Comparing two teaching methods based on concept map and lecture on the level of learning in basic life support

Evaluating Live Virtual Chalk Talks as a Teaching Tool for Medical Students on a Dermatology Clerkship

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a continued need for innovative virtual teaching methods. Chalk talks, or brief illustrated interactive talks, are easily made virtual with an online whiteboard. We evaluated the efficacy of a live virtual chalk talk curriculum for medical students on their dermatology clerkship. A curriculum of one to three 1-h chalk talks was designed on the following topics: papulosquamous diseases, erythroderma, and immunobullous diseases. Talks were delivered monthly via Zoom to dermatology clerkship students. Pre- and post-talk surveys were administered to assess knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction. Compared with pre-talk, students (n = 18) achieved a greater percentage of possible points on knowledge assessment questions after the talks (41.0 ± 27.7% versus 90.4 ± 18.4%, p < 0.001). As assessed on a Likert scale (1 = not at all confident, 5 = extremely confident), students became more confident in differentiating conditions within each disease group and working up the conditions (2.02 ± 0.53 versus 3.53 ± 0.55, p < 0.001, and 2.09 ± 0.44 versus 3.76 ± 0.89, p < 0.001, respectively). Qualitative responses showed that students appreciated the student-teacher interactions. In conclusion, we found that live chalk talks are an effective and engaging way to teach dermatology to medical students in the virtual setting.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-023-01781-4.

Effectiveness of video self-instruction training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation retention of knowledge and skills among nurses in north-western Nigeria

Background

Adaptable cardiopulmonary resuscitation/basic life support (CPR/BLS) training are required to reduce cardiac arrest mortality globally, especially among nurses. Thus, this study aims to compared CPR knowledge and skills retention level between instructor-led (control group) and video self-instruction training (intervention group) among nurses in northwestern Nigeria.

Methods

A two-arm randomized controlled trial study using double blinding method was conducted with 150 nurses from two referral hospitals. Stratified simple random method was used to choose eligible nurses. For video self-instruction training (intervention group), participants learnt the CPR training via computer in a simulation lab for 7 days, in their own available time whereas for instructor-led training (control group), a 1-day program was conducted by AHA certified instructors. A generalized estimated equation model was used for statistical analysis.

Results

Generalized Estimated Equation showed that there were no significant differences between the intervention group (p = 0.055) and control group (p = 0.121) for both CPR knowledge and skills levels respectively, whereas higher probability of having good knowledge and skills in a post-test, one month and three-month follow-up compared to baseline respectively, adjusted with covariates (p < 0.05). Participants had a lower probability of having good skills at 6-month follow-up compared to baseline, adjusted with covariates (p = 0.003).

Conclusion

This study showed no significant differences between the two training methods, hence video self-instruction training is suggested can train more nurses in a less cost-effective manner to maximize resource utilization and quality nursing care. It is suggested to be used to improve knowledge and skills among nurses to ensure cardiac arrest patients receive excellent resuscitation care.

Do Personality Traits Matter? Exploring Anti-drug Behavioral Patterns in a Computer-Assisted Situated Learning Environment

Drug abuse has been and continues to be, a common social issue worldwide, yet the efficiency of widely adopted sweeping speech for anti-drug campaigns has proven inefficient. To provide students with a safe and efficient learning situation related to drug refusal skills, we used a novel approach rooted in a serious learning game and concept map during a brief extracurricular period to help students understand drugs and their negative effects. The proposed game-based situational learning system allowed all students to participate simultaneously and individually in multiple scenarios of drug temptation posed by peers and classmates to practice responding and refusing drugs in school and community settings. Moreover, to explore whether different personality traits (such as the Big Five personality traits) result in different anti-drug responses, we used a serious game to conduct an anti-drug experiment on 53 junior middle school students aged 13–15. Each participant’s decision-making process was recorded in the serious game as behavioral patterns for lag sequential analysis (LSA). The outcomes revealed seven behavioral patterns including differentiation (D), acceptance (A), effective (ER) and ineffective responses (IR), effective (ES) and ineffective solution-seeking (IS), and failure to refuse (F). The GSEQ (Generalized Sequential Querier) which is a computer program for analyzing sequential observational data was used. The results indicated the following: (1) Neuroticism was performed at a relatively low level under the guidance of a concept map. (2) “Neuroticism” was associated with the lowest risk of accepting drugs. (3) Students with “openness to experiences” were at high risk of accepting drugs. (4) Almost all personality behavioral transition diagrams showed that failure to refuse (F) drugs was followed by inefficient seeking of help (SI) and inefficient refusal (RI). These findings provide reference points for designing adaptive anti-drug education programs.

