Collaborative Learning Communities With Medical Students as Teachers

Peer creation and sharing of mnemonics in collaborative documents for pathology education: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Mnemonic techniques are memory aids that could help improve memory encoding, storage, and retrieval. Using the brain's natural propensity for pattern recognition and association, new information is associated with something familiar, such as an image, a structure, or a pattern. This should be particularly useful for learning complex medical information. Collaborative documents have the potential to revolutionize online learning because they could increase the creativity, productivity, and efficiency of learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of combining peer creation and sharing of mnemonics with collaborative online documents to improve pathology education.

METHODS

We carried out a prospective, quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest pilot study. The intervention group was trained to create and share mnemonics in collaborative documents for pathological cases, based on histopathological slides. The control group compared analog and digital microscopy.

RESULTS

Both groups consisted of 41 students and did not reveal demographic differences. Performance evaluations did not reveal significant differences between the groups' pretest and posttest scores. Our pilot study revealed several pitfalls, especially in instructional design, time on task, and digital literacy, that could have masked possible learning benefits.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a gap in evidence-based research, both on mnemonics and on CD in pathology didactics. Even though, the combination of peer creation and sharing of mnemonics is very promising from a cognitive neurobiological standpoint, and collaborative documents have great potential to promote the digital transformation of medical education and increase cooperation, creativity, productivity, and efficiency of learning. However, the incorporation of such innovative techniques requires meticulous instructional design by teachers and additional time for students to become familiar with new learning methods and the application of new digital tools to promote also digital literacy. Future studies should also take into account validated high-stakes testing for more reliable pre-posttest results, a larger cohort of students, and anticipate technical difficulties regarding new digital tools.

Thinking of Learning Communities? Here Are Some of the Ways They May Benefit Your Medical Students

Learning communities are designed to bring together students, faculty, and potentially other healthcare professionals, to learn with and from each other formally in teaching activities but also in the social domain. In recent years, learning communities have gained some recognition as an effective educational strategy but their use is still not widely seen in all medical schools. Numerous benefits of learning communities have been reported and these include improved academic performance, enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, increased student confidence, and improved communication skills. Learning communities also provide opportunities for personal growth, mentorship, and self-reflection, all of which contribute to a students' professional development.