REQUEST DEMO
MENUCLOSE

 

REQUEST DEMO
Clinical Operations
Commercial Teams
Resources
Medical Education
About Us
Connect with us
Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in
Sign in

Author: Brian S McGowan, PhD

ABSTRACT: Understanding the Group Size Effect in Electronic Brainstorming

A number of studies on electronic brainstorming have found that large electronic groups can facilitate the number of ideas generated relative to control groups of similar numbers of solitary performers (nominal groups). Thus far there is no clear evidence for the basis of this facilitative effect. The most likely explanation is that group members benefit from exposure to the wide range of ideas in large groups. Since most electronic brainstorming studies appear to divide the presented ideas into subfolders to avoid overloading participants with too many ideas, this practice may be important for demonstration of a benefit of exposure to a large number of ideas. The present study was designed to assess the role of number of ideas and number of folders on individual idea generation and to eliminate some alternative interpretations for the group size effect. Participants performed an idea generation task on computers while being exposed to either no ideas, 28 ideas, or 112 ideas. The 28 and 112 ideas were presented in either one, four, or eight folders. The results indicated that only the number of ideas factor was important for facilitating idea generation.

via Understanding the Group Size Effect in Electronic Brainstorming.

Continue Reading

RESOURCE: Infographic: What Role Will Mobile Play in The Future of Higher Learning

A new infographic based on New Media Consoritum’s 12 emerging technologies to watch highlights how mobile technologies will impact the future of higher learning. From smartphones to smart wearable devices, there’s a wide assortment of gadgets and corresponding features that may change how we learn in the coming years.
So what are the 12 technologies to look out for?

via Infographic: What Role Will Mobile Play in The Future of Higher Learning | Mobile Marketing Watch.

Continue Reading

ABSTRACT: Web Science in Medicine and Healthcare.

Abstract
Objectives: Medical social-media provide a new source of information within information gaining contexts. Facts, experiences, opinions or information on behaviour can be found in the medical web and could support a broad range of applications. The intention of this Focus Theme is to bring the existing research together and to show the possibilities, challenges and technologies for Web Science in medicine and healthcare. Methods: This editorial provides an overview on the landscape of medical social-media and their possibilities in supporting healthcare. Further, it summarizes the three papers included in this Focus Theme. Results and Conclusions: The three papers of this Focus Theme consider different aspects of Web Science in medicine which are 1 detection of drug interactions from social media, 2 inferring community structures from online forums and 3 improving access to online videos through assignment of SNOMED CT terms. All three papers show the potential of medical social-media in supporting health information gathering processes from the web. However, several issues still need to be addressed in future: Methods are necessary for identifying high quality information from the medical web as well as for processing the language that is used by social media users to report about their symptoms, diseases and other health issues.

via Web Science in Medicine and Healthcare. [Methods Inf Med. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

Continue Reading

RESOURCE: Reflections of a mooc unvirgin

I recently completed my first mooc, and I will soon receive the certificate to prove it.

Many people don’t think a certificate of completion means much, but this one will mean a lot to me. I put substantial time and energy into this course, so it will be satisfying to have something tangible to recognise it.

….

Eventually I settled on The University of Edinburgh’s E-learning and Digital Cultures mooc, because it targeted practising e-learning professionals who “want to deepen their understanding of what it means to teach and learn in the digital age”, not to mention the fact I was fascinated by its coverage of popular culture.

So my first learning – before I even began – was that all moocs are different. You can’t tar them with the one brush.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the EDCMOOC. In my opinion, it had a lot going for it. Having said that, however, every course has its pro’s and cons, and this one was no exception…

via Reflections of a mooc unvirgin | E-Learning Provocateur.

Continue Reading

RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources

Abstract

The Internet has become an integral part of all aspects of the life of twenty-first-century learners. Yet research shows that students’ ease and familiarity with the mechanics of the medium are not matched by their ability to evaluate electronic sources critically. Both faculty and library professionals are acutely aware of this, and much help is available to students in the form of checklists and guides to evaluating Internet sources. Students still seem to be falling through the cracks, however. The author suggests the adoption of the ‘RADAR’ approach to evaluating Internet sources. Just as a ship’s captain needs electronic radar to navigate safely and efficiently through the ocean, so the information searcher needs a similar scanning device, that is, a critical, mental radar, when exploring the vast sea of information on the Internet. This device can help students develop a critical awareness of the need to establish the Relevance, Authority, Date, Appearance and Reason for writing of each web source that they encounter. Preliminary qualitative research amongst both native and non-native English-speaking college students suggests a positive user response to both the concept and the tool, providing grounds for further empirical investigation.

via RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources.

Continue Reading

MANUSCRIPT: A Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Implications for Design Principles

In multimedia learning the learner engages in three important cognitive processes. The first cognitive progress, selecting, is applied to incoming verbal information to yield a text base and is applied to incoming visual information to yield an image base. The second cognitive process, organizing, is applied to the word base to create a verbally-based model of the to-be explained system and is applied to the image base to create a visually-based model of the to be- explained system. Finally, the third process, integrating, occurs when the learner builds connections between corresponding events (or states or parts) in the verbally-based model and the visually-based model. The model is explained more fully in Mayer (1997), and has generated a series of experiments yielding five major principles of how to use multimedia to help students understand a scientific explanation. Each principle of multimedia design is subject to further research.

