Association of Online Learning Behavior and Learning Outcomes for Medical Students: Large-Scale Usage Data Analysis

A Comparison Between In-Person and Virtual Communication Skills OSCE for Medical Students

Objectives

This study investigates the effectiveness of a virtual format of an advanced communication skills observed structured clinical examination (OSCE) for senior medical students in comparison to an in-person format. The study also examines the emotional support students experience in the virtual setting. Our analysis was based on quantitative data collected through objective checklists and post-OSCE survey results.

Methods

The virtual OSCE was a revision of an earlier in-person formative advanced communication skills OSCE for fourth-year medical students. Student performances were assessed by self and peers using objective checklists-the modified Master Interview Rating Scale (mMIRS) and Communication Behavior Checklist (CBC). The mMIRS measured interview process such as avoiding jargon and demonstrating empathy. The CBC examined interview content which included tasks specific to the content of the case. The OSCE was followed by a faculty-led debrief and quantitative survey. The virtual OSCE was conducted in 2021, and the results of the checklists and survey were compared with those collected from two earlier in-person OSCEs.

Results

Eighty-three students participated in the virtual OSCE. There was no difference in mMIRS scores between the virtual and in-person OSCE. Overall CBC scores were lower in the virtual OSCE compared to in-person (p < 0.05). Sixty-seven out of 83 (80.7%) students completed the post-OSCE survey. There were no differences between the virtual and in-person OSCE in terms of educational value, whether the OSCE would change the way participants talk to patients, and preparedness to have serious conversations with patients. All respondents somewhat or strongly agreed with feeling emotionally supported during the virtual OSCE.

Conclusion

The virtual format was a suitable alternative to an in-person, formative, advanced communication skills OSCE for medical students. The virtual OSCE was educationally effective and was met with student satisfaction and a sense of emotional support. Future virtual iterations must ensure adequate instruction on interview content.

Do Gender or Major Influence the Performance in Programming Learning? Teaching Mode Decision Based on Exercise Series Analysis

Both traditional teaching and online teaching advocate individualized education. One of the difficulties on exploring possible improvements of instructional design is the challenging process of data collection. Existing research mainly focuses on the exam score of students but pays little attention to students' daily practice. As an effective method to handle time-series dataset, the generalized estimating equations (GEE) have not been used in this research field. Considering above issues, we first propose an experimental paradigm of programming performance analysis based on the performance record of students' daily practice-exam and finish collecting a complete time-series dataset in one semester, including students' individual attributes, learning behavior, and learning performance. Then, we propose an approach that analyzes practice-exam time-series dataset based on GEE to study the influence of individual attributes and learning behavior on learning performance. It is the first time to apply the GEE method for ordinal multinomial responses in this research field, by which we conclude several results that gender or major does have a certain difference on the programming learning. The longer the answer time and the less the cost time, the better the students' performance. Regardless of gender, students tend to cram for the exam and perform a little worse in the daily exercise. Finally, targeting at two important individual attributes, we give corresponding teaching mode decisions that university should teach students programming by major and teacher should give different teaching methods to students of different genders at different time points.

Experiences with alternative online lectures in medical education in obstetrics and gynecology during the COVID-19 pandemic—possible efficient and student-orientated models for the future?

Purpose

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic posed an eminent challenge for medical teachers worldwide. Face-to-face lectures and seminars were no longer possible, and alternatives had to be found. E-learning concepts quickly emerged as the only practicable solutions and also offered the opportunity to evaluate whether traditional face-to-face lectures could be translated into an online format, independent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We offered an e-learning program consisting of lecture notes, screencasts with audio narration, and online webinars that covered topics normally taught in traditional lectures and seminars. To evaluate the learning behavior and quality of our e-learning program, we drafted a questionnaire that students completed at the end of the 2020 summer semester that had been designed to enable a comparative analysis of the different e-learning modules.

Results

Voluntary participation in the online courses was high. Survey analysis revealed high satisfaction with and a distinctive preference for the format, even under regular, COVID-19-independent conditions. In general, a positive appraisal of e-learning—especially as a substitute for regular lectures—was found. Students also reported higher studying efficiency. Exam results were equal to those of previous semesters.