The role of goal orientations and learning approaches in explaining digital concept mapping utilization in problem-based learning

Concept mapping has received increasing attention and application in higher education as an effective instructional strategy. However, little is known about how higher-education students' different motivations for learning might be related to the way they use digital concept mapping for effective learning. This study sought to design and assess an intervention program that employs digital concept mapping in problem-based learning and to evaluate the effectiveness of using this tool among students with different achievement-goal profiles on learning and deep versus surface approaches to learning. Data were collected from 129 undergraduate students from three higher-education institutions located in Israel and Austria and analyzed by using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling. The findings indicated that digital concept mapping could benefit higher-education students, specifically at the cognitive level, in order to specify and identify the interrelationships among arguments and to learn about the topic. Another finding showed that deep learners and mastery-approach learners perceived concept mapping as an effective tool mainly for self-regulating their learning during the intervention. It is suggested to find ways to scaffold surface learners' involvement in activities that enable them to solve complex problems by underlining the benefits of technology-enabled platforms for their learning and thus have them acknowledge concept mapping as a practice that fosters meaningful learning.

The effectiveness of the iLearning application on chest tube care education in nursing students

BACKGROUND

Tube dislodgment has been ranked as the top three medical accidents for five years consecutively in Taiwan. Chest tube care accidents affect patient's health and life significantly. Typically, education on chest tube care focuses on the knowledge transmission with limited guiding nursing students in learning clinical reasoning. The Generation Z students prefer mobile devices. It is crucial to incorporate mobile applications to learning.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of the teaching intervention program ("iLearning app for chest tube care") in improving nursing students' clinical reasoning ability and self-directed learning.

METHOD

A quasi-experimental study with a cluster sample was used. A total of 107 nursing students were recruited with the intervention group (n = 53) using the "iLearning app" to learn chest tube care, and the comparison group (n = 54) using the "traditional teaching". Data were collected before the intervention, one week and one month after the intervention.

RESULT

The result showed that there was no difference in clinical reasoning and self-directed learning between groups before the intervention. However, the intervention group showed significantly higher clinical reasoning and self-directed learning scores than the comparison group (p < .05) one week and one month after the intervention. It indicated that the students' clinical reasoning abilities and self-directed learning improved with implementation of the intervention.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that the "iLearning app" intervention improved the clinical reasoning and self-directed learning in nursing students. This intervention used situated learning with concept mapping to guide student learning and demonstrated effectiveness in improving their clinical reasoning ability. Immediate feedback of the course instructor might trigger deeper learning and self-correction of clinical reasoning. The "iLearning app" could be used as a tool to improve students' clinical reasoning and self-directed learning, and thus enhance lifelong learning.

