potential support of self-regulation and student-centred feedback in concept mapping, we think this reflective tool, with the proposed modifications, is a helpful addition worthy of educators’ consideration. REFERENCE 1 Ambrose SA, Bridges MW, DiPietro M, Lovett MC, Norman MK. How Learning Works. Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons 2010. Correspondence: Annie Carrier, Ecole de readaptation,Facult e de m edecine et des sciences de la sante, Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec J1H 5N4, Canada. Tel: 00 1 819-820-6868 ext. 12917; E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/medu.12444
A novel device for teaching fundoscopy Christopher Schulz What problems were addressed? Medical students lack confidence in their fundoscopy skills.1 This finding is not isolated to a single institution or even
524
a single country. One of the fundamental difficulties in both teaching and assessing direct ophthalmoscopy is the inability to enable a student and tutor to simultaneously observe the same image of the fundus. Teaching mirrors and cameras have been successfully incorporated into slit-lamp biomicroscopy and microsurgery, but have not yet been used as teaching aids with the hand-held direct ophthalmoscope. What was tried? A semi-reflective piece of glass was held at 45 degrees within an enclosure attached to the viewing hole of a traditional hand-held ophthalmoscope. This enclosure has holes in three sides so that the light from the patient’s fundus enters the device and is split into two perpendicular pathways. One beam continues along its original path and exits the device to be observed by the student in the conventional manner. The other beam is directed toward a miniature video camera. This camera is connected to a laptop computer on which the live image can be simultaneously visualised by a third person. A simple pilot study was conducted to gain qualitative feedback on this device in two separate settings. In the first setting, in which the device was tested as an aid to teaching fundoscopy, eight participants observed a live demonstration given by a tutor. Participants were then able to practise with the device, which allowed the tutor to simultaneously observe the image viewed by the participant and to provide directed constructive feedback. In the second setting the device was tested as an assessment tool during an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) station. The same participants were asked to examine a patient’s eye as part of a scenario. Again, the examiner observed the patient’s fundus simultaneously with the participant. What lessons were learned? Promising feedback was received from all participants during this pilot study. Students considered that ‘being able to watch the tutor’s approach on screen was very helpful’ and appreciated the ‘more personalised feedback’ it enabled. The tutor felt more empowered to provide constructive feedback and to problem-solve when participants were struggling. It was noted that the use of this device in an OSCE setting might enable the assessor to provide a more structured and objective assessment of the student’s approach to examining the fundus. It is believed that this teaching ophthalmoscope may represent a more systematic, objective and robust tool for assessing the competence of candidates. During this pilot study, an important drawback of this device was encountered. Because the light must
ª 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2014; 48: 522–548