 

http://www.unm.edu/~moreno/PDFS/chi.pdf

Continue Reading

ABSTRACT: A Global Model for Effective Use and Evaluation of e-Learning in Health

Abstract
Abstract Healthcare systems worldwide face a wide range of challenges, including demographic change, rising drug and medical technology costs, and persistent and widening health inequalities both within and between countries. Simultaneously, issues such as professional silos, static medical curricula, and perceptions of “information overload” have made it difficult for medical training and continued professional development (CPD) to adapt to the changing needs of healthcare professionals in increasingly patient-centered, collaborative, and/or remote delivery contexts. In response to these challenges, increasing numbers of medical education and CPD programs have adopted e-learning approaches, which have been shown to provide flexible, low-cost, user-centered, and easily updated learning. The effectiveness of e-learning varies from context to context, however, and has also been shown to make considerable demands on users’ motivation and “digital literacy” and on providing institutions. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning in healthcare as part of ongoing quality improvement efforts. This article outlines the key issues for developing successful models for analyzing e-health learning.

via A Global Model for Effective Use and Eval… [Telemed J E Health. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

Continue Reading

ABSTRACT: Recertification: What do specialists think about skill assessment?

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Continuing medical education and objective performance assessment remain the key components of recertification. Objective skills assessment in routine practice remains challenging due to extensive variations in case selection and treatments. This study explores expert opinions regarding objective skills assessment for specialists within the framework of recertification.
METHODS:
We used a qualitative, semi-structured interview-based approach to obtain information and suggestions about key issues and recommendations relating to specialists’ skills assessment. Twenty-two face-to-face interviews were conducted. Interviews were transcribed and analysed by two reviewers.
RESULTS:
The information from the interviews was categorized under the headings of: (1) the components of specialist-level skills, (2) the methods for assessing specialist skills, (3) the types of tools and procedures used during observational assessment, (4) the unsuccessful specialists, and (5) the selection and training of assessors for specialist assessment.
CONCLUSIONS:
Outcome-based assessment of performance followed by observation of practice, were recommended as effective modes of evaluation of performance.

via Recertification: What do specialists think about ski… [Surgeon. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

Continue Reading

ABSTRACT: A picture tells 1000 words: learning teamwork in primary care.

Abstract
Background:  Teamwork and patient centredness are frequently articulated concepts in medical education, but are not always explicit in the curriculum. In Ireland, recent government policy emphasises the importance of a primary care team approach to health care. We report on an appraisal of a newly introduced community-based student attachment, which focused on teamwork. Aim:  To review students’ experience of teamwork following a community clinical placement by examining student assignments: essays, poetry, music and art. Methods:  Year-2 graduate-entry students (n = 45) spent 2 weeks with a primary care team. Attachments comprised placements with members of the primary care team, emphasising team dynamics, at the end of which students submitted a representative piece of work, which captured their learning. Essays (n = 22) were analysed using a thematic content analysis. Artwork consisted of painting, collage, photography, poetry and original music (n = 23). These were analysed using Gardner’s entry points. Results:  Three core themes emerged in both written and visual work: patient centredness; communication; and an improved appreciation of the skills of other health care professionals. Students identified optimal team communication occurring when patient outcomes were prioritised. Metaphors relating to puzzles, hands and inter-connectedness feature strongly. The poems and artwork had a high impact when they were presented to tutors. Conclusion:  Primary care team placements focus student attention on teamwork and patient centredness. Student artwork shows potential as a tool to evaluate student learning in medical education.

via A picture tells 1000 words: learning teamwork in … [Clin Teach. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

Continue Reading

ABSTRACT: Applying the cognitive theory of multimedia learning: an analysis of medical animations.

Abstract
Context  Instructional animations play a prominent role in medical education, but the degree to which these teaching tools follow empirically established learning principles, such as those outlined in the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML), is unknown. These principles provide guidelines for designing animations in a way that promotes optimal cognitive processing and facilitates learning, but the application of these learning principles in current animations has not yet been investigated. A large-scale review of existing educational tools in the context of this theoretical framework is necessary to examine if and how instructional medical animations adhere to these principles and where improvements can be made. Methods  We conducted a comprehensive review of instructional animations in the health sciences domain and examined whether these animations met the three main goals of CTML: managing essential processing; minimising extraneous processing, and facilitating generative processing. We also identified areas for pedagogical improvement. Through Google keyword searches, we identified 4455 medical animations for review. After the application of exclusion criteria, 860 animations from 20 developers were retained. We randomly sampled and reviewed 50% of the identified animations. Results  Many animations did not follow the recommended multimedia learning principles, particularly those that support the management of essential processing. We also noted an excess of extraneous visual and auditory elements and few opportunities for learner interactivity. Conclusions  Many unrealised opportunities exist for improving the efficacy of animations as learning tools in medical education; instructors can look to effective examples to select or design animations that incorporate the established principles of CTML.

via Applying the cognitive theory of multimedia learnin… [Med Educ. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

Continue Reading
Social
Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in
Recent News
Contact Us

300 E Main Street, Suite 101 Charlottesville, VA 22902

+1-434-260-1850

Email Us

About Us

ArcheMedX helps life sciences and healthcare organizations to better equip, evaluate, and predict team and clinician performance

ArcheMedX Privacy Policy