Active learning pedagogy transformation: A whole-of-school approach to person-centred teaching and nursing graduates

In contemporary higher education contexts, active learning pedagogy pervades in discourses around designing quality student experiences. Transposing student bodies from passive to active participants in learning experiences is widely considered best practice in curriculum and pedagogical design. While literature on active learning is vast and recommendations on how to transform into an active learning approach abounds, such advice is often prescribed to individual teachers or courses. What remains unknown in this transformational space is how leadership for person-centred teaching can guide a whole school to shift philosophical presuppositions and take-up active learning as the guiding pedagogy. This paper describes the challenges, processes and steps for how one school, the School of Nursing at an Australian University, invoked transformational change through a philosophical and practice-based shift across all learning spaces (online/ face-to-face/ blended, undergraduate and postgraduate domains). This paper offers recommendations for other schools interested in establishing a whole-of-school commitment to an active learning pedagogy transformation underpinned by person-centred teaching.

Nurses' hemovigilance knowledge and performance after teach-back, concept map, and lecture: A quasi-experimental study

Objectives

This study aimed to compare the effects of teaching by three methods of teach-back, concept map, and lecture on knowledge and performance of nurses in hemovigilance process.

Methods

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 108 Iranian nurses. In the lecture group, the educational intervention was conducted during a 4-hour session; and in the concept map and teach-back groups, it was performed in two 2-hour sessions. The nurses’ knowledge and performance were measured by “routine blood transfusion knowledge questionnaire (RBTKQ)” and “self-reporting performance-evaluator questionnaire”.

Results

After the interventions, knowledge was significantly higher in the teach-back and the concept map groups compared to the lecture group (p = 0.001), but the performance in the lecture group was higher than the other two groups (p = 0.01). No statistically significant differences were found between teach-back and concept map groups.

Conclusion

Teach-back and concept map methods were effective in improving the nurses’ hemovigilance knowledge, while the lecture was associated with a significant increase in their performance. Therefore, integrating the hemovigilance teaching methods is suggested.

Comparison of the Conceptual Map and Traditional Lecture Methods on Students' Learning Based on the VARK Learning Style Model: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Developing skills and knowledge in nursing education remains a considerable challenge. Nurse instructors need to be aware of students’ learning styles so as to meet students’ individual learning preferences and optimize knowledge and understanding. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of the conceptual map and the traditional lecture methods on students’ learning based on the VARK learning styles model. In this randomized controlled trial, 160 students from nursing, nurse anesthetics, and midwifery disciplines with four different learning styles of visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic were selected using the convenience sampling method. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (conceptual map method) or control (traditional lecture method) groups. A medical-surgical nursing course was taught to the students in both groups over 6 weeks. Data collection tools consisted of the VARK questionnaire and pre- and postassessments. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via the SPSS software. Teaching using the conceptual map method had different effects on the students’ learning outcomes based on their learning styles. The conceptual map method had a statistically significant impact on the students’ learning in the intervention group compared with the control group in the students with a visual learning style (p = .036). No statistically significant differences were reported between the groups in other three learning styles. Nurse instructors should assess students’ learning styles based on the VARK model before the application of a particular teaching method to improve the quality of nursing education and facilitate deeper learning.

Concept Mapping, an Effective Tool for Long-Term Memorization of Anatomy-A Quasi-Experimental Research Carried out among 1st Year General Medicine Students

This study is part of a doctoral thesis conducted at the Faculty of Psychology of Babes-Bolyai University in collaboration with the University of Medicine, both from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The starting point of the study was based on the eternal question of the medical student—“How should I learn to manage to retain so much information?” This is how learning through conceptual maps and learning by understanding has been achieved. In the study, a number of 505 students from the Faculty of General Medicine were randomly selected and divided into groups, to observe changes in the grades they obtained when learning anatomy with the concept mapping method vs. traditional methods. Six months later, a retest was carried out to test long-term memory. The results were always in favor of the experimental group and were statistically significant (with one exception), most notably for the 6-month retesting. It was also observed that the language of teaching, different or the same as the first language, explains that exception, at least partially. Other results were taken into account, such as the distribution of bad and good grades in the two groups. Other parameters that influenced the obtained results and which explain some contradictory results in the literature are discussed. In conclusion, the use of conceptual maps is useful for most students, both for short and long-term memory.