Conclusion

Both acceptance of and satisfaction with our e-learning modules were high, and students displayed increased demand for this kind of e-learning format. We, therefore, conclude that e-learning offerings could serve as reasonable, efficient, student-orientated substitutes for certain medical courses, especially lectures. These curricular adaptations would correlate with the high digitalization seen in students’ everyday lives. This correlation may also hold true independent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Big Data for Biomedical Education with a Focus on the COVID-19 Era: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Medical education refers to education and training delivered to medical students in order to become a practitioner. In recent decades, medicine has been radically transformed by scientific and computational/digital advances—including the introduction of new information and communication technologies, the discovery of DNA, and the birth of genomics and post-genomics super-specialties (transcriptomics, proteomics, interactomics, and metabolomics/metabonomics, among others)—which contribute to the generation of an unprecedented amount of data, so-called ‘big data’. While these are well-studied in fields such as medical research and methodology, translational medicine, and clinical practice, they remain overlooked and understudied in the field of medical education. For this purpose, we carried out an integrative review of the literature. Twenty-nine studies were retrieved and synthesized in the present review. Included studies were published between 2012 and 2021. Eleven studies were performed in North America: specifically, nine were conducted in the USA and two studies in Canada. Six studies were carried out in Europe: two in France, two in Germany, one in Italy, and one in several European countries. One additional study was conducted in China. Eight papers were commentaries/theoretical or perspective articles, while five were designed as a case study. Five investigations exploited large databases and datasets, while five additional studies were surveys. Two papers employed visual data analytical/data mining techniques. Finally, other two papers were technical papers, describing the development of software, computational tools and/or learning environments/platforms, while two additional studies were literature reviews (one of which being systematic and bibliometric).The following nine sub-topics could be identified: (I) knowledge and awareness of big data among medical students; (II) difficulties and challenges in integrating and implementing big data teaching into the medical syllabus; (III) exploiting big data to review, improve and enhance medical school curriculum; (IV) exploiting big data to monitor the effectiveness of web-based learning environments among medical students; (V) exploiting big data to capture the determinants and signatures of successful academic performance and counteract/prevent drop-out; (VI) exploiting big data to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity; (VII) exploiting big data to enhance integrity and ethics, avoiding plagiarism and duplication rate; (VIII) empowering medical students, improving and enhancing medical practice; and, (IX) exploiting big data in continuous medical education and learning. These sub-themes were subsequently grouped in the following four major themes/topics: namely, (I) big data and medical curricula; (II) big data and medical academic performance; (III) big data and societal/bioethical issues in biomedical education; and (IV) big data and medical career. Despite the increasing importance of big data in biomedicine, current medical curricula and syllabuses appear inadequate to prepare future medical professionals and practitioners that can leverage on big data in their daily clinical practice. Challenges in integrating, incorporating, and implementing big data teaching into medical school need to be overcome to facilitate the training of the next generation of medical professionals. Finally, in the present integrative review, state-of-art and future potential uses of big data in the field of biomedical discussion are envisaged, with a focus on the still ongoing “Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been acting as a catalyst for innovation and digitalization.

Experiences and Attitudes of Elementary School Students and Their Parents Toward Online Learning in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Questionnaire Study

Background

Due to widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection, an emergency homeschooling plan was rigorously implemented throughout China.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the experiences and attitudes of elementary school students and their parents (two generations from the same family) toward online learning in China during the pandemic.

Methods

A 16-item questionnaire was distributed at the 10-day and 40-day marks after the start of the first online course to 867 parent-child pairs and 141 parent-child pairs, respectively. The questionnaire was comprised of questions pertaining to course and homework completeness, effectiveness, reliability, and abundance as well as the students’ enthusiasm for taking part in online classes and their satisfaction with the courses.

Results

Our findings indicate that 90.7% (786/867) of students exhibited high or moderate enthusiasm for participating in online classes. However, most students performed poorly in online learning classes and after-school homework. With regard to satisfaction, parents' and students' average scores were 7.35 and 7.25, respectively (10-point scoring system). During the second stage of this study, parents' positive evaluations for online learning declined, including those for the effectiveness and reliability of the courses. Furthermore, the proportion of students who completed the courses and homework on time decreased; this difference proved statistically significant (P=.047). The parents’ and students’ overall satisfaction with online learning also declined during the second stage (parents: 7.21; students: 7.23); however, the difference in overall satisfaction between the two stages was not statistically significant (parents: P=.53; students: P=.60). Several of the parents (315/867, 36.2%) indicated that assisting with and supervising the students’ online learning resulted in increased stress. Further, 36% of parents expressed dissatisfaction with or provided suggestions for online learning; most parents and students hoped to return to face-to-face classes (parents: 823/867, 94.9%; students: 811/867, 93.5%). Finally, our results presented the following six main issues that parents were the most concerned about: (1) disappointment regarding timely interaction in courses; (2) apprehensiveness about students’ understanding of the course; (3) the increased burden of annoying adult responsibilities; (4) concern about children's eyesight; (5) the idea that teachers’ explanations were not detailed enough; and (6) concerns about the decline of students' interest in and attention toward online courses.

