Virtual and Augmented Reality Enhancements to Medical and Science Student Physiology and Anatomy Test Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Virtual and augmented reality have seen increasing employment for teaching within medical and health sciences programs. For disciplines such as physiology and anatomy, these technologies may disrupt the traditional modes of teaching and content delivery. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the impact of virtual reality or augmented reality on knowledge acquisition for students studying preclinical physiology and anatomy. The protocol was submitted to Prospero and literature search undertaken in PubMed, Embase, ERIC, and other databases. Citations were reviewed and articles published in full assessing learning or knowledge acquisition in preclinical physiology and anatomy from virtual or augmented reality were included. Of the 919 records found, 58 eligible articles were reviewed in full-text, with 8 studies meeting full eligibility requirements. There was no significant difference in knowledge scores from combining the eight studies (626 participants), with the pooled difference being a non-significant increase of 2.9 percentage points (95% CI [−2.9; 8.6]). For the four studies comparing virtual reality to traditional teaching, the pooled treatment effect difference was 5.8 percentage points (95% CI [−4.1; 15.7]). For the five studies comparing augmented reality to traditional teaching, the pooled treatment effect difference was 0.07 (95% CI [−7.0; 7.2]). Upon review of the literature, it is apparent that educators could benefit from adopting assessment processes that evaluate three-dimensional spatial understanding as a priority in physiology and anatomy. The overall evidence suggests that although test performance is not significantly enhanced with either mode, both virtual and augmented reality are viable alternatives to traditional methods of education in health sciences and medical courses.     

Project Transfer—Shifts in the social and cultural capital of Further Education construction students involved in constructing an artwork

The International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies at Newcastle University has been investigating the impact of artists working with young people in cultural sites and schools. This paper focuses on Transfer by the artist Wolfgang Weileder; the construction and de-construction of a full-scale replica of Milton Keynes Gallery at Station Square, Milton Keynes by construction students. The art project involved collaboration between the artist, two Further Education colleges and a construction company involved in the training of construction students. This paper will investigate how the different cultures interacted during the creative learning experience, concentrating on the impact upon the construction students.Transfer provided training opportunities for the students, who simultaneously developed an understanding of contemporary artistic practice and began to take on ownership of the piece. Insights from this project will be presented in order to draw out implications for future collaborations.     

ADHD expressive writing difficulties of ADHD children: when good declarative knowledge is not sufficient

A large body of evidence shows that many of the academic difficulties Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) children have may be related to their problems in executive control. However, the particular case of expressive writing has not been deeply explored. The present study examines the typical school exercise of writing a letter. Participants were 33 third, fourth, and fifth graders referred by teachers for the presence of ADHD symptoms plus 33 controls. The task consisted of describing an aspect of their life in the form of a letter. Texts of ADHD children were poorer than those of the controls for structure, vocabulary, grammar, length, and accuracy. Furthermore, the difference persisted even when a guide was used to support the writing task. However, the two groups were not significantly different in a metacognitive test measuring knowledge on critical factors affecting expressive writing. Results show that ADHD children may encounter severe difficulties in expressive writing that are not due to differences in knowledge about how to write. Educational implications are discussed.     

Neuro-linguistic Programming and learning theory

This article explores relationships between Neuro-linguistic Programming - a growing school of thought and practice - and established learning theory, drawing a distinction between models, strategies and theories. Some evaluative comments are made about the coherence of Neuro-linguistic Programming as it currently stands, both in terms of its internal consistency, and in relation to established learning theories. In relation to its internal structure, questions are asked as to how far copying an expert's behaviour can really lead a learner to becoming an expert, and about the lack of attention within the theory given to the domain of application. Two other important areas are examined: the dissonance between the claim that Neuro-linguistic Programming caters to individuality in learning while also proposing a view that learning is best done experientially; and a specific aspect of the theory, named the ‘logical levels’, asking whether learners are really as predictable and as subject to cause/effect as this theory would suggest. Finally,the epistemological basis of Neurolinguistic Programming is questioned. It is argued that, though Neuro-linguistic Programming has begun to make an impact in education, it remains a set of strategies rather than a theory or a model, and these internal inconsistencies need to be addressed if it is to have a place among the dominant learning theories of our age.