Medical Student Video Use and Summative Exam Performance during the First-Year Pre-Clinical Coursework and Implications in Distance Education

ABSTRACT

Medical student use of lecture video (live-streaming and/or recorded) at a regional medical school campus that utilized distance educational technology to deliver first-year pre-clinical lecture content, was examined. Additionally, medical student video lecture use was compared to student performance on summative exams and final course grades. All learners achieved desired scientific competencies across all courses irrespective of their use of live-streamed or recorded video formats. Throughout the course of the year, medical student video use partitioned into one of two groups: students that only watched lecture in live-streaming format, and those that watched lecture only in recorded format. Interestingly, those medical students that predominantly preferred view lectures using the live-streaming format tended to achieve better summative test scores and final course grades compared to their peers that primarily utilized recorded video to obtain lecture content. Retrospectively, dimensions of personality scores were compared between the two groups (live-streaming viewers versus recorded viewers), and, of the five dimensions of personality, only the domain of conscientiousness differed between the two groups. This study suggests that, while medical students reached academic milestones utilizing either recorded or live-streamed video for obtaining lecture content during their first-year pre-clinical courses, there may be factors of learner personality influencing video use preference which in turn enhances student performance on summative exams and final course grades. These findings may have implications in curriculum design for other distance educational formats emphasizing classical scientific competencies in post-undergraduate study that rely on video delivery of lecture content.     

Modern apprenticeships in Scotland

The paper provides an analysis of the take‐up of modern apprenticeships in Scotland for the period 1999–2001. The methodology includes secondary data sources and a case study. The findings indicate that, although the numbers participating in the MA scheme have increased, there remain major concerns both with completion rates and the quality of the programme. The authors also question the relevance of using pedagogically driven theoretical models to understand the complex and dynamic nature of work‐based employment practices.     

The politics of school amalgamation

This article reports on research funded as a ‘Best Practice’ project by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) designed to use action research to progress the government agenda for healthy schools. The project involved teachers working with university researcher. The outcome is five small research reports consisting of two studies into playground behaviour management, a report on the production of a school drug policy, a review of transition from Nursery to Early Years school provision and a study of the impact of a Family Nurturing approach used with pre-school pupils. This article reviews the research process and includes reflection on methodological issues and outcomes giving voice to the teacher-researchers by drawing on the reports they have compiled. The research recommendations are for more projects which use action research to promote change in our schools.     

Humanizing Attendance Procedures

In instructional settings, educators are both the creator and the vehicle for that which seeks to be born: an academic legacy. Creating an enduring legacy begins with bringing to life the kind of academic environment that one truly wants to be a part of. Crafting a memorable legacy in the classroom requires authentic, sustainable relationships coupled with exemplary instructional practices that make a difference in lives of students including: professionalism, viewpoint diversity, impulse to learn, engaged questioning, and GRIT: “the engine of human accomplishment.”     

Developing exploratory language in the classroom: moving beyond teacher as expert

In this article the author describes the collaborative research undertaken by a group of high school teachers and an English adviser. The teachers were keen to find ways of breaking the teacher-dominated discourse pattern within their classrooms. They wanted to see whether, when offered a variety of teacher audiences beyond that of ‘expert-examiner’, students would engage in the kind of exploratory talk, described by the National Curriculum Council (1987-93), as a feature of investigative learning. Teachers' belief that discourse patterns are affected by students' understanding of contextual conditions is examined. The author illustrates the importance of students' shared understanding of collaborative discourse, and discusses how their conception of learning contexts is influenced by the kinds of audiences teachers project     

Inquiry-based learning in higher education: administrators’ perspectives on integrating inquiry pedagogy into the curriculum

Inquiry-based learning is one approach to improving the quality of undergraduate education by moving toward more student-directed, interactive methods of learning while focusing on learning how to learn. This paper deals with a missing component in the inquiry-related literature—the extra-pedagogical challenges of introducing and maintaining inquiry-based learning in the curriculum. Based in the collective experience of McMaster University, a mid-size Canadian university that has been a pioneer in inquiry pedagogy, the paper describes the challenges administrators faced in supporting the introduction of inquiry-based learning as components of traditional courses, as inquiry-based courses, and as inquiry-based degree programs. Derived from interviews, the paper presents a series of strategies and lessons for introducing and maintaining inquiry pedagogy in the curriculum. These lessons will be broadly useful to administrators, curriculum designers and faculty developers and should be widely applicable to institutes of higher education.     

FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

ABSTRACT: Why is freedom of speech so seldom raised as an issue in philosophy of education? In assessing this question, it is important to distinguish (i) between a freedom and its exercise, and (ii) between different philosophies of education. Western philosophies of education may be broadly divided into classes derived from theories of knowledge first articulated in ancient Greece. Freedom of speech is in principle inimical to some of these, while being essential to the objectives of others .     

An extension of the general Struble's method for solving an nth order nonlinear differential equation when the corresponding unperturbed equation has some repeated eigenvalues

This paper attempts to show the more suitability of the extended general Struble's technique than the unified Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolskii (KBM) method in solving the problems that occur during the critical conditions. Recently a critically damped condition of an nth, n=2,3, … order weakly nonlinear autonomous ordinary differential equation has been investigated by the unified KBM method, in which the corresponding unperturbed equation has some real (negative) repeated eigenvalues. But there are more important critical conditions, which are still untouched. One of them occurs when a pair of complex eigenvalues is equal to another. It is complicated to formulate as well as to utilize the KBM method to investigate this condition. However, the extended general Struble's technique is applicable to both autonomous and non-autonomous systems. Solutions obtained for different critical conditions as well as for different initial conditions show a good agreement with the numerical solutions. The method is illustrated by an example of a fourth-order nonlinear differential equation whose unperturbed equation has repeated complex eigenvalues. A steady-state solution is determined for the non-autonomous equation. Moreover, a critical condition of a fourth-order nonlinear equation is investigated when two real eigenvalues of the unperturbed equation are non-positive and equal.     

Control of impact loading during distracted running before and after gait retraining in runners

Gait retraining using visual biofeedback has been reported to reduce impact loading in runners. However, most of the previous studies did not adequately examine the level of motor learning after training, as the modified gait pattern was not tested in a dual-task condition. Hence, this study sought to compare the landing peak positive acceleration (PPA) and vertical loading rates during distracted running before and after gait retraining. Sixteen recreational runners underwent a two-week visual biofeedback gait retraining program for impact loading reduction, with feedback on the PPA measured at heel. In the evaluation of PPA and vertical loading rates before and after the retraining, the participants performed a cognitive and verbal counting task while running. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated a significant interaction between feedback and training on PPA (F = 4.642; P = 0.048) but not vertical loading rates (F > 1.953; P > 0.067). Pairwise comparisons indicated a significantly lower PPA and vertical loading rates after gait retraining (P < 0.007; Cohen’s d > 0.68). Visual feedback after gait retraining reduced PPA and vertical loading rates during distracted running (P < 0.033; Cohen’s d > 0.36). Gait retraining is effective in lowering impact loading even when the runners are distracted. In dual-task situation, visual biofeedback provided beneficial influence on kinetics control after gait retraining.