Conclusions

Online learning can prevent the spread of infectious diseases while still allowing elementary school students to attain knowledge. However, in our study, children’s completion of the courses and homework were not satisfactory. Furthermore, their parents often experienced stress and had many concerns and complaints. Measures such as increasing the interactivity of the courses and prohibiting teachers from assigning tasks to parents could improve the effectiveness of these courses and the mental health of parents and students.

Student use of common online resources in a multi-campus medical school

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: Multi-campus medical schools can differ in medical curriculum delivery due to location specific factors, creating different learning contexts. Common online learning may reduce perceived inequities. Using a shared curriculum structure, we developed two learning resource components (topic-based learning objects and multiple-choice question banks) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology for students in our 3-campus medical school. Objective: We evaluated common learning resource use across different learning contexts. We hypothesised that students with fewer structured learning hours would make greater use of topic-based learning resources due to their perceived utility value. We also explored an alternative hypothesis; that resources more closely linked to assessment (MCQ banks) would encourage a strategic approach to learning and would be used most highly at all campuses. Methods: We assessed student opinion of the value of the resources through a cross-campus online survey, and quantified usage of the resources by analysing learning management system logs. Comparisons of response and usage patterns for the two resource components were conducted to identify if context influenced usage. Results: Survey results (RR = 70%) showed that students across campuses rated the resources as valuable. Usage logs partially supported our hypothesis that learning object usage would be highest at the campus (Campus 3) with the lowest structured learning hours in both the proportion of users (p <0.006) and frequency of access for 16 of the 26 topics (p<0.05). However, the reverse was found to be true for the question bank, with lowest usage of question banks at Campus 3 (p< 0.001). Conclusions: We interpret the results as evidence of difference in the perceived utility value of the learning resources across campuses. Clear differences in usage patterns provide evidence that different learning contexts can influence online resource use, and these contexts should be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of online learning resources.

Kontinuierliche medizinische Fortbildung in der Dermatologie für Ärzte und Studierende während der Coronavirus‐Pandemie – eine große Herausforderung

Kontinuierliche medizinische Fortbildung (Continuing Medical Education, CME) ist die wesentliche Grundlage der studentischen Lehre sowie der Aus- und Weiterbildung von Ärzten. Eine moderne und adäquate Patientenversorgung ist ohne sie nicht denkbar. Vor kurzem zwang die durch das schwere akute respiratorische Syndrom-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) verursachte Pandemie die gesamte medizinische Gemeinschaft, ihre Gewohnheiten bezüglich der medizinischen Fortbildung und Lehre sowie des Lernens in der Medizin zu ändern. Infolgedessen rückten über soziale Medien (Social Media) verbreitete digitale Aus-, Fortbildungs- und Lehrformate, medizinische Online-Enzyklopädien, webbasierte medizinische Lernportale und medizinische Podcasts in den Vordergrund. In diesem Beitrag geben wir einen Überblick zu aktuelle Konzepten in der medizinischen Online-Fortbildung, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Dermatologie.

A Literature Review on the Foundations and Potentials of Digital Teaching Scenarios for Interprofessional Health Care Education

The health care system is increasingly complex and specialized, but it presents the actors involved with the challenge of working together in interprofessional teams. One way to meet this challenge is through interprofessional training approaches, where representatives of different professions learn together with learners of other professions. This article contributes to the question of how interprofessional teaching in health care education can be designed with a low threshold by using digital media. We focus on learning with digital learning platforms and learning with videos. Based on existing empirical findings, these approaches are discussed in terms of their potential and limitations for interprofessional teaching. In particular, we examine how these approaches influence the core competence domains of interprofessional collaborative practice. Digital collaborative learning platforms are suitable for teaching interprofessional competences, since they enable social and professional exchange among learners of different professions. Videos are suitable for imparting medical declarative and procedural knowledge. Based on these considerations, the use of videos in combination with interaction possibilities is presented as a didactic approach that can combine the aspect of knowledge transfer with the possibility of interprofessional computer-based collaboration.