Stepping back and stepping in: Facilitating learner-centered experiences in MOOCs
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Blum-Smith S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7554482 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Massive Open Online Courses have become a frequent platform for learners to acquire knowledge. This study aims to explore multiple factors influencing learner retention in MOOCs during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, we collected quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires and qualitative data from interviews and then analyzed them through the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling to test 14 research hypotheses. The proposed research model and research hypotheses are empirically tested with 243 participants across the world. According to the results, support is found for all of the 14 research hypotheses. We confirmed 14 factors influencing learner retention in MOOCs. The result is beneficial for designers and manufacturers of MOOCs to improve the quality of the products and facilitate online or blended learning during this special time. It could also help students improve their learning experiences. Future research could examine influencing factors of learner retention in MOOCs with interdisciplinary cooperation.
| S-EPMC10230298 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Research-based teaching practices can improve student learning outcomes in a variety of complex educational environments. The implementation of learner-centered teaching practices in STEM can both benefit from or be constrained by different factors related to individual instructors and the teaching environment. Additionally, we know little of how the instructional climate varies across institutions and how this climate affects teaching practices. Our study sought to examine the relative importance of environmental influences and individual characteristics on learner-centered teaching practices across institutions. We also assessed differences in our study population and departmental climate for 35 US higher education institutions across the country. We found that self-efficacy in teaching and professional development exert a strong influence on faculty teaching practices in biology. While departmental climate did not emerge as a significant predictor of teaching practices, there was consistently low support for teaching, and institution size was negatively correlated with leadership and evaluation of effective teaching. We also found that intensive professional development programs, such as the Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV program, may prepare instructors to teach learner-centered courses in different collegial teaching climates. Our results suggest that through cultivating self-efficacy and participating in iterative professional development, instructors can implement effective teaching practices in a variety of institutional environments.
| S-EPMC8087079 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Purpose:To evaluate the effectiveness of a learner-centered, simulation-based training developed to help medical students improve their procedural skills in intubation, arterial line placement, lumbar puncture, and central line insertion. Method:The study participants were second and third year medical students. Anesthesiology residents provided the training and evaluated students' procedural skills. Two residents were present at each station to train the medical students who rotated through all 4 stations. Pre/posttraining assessment of confidence, knowledge, and procedural skills was done using a survey, a multiple-choice test, and procedural checklists, respectively. Results:In total, 24 students were trained in six 4-hour sessions. Students reported feeling significantly more confident, after training, in performing all 4 procedures on a real patient (P < .001). Paired-samples t tests indicated statistically significant improvement in knowledge scores for intubation, t(23) = -2.92, P < .001, and arterial line placement, t(23) = -2.75, P < .001. Procedural performance scores for intubation (t(23) = -17.29, P < .001), arterial line placement (t(23) = -19.75, P < .001), lumbar puncture (t(23) = -16.27, P < .001), and central line placement (t(23) = -17.25, P < .001) showed significant improvement. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated high reliability in checklist scores for all procedures. Conclusions:The simulation sessions allowed each medical student to receive individual attention from 2 residents for each procedure. Students' written comments indicated that this training modality was well received. Results showed that medical students improved their self-confidence, knowledge, and skills in the aforementioned procedures.
| S-EPMC5736291 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIf the education of intensive care unit (ICU) residents focuses on individual learning behavior, the faculty's style of teaching and level of supervision need to be adapted accordingly. The aim of this study was to delineate the associations between residents' perceived learning behavior, experience, and demographics and their expectations with regard to teaching style and supervision levels.MethodsThis multicenter survey obtained data on ICU residents' base specialty, duration of ICU training, individual postgraduate year, gender, and number of repetitions of ICU skills. Using 4-point Likert scales, residents assessed perceived learning behavior, expected teaching style, and supervision level for respective skills. Multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate associations between assessed variables.ResultsAmong 109 residents of four interdisciplinary ICUs, 63 (58%) participated in the survey and 95% (60/63) questionnaires were completed. The residents' perceived learning behavior was associated with number of skill repetitions (p < 0.0001), internal medicine as base specialty (p = 0.02), and skill type (p < 0.0001). Their expected teaching style was associated with learning behavior (p < 0.0001) and skill type (p < 0.0001). Their expected supervision level was associated with skill repetitions (p < 0.0001) and skill type (p < 0.0001).ConclusionFor effective learner-centered education, it appears useful to recognize how the residents' learning behavior is affected by the number of skill repetitions and the skill type. Hence, faculty may wish to take into account the residents' learning behavior, driven mainly by skill complexity and the number of skill repetitions, to deliver the appropriate teaching style and supervision level.
| S-EPMC8325219 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In this study, we used a case study approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of the change process of two university instructors who were involved with redesigning a biology course. Given the hesitancy of many biology instructors to adopt evidence-based, learner-centered teaching methods, there is a critical need to understand how biology instructors transition from teacher-centered (i.e., lecture-based) instruction to teaching that focuses on the students. Using the innovation-decision model for change, we explored the motivation, decision-making, and reflective processes of the two instructors through two consecutive, large-enrollment biology course offerings. Our data reveal that the change process is somewhat unpredictable, requiring patience and persistence during inevitable challenges that arise for instructors and students. For example, the change process requires instructors to adopt a teacher-facilitator role as opposed to an expert role, to cover fewer course topics in greater depth, and to give students a degree of control over their own learning. Students must adjust to taking responsibility for their own learning, working collaboratively, and relinquishing the anonymity afforded by lecture-based teaching. We suggest implications for instructors wishing to change their teaching and administrators wishing to encourage adoption of learner-centered teaching at their institutions.
| S-EPMC5132359 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We determined short- and long-term correlates of a revised introductory biology curriculum on understanding of biology as a process of inquiry and learning of content. In the original curriculum students completed two traditional lecture-based introductory courses. In the revised curriculum students completed two new learner-centered, inquiry-based courses. The new courses differed significantly from those of the original curriculum through emphases on critical thinking, collaborative work, and/or inquiry-based activities. Assessments were administered to compare student understanding of the process of biological science and content knowledge in the two curricula. More seniors who completed the revised curriculum had high-level profiles on the Views About Science Survey for Biology compared with seniors who completed the original curriculum. Also as seniors, students who completed the revised curriculum scored higher on the standardized Biology Field Test. Our results showed that an intense inquiry-based learner-centered learning experience early in the biology curriculum was associated with long-term improvements in learning. We propose that students learned to learn science in the new courses which, in turn, influenced their learning in subsequent courses. Studies that determine causal effects of learner-centered inquiry-based approaches, rather than correlative relationships, are needed to test our proposed explanation.
| S-EPMC2995764 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial global disruptions, with many universities restructuring their examinations to open-book assessments. In this format, learners are allowed to use revision notes, textbooks and other permitted material during their examination. Traditionally, dentistry is assessed using closed-book examinations where the use of such materials is prohibited. Learners will have limited or no prior experience of open-book examinations in dentistry, hence this educational evaluation aimed to explore their experiences and assess suitability for continuity of this examination.Methods A retrospective anonymous survey was conducted on all undergraduate dentistry and oral health sciences learners on completion of their examination and once they received their results. The questionnaire was designed to contain both qualitative and quantitative data items, validated through previous published studies. All authors independently analysed the data through tallying quantitative parameters and thematically analysing qualitative free text.Results In total, 210 learners participated in the survey, with 52.4% strongly agreeing a preference for open-book examinations. In addition, 42.9% of learners either agreed or strongly agreed that less preparation was required for open-book examinations; however, 80.5% reported learning new information. Furthermore, 85.2% disagreed or strongly disagreed that open-book examinations were stressful. Thematic analysis highlighted four core themes: stress, memorisation of facts, motivation to learn and unfairness.Conclusions There were several learning points for both educators and learners that can be actioned for future open-book examinations, including tailoring exam questions to foster application of knowledge rather than resource-searching skills, intended learning objective mapping against curriculum requirements and learner preparation.
| S-EPMC8390023 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundInterprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) offers great potential to improve healthcare. Increases in IPCP will require educating learners in authentic IPCP settings and will generate opportunities and challenges.MethodsIn January 2015, we implemented an IPCP model called Collaborative Care (CC) for hospitalized adult medical patients. We explored learner perspectives regarding their educational experiences. We deductively coded transcripts from semi-structured interviews with medical learners. Data related to educational experiences were thematically analyzed.ResultsTwenty-four of 28 (85.7%) medical learners rotating on CC from January to May 2015 completed interviews. Subsequent inductive analysis of these interviews identified four themes: Loss of Educational Opportunities during Rounds, Feelings of Uncertainty during New Situations, Strategies for Adaptation, and Improved Communication with Patients and the Team.ConclusionsIncreased implementation of IPCP will lead to a greater number of learners being exposed to authentic IPCP settings and will generate opportunities and challenges. Though learners perceived improved communication skills in an IPCP model, they also described loss of profession-specific learning opportunities and feelings of uncertainty. These findings corroborate the need for novel teaching methods aligned with IPCP clinical learning environments and educational assessment strategies that reflect attainment of both profession-specific and interprofessional competencies.
| S-EPMC7092524 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionIn simulation sessions using standardized patients (SPs), it is the instructors, rather than the learners, who traditionally identify learning goals. We describe co-constructive patient simulation (CCPS), an experiential method in which learners address self-identified goals.MethodsIn CCPS, a designated learner creates a case script based on a challenging clinical encounter. The script is then shared with an actor who is experienced working as an SP in medical settings. An instructor with experience in the model is involved in creating, editing, and practicing role play of the case. After co-creation of the case, learners with no prior knowledge of the case (peers or a supervisor) interview the SP. The clinical encounter is followed by a group debriefing session.ResultsWe conducted 6 CCPS sessions with senior trainees in child and adolescent psychiatry. Topics that are difficult to openly talk about may be especially appropriate for the CCPS model-without overt guidance or solicitation, the scripts developed by learners for this series involved: medical errors and error disclosure; racial tensions, including overt racism; interprofessional conflict; transphobia; patient-on-provider violence; sexual health; and the sharing of vulnerability and personal imperfections in the clinical setting.ConclusionsCo-constructive patient simulation provides an alternative multistage and multimodal approach to traditional SP simulation sessions that can adapt iteratively and in real time to new clinical vicissitudes and challenges This learner-centered model holds promise to enrich simulation-based education by fostering autonomous, meaningful, and relevant experiences that are in alignment with trainees' self-identified learning goals.
| S-EPMC8169712 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The availability of reliable evidence for teaching practices after professional development is limited across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, making the identification of professional development "best practices" and effective models for change difficult. We aimed to determine the extent to which postdoctoral fellows (i.e., future biology faculty) believed in and implemented evidence-based pedagogies after completion of a 2-yr professional development program, Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST IV). Postdocs (PDs) attended a 2-yr training program during which they completed self-report assessments of their beliefs about teaching and gains in pedagogical knowledge and experience, and they provided copies of class assessments and video recordings of their teaching. The PDs reported greater use of learner-centered compared with teacher-centered strategies. These data were consistent with the results of expert reviews of teaching videos. The majority of PDs (86%) received video ratings that documented active engagement of students and implementation of learner-centered classrooms. Despite practice of higher-level cognition in class sessions, the items used by the PDs on their assessments of learning focused on lower-level cognitive skills. We attributed the high success of the FIRST IV program to our focus on inexperienced teachers, an iterative process of teaching practice and reflection, and development of and teaching a full course.
| S-EPMC4477738 | biostudies